Forget the boots, snow shoes may be necessary for this week if you plan on leaving your front door. Nonetheless, while you are on your way to these events make sure you leave with plenty of time so you can take it slow on the trek through the slushy roads and sidewalks, while being mindful of icicles threatening to fall at any moment.
Monday, February 16 [Presidents Day]
Captain Jackson’s open for School Vacation Week! – Old North Church, 193 Salem Street
Bring the whole family to Captain Jackson’s to learn about how chocolate was made in colonial Boston and get a free sample of colonial drinking chocolate! Stock up on chocolate treats for Valentine’s Day and be sure to pick up some hot chocolate to get you through the winter! More information.
Tuesday, February 17
5:00pm Mardi Gras Parade at Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Join us on Fat Tuesday to celebrate Mardi Gras with your favorite neighborhood restaurants and merchants! Watch as they tap into their colorful, creative side for the float decorating contest in the West End then jump in line for the procession around Faneuil Hall Marketplace – led by Salt from the Mix 104.1 Morning Crew. FaneuilHallMarketplace.com
Wednesday, February 18 [Ash Wednesday]
10:30am February School Vacation Programs: The Revere Family at Work
[The Paul Revere House, 19 North Square, Boston] Tour the Revere House to learn about the jobs Paul Revere’s family did both in and out of their home and then tries their hand at two different tasks. Each participant stuffs and sews a headache bag and engraves a design on a piece of copper to take home. View the event post for more information.
12:00pm Lecture – Cracking the Code: Decoding Roger Williams at Congregational Library & Archives, 14 Beacon St.
Cracking the Code: Decoding Roger Williams History Matters series Near the end of his life, Roger Williams scrawled an encrypted essay in the margins of a colonial-era book. For more than 300 years those shorthand notes remained undecipherable until a team of Brown undergraduates cracked the code of what turned out to be Roger William’s final treatise. More information.
6:30pm Book Discussion Boston Girls at North End Library – 25 Parmenter Street, Boston
Anita Diamant’s ravishing new novel begins as a conversation. 85-year-old Addie Baum, who takes her favorite granddaughter, and all of us lucky readers, through her colorful lifetime, all the way back to 1915, to a tiny tenement apartment in the North End that she shares with her sisters Celia and Betty and her Russian immigrant parents.
Thursday, February 19
11:00am February School Vacation Programs: Kids-eye-view Tour
[The Paul Revere House, 19 North Square, Boston] Designed especially to answer kids’ most pressing Historic House questions like: where did 16 children sleep in this house? How did they bathe & where did they go to the bathroom? This program is limited to 20 people. Reservations are required and may be made by calling the Revere House, view the event post for more information.
Friday, February 20
10:00am February School Vacation Programs: Drop-In Colonial Kids Activities
[The Paul Revere House, 19 North Square, Boston] The first floor of the Pierce/Hichborn House will be open for you to drop in to try on clothes like Paul Revere’s kids wore, and play the same kinds of games they played in an informal setting. This program is FREE with admission to the house and reservations are NOT required. View the event post.
Saturday, February 21
11:30am Vera Meyer on the Glass Harmonica – Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street, Boston
Treat your family to the ethereal tones of this fascinating instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. Once believed to cause nervous disorders, marital disputes, convulsions in cats and dogs, and even to wake people from the dead, today all ages may enjoy the glass harmonica’s music as it resonates in our spacious hall. More Details.
