We've had a very busy two weeks here in Massachusetts, and even though Flat Stanley had his last weekend's adventures on Sunday, I've been wayyyy too tired to write about them. I'm sorry! But on Sunday, we took Flat Stanley into Boston, and we went to the ocean and to Cambridge so that Flat Stanley could see the city from some of its more lovely viewpoints.
First, we went down to the Boston Harbor. This is one
of the most important bodies of water in the history of the United States.
It was into the Boston Harbor that the patriots dumped an entire shipment
of tea to protest unfair taxes in 1773. 
This was called
"The Boston Tea Party,"
and it was an important action which helped lead to the American
Revolution. And it was into (and out of) Boston Harbor that British ships
sailed to try to stop the colonists from declaring their independence.
Boston Harbor has many small islands in it. Some, like George's Island, are "fortifications," meaning that buildings were built here and cannons planted so that the islands could help protect the city from invaders.
One island is
called Deer Island, and it just recently became the site of a
large "wind farm." Wind farms are places where beautiful wind turbines
(like the one in the picture to the left) are built, and the wind drives
machinery that makes electricity. The electricity is "harvested" (sort of
like corn or wheat), and it can be used by people to run their hair dryers or
lights or even their electric cars.
Boston Harbor is also important today as a shipping center. Ships come into the harbor from around the world carrying cargo - everything from oil and cars to fresh tuna and toys - and ships leave the harbor taking goods to other countries. There are also large cruise ships that come into Boston Harbor, and they dock at the Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. Most of the pictures of Flat Stanley at the harbor were taken from a wharf right next door to the Black Falcon docks. (Mike and I sailed to Bermuda on a ship there several years ago.)
We also took pictures of Boston from Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Charles River separates Boston from Cambridge, and many small boats, including sailboats, sculling boats, and tourist vessels, sail up the Charles River. We were near the boathouse belonging to one of the universities in Boston - their students have a rowing team.
Cambridge is also the home of Harvard University, the oldest college or university in the United States (started in 1636!), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where many great scientists and engineers get their education. MIT's students love really good jokes, and there is even a whole web site that tells you about some of the cool things they have done with the MIT Great Dome (including making it look like a Star Wars droid!).
Our last pictures with Flat Stanley included a look at the lovely trees bordering the Charles River, and a beautiful panorama picture of Boston, as seen from Cambridge.
You can see the photos we took around the harbor and the river by going to Flat Stanley's Third Gallery Page.
(Doesn't Mike take great photos?)
Wow! What a chilly week this has been here in Massachusetts. Flat
Stanley stayed at my house and guarded my cookies while I went to work this week
(and it was a long week). On Friday, Flat Stanley and I were thinking we
might go for a ride, but we woke up and there was snow on the
ground! It wasn't a lot of snow, but we did the only sensible
thing possible, and went back to sleep.
Today, we had to do errands, but then we went into Boston for a little bit. It's going to rain all day tomorrow, so the only time for Flat Stanley to see some of the city this weekend was today.
This is the time of year when we have a lot of tourists visiting, since the fall colors are really beautiful in our woody state. Most of New England is painted in vivid orange and yellow and scarlet and brown, as the trees all get ready for winter. And today was a race of rowing boats up the Charles River. The picture to the left is one of the races. The Charles River separates Boston from Cambridge, and it is very pretty with all of the "sculling boats" zooming up it.
Unfortunately, we couldn't get near the river today (we didn't take the picture above), so we drove around Beacon Hill and the Boston Common and the North End, instead.
Beacon Hill is really the center of the oldest parts of Boston. On top of the hill sits the Massachusetts State House, our state capitol building. At the foot of the capitol, and wrapped half-way around Beacon Hill, is Boston Common, a central park area. It is called Boston Common because when Boston was first founded, this was the area that everyone would bring their cows and sheep to so they could eat grass. It was the "common" pasture.
On the rest of Beacon Hill, beautiful old brick buildings still stand, and many people have apartments in them that they rent or own. One of the oldest book printing companies in the United States has its office on Beacon Hill. And Suffolk University, where I teach, owns eight buildings on the hill, too. So we took a picture of my office!
Then we drove through the North End and took a picture of the Old North Church. When the American colonies were fighting for their independence (to become the United States) ~230 years ago, the Old North Church could be seen from the ocean. Lanterns were hung in the top tower of the Old North Church to warn patriot Paul Revere that the British were coming (either by land or by sea). When Revere saw the signal, he rode his horse to warn people in Lexington, Massachusetts. The next day, the first battle in the American war of independence took place(on April 19, 1775, in Concord, Massachusetts), but the patriots were ready for it because of this warning.
The North End is also famous for the really tasty Italian restaurants and bakeries all over the area. For many years, Italian immigrants would move to the North End, and they brought their very fine cooking with them.
We hope to take Flat Stanley over to Cambridge on Monday, so that he can see the city from across the river. It is very beautiful, but today the road was blocked for the boat race -- and on Tuesday, the road was blocked because elephants and horses and ponies from the circus were walking up to Boston! Here's a picture of one of them:
We couldn't get any elephants to pose for us today, but Mike took some great pictures of Flat Stanley around Boston. You'll find them on Page Two of Flat Stanley's Gallery. Hope you like them!
Flat Stanley finally made his way here on Thursday, in care of the U.S.
Postal Service, and we were delighted to see him arrive! But I have a
secret to tell you: Flat Stanley looks a lot like my niece
Gina. How do you think that happened??? Unfortunately,
Friday was a cold and rainy day, so Flat Stanley stayed home with me and drank
tea.
Saturday was also sort of gloomy, so Mike (my husband) and I ran errands, cleaned up a bit, cooked some, and relaxed. It was a long week.
Today was really beautiful, so Mike and I planned to show Flat Stanley around parts of our small town and take him to the coast. Our town, Middleton, Massachusetts, is a small town north and a little bit east of Boston. Settlers from Europe first came to this area in 1659 - 350 years ago! We did not become our own town until 1728, and we got the name "Middleton" because we were halfway between Andover and Salem (two much larger cities, even today). If you want to read more about Middleton, you can visit our Wikipedia page.
People who live in Middleton work in a lot of different places. Some of us (like me and Mike) drive into Boston every day - that's about 15 miles from here (if you fly, but since we drive, it takes a bit longer).
Middleton still has a lot of land and some working farms. Our biggest business in town, for instance, is owned by the Richardson family, and it is Richardson's Ice Cream (and Dairy). Richardson's makes amazing ice cream, and they supply their ice cream to a lot of places here in the North Shore area. While Middleton does not border on the ocean, we are often considered part of the North Shore (or sometimes the North Towns...depending on which map you look at).
In the summer time, one of the most popular things to do on a warm weekend is play miniature golf at Richardson's and then eat ice cream. In the winter, we skip the miniature golf. (Our region of the country eats more ice cream per person than any other part of the United States!)
We thought you'd like to see the pictures of Flat Stanley (really Flat Gina!) around town, here in Middleton and in the coastal town of Marblehead. So you'll find a bunch of pictures on Stanley's Gallery page!
I've just been introduced to Flat Stanley - well, not actually
introduced as such. My meeting with Flat Stanley won't happen until
sometime next week, when he arrives for his educational tourist visit with me
and Mike here in eastern Massachusetts. We're looking forward to his trip
to New England!
Flat Stanley is an international project designed to help children get a better appreciation for their world. Flat Stanley's many friends send him traveling to places they often don't get to see themselves. And, through his entirely two-dimensional eyes - and with the help of Flat Stanley's hosts in the places he visits - students around the country get to see fascinating places and meet interesting people.
I didn't hear about Flat Stanley's travels until this evening, when my niece Gina asked if I would be the host for Flat Stanley's Excellent Boston Adventures. Gina lives in Ohio, and she has not been to visit us out here, yet. But I'm hoping that Flat Stanley has so much fun that she and her sister and her parents will come visit us next summer!
You can learn about the Flat Stanley project, too, and encourage your own local schools to get involved. It's very cool!
I'm hoping that my friends and acquaintances here in greater Boston can help to suggest places that Flat Stanley can visit - to give him, Gina, and Gina's classmates a good taste of what our region is all about. Here's my list so far:
- Suffolk University (so he can see me work)
- Beacon Hill's lovely winding streets
- The Massachusetts State House (our capital building)
- The Boston Common (where people once grazed their cows)
- The Public Garden (home to the Ducklings!)
- U.S.S. Constitution (the oldest U.S. naval vessel)
- Boston Harbor
- Harvard Yard (the center of Harvard University)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT is a great science university)
- Middleton, Massachusetts (because I live here!)
- Richardson's Dairy (the tastiest spot in my town)
- Salem, Massachusetts (home of the Salem Witches)
If you have ideas that I haven't got on my list, please feel free to send me email at deb.geisler@gmail.com so we can add to the list!