Another packed out day. We woke and had breakfast in bed (why not) and once again packed the car which is now a well-streamed process. Record was enabled on the TomTom in order to track the route. First stop today was HG Wells’ home (which had been moved to its current location. We parked the car nearby as Matt has spotted a lovely building with a green roof.
We then popped into a library and the kind person behind reception gave us stickers for our suitcase as they didn’t have any bookmarks. The library was hosting an extensive exhibition about mass incarceration documented by Mumia Abu-Jamal.
After leaving the library, we saw a lovely building and clock tower and added these to our camera snaps too.
The primary stop for the day was the John F Kennedy Presidential library and museum which is one of Boston’s most popular tourist attractions and has hosted 6 million visitors from around the world. We visited the museum, but wanted you to know that the Library’s Archives include more than 5 million pages of personal, congressional and presidential papers of John (Fitzgerald) Kennedy the 35th President. It also houses the papers for Robert F Kennedy and more than 400 individuals who were associated with the administration. The library also hosts the Ernest Hemingway Collection, holding 90% of the writers manuscripts. The Archives also hold 12000 reals of sound recordings, 5000 video tapes and 1.5 million feet of motion picture film as well as 25000 volumes of printed materials. I didn’t memorise this detail, luckily the details were in a brochure.
The John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, built with private donations from 36 million people from around the world. It overlooks the sea with views of the city that launched him into greatness. Mrs Kennedy selected I.M Pei as the architect for the library as she felt he was filled with promise and imagination.
On arrival we purchased tickets and received a sticker of the presidential seal for entry. Later in the day, I was kindly given a second set to use for suitcase stickers.
We took pictures of his boat which is part of the exhibition facing the sea, and watched a 20 minute introduction to his early life up until he was named the party nomination. We then wandered through a labyrinth of exhibitions including the 1960 Campaign Trail, watching recorded debates between Kennedy-Nixon, Election Results, Inauguration and the bible he used, through to a replica of the White House corridor with rooms peeling off each side with immersive sound and vision of significant events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and black Friday, the Civil Rights and replica of the Oval office with his desk.
We had lunch overlooking the bay watching planes taking off and turning in the sky.
To end the packed-out day, we visited the Museum of Bad Art which was relocated about a year ago to share space with a brewery. There were some real corkers, one looked like I do when faced with tangled up wires. We purchased a tshirt and a 2024 calendar. Matt walked out onto the terrace roof for pictures. Among the streets, were many homeless which was heartbreaking to see as we left Boston.
TomTom and Google Maps navigated around the Toll roads and the traffic was crawled to the apartment for the evening.
