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.