Our plans of apple picking at Honey Pot Hills were washed out and we will hopefully go next weekend. Instead we took a mini adventure into Cambridge and surprised our sons with a ride on the train and didn’t tell them our final destination:
My guys waiting for the red line.
Conor, our 2 year old, is currently obsessed with diggers and trains. He kept saying, “choo choo” and was so delighted to be on the train.
Both boys charmed the college girls and loved the salt and pepper bridge and seeing the city wizz past us. Walking around Harvard Yard in the cool, autumn mist was amazing. We discovered that Harvard is celebrating it’s 375th year (as is our town – Scituate). Our final destination was the Harvard Natural History Museum. Despite growing up in Massachusetts I’d never been to this wonderful and historic place. We were lucky enough to enjoy the museum for FREE. Yes, free. Massachusetts residents are free on Sundays between 9am-Noon (year-round) and Wednesdays from 3-5pm (September-May).
There was something about walking into the old brick building and up the stunning metal and wood staircase. We were about to share some very special moments of the past with our children, our connection to the future. One of the first galleries we walked through was the botanical galleries with the world-renown Glass Flowers. This collection has more than 4,400 models of plants created by father and son glass artists, Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka in the 19th century. Despite being so close to these flowers it was hard to tell that they were actually made of glass. Just beautiful and so very delicate.
My dino-obsessed son’s favorite part was the Paleontology / Dinosaur Room. John was amazed by the enormous pleiosaurus in his reach, just behind plates of glass. The museum also had a huge skull of a triceratops, other skeletons and many, many fossils.
Conor towered by extinct flightless birds
The Great Mammal Hall is the oldest and most awe-inspiring gallery in the whole museum. We saw all different stuffed animals – a full sized giraffe and suspended above the room were three whale skeletons.
My favorite room was the mineralogical gallery. I had a rock collection when I was little; filled with pyrite (fool’s gold), quartz, geodes and amethyst. So you can imagine my delight at seeing a room filled with all these amazing minerals, gemstones and rocks.
1,600 pound amethyst geode from Brazil
John’s birthstone is amethyst so we had to get a photo of him infront of this huge amethyst geode. Isn’t that neat? The boys also loved seeing and touching meteorites! We had so, so much fun.
Sunday was also Octoberfest in Harvard Square so we had a very festive walk around the Sq., stumbled upon a parade, heard live music and enjoyed some Mexican from the Border Cafe.
The Border Cafe is a favorite of mine from college years so was very fun to share this old favorite with my guys. The boys feasted on quesadillas and jambalaya rice while Luke had enchiladas and I sipped a yummy margarita while nibbling on soft tacos. John and Conor napped on the way home, exhausted from their adventure, and got to crack open the amazing geodes we got from the museum –
Conor trying to break his geode with his toy hammer.
John’s sparkling crystals.
A little piece of history now sits on their bureaus. Not bad for $6. We had a great mini adventure!
