Boston – What the Kids Like to Do

We had a plan for what we’d do and see in Boston. It was educational. It was cultural. It was physical ( lots and lots of walking).  The highlights for the kids, however, were not the ones we planned for them. They did not love the Freedom Trail. They did not love seeing Daddy’s alma mater and hearing fascinating stories of the building donors and founders. Here’s what they’ll remember from Boston:

#1. These are doors leading into and out of the Boston T stops. They open in a funny way – going in, then up. The kids found this endlessly amusing.

#2. The vending machines. Our hotel (the Midtown Hotel) had an endless supply of interesting vending machines, like this one that

distributes hot Tombstone Pizza and hot french fries or chicken nuggets.

This one served Mini Melts, which is similar to Dipping Dots (the little ice cream balls), and the other machine (from the subway stop) was a touch screen. We spent a LOT of time checking that out. On several occasions.

#3 – Boston’s Museum of Science was a hit – but Dori’s favorite part (aside from the butterflies) was watching the chicks hatch. Apparently they’ve had this exhibit for endless numbers of years (like more than 30), and there’s always a chick hatching. I asked my local friend Laurie what they do with all those chicks. Apparently they feed them to the snakes. Circle of life and all that. Shhhhh….don’t tell Dori.

#4 – Not shockingly, food ranked high on the list of the kids favorite things to do in Boston. Pizza. Sea food. And cannoli from Mike’s Pastry in the North End (1/2 block off the Freedom Trail). You can’t tell from the photos, but these things are the size of a large burrito.

#5 – Losing a tooth. This turned into one of Zack’s highlights of the Boston trip. Especially since the Boston tooth fairy pays more than the New Jersey one. Which reminds me, I have to take that tooth out of my purse. And Dori is now demanding back pay for her lost teeth.

#6 – The Mapparium. This is the wierdest thing ever – in an awesome kind of way. A three story glass globe from 1935 that you walk through. No pictures allowed, unfortunately. It’s part of the Mary Baker Eddy library. She founded the Christian Science Church, which even after going through their exhibits and reading their pamphlet, I still don’t understand. No matter. The Mapparium was awesome, and just across the street from our Back Bay hotel. More on the Mapparium in a separate post.

#7 – Back to food. The kids loved JP Licks, and we did too. This local admiral chain (JP stands for Jamaica Plain) carries seasonal ice cream flavors like Noodle Kugel (it was good),  avocado, banana, red velvet, and pistachio, in addition to sorbets like blackberry Manischewitz, margarita and pink grapefruit. Zachary, of course, chose chocolate. Plain chocolate.