July 4th 2013: Independence Day on the Harbor Islands

This evening, I had a BBQ at a friend's place, but before that, I decided to take advantage of the good weather to visit the Boston Harbor Islands, taking the ferry from the Hewitt's Cove Marina located in the Hingham Shipyard Marinas area. Along the way there, I passed by a few places in Quincy,

Quincy Point Congregational Church

St. Joseph's Church

Quincy Historical Society and Museum

Weymouth,

Bridge Street Bridge,

Bridge Street near Monatiquot Street

Unitarian Universalist Church

St. Jerome Church

and finally Hingham itself, where I had some time to explore Stodder's Neck, where people go to walk their dogs and has decent views of Back River,

before having to go catch the ferry from Hingham Shipyard

to get to Bumpkin Island.

I headed back to the shipyard area to board my ferry. I had wanted to visit Grape Island, Bumpkin Island and Peddocks Island all in one day, but the scheduling of the ferries pretty much meant that I had to pick 2 out of 3.

I ended up going with Bumpkin and Peddocks, passing by Grape a few times along the way.

It took a while before I finally got to Bumpkin.

The path I took to explore the entire island in less than an hour is shown below in pink.

From the dock,

I first headed left along the main path to check out the southern view of the Grape and State Islands.

Next, the northern viewpoint of Boston,

where there is a shade shelter as well.

From here, I headed to the ruins of the mess hall,

and for a moment I thought this was the end of the road, until I found a path in the one direction I had not looked, heading toward the ruins of a stone house.

When I finally reached the beach on the eastern side of the island, I decided to walk counterclockwise along the beach, rocky on the northern side, to the other side of the dock. Pictures I took while here follow.

I had to climb up some rocks in order to get back to the main path, and then I proceed to the viewpoint in the middle of the island, which had a southern view.

Finally, it was time to head to the next island, so I headed down to the beach by the dock to wait for the boat.

My next destination was Peddocks Island, which apparently was where they filmed Shutter Island.

The path I took while here is shown below in pink.

There is an old chapel at the dock,

and other interesting buildings from the Old Fort Andrews here.

From the dock area, I headed to the northern viewpoint, which I had to trudge through grass just to get there, but there were nice views of the town of Hull from here.

There is also the site of an old mortar pit here.

From here, I walked around the fort, not finding much more to take except from another northern view from which Boston could be seen.

From here, I headed downhill to check out the views from the beaches on both sides of the stretch connecting East Head to the West Head side.

I wanted to explore the West Head as well, but as the ferry back home was coming soon, I had to head back somewhat reluctantly.

Back at the dock area, I took some pictures of the beach area here.

It was a long boat ride with several stops at the various islands back to Hingham, upon which I headed back to Boston to have lunch at Montecristo Mexican Grill, a Mexican restaurant which looks more like a cafe. I had a Groupon here as always, and had to get a lot of dishes just to meet the minimum price. I got the Strawberry Fresas Jugos (Strawberry Milkshake),

the Rellenito de Platano (stuffed plantains), the Chuchito (Guatemalan Tamales),

the Pork Pupusas

and the Mountain Dish (beef, 1 egg, plantains, pork, rice, beans and salad with italian dressing on the side).

 Of all the dishes, only the Mountain dish was good, the pork being crispy and sinfully tasty, the beef tender as well and going well with the plantains and egg, while the rest were just ok.

After lunch, I decided to slowly make my way toward my friend's place in Malden, passing by the North End area,

Wall of Saints

the towns of Revere

VFW Post 6712

Beachmont T Station

and Chelsea

First Congregational Church

Our Lady of Grace Church

before finally heading to Malden.

I had a great time having BBQ at my friend's place, although it was really hot and humid after which we proceeded to my friend's office at One Broadway in Cambridge to see the Independence Day fireworks from there. As it turned out, a building was blocking part of the view, and the air conditioning was not turned on on that floor as well. I still managed to take decent pictures of the fireworks though, even while perspiring profusely.

After the fireworks were finally over, we headed over to my friend's apartment nearby to await the thinning of the crowds leaving before I headed back to my friend's place in Allston to stay over for the night.

Looking forward to surfing for the first time tomorrow.