Boston Trip : Day 4

Whale Watches & Boston Common Castle Island Home to Fort Independence erected in 1779, this island is recognized as the oldest most continuously used military fortification in the United States. A grisly murder here in 1817 inspired Edgar Allen Poe to write his short story The Cask of Amontillado.

The New England Aquarium operated whale watches with trained marine biologists. Ships carrying approximately 200-400 passengers make the 3.5-5 hour round trip to the Stellwagen Bank whale feeding grounds.

View of one of the international tall ships approaching the Boston shore for Tall Ship Weekend.

One of the 5 whales we were able to view feeding.

Austere and weather-beaten, Graves Light might appear to the uninformed observer to be a more ancient structure than Boston Light, its neighbor in Boston's outer harbor. Surprisingly, it's actually one of Massachusetts' youngest lighthouses built in 1843.

My favorite whale name = Etch-a-Sketch

The planes arriving overhead into Logan Airport.

If Boston were to have a mascot, it would most likely sport white feathers and a graceful, arching neck. The swan boats have been a Public Garden fixture since the first fleet glided onto the garden's shimmering pond in 1877. Each distinctive swan boat can accommodate up to 20 people. The Public Garden opened in 1839 and was America's first botanical garden.

Bronze of George Washington

The nation's first president cuts a stately figure at the western end of the Public Garden. Thomas Ball's 1869 bronze was the first to depict George Washington astride a horse.