Bring the family: Faneuil Hall

My feeble hand went up. (My daughter thinks she’s from the suburbs, and my husband was holding the baby.)

“Who’s from out of town?’’

The crowd went wild.

It wasn’t the first time we found ourselves vastly outnumbered at Faneuil Hall, a tiny band of locals in a sea of Europeans and Midwesterners. It’s ironic, really; when we visit other cities, we try not to look like tourists. In Boston, we’re happy to walk their walk. Yes, Faneuil Hall is historical but hokey, another mall with another Gap. But it’s also a great, vibrant outdoor spot for kids, a carnival on the cheap.

It was Ava who kept leading us back here, after she discovered her love for the Balloon Guy. There are several competing Balloon Guys, actually, and an occasional Balloon Lady, each claiming a different spot on the cobblestones. Ava doesn’t differentiate. They all charge a pittance in tips for elaborate balloon sculptures , a far cry from the twisted poodles of my youth: huge, multi-balloon hats with flowers on top, cute teddy bears on swings. (They still pop just as easily as ever, a lesson in transience for young minds.)

Now that she’s getting bigger, Ava is discovering alternate entertainment, such as the kiosk that sells spray-on temporary tattoos. For less than $20, the whole family - baby excluded - can get inked: Ava has had Hello Kitty and a dragonfly on her arms, Dan once got a bear claw on his bicep, and I traipsed around town for a couple of weeks with a deer tattooed on my ankle.

That’s how the outing gets started. Afterward, we roam around people-watching, chatting with strangers with exotic accents, sampling the street performers, ducking into the food court. According to the guidebooks, it’s the most obvious day trip in Boston. But it still feels like our little secret.