August 18th 2012: The Boston Harbor Islands

Today, I decided to visit the Boston Harbor Islands with my friend from work. At Long Wharf, there were nice views of the surrounding area.

Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park,
State Street and Atlantic Avenue

Boston Marriott Long Wharf

Our first destination on this rainy morning was Spectacle Island. On the boat out, I took several pictures of the harbor area, and of planes leaving from the Boston Logan Airport.

The Boat to Spectacle Island

The Boston Harbor

Heading away from Boston

The Tobin Bridge

Plane Leaving Logan Airport

Fort Independence

Long Island Bridge, Long Island Road

Approaching Spectacle Island

On the island, I could not help but keep taking pictures of the beautiful scenery all around. The route I took here with my friend is shown below in pink.

Boston Harbor from the docks

View of Thompson Island

On the Docks

On the beach

The docks from above

Bird of Prey

Wild Turkey

We first headed up the South Drumlin, where there were awesome views of the islands around us.

Heading up the South Drumlin

Atop South Drumlin

Heading down the drumlin

Long Island from South Drumlin

Painted Lady

Male American Goldfinch

We then took a short cut down a grassy path to head up the North Drumlin, where the views were even better, of Long Island Head Light, Boston and Deer Island.

At the North Drumlin

Plane flying over Boston

Moon Island from North Drumlin

Deer Island (left) and Long Island (right)
with Long Island Head Light in distance

From here, we headed down to the nearby granite pilings off the shore, when many cormorants were congregated on them.

Seabirds on the granite pilings

From here, we chose to head along a treacherous path on the shore to get back to the dock area, where the visitor center is. There, we decided to get some clam chowder from the Summer Shack located there, and we sat down to eat while waiting for the boat to Georges Island to come.

Returning to the Visitor Center

At the Visitor Center

View from the visitor center

Clam Chowder

The chowder was pretty good, and we did not need to wait long for the boat to come. On the way to Georges Island we passed under the Long Island Bridge to get there. Pictures I took along the way follow.

Last views of Spectacle Island

Heading to the Long Island Bridge

Moon Island

Long Island

Approaching the Bridge

Bird on a buoy

Going under the bridge

Looking back at Boston from behind the bridge

Approaching Georges Island

The whole of Georges Island is pretty much dominated by the presence of a historical fort, Fort Warren. It was fun and at times scary exploring the dark corridors of the place, while having to deal with a ton of Canadian geese, and a landmine of goose poo as well. The pictures I took here of the fort and the views from the ramparts follow.

The Dock Area

Heading toward Fort Warren

The view from within

The main entrance

Canon Emplacement sites

View of Lovells Island

View of Boston Light

The Graves Lighthouse in the Distance

Birds on the fort

Canon Replica

The parade Ground

Inside the fort

small cannons

Shelters

1. At the Visitor Center

Back at the visitor center, there is another Summer Shack here. Choosing not to get more food, we waited for our boat to our next island Lovells Island.

Boat to Lovells Island

Lovells Island is pretty undeveloped, with the ruins of old batteries scattered all over the island, and pretty rocky beaches. We had 2 hours to spend here before our next boat back to Georges Island.

View of Georges Island from the docks

On the beach

The strong waves

Boston Light in the Distance

Ruins of the batteries

Boston skyline from the island

Deer Island

Birds and Deer Island Light in the distance

Nixes Mate

Fort Standish

House ruins

When we were tired of walking around the island, we headed back to the dock to wait for our boat back to Georges Island. Here at the small pavilion, we had an interesting talk with the ranger about ticks on the islands, and how many people visit the islands on busy days. Thankfully for the gloomy weather today, we did not experience the hundreds of people who typically come on the weekends.

When we reached Georges Island, a boat was just leaving for Boston, so we jumped on it to head back to Boston. There on Long Wharf, we decided it was time for some chow at the nearby Tia's Restaurant and Bar, a seafood restaurant on Long Wharf. We sat outside this upper scale restaurant, which had really nice decor inside.

While my friend got her very first steamed lobster, I got the Crabmeat Crusted Baked Boston Scrod, which comes with cherry tomato Beurre Blanc, garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Excellent, simply excellent, while my friend made a pretty typical mess from eating a steamed lobster, and got scared from ever eating it again.

Sitting Outside

Crabmeat Crusted Baked Boston Scrod

Decor inside

After our expensive dinner, we headed to Providence to watch Waterfire, which my friend had not seen before, ending our day of fun exploring the Boston Harbor Islands in the rain, which actually was not that bad all day, drizzling at times at worst.