For all the time I lived in Boston, there are any number of things I never did or saw that I probably should have. Today, I got to rectify one of them by taking a day trip out to the Boston Harbor islands.

We boarded the first ferry out and were dropped at Georges Island, which is kind of the hub for all of the activity on the islands. The sister-in-law arrived a little later on a ferry from Quincy. At that point we decided to wait for the guided tour of Fort Warren, which is the island's dominant feature.

The only problem is that the scheduled tour never seemed to have happened. There was a ranger at the info booth at the given time, but he disappeared and, as far as we could tell, never inquired as to whether or not anyone was waiting for the tour. The woman at the information booth was pretty clueless about the tours, which suggests that maybe they want to coordinate these things better.

(Perhaps this isn't surprising, as the islands are a national park, but administered by some other body. This just begs for little problems like this.)

In any event, we took the self-guided walking tour. It was OK, though there was little attempt made to guide you from place to place. We were able to muddle through, but I'd have liked clearer directions.

The fort itself has elements going back to the War of 1812 (and there was a previous fort from the Revolution), and it was interesting to get to see it up close and personal. At times it was a little too up close and personal, as there were an abundance of open nooks to explore without much by way of lighting or even ground to walk on. Which is more of a problem now than it was back in the day.

After taking the once-around we decided to take the inter-island ferry to a neighboring island to have lunch. We took the boat over to Lovells Island, or as it will be known from this point on Mosquito Island (or the Island of the Damned, for the campers stuck out there). Within 4 minnutes of disembarking we were swarmed by the winged bloodsuckers, forcing a retreat back to the dock. We spent the rest of the hour there, and then took the inter-island ferry back to Georges (with other visitors who had similar insect experiences).

Once back on Georges we hung out under a tree, had some slush from the snack bar (located in a building that used to test mines), perused a monument erected by the Boston chapter of the Daughters of Confederate Veterans (that there is a Boston chapter was more surprising than the news that Confederate POWs were housed at the fort), and then left. I'd have liked to have seen some of the other islands, but that'll be for a later time.

And for all the city folk who flock to the beaches, the islands are a pretty good alternative. The ferry ride is $10, and while there aren't any sandy beaches, there is plenty of space for sunbathing and the like (I assume you can swim; whether or not you want to is an open question). The snack bar does offer fast foodish options, though it's pretty easy to bring your own (you just have to carry your trash off with you).

I'd happily go back. I just have to remember to pack bug spray with the sunblock.

The oddest encounter of the day, though, happened on the drive home when, traversing the narrow streets of Lynn, we had to get around a guy on a unicycle dribbling a basketball and wearing headphones. Had the camera only been available.