The Green Dragon

There is a well known pub in Boston, which goes all the way back to Colonial times. As most colonists did not read, the pub was marked by a copper sculpture of a dragon above the door. It did not take very long for the Boston climate to corrode the dragon a bright shade of green, so quickly that the pub's owners did not waste the effort to keep the dragon sculpture polished. The pub came to be popularly known as the "Green Dragon".
During the birth of our country, many of the founding fathers would gather at the Green Dragon to hoist a tankard of ale and invent a new nation, along with deciding if this was the week they got to dump some tea into yon harbor.
To eat and drink in the same little place that Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin, John Adams, and Paul Revere did in the seventeeth century is just awesome.

The Redhook Brewery - Portsmouth, NH

Ever since I was a little kid I dreamed of one day visiting the Redhook Brewery and quaffing a luxurious pint or three. To my sublime enjoyment, the brewery in Portsmouth had a special treat for me (it was just for me I swear) -- a unique brew called the "Long Hammer IPA". Wow. That's all I can say. Mainly because I'm still kinda drunk. Hoppy is an understatement. This ridiculous concoction is derived from the second runnings of a one-of-a-kind barley wine that the brewery runs once a millennium. In other words -- lots of malt, lots of hops, and lots of alcohol. This is fuel for the soul. I only had half a beer because I had to fly and, well -- I'm actually responsible nowadays belief it or not. But I did buy a hat, a shirt, and 6 or 7 Redhook glasses.

Stephanie goes to Harvard

We went to Harvard for a day and just bummed around. I had always dreamed of one day going to Harvard and taking a poop which I did. Stephanie wanted to go for the intellectual stimulation. Being super smart and cute, she was right at home at America's oldest institution of higher learning. I took her to the library but she was more interested in playing in the fountain in front of it than reading a book. Harvard square is a crazy place and I can guess that going to school there would be pretty intense to say the least. Oh yeah -- I did learn one thing at Harvard -- it's pronounced "Haw-vaad"!

Exploring Dowtown Boston - Farmer's Market

Right smack in the middle of the skyscrapers is this massive farmer's market with super fresh and uber cheap prices. Any type of veggie or seafood could be found here and it was fresh and delicious. We bought some snacks for the day.

Boston Holocaust Memorial

Six stark glass towers rise above the Green Dragon and Bell in Hand in downtown Boston. Each tower has 1 milllion numbers on it -- each representing a human soul. Steam filters it's way through these translucent memorials and gives the passerby an eerie sense of pure evil -- a time when the world witnessed the muder of 6 milllion jews. This memorial is sobering yet so very important because it helps us to remember what mankind is capable of. People pass silently through the towers as a sign of respect and awe.

U.S.S Constitution

This ship was the 3rd vessel to be commissioned for the US navy and really the first one that could actually put up a fight. If you don't know much about the Barbary War -- it is fascianting. Early Americans needed to trade with other countries to survive economically but our tradeships kept being sunk and or captured by pirates off the Barbary coast in northern Africa. After years of unsuccessful attempts at diplomacy and paying huge protection fees to these pirates we finally had enough and bulit this ship to protect our trade vessels. The USS Constitution pretty much won the Barbary war for us -- this ship kicked some serious ass in the city of Tivoli on Africa's Northern coast. The war was America's first great victory as an independent nation. By the way, the word "barbarism" originates from this time.

Boston Graveyards

The graveyards in Boston are really neat. The most intriguing thing about them is the incredible engravings on the tombstones. You can sense that their ideas of death and the afterlife were likely much more morbid and existential than ours today. A common symbol was a skull and bones -- sometimes elements such as sickles and pentagrams are present. This is likely due to lingering Pagan and Druid-like beliefs that Europeans of the day held onto and incorporated into their Christian doctrine. (in modern day we see the Christmas tree as an example of this) Also, Free Masonry was alive and strong and can be seen in the many symbols that adorn the gravestones.

The Freedom Trail

The Freedom Trail is a brick line that runs thorugh downtown Boston. If you follow the line it takes you to all the significant historical spots. It's an incredible experience to see the places where American independence was born.

Maine has Beaches

Well I'm fianlly updating this blog after our vacation to the Boston area. We had an incredible time and really got to see some amazing historical places. We flew skybus into Portsmouth, NH which is itself a beautiful and old city. We rented some sea kayaks at the sub base there and paddled around the bay. Then we drove across the river over to Maine. This is the first time I've ever been to Maine. It's a beautiful state -- lots of trees and old historical homes.
We went to the small beach town of York and got a little sun. The beaches were suprisingly great -- nice sand but the water was freezing. Ate the best lobster roll in history.