Day 10 was a Monday, and we weren’t entirely sure what we were going to do for the day (photos 1-2). We were thinking maybe Old Boston plus the shipyards, some other “walking” outings, but my body wasn’t up to it.

I drove Andrea and Jacob to the Charlestown Navy Yard, and I sat in a quiet courtyard while they went off to view the shipyards (photos 3-29). A nice local came rushing up to me while paying for parking to explain in some detail what the “thing was” in terms of how you handled parking i.e., pay at the machine initially for your two hours and then download the app on your phone so you could EXTEND it later without having to come all the way back. And to make sure I did because the local bylaw people were, umm, “extremely aggressive” in watching for parking scofflaws. 🙂

Andrea and Jacob saw the USS Cassin Young, a WWII destroyer. Unfortunately, our luck was still bad for schedules…just as we missed some stuff at the Planetarium for schedule (the shows we wanted weren’t on), and at the Aquarium (the penguin presentation was only M-F, not weekends), the destroyer had one day a week when they didn’t let people on to wander around…yep, Mondays. They still saw the large, steel ship with guns, anti-aircraft, depth charges, and torpedoes. The ship fought in the Pacific theatre back in the day.

They also saw the USS Constitution, built in the 1790s and used in the War of 1812. It was undergoing maintenance so they couldn’t get too close, but it was a long sailing ship with masts and cannons. The shipyards themselves have been in operation since independence, and was very active in WWII with 50,000 full-time workers employed. They also saw dry dock and how it works.

We then walked over to the pier for lunch (Pier 6 restaurant). The restaurant was situated right on the water with good seafood and a nice view of the skyline (photos 30-33).

We then headed back to Needham along the water, taking pics of the skyline as we went (photos 34-36), and then spent time with the cousins at their house. They had plans for dinner with friends, so I helped them with their telescope setup before they left (which reminds me I owe Scott an email), while we went to a restaurant that Dana recommended for seafood (notice a theme here?). We went to Captain Marden’s, not too far away and had a really good meal (as promised).

It was a relatively light day overall, with 63 km driven and 78 photos and videos curated down to 36.

2023-07b July – Day 10 Charlestown Navy Yard

36 photos