50 States, Day 159

50 States, Day 159 Nashua to Boston and back, 84 Miles

"The British are coming!"

~Paul Revere

Just to set the record straight, Paul Revere never said that. Sorry to ruin your memory of grade school history. More on that later.

First as I write, our daughter Amy is in the hospital delivering 1 month preemie baby twins, a boy and a girl. Keep her, her husband Issouf, Samuel and Sara in your prayers, please.

Being desert rats, we suffer through around three inches of rain a year, and around a dozen or so cloudy days. So this continual barrage of perhaps an eighth of an inch a day of rain is intolerable. I know, we're whiners.

We braved the weather and traffic and against our principles of avoiding big cities, rode into Boston. I figured since being a capitol, it superseded the big city rule.

I can't adequately convey how much QG hates big cities. Between the tight streets, congestion, one ways, alleys, cabs and cars wrestling for positions, she made it clear that this is our last big city.

However, what a treat, what history. Paul Revere's house, built in 1680. Houses, churches, cemeteries from the seventeenth century. We took a Freedom Trail Tour, following a red stripe or bricks in the sidewalks to follow. A park ranger escorted us and told stories of the period between 1773 and 1776. A fascinating treat, complete with spies, counter spies, troops and rebels.

One snippet:

We all know about the Tea Party (the original one), where the Colonists dumped the tea in Boston Harbor to protest the tax on tea, imposed by the Crown. Being a capitalist, I always wondered who owned the tea, and what were their losses. It was a British company, and the rebellious folks tossed over a million dollars' worth, current value, into the drink. The company complained to Parliament and demanded that they exact the money from those rude Colonists. Things heated up!

We saw such things as the tavern where the men went to plot and plan their efforts at freedom and the tower where the two lanterns indicated the British were coming by sea. And actually, it was by river.

Back to Paul Revere. He wouldn't yell "The British are coming," because everyone at that time was British. He could have hollered, "The Redcoats are coming,“ but probably yelled, "The Regulars are coming." We learned so much that I wonder what they taught me in school. I'm claiming ADD.

Next we trudged to the Massachusetts State House (commonly known elsewhere as the Capitol building). One of the oldest State Capitols, it was completed in 1798. A very beautiful building with some differences from other Capitols. Wedgwood blue walls adorned the Senate chambers, different yet very nice. Once again, the history of the building and the decorations superseded the architecture itself. The Hall of Flags used to be an open patio type area that they enclosed for the governor's receptions, since they provide no Governor's mansion. However, the place echoed so badly that people couldn't hear, so they decorated it with the flags of every city in the state, 310, in the order of their creation. Twenty-two Capitols and we hadn't seen that before.

Because the time passed three o'clock, QG wanted us to get out of there to beat the traffic. Wrong! 30.8 miles in an hour and thirty-five minutes. The people working there are completely out of their minds. And their Jerks-Per-Capita ratio rose exponentially too.

Once again, due to popular acclaim, Quilter Girl!

I do hate the big cities, all the traffic and crazy drivers. I feel very vulnerable on the motorcycle. We decided to stay at our motel in Nashua because it is very nice and the price is good. When we looked online for other options, none were any closer and all were way more expensive. The drive into Boston was okay, not much traffic at 10:30 in the morning. We missed our exit, but found Faneuil Hall rather easily. There was a great parking garage right behind the Hall, so that was taken care of. Boston exudes history, so much has taken place in that city. It was great to be able to see what we did. But parking cost us $35 and the traffic going home was awful. Not my cup of tea. We did learn one interesting fact. There is a statue of General George Hooker in the front of the Capitol and a man informed us that is where the term "hookers” comes from. When General Hooker repositioned his troops, the fancy women went too. The people called them General Hooker's girls, shortened in time to hookers. Interesting. Also did you know that portrait painters charge by the limb for doing painting? Hence the term "it cost an arm and a leg."

We enjoyed dinner at Uno in Nashua which was awesome. I had a crispy chicken wrap that had dried cranberries in it. Yum. Kevin had a spicy mac & cheese plus dessert called chocolate peanut butter cup with ice cream drizzled with chocolate sauce. That was a double yum. It is raining again tonight. Hoping for a better tomorrow.

LATE BREAKING NEWS!

Congratulations to daughter Amy and Issouf on the births of Samuel and Sara, twins (obviously) born a few minutes ago. Woo Hoo!!