USA day 6: Boston

The doors in this hotel are crazy - I've never seen anything like it in my life - I feel like I'm in a safe! What the heck is with these?!

Went whale watching which was very cool. Saw a mother and her calf - they're not as big as I imagined - humpbacks - I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but it was something of epic proportions like Jonah's wale, capable of swallowing a ship or something lol

Befriended a really nice couple from Canada called James and Margot. James reminded me a lot of Phil (PHil, not Fil) and Margot reminded me a lot of my cousin's wife, Sue - she looked a lot like her!

We went out on a catamaran and went so fast that Margot could lean back about 45 degrees at least, and the pressure of the wind held her up!

So that took up 3 hours of the day. Went to some place called 'Legal Fishing' (?!) which is a private thing where 9 out of 10 fish aren't let in, apparently. Not exactly a chain, but there are several of them dotted around New England. Had Clam Chowder or 'chowdah', as it is pronounced, which was divine! (considering I don't normally like seafood very much) very creamy, and had a long long long long.. LONG discussion with the waiter, whose name I didn't catch (because I was sat at the bar) and a guy called Tom, who looked exactly like Mickey Rooney as Lampie in Pete's Dragon, but with a shorter beard

We talked about religion, philosophy, books, travel, politics etc. Tom said he used to be in the military, but I can't say I entirely believe him - he's very much an old salt, but I'd never put a set of dog tags around that neck of his. I love the conversations I have with people over here - you CAN actually hold a conversation with someone, unlike in England where it's a struggle to get two coherent sentences out of most people.

The Long Wharf trolley was pretty cool too. Ran into a squall on the boat on the way back into the harbour and the rain persisited for the rest of the day. So the legal fishing place was pretty much where I spent most of the rest of the day - it was also the place where I had my first taste of Lobster -Tom got me to try some of his lobster roll - it tasted like coleslaw, but had the consistency of really good chicken - the 'melt in your mouth' kind of chicken. Dunno if it actually tastes like coleslaw or if that's just because of the sauce they put on it, but it was seriously good - If I ever came back to Boston, I'd definitely have that again. The trolley was a welcome respite from the rain, and conveniently waiting right outside the restaurant. It wasn't really a trolley - it was a very wide square bus kitted out inside to look like a trolley - basically all wood interior with park benches screwed down to the floor and lamps from the ceiling.. it looked good though!

Took in some of the sights and learned some of the history, though I can't remember most of it. If I was to sum up Boston in terms of colour, it would be Raw Sienna, and Black. Bricks with black frames, doors and ironwork. The 'history' had about 2 pre-1700 points, but most of it was around 1800 - alright, but it aint got a patch on Canterbury, city of my soul. The 19th century buildings there are the newer ones! LOL

Kinda makes me appreciate a bit more what we have in England. The trollyman was boasting about a couple of houses there that were built as far back as 1880 and 1780 and I was thinking... but in London, pretty much every other house was built from around 1780, and in Canterbury, the average 'built in...' date is about 1450. Kind of puts things into perspective a bit really.

Er... yeah. so that was Boston. It appears I was staying in the snooty end of town, because the people and everything else in the long wharf area (apart from the weather, obviously) were quite nice.