We were in Boston all last week. My Mom has been living up there for a couple of years, and we finally made it up there to visit. When we told people we were going to Boston, we usually received one of two responses: 1. "Oh, Boston is great, you'll love it!" or 2. "Why would you want to go there?" Well, put me in category #1. We loved it.

First off, as far as cities go, I thought it was pretty. The combination of old and new architecture, lots of trees, and a very cool waterfront, made the city very aesthetically pleasing. Next, the history was incredible. I've been to DC, Williamsburg (and the surrounding areas in Virginia), and Philadelphia, but I have never felt surrounded by as much American history as I felt in Boston. Part of that is due to our fantastic guided tour of the Freedom Trail. Our tour guide was truly passionate about colonial American history, and his enthusiasm truly made the tour memorable. Also, what can I say about the food. I have never eaten so much seafood in one week, and it was all good. We even ate at the Union Oyster House, the oldest continually operating restaurant in America. That was a cool experience.

But there were two things that the wife and I were truly surprised by. The people and the amazingly great public transportation system. With only a couple of minor exceptions, every person we interacted with was very pleasant. Especially at the Superliga Final game at Gillette Stadium. We were lucky in that our beloved Houston Dynamo made it to the Superliga Final against the New England Revolution during the week we already planned to be in Boston. So far our only other away game experience was against Dallas, so we were a bit apprehensive about what to expect. Every Revs fan we met was very friendly, genuinely impressed that we were there, and even when we lost, were very gracious in their victory. Several people came up to us afterward and shook our hands and said "good game", and left it at that. It was the complete opposite of the our experience in Frisco. Now, as far as the public transportation goes... I long for the day when Houston has something that is even 1/10th as great as the T. We were able to take a trolley or subway trains everywhere we went, except Gillette Stadium. It was awesome. If we had a system like that here, I would hardly ever drive.

OK, so by now you are thinking to yourself "Will he ever shut up???!!!" Yeah, yeah, I'm almost done. Check out the slideshow below. These are some of our pictures from the trip. These have not been retouched at all, and some of them do need some work, but I hope you enjoy them.



By the way, if you click on the slideshow, it will take you to the online photo album where you can see bigger versions of the pictures.