Becky's photoblog

 

It was incredibly cool to leave home in a cab at noon, and arrive at our stateroom aboard the Maasdam  less than 90 minutes later! We wasted no time in exploring the ship, our home away from home for the next week. It’s very similar in a lot of ways to the other Holland America ship we were on for our honeymoon, and it brought back great memories. We were up on the top deck (14th) to watch as the ship pulled away from our beautiful city, with planes flying overhead and landing at Logan, and past all of the harbor islands. Boston’s skyline kept getting smaller and smaller, but we could still see it as the sun set behind us and the nearly full moon rose ahead of us. It’s so rare for me to be able to see so much open sky that the sunset is on my right and the moon is rising on my left!

Brian’s Photos:

My birthday fell on a weekend for the first time in a while, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we spent the day wandering around Boston. We walked the entire length of the Rose Kennedy Greenway, starting in Chinatown and following it along past the new sculpture-thingy, and occasionally crossing the street over to the harbor near the Boston Harbor Hotel, Columbus Park, and Long Wharf, and ending at the North End. Then we walked up Hanover Street past Paul Revere Park, then over to Battery Wharf (one of my favorite views in the city), back around to Columbus Park, through Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market for some MUCH needed fried oysters. Then, we took the T back to our neighborhood to see the new Avengers movie, then walked home. A fantastic birthday!

I’m going to be doing a painting of a bride on her wedding day, and her big day finally arrived! I had a wonderful afternoon walking through the North End to Battery Wharf, which happens to be one of my favorite places in Boston (and not just because it has a wonderful view across the harbor to the Hyatt where we were married). The bridal suite at the Fairmont Battery Wharf is literally right at the end of the wharf, and it has some really incredible views. I had the honor of hanging out with the wedding party during some of the formal photos, as well as with my friend, the mother of the bride. We took some really wonderful photos for the painting, and I can’t wait to get started!

After we were done with the photos, I walked back through the North End to head home for a quick change before heading back out again to see Fitz and the Tantrums at the House of Blues! Great show.

Melissa couldn’t believe that we had never been to any of the Boston Harbor Islands, so we made a last-minute plan to fix that right away. We packed a picnic, hopped on the ferry from Long Wharf (which stopped at Spectacle Island) and spent an absolutely perfect Saturday afternoon wandering around Georges Island.

Most of the island is what’s left of Fort Warren, a civil-war era fort which is now mostly grassy fields, big empty rooms, creepy dark stair wells, and upper ramparts with amazing views  in all directions. We could see Boston, Quincy, Hull, and Boston Light on Little Brewster Island. There were tons of families out there because it’s a fun and inexpensive way for kids to run around and explore, and for adults to relax along the shore with amazing views. We got our exercise in, and we also sat for a long time and read our books. Perfect afternoon! Thanks, Mel!!

After the after-party, we wandered around the Charlestown Navy Yard towards the USS Constitution, and watched the nightly ritual of lowering the flags and setting off a cannon exactly at sunset.

My sweetie and I celebrated a made-up holiday, our six month anniversary, by spending a gift card given to us as a wedding gift. We knew the restaurant was in the Seaport district, but we didn’t realize that it happened to have an amazing view of the hotel where we were married. They sat us at a quiet table on the patio, and we treated ourselves to an amazing meal with an amazing view.

 

I had an errand to run in the North End, then I took a long lovely stroll on the Boston Harborwalk — gorgeous little neighborhoods with incredible views of Boston Harbor! At the end of my walk, I treated myself to an oysters and an ahi tuna app on Joe’s patio at Columbus Park.

 

 

 

 

 

Another groupon … we took another incredibly pleasant cruise around Boston harbor during a beautiful foggy sunset.

The USS Constitution marks every dawn and dusk with a canon blast. Remind me never to move to Charlestown, but it was a lovely little ceremony.

Looking towards East Boston and Logan Airport during the whole to our cruise we had a great view of the hotel where we’re getting married next March.

The fog really started to settle over the city as we headed further away from downtown towards the Boston Harbor Islands

My second favorite shot from this group: the ocean meets the sky and both seem endless

Turning around to head back to the city, which we can barely see.

The lights start to break through the clouds and the city comes into view …

This is unedited you really could see a clear line between hazy fog and crystal clear water

Pulling back into Long Wharf