A.Y. Jackson S.S.

This morning we all checked out early and somehow found a way to stuff the bus with all the stuff we bought over the last few days.

Before we left for home, we toured Essex County. Our first stop was at Danvers, which at one time was known as Salem Village. We visited the Parsonage Archeological site, which contains the stone foundations from the home of Reverend Samuel Parris, within whose walls his daughter and niece first exhibited signs of “demonic possession” that started the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Around the corner from this site is the Witches Memorial that lists the names, and some of the final words, of all those who died during the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Down the road from the memorial is the home of Rebecca Nurse, one of the accused witches who was hanged at Gallows Hill.

In Salem Town, we stopped at Gallows Hill, where those found guilty of being a witch were hanged from a tree. Our final stop in the Salem area was at the Burying Point Cemetery, that contains the remains of witch trial judges John Hathhorne & Bartholomew Gedney.

Since we were ahead of schedule, I added two new items to the itinerary. We drove to nearby Marblehead MA, were we visited Castle Rock – a large rock outcrop by the ocean surrounded by monster sea-side homes. We got some great group photos here! Down the road from Castle Rock is a small park that looks out over Marblehead Harbour and contains the Marblehead Lighthouse. We had a quick stop here for a group photo at the lighthouse.

We made it to Dartmouth College at about 3:20pm, a took a 30 min break have a very quick look around the campus and to get some refreshments. Some students even managed to run over to the Dartmouth Co-op store to pick up some Dartmouth souvenir clothing.

We stopped for dinner in Hudson, Quebec  at 7:30pm and made it back to AY at 9:45pm.

I'll post photos from today ASAP.

A. Costello

Hi there! We had another great sunny day in Boston.

We strated off the day by dipping our feet in the Atlantic Ocean and walking along the beach in Winthrop MA. Students had a great time collecting shells (and he remains of lobsters, clams and crabs).

Students loved the great food and shops of Quincy Market. We may have some new seafood lovers - clam chowder seems to be a very popular choice.

From Quincy Market, we walked over to the New England Aquarium where students got to see seals, penguins, jellyfish, and many other types of marine life. The gift shop was well used by all.

The guided tour of the Freedom Trail provided students with a history lesson in the events that occurred in Boston prior to and during the American Revolution.  Our guides were dressed in colonial garb and provided us with many interesting (and often ghoulish) stories about Boston. At the Granary Burying Ground we saw the graves of American Patriots Samual Adams, John Hancock, James Otis and Paul Revere.

The highlight of the day was going to the Charles Playhouse to see a performance of the Blue Man Group. We occupied the first 3 rows of the theatre and had the best view of the house. The show itself was awesome - very creative, funny, interactive and visually stunning. It is the most fun with paint, marshmellows, toilet paper, jello, cereal, shaving cream and twinkies we have ever had!

Tomorrow we check out of the hotel. In the morning we will visit some of the sites associated with the witch hysteria and trials of 1692. In the afternoon we will head to Darthmouth College for lunch and then head for home.

We should make it back to AY by approx. 10:00pm. See you then!

A.Costello

p.s. I'll try to update the photo album to include todays images ASAP.

What a day! The weather was beautiful and we had a lot of fun touring the area.

In the morning we spent about 2.5 hours at Woburn Memorial High School. The school is massive & gorgeous! The facilities are stunning. When we arrived at 8:30, the Principal had a small reception for us in the foyer with 50 students from the school. Students from both schools were paied up a given a tour of the school. Students then went to 2 classes. Everyone really enjoyed meeting the students of Woburn High. Special thanks to Principal Joe Finigan who provided us all with a wonderful experience.

After having lunch at the Prudential Center, we went to the 50th floor observation area of the Prudential Tower called the Skywalk Observatory. Given the great weather, the views were breathtaking. We could see the Atlantic Ocean, downtown Boston, MIT and Harvard and great views of Fenway Park.

Once at Harvard we got a tour of Harvard Yard (Hahvahd Yahd) from a very nice Harvard student called Trevor. He told us how tutition is about $42,000 a year, with total annual expenses (including living expenses) reaching approx 52 to 54K!!! The architecture around Harvard is very impressive. For dinner, we spent some time in the Harvard Square area. Many of our students went to the Harvard Shop to get Harvard t-shirts, sweatshirts and anything else with a harvard logo on it.

In the evening we went to the Museum of Fine Arts. Students were most impressed by some of the Egyptian artifacts - including a mummy's head! They also got quite a giggle over some the Greek pottery that depict - how do I describe it..."intimate recreational activities". I'll let them show you the photos.

Everyone is pretty tired right now. Hopefully the students will get a good nights sleep, because tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.

I'll post some photos to the photo gallery ASAP.

Goodnight!

A. Costello

Update: Our hotel has changed. We are at the Fairfield Inn in Woburn - not the Hampton Inn. The address is 285 Mishawum Road (just down the road from the Hampton Inn), Woburn MA. The phone number is (781) 938-7575.

We had an interesting bus ride. We left at 9:00am but had to stop for 45min at a truck stop near the junction of the 416 and 401 highway in order to wait for a new driver. The use of two drivers is common for long trips, since there are rules on how many hours a driver can be on duty. By using two drivers, we can extend the amount of time we have use of the bus.

We crossed the border at Massena NY at 12:00 noon. It looks like upstate NY had quite a snowstorm recently as there was about 2-3 inches of snow everywhere.

In New Hamshire the bus GPS went crazy and took us along a small country (gravel & dirt) road. We were clipping some of the branches of the trees along the way. In the end, the GPS spit us out at about the same spot in the highway where we exited. On the bright side, we did get to see some lovely country homes.

To save some time, we had the bus drive us directly to the Burlington Mall instead of the hotel. So here we are! Your kids are busy wolfing down their dinner so that they can spend your money in the shops!

We will be here until 9:00pm and then go to the hotel to check-in. Everyone is doing well.

Please feel free to check-out the trip Photo Gallery. I'll be updating it every evening.

Cheers

A. Costello

Bostonians played a significant role in events leading up to, and during, the American Revolution.  Given Boston's strong historical connection to the American Revolution, it is important that all students participating in the Boston trip familiarize themselves with some of the people, places and events associated with this time in History. The following is a brief summary.