So much to do, so little time.

So far, it’s been an interesting trip. We arrived with no problems into a rainy Boston on Saturday night. After checking into our hotel, The Boston Park Plaza (very nice, by the way), we had dinner at Legal Sea Foods in downtown Boston. Then, we went to one of the bars in the hotel and I enjoyed a Candy Apple Martini. Mmmm, boy.

Then, on Sunday, we took a whirlwind tour of Boston. We went on the Boston Duck Tours for the first part of the day. The ducks are converted World War II amphibious vehicles that they now use to conduct tours of some of the historical sites in Boston. Very cool. Unfortunately, the currents were very strong in the Charles River that day, so we had to cut short the aquatic part of the tour. We then spent a couple hours racing through the Freedom Trail, which is a walking tour through historical Boston. It was cool, except the Bunker Hill Memorial was closed for renovation. Also, we were very rushed, as we were expected in Saugerties, NY for dinner with my grandparents. I was really bummed that we weren’t able to take the time to really appreciate all of the sites. Also, a bunch of friends gave recommendations for things to do in the Boston area. Sadly, we weren’t able to do most of it. I’ll definitely have to get back to Boston at some point when I actually have time to do it justice.

Yesterday, we went from Saugerties to visit West Point, NY, which is only about an hour away. My dad graduated from West Point, so we had a very good, personally-guided tour. Of course, I really enjoyed the history part, especially the giant links that the Patriots stretched across the Hudson River to prevent the British from utilizing the river. Also, we were granted access to parts of West Point that most tourists don’t get to see, including looking at some of the barracks, classrooms (I’m stealing some teaching ideas from them!) and dining halls. We also checked out the library, which houses some outstanding military history resources. I wish I could have sifted through some of them. That would have been cool.

We’re now enroute to Utica, NY, where we’re going to check out Utica College with my brother. Not sure what to expect in Utica, as I know nothing about it. Should be fun though. We’re driving back to Boston tomorrow, where we’ll stay overnight until our flight out on Thursday.