Last day in Boston.

VM:  How fast it has all gone!  We ended our last day in Boston with a few hits and one miss.  The day started at a famed local eatery, Charlie's, which is right around the corner from our apartment.  It's the sort of place dignitaries/politicos stop in when they're in town.  Excellent breakfast and really nice waitress.  The latter commentary is my one "ding" about the Massachusetts experience.  We have not found the locals to be overly friendly.  Truthfully, the friendliest we have found are dog owners who we befriend to meet their pups.  I suppose the "unfriendly" folks are over the tourist thing.

We made our way to the Boston Public Garden for a ride on the man-powered swan boats.  It's a quaint, sweet experience.  We were blessed with INCREDIBLE weather today, what I would call California weather.  So the swan boat ride was really pleasant.  All agreed Aba (grandma) would've loved it since it was in the midst of beautiful gardens.

Girls also took a "cool off" break in the frog's pond in the Boston Common.  This is a large man-made pond which is essentially a gigantic wading pool.  It is really pretty and the girls enjoyed splashing around.

Next we grabbed the "T" for a visit to Harvard.  A side note for anyone considering a Boston visit -- the T is really terrific.  Clean.  Well-managed.  And probably the friendliest people we have met are MBTA employees helping us find our way.  They also have a user-friendly web site to help you map out your route from home.  I've been super impressed.

We strolled through Harvard Square and visited the Museum of Natural History.  It is just the right size.  Not too big.  Not too small.  And plenty of stuffed mammals and skeletons to make an impression.

Ready for the Ivy League. We better start REALLY adding to the college fund!

By 3pm we had worked up an appetite again so we headed to Barkley's, a Harvard institution known for its yummy burgers.  It did not disappoint.  They were big, juicy and cooked to perfection.

Our one miss of the day was a hike to Toscanini's, a Cambridge ice cream spot which supposedly had been selected as "the best ice cream" by the New York Times.  It was about a mile walk from Harvard Square which I thought would be a good idea after our lunch, but what I didn't know was that just 3-4 blocks from the Square, the area got kind of yucky.  And the ice cream, while good, was not the BEST we had ever tasted.  Personally, I think the Italian festival gelato beat it hands down.  Oh well, you can't win them all.

We returned to the apartment to recharge and later went to Boston Harbor for our last city adventure.  We wined and dined at Legal Sea Foods because HM had read about it in one of her summer reading books and wanted to check it out.  Afterwards, we played with the harbor seals outside the New England Aquarium's entrance.  They were like playful children.

Finally, we were just heading home to pack, when we were treated to the most beautiful full moon rising over Boston Harbor.  While neither my or HM's camera could really capture the incredibleness of it, it was a perfect way to end this lovely Boston journey.

Tuesday we head to Nana Donny's for a short visit.  We are all looking forward to seeing her.

HM:  Boston is clearly a dog city.  In the morning we saw a 200 pound dog named Norman.  He was a Mastiff and really cute.

I think Harvard has a big, pretty campus.  I would want to go there, but I also want to go to University of Florida.

At night when we were heading to the subways to go to Boston Harbor, we saw two cute dogs, one named Riley, a big mutt, and the other one was a 16-year-old Labrador named Jake.  They were going to the dog park right behind our apartment so we thought we should follow.  There were all these cute dogs  playing.

I begged my mom and Titi to go the Legal Sea Foods in Boston Harbor.  It was delicious.

I loved Boston and I want to come back next year for a summer for like a week.

EM:  I'm sad that we're going to leave Boston.  I wish I lived here.  Lots of cutie babies, lots of cute doggies.

I liked the harbor seals at the Aquarium.  Can't wait to see Nana Donny.

Titi (special guest blogger!):  I had a fabulous trip to Boston with my nieces and my sister.  Although I need to go home to get some sleep.  Don't know how two little kids can kick so much.  Hope at least one of my nieces ends up in college in Boston (VM NOTE:  Hope she'll help pay for it too!)  Until the next trip...