The T

One of the great things about Boston is the public transportation system, referred to by locals simply as "the T". When I moved to Boston 5 years ago, I came without a car. It was very freeing for me to sell my car before coming here, because living a car-free life in the midwest is pretty difficult. People definitely do it, but it's pretty rare... Since public transportation is such an integral part of my daily existence, it's kind of funny that Silas and Zoe escaped the bus or train until just recently. Having Dana here was the perfect excuse to work out the kinks of navigating a double stroller on the bus and subway. The weather was gorgeous over the weekend she stayed with us so we decided to go on an adventure to the Boston Harbor.

First we had to take a bus in order to get to the Forest Hills T station. One of the not-so-great things about Boston is that people can be mean (bus drivers, in this case) and the subway system is generally not handicapped accessible. We managed, however, to successfully navigate onto a not crowded bus, survive the mean bus driver and get ourselves situated at the front of the bus without being too much in the way of other passengers.


Forest Hills has a functioning elevator, so we easily made it to the platform and boarded the train upon arrival at the station.


S&Z were just not sure what to think about the whole thing... The train is pretty darn loud, after all.


It took us 45 minutes, but we successfully made it to the State Street stop (which we discovered is NOT handicapped accessible, even though the subway map marks this stop with the ADA wheelchair symbol!). A nice young man heard my (loud) cursing and promptly helped us carry the stroller up the stairs to the street. I quickly got over my annoyance and we headed to the Aquarium straightaway so that the babies could see the seals.


Next we headed out onto the wharf to see the water and the boats.


We picked a nice spot and hung out while we waited for our friend, Nick, to arrive. Lots of pictures ensued, of course!




The babies really liked looking at the water!



Nick arrived and we introduced him to the babies and talked for awhile on the pier.



Silas and Zoe started getting antsy so we started to make our way back to the T (a different station this time, in hopes of better stroller accessibility!).


After making a roundabout loop to switch train lines at a station with an elevator, we were on our way back to Forest Hills. Silas was sick of the stroller by this point, so he rode the train like a big boy!


I am thankful that we have a car that I use for most of my outings with the babies, because navigating that cha-cha alone on a regular basis would be challenging (not to mention, stressful). But now I know we can do it in a pinch and will ride the T as needed!

Now onto our next adventure...