A Three Person Outing

On Thursday October 14, 2016 my family and I visited The Bunker Hill Monument. Before we climbed it, we participated in Mapping the battle: Exploring the Role of Geography in the Battle of Bunker Hill at the Bunker Hill Museum. Our guide took us downstairs. We ended up in a white room with a big historical map of  Boston on the floor. Near the wall were two large glass cases. Inside each was one life sized model of a Patriot and Redcoat soldier. They were kind of creepy, because they kept staring at me with their life sized human eyeballs. Around the rug were tiny models of plastic Redcoats and Patriots glued to pieces of wood. The guide showed us where the Redcoats were positioned and the flaws with their battle plan. He also showed us how the Patriots lost the battle because of their positioning and the fact that they ran out of ammunition. After we had explored the museum, we crossed the street to climb the Monument.

Looming over me was The Bunker Hill Monument. My papa said “there are 294 steps, it will take at least 20 minutes to climb.” I started out strong, but five minutes later I was up to the 100^th step and crawling. The only thing that motivated me was the fact Lucia was still going and I would NOT be TRUMPED by my five year old sister.  When I finally got to the top, I was panting and really grateful to be done. Going down was fun. I got to jump steps and didn’t get killed. When I got downstairs however, I heard screams. Ella, close behind me, came down next.“ What in the WORLD is happening up there?!” ,I asked.

“Lucia,” Ella said with a voice laden with sarcasm.

I skipped up a few steps and found Mama, Papa, and Lucia. Mama and Papa did not look very happy, neither did Lucia. They stomped out of the monument gripping a still screaming Lucia by her forearms, their faces murderous. When Mama looks like this you avoid her for the rest of the day. When Papa looks like this you can expect a spanking with one wrong word. When both of them look like this, get some extra plasma and put an ambulance on hold! JUST KIDDING. But still, stay away. I knew that I was going to hear the usual, “You’re going to get pow pows Lucia!” to which Lucia responds, “you say that every time Papa!” I was sure this time Lucia was really going to get it. When we did get in the car, however, I heard something different.

“Rick I’m sorry, but you are going to have to take Marley & Ella on an outing without Lucia because she is obviously not mature enough to go” ,Mama said sadly,

“Yes, Suzanne I will have to do that.” My papa said somberly, like it would the worst thing ever to take his two eldest daughters on an outing ALONE without my mother.

“NO, NO, NO!” Lucia screamed.

So it was decided. Papa, Ella, and I would have an outing. Mama dropped us off in Boston near Faneuil Hall and the car drove off into midday traffic.

I LOVE Faneuil Hall. It has a Newbury Comics,  Ghirardelli Ice Cream Factory, and Hillstone reatauraumt. We ate separate lunches from different restaurant stands in the marketplace. I had Chicken Teriyaki with white rice and vegetables from a Japanese place. Ella had a crab salad which I tried and almost lost my lunch. Papa had ribs. My belly was now full and I was ready for adventure. 

We did the Freedom Trail and visited Granary Burying Ground where we saw the elaborate graves of Benjamin Franklin’s parents and John Hancock. They were ginormous! On John Hancock’s grave was a stone carving of his FACE! Geez. I wonder if he wanted it that way. Imagine, being on your death bed and saying to somebody “I want my grave to have my face on it.” Hmm, I have to do some research on that. Based on my knowledge of John Hancock he wasn’t the most modest person. Leaving the Cemetery was a relief because I didn’t want to visit any more places, I was tired, my feet screaming in agony! I wanted to scream PAAAAPAAAAAAA! “I cant take it anymore!” But, we headed to the African Heritage Museum. 

Finally, we were done! It was time for ice cream and comic books. Ghirardelli for dessert, a light and fluffy chocolate milkshake, with whipped cream and the brightest red cherry I have ever seen, it was delicious. Last stop, Newbury Comics where I browsed comic books, most about robots, same sex couples or the end of the world (my mother would say these were INAPPROPRIATE for my age) good thing she wasn’t there, I did find one about a little kitten, though. It was really cheesy. We settled on a few issues of “Teen Titans Go!” and took the Orange Line home.

The Wild Center

            We had been driving for hours. Through Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and upstate New York, stopping once to go to Fort Ticonderoga. The overall trip took five days. We also went to Harmony Hill.  I did not really like Fort Ticonderoga, Harmony Hill was OK, but my favorite place was the Wild Center.

We slept at a tiny little motel called Shaheens Motel. The next day when I woke up my parents said that we were going to the Wild Center. The Wild Center is kind of a natural history museum in Tupper Lake NY,  in the heart of the Adirondack Mountain Range. The wild center was right around the corner from Shaheens Motel.

            We arrived at the Wild Center very shortly. Before we walked in a man ran up to us holding a bird’s nest. Inside were two turquoise eggs. It was a Robin’s nest! The man said that he had found the nest near a wood shed. The wood cutting noise must have scared the mama and papa birds away. Without the protection of their parents, the little birds inside the eggs had not hatched and would never hatch. The man said the nest would be featured on the Wild Walk.

            We entered the building and looked around. We had walked into a large circular room with a glass ceiling. Blue light shone into the wide room. On the right side of the room was a gift shop and a theater, on the left side was a huge plastic glacier gushing water and making loud crumbling noises because there was a stereo next to it. Bordering the room stood tall Birch trees.  In front of me, was an enormous window showing a large shallow pond with water up to the window.

 We got the admission for the museum and decided what we would do first. We decided to watch a movie about the Adirondacks.  The movie was actually a slideshow showing all of the mountains and towns around the mountains. When we were done with the movie we went to look around the museum. The exhibit we were at had fish, ducks, and turtles. Suddenly there was a slight commotion. Everyone was going to  the entrance room. We went as well. I saw what was causing all the mayhem. Standing (or sitting, it was hard to tell ) on a table was a fat, dark brown, porcupine.  

The porcupine was very, very, very chubby. In fact it looked like a spiky balloon.  It was cramming  as many handfuls of leaves it could fit into its little mouth.  “Today I am here to talk to you about three special animals, the river otter, the striped skunk, and the northeastern porcupine” said a lady standing next to the porcupine.  “This porcupine’s name is Sibley.  Sibley was domesticated by human beings and could not go back to the wild. Porcupines are sometimes considered pests because they gnaw on wood, for example, you might find a porcupine chewing the siding off your house or on the bark of a tree. There are a lot of wood chopping companies around this area so there are a lot of people finding porcupines all over the place. Keep your dog away from a porcupine because the porcupine smell is irresistible to a dog and it will be mauled. A porcupine’s quills are specially designed with barbs so that when your skin tries to push them out, they get in deeper.” Then she told us about skunks and river otters and took our questions . Shortly after that we went back to the motel to have lunch.

            When we finished lunch we went back to The Wild Center to take the Wild Walk. We started the Wild Walk by following a dirt path. Then we came to a wooden covered bridge with pictures of birds on it. When we stepped off the bridge we were on a platform. The sun was shining and we were very high up in a clearing. In front of us were three dark red metal poles coming up together in a point. I saw more of these strange statues on other platforms. On my left side there was a woman at a desk. On the desk were three pairs of binoculars. I took one and looked around. I could see a Blue Jay eating at a feeder 10 feet away. Then we went to the next platform, and the next. My favorite platform was one with a gigantic eagle’s nest that you could sit in.  After the eagles nest we went to a platform with a huge rope spider web that you could walk on and a gargantuan plastic spider. I don’t really like spiders, they’re so hairy and have too many  eyes and legs. In fact I don’t like any bugs.

 

Visiting the Wild Center was an amazing experience for me. I learned a lot about things I didn’t know about before. Did you know porcupines eat bark, the American Kestrel is the smallest falcon, and rat snakes can grow up to five feet long? . The Wild Center was a child friendly environment, with diagrams, interactive displays, knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff.  My trip to The Wild Center was a vital part of my homeschooling education and I can’t wait until my next learning adventure at The Wild Center.

The British have taken Boston! Some of General Howe’s ships sit in Boston Harbor while others fortify the Boston neck. Redcoat patrols bar any way in or out of the city. The people of Boston are starving. Most have left. Their homes have been destroyed. The city is a dreary place. An attack on the British by the rebels would be impossible because they don’t have the right equipment. So, when 25 year old Henry Knox asks George Washington if he would be granted permission to take artillery from Fort Ticonderoga and bring it back to the rebel camp, Washington accepts gladly.

 

Seymour Reit’s awe inspiring novel, “Guns For General Washington”, is the story through both colonist and loyalist eyes, of one of the most arduous journeys in the history of the American Revolution: Henry Knox bringing artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights.

Did you know that Henry Knox brought 59 cannons and guns from Ticonderoga? Did you know he took some cannons to Fort George by boat and that even though one cannon fell through some ice while crossing a frozen river, and another broke free of a rope when going uphill, Henry Knox presented all 59 artillery pieces to Washington in perfect condition? I think what Henry Knox did was amazing and inspiring. He is a true hero for even though many people doubted him he didn’t give up. Imagine trying to smuggle 59 pieces of artillery all the way from Fort Ticonderoga to Dorchester Heights unseen.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in good, fast paced books.