This and That in Boston!

4 July 2012--We have been here just over 2 weeks now, and been busy fixing things around the RV (total headache!) and visiting with family and friends, but here goes our 1st blog entry of the summer!!

Took the city bus into Copley Square in Boston with Cathy and my sister Marie back on Thursday, 28 June. The square is named after John Copley, a famous painter, and is surrounded by really nice buildings bordering a little park.



From left to right are the Trinity Church, which is Episcopalean; The Old South Church, which is United Church of Christ; and then the Boston Public Library, which turned out for me to be the most interesting of the 3 buildings.



Trinity Church is reflected here in a glass building across the street, and then some artwork on the front of the building.



We tried to go inside where the pews are, but they wanted to charge us an entry fee, and we weren't really too cool with that. We peaked in the windows and it didn't seem to be something I couldn't pass up, so we pressed on. There just seems to be something inherently wrong with a church charging an admission fee!

Down in the basement they had a little sales shop, with this t-shirt seeming to be the best thing for sale. I liked #2 best, about the dinosaurs!



The Old South Church was established in another spot in Boston in 1669, but moved to this spot and finished in 1875. Bejamin Franklin was baptized here in 1706, and Samuel Adams gave the signal to start the Boston Tea Party from this church!!! It was pretty dark inside, so we didn't get really good pics.



The Boston Public Library is quite a complex of buildings, connected by a center courtyard. The main entrance is surprisingly ornate for what seems like a fairly modern looking building on the outside. Throughout the building are paintings, murals and statues that you would never think of finding in a library!




A statue was missing, so I couldn't help myself! And no more than in Utah, this "public" building shows that there wasn't a whole of seperation between church and state way back when. There were a surprising number of murals on the walls of well-known religious events as depicted by the bible, and some really pretty reading rooms.





There was also a whole room display of these marionettes...again, although interesting, not something I would expect to see in a library.



A beautiful hallway/staircase as we leave.



From Copley Square we walked over to the Church of Christ, Scientist complex, another beautiful area of Boston. The Christian Scientists were founded by Mary Baker Eddy back in the 1880s, and this is the world headquarters for the religion that is now in over 80 countries.



This church building was originally built for a congregation of 300 in 1894, but expanded for a population of 3000 and finished in 1906. It sits on 14 acres of absolutely prime real estate!!!



Original chapel and current.



The Christian Scientists have no ordained clergy, but elect 2 people, men or women, to serve in each church for a 3 year period. They basically do the readings during the services, with one reading from the bible while the other follows with readings from a book written by Mary Baker Eddy explaining what a paricular bible passage means. Because they believe all healing comes from God, they don't believe in going to the doctor when sick, although they don't outlaw it. They say they "follow the science"...our guide used that term several times, but never really defined what the science was. I think she meant faith, as most of us would understand it.



Here are 2 stitch pictures I took to try to give you an idea of how pretty the "new" church is. Click on them to blow them up....quite pretty!



This past Saturday, 30 June, we had my 2nd Annual 1/2 ball tournament, a game we used to play as kids using a broom stick and literally a "1/2 a ball"...much harder to hit now than I remember when Brian and I played in the streets as kids. Here is Jack...only 6 but he actually had the 1st hit!!!



The crowds go wild!!!



Ellen in a futile attempt to make a connection!



Me, hitting and pitching....she can do it all!!!



Jen and Kristine...I think they need to practice their form before they can even hope to hit the ball!




After a few full-out swings and misses, Kaleigh goes for the bunt and actually connects...I actually don't recall the bunt being a viable option in 1/2 ball, but she looked great doing it and she was safe at 1st, so all's well!



Kevin may have had the best form, but that 1/2 ball was amazingly elusive!



And believe it or not, "one-handed Marie" actually hit the ball and was also safe at 1st!



Julie was totally shocked at how awkward she looked!!! You would think she grew up as a "girlie-girl"!



If you blow up Emily's pics you can see she closes her eyes as she swings, so it makes you wonder how it was that she got the 2nd hit of the game!!! haha Good going Em!



Maggie, ever the pro, actually checks her swing in a futile attempt not to strike out!!! She was also the opposing pitcher, so she warrants a 4th picture.



Julie, oh Julie!!! What do I say about this form???!!!



Bridget rooting us on, and the teams in the field. I think the only one we missed was Michelle, who came a little late after the picture taking was done. Sorry Michelle! By the way, my team came roaring back from down 5-2 in the last inning to win 6-5!!! What a beautiful day!



Back at the RV, the kids took a ride on some of the bikes provided by the camp hosts. Bridget didn't want to get off Jack's bike she was having such a great a time. And she is a little daredevil, too...kept pushing my hand away when I was trying to hold on to her.




And yesterday, 3 July, Wayne, Kaleigh, Cathy and I rode/walked down to the Boston waterfront where the Tall Ships came in for the 4th of July celebration. They don't come every year, actually the 1st time I heard of them was in 1976 when they came to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the country. They are here this year to celebrate the 200th year of the War of 1812...or to generate tourism dollars if we really want to know the truth. haha The little picture is a stitch pic of the waterfront area.



Some of the Tall Ships were over in Charlestown, but we saw a few of them, from Brazil and Columbia, and one we think might have been from either France or Spain. There were also some military ships there, and we heard that the Navy Blue Angels were going to do an air show down here on the 4th.