Well, at least we got a boat ride...

After experiencing the dress rehearsal for The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular the day before, we thought we may not want to be in a cozy little crowd of 500,000 yesterday, for the real deal. So, we booked our behinds on a fireworks cruise.

When we arrived at the harbor, there were a couple of ships lined up, and we settled onto a bench with a nice couple from Chicago.

There was one cruise before ours, and we were surprised to notice that a modern, sleek twin-hulled catamaran was being loaded for that one. An older, cramped, somewhat rusty tub appeared to be the only one left for the next group - our group. You could hear the ripples of concern begin to circulate throughout the crowd on the dock...

So as not to allow those of us who had arrived early to get cold feet, they began to board our cruise ship, the Rusty Tub. We had arived two hours early, and in the surprising crush of people anxious to board what looked like a retired tugboat, we ended up in the lower level, where we enjoyed a three-hour complimentary sauna, with a lingering flavor of salted seaweed in each labored breath.

I imagine it was with our safety in mind that The Tub made its way out to the general area of the fireworks, but kept to a very safe distance of several miles away, in case any of the fireworks embers might ignite the original wood hull, or the many fiberglass patches. We were grateful that squinting almost made it seem like we were watching "The Spectacular" on a cell phone screen... Several Lions attending an international conference were loudly planning a mutiny, gathering up a supply of the onboard hot dogs - stiffer than a billyclub...

Suddenly El -Floato De Rusti hauled ass over to another vantage point, where we could see the illumination of fireworks, from behind a row of tall buildings. It was unforgettable...

Today, the Boston Museum Of Fine Arts...

Chow for now!!