A couple months ago I read that Boston Light was going to be open for tours again after being closed for renovations for a couple of years. I immediately bought tickets.
There are a lot of islands, shoals and bars in Boston Harbor and it was treacherous to navigate. There were many shipwrecks in the 17th and 18th centuries. The colonists first built a lighthouse on three-acre Little Brewster Island, which marks the turn into the narrow safe channel to Boston, in 1716 (this is the 300th anniversary). The tower was rebuilt in 1783 and that's the tower that stands today.
There were tons of staff on the island. It is the only light house in the US that still has a paid keeper, and her main job is as tour hostess. There were also several National Park rangers and Coast Guard Auxiliary serving as guides. Several of the oldest artifacts owned by the Coast Guard are in the tiny museum room at the base of the lighthouse.
We had brought a picnic but we were so busy visiting the sites on the tiny island (tide pools, cistern house, bell, boathouse and of course climbing the lighthouse itself) that we never had time to eat! There was a very nice breeze so it was quite comfortable.
The girls were very reluctant to go, of course. And yet they had a wonderful time.