Point Lobos; The Other Carmel

When I think of Carmel I think fancy shops and spendy real estate. This is the reason the real estate is so spendy: Natural, Breath-taking Beauty. The boys and I went with our homeschool group to Point Lobos a couple Fridays ago. It's a natural reserve located an hour and fifteen minutes south of us, in Carmel. Wow. It was a spectacular day weather-wise, and we were so happy to be in such a beautiful location with wonderful docents and abundant natural wonders. We saw an otter and seal sunning themselves side by side, apparently this is highly unusual, the seals usually chase away the otters. This is also an historically significant place for the Native American Ohlone population, with evidence of centuries of use and civilization long before the Europeans arrived. There is an abundance of poison oak here - the Ohlone people can eat it like salad and it has no ill effects on them!

If you live nearby I highly recommend a visit. It's easy hiking if you've got really little kids and there is a lot to observe and learn. There is so much to see, we just scratched the surface with the tour we went on. Bring your camera, sunscreen and lunch! It's worth the drive.

Charlestown!

Prudence the cannon.

Rigging galore.

On Old Ironsides.

That's a big mixer. aboard the U.S.S. Cassin Young

Cool knot on Old Ironsides! This is the oldest commissioned war ship in the world. Neat, huh?

The U.S.S Cassin Young destroyer was the biggest hit with Coleman, though. WWII buff that he is.

Design is everywhere.

There are meanings to all of the flags. We've got a cool book about this.

We spent a good part of Tuesday in Charlestown at the shipyard. The U.S.S. Constitution and the U.S.S. Cassin Young destroyer is located there. There's a fabulous museum! This visit is part of the freedom trail we'd planned to walk. I thought it would be great to start the tour here since it isn't as crowded as in town and the parking is easy. But Coleman was still sick - the whole darn vacation! - so this is both where we began and where we ended the tour. We did get a peak at the Bunker Hill Memorial from the shipyard. Well, we'll just have to do this again this summer, if we make it back to Boston. It was a beautiful, sunny and crisp New England day.

Interesting Stuff About This Stuff:

Marine Flag Meanings we've got the DK book on Ships and Sailing.
For a book club Coleman recently read Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes. The book is set in Boston at the start of the American Revolution.
The Constitution of the United States of America by Sam Fink, this is an illustrated book, one illustration for each line. It's lovely, I found it at a thrift store for $3. I'll bet it's at your local library.
Howard Zinn's A Young People's History of The United States: Columbus to the War on Terror

Field Trip Friday: Alcatraz!

Beautiful Decay. It's what we found on Alcatraz. I was surprised by the extent of the non-prisoner presence all over the island.  It seemed like a little town. Families lived there together. There were apartment buildings and homes. There was a social hall, two bowling allies, gardens. I wondered how imprisoned the families felt on the island? San Francisco is a short distance away - by ferry. Still, it seemed a curious existence to me. What was left of the buildings was just a whisper of the original structures. Now they served up education and fed curious eyes like ours and have become nesting areas for many, many birds.

"Alcatraz" means pelican or strange bird. Seagulls were the birds we saw the most of. And heard. They were vocal. The wind was the only thing more relentless than the squawking of the gulls. The history of this island goes back much further than the beginning of the infamous prison we all know. In 1863 confederate soldiers were imprisoned on the island, confederates!

The cells are five foot by nine foot. 

After we toured Alcatraz we hopped over to a yacht club and walked to the end of the jetty there, where there is a wave organ which is an installation of a very beautiful wave-activated sound sculpture. This was potentially cooler than the prison for the boys.

The boys listening to the organ. Look in the distance, that's Alcatraz. 

Chris spent was the most patient with the organ and spent time really listening.