Trip to Boston and New York

Today was our first full vacation day.  We left home yesterday about 6:30 p.m. and drove to the Salt Lake Airport.  We stopped at Ashley's first to return an item of theirs and then continued on to the airport.  I dropped off Wendy and Jeff along with all of our luggage, and then I took the car to the Parking Spot.  We got through security and to our gate without too much trouble.  Our flight to Boston left on time at 11:55 p.m.  I had taken a motion sickness pill that caused drowsiness, so I thought I would sleep pretty well, but I hardly slept at all for the four and a half hour flight.  We arrived in Boston about 6:30 a.m. and then took the shuttle to the car rental center.  We rented a Nissan Altima and drove to the Boston Commons parking garage.  Driving through Boston was not fun as the roads were narrow and congested.  We were one of the first vehicles to park in the garage, and all three of us fell deep asleep for about an hour.  When we woke up we were surprised to discover that the parking garage had completely filled up.  We walked to the Massachusetts State House and found the Fill-A-Buster restaurant where we ate a large breakfast.  Then we walked to the Old State House which is one of the oldest public buildings still standing in the United States.  The Boston Massacre happened in front of the building, and the Declaration of Independence was read to a large crowd from its balcony.  We were surprised to see a subway entrance in one corner of the building.  Then we walked to the Old South Meeting House and took a tour of it.  This is where the meeting was held that led to the Boston Tea Party.  Some of the pews were originally owned by John Hancock, Sam Adams, and the parents of Benjamin Franklin.  We continued our walk through the Granary Cemetery where we saw Paul Revere's tombstone, and then we returned to our car.  We drove to Salem, Massachusetts, which was about a forty minute drive, and checked into the Hampton Inn.  We were able to rest again before meeting up with our tour guide for a Witch and Hauntings Walking Tour of Salem.  We stopped at the Old Town Hall in Derby Square, the Witch House, the First Church in Salem, Ropes Mansion, Hamilton Hall, and the Joshua Ward House.  We also visited the Salem Witch Trials Memorial and the Burying Point cemetery.  It was a very interesting tour, but very cold as well.  We were happy to get back to our warm hotel room.  This evening we ate dinner at a waterfront restaurant called Longboards.  Wendy had a lobster roll while Jeffrey and I had hamburgers.  It started raining hard while we were there.