Old Granary Burying Ground and Boston Public Garden

Andrew has been working "American" hours instead of "European" hours here in Boston and it's been an adjustment for all of us. The good thing is that on the weekends, he spends one day taking us out on an adventure. The Aquarium, the Children's Museum, the Harvard campus, the Harvard Natural History Museum, and the Boston Public Garden are some of the places he has taken us to.

Boston Public Garden is like a giant Central Park in the middle of downtown Boston. In the wintertime the Frog Pond is a skating rink, which turns into a wading pool in the summer. The swan boats run in the spring and summer and the park is full of tourists, locals strolling, and people exercising and enjoying the sunshine that seems endless in this city.

One block from the park is the Old Granary Burial Ground, where some famous people are buried as well as other key people in the history of Boston such as the victims of the Boston Massacre. We saw the graves of John Hancock, Paul Revere, and Samuel Adams to name a few. Really neat to see this beautiful cemetery preserved very well and to honour its cherished citizens. Several of these people were signers of the Declaration of Independence!!

Touring the cemetery did lead to some questions from Maddy about death, and I think she grasped the idea and handled it very well. Since this visit, it has sparked some inquisitive and curious questions from her.

One really cool about the park was that Maddy could relate to one of her books. Aunt Nora and Uncle Calvin bought her a book called "Make Way for Ducklings", a story about a family of ducks who walk through the city trying to find the Boston Public Garden. There are duck statues in the park to commemorate this famous book. Maddy really thought this was neat.

Here are some pictures of the park and the cemetery: