Boston Vacation - The Freedom Trail pt 2

On day two of our visit to downtown Boston, we did the other half of the Freedom Trail. Well, really it's more than half of both the distance and the sites. This section of Boston, Massachusetts, the United States, is steeped in history, being established so early in the European settlement. It boggles the mind to think about the events that occurred here and the many important and famous American heroes who lived and worked here. If you haven't visited Boston, hopefully I can give you a flavor of the experience.

Once again, we took the T down to the start of the Freedom Trail in Boston Commons. This time, however, we located the beginning of the trail and traveled that path back through history...or at least across the Commons towards the State House. We opted to go with a self-guided tour, rather than crowd in with the, well, crowds who were waiting for the period-dressed tour guides provided by the NPS. Sweetie had purchased an informative booklet, which I read from in an authentic (in my own mind) colonial Boston accent.

Our first stop actually had nothing to do with the Revolutionary War or the founding of our country. It was a monument to Col. Robert Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. You may remember them from the movie Glory. They were a regiment in the Civil War that was composed of African-American volunteers. While I don't think it could be argued that they were the most successful unit for the North, they certainly proved both their bravery, their ability and their devotion to country and duty during the assault on Fort Wagner - a major step forward for former slaves (many of them) looking to be accepted and valued as people in our divided nation.

From there we wandered over to the first of two graveyards we would visit, the Granary Burying Ground. They were just starting construction there to make the place more accessible to the thousands of visitors, which, of course, made the place less accessible to us. We eventually found our way inside the gate, and gaped as we saw the graves of many who we learned about in school. The victims of the Boston Massacre (note the linked image was published by...Paul Revere), including Crispus Attucks, are buried there, apparently in a funeral procession witnessed by almost the entire population of Boston at the time. Right next to them is the burial site of Samuel Adams, a key agitator against British rule in the colonies. Also buried there is John Hancock, notable signer of the Declaration of Independence and Paul Revere (more on him later). Your sense of these names learned in school being real people who performed dramatic acts of courage (be it political or physical) is enhanced when standing where they lived and viewing the resting place of their mortal remains.

Our second graveyard visit was King's Chapel Burying Ground. This yard has some of the oldest graves in the country (not counting, of course, those of the indigenous people). Pilgrims and Puritans are buried here in sites marked with beautifully carved headstones. The chapel itself was originally established in 1688 and has been in near-continuous use since. And guess who made it's current bell. That's right, Paul Revere.

From here we walked past the site of the first public school (Boston Latin School - established 1635) and the site of the Old Corner Bookstore to the Old South Meeting House. The Old Corner Bookstore has a really interesting history. Back in the day (the 1630's), it was the residence of Anne Hutchinson, who you can read about in Wordy Shipmates. She was a bit of a character, for a Puritan, and ended up being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for thinking a woman could preach and the government had no business saying she couldn't. So, of course, she settled in Rhode Island, that hotbed of dissidents. Later the site was a bookstore where literary giants like Longfellow, Emerson, and Holmes would hang out.

We next arrived at the Old South Meeting House. Here there was Jr Ranger stuff to do. Calvin (or Thing 2, I can't remember what I'm calling him now) was getting hungry, so it was a bit of a struggle to get him started, but once he decided to do it, he really got into the sequence of events of the British levying taxes and the colonists getting mad, culminating in the Boston Tea Party. Many of the meetings about these exact issues went on in the Old South. We finished our learning tasks and headed out for a 'picnic' lunch on a bench outside the NPS office.

At this point, I'd just like to acknowledge that this is way more than you were expecting from a vacation wrap-up, especially one nearly devoid of photos.

So on to the afternoon. The Old State House is right across from the NPS Visitor's Center. Amongst other historical events, the Declaration of Independence was read to the Boston populace from a balcony on July 18, 1776. Despite the fact that it meant a war would start right there, the people cheered and burned symbols of royal authority. Right across the street - okay, well really it's pretty much in the middle of the street outside the OSH - is a once-brick-but-now-asphalt circle that marks the site of the Boston Massacre. (Not sure what happened there. It's described in all the guidebooks as a brick circle, but it was blacktop this summer. Unless there is another circular feature beneath the lion and unicorn that we managed to miss...)

Faneuil (rhymes with Daniel) Hall was next on the agenda, but some Congressmen were holding a meeting about fishing rights (or something) in there, so we couldn't go in to visit. The boys were entertained by a group of guys who were threatening to break out into a hip-hop street performance, but they never quite got there. It was odd and pretty lame.

We walked down a street (Marshall Street, I believe) that had very old businesses like the Green Dragon Tavern and the Union Oyster House. The road is still cobbled. Walking up to the North End, our destination was Paul Revere's House. Seeing the house was pretty cool. It's not very extensive, and there don't seem to be too many Revere artifacts, but still, this is the structure wherein Paul Revere lived.

Speaking of Paul Revere, our next stop was the Old North Church. This is in a really nice area of town. The gardens and statues and memorials surrounding it are really nice. The church itself is very proud of its history (as it should be) and a nice young woman gave a good retelling of the events of April 18, 1775.

Afterwards, we got a dozen cannolis at Mike's and walked back to the NPS Visitor Center to pick up some Jr. Ranger badges for the Things.

Believe it or not, we've reached the end of this great, history-filled day. Dang I feel patriotic now. I really feel the need to buy a gun, join an unusual religion and write something nasty about the government, all while paying my taxes and voting. Zoroaster Bless America!

Actual Boston Vacation Day 1 - The Freedom Trail pt 1

[Eds. Note: Apologies for the dearth of pictures associated with the first few days of the vacation wrap-up. Sweetie normally takes the majority of the still pictures whilst I man the video camera. She had a memory card go bad, and we lost the photos from these first few days.]

It being Boston, we decided to do the Freedom Trail, a 2 1/2 mile trail through Boston (physically marked in the city by a brick path or a painted red line) that passes by sites with historical significance, many of them from the late-Colonial/Revolutionary War period, but also some from more recent times. The whole thing is now part of a public/private partnership between the NPS and the private groups that had previously been preserving and sharing these sites with the public.

We decided to do the Charlestown section on Sunday, since the USS Constitution was only open to tours Thu-Sun. It was also Father's Day, so there was an extended breakfast at which much family was present (five fathers and nine children with mothers as well). So we got a bit of a late start. We took the T from Cambridge (where we were staying) to the Boston Common.

The visitor's center there in the park was under construction, which made the start of the trail less impressive - plastic sheeting and scaffolding and all. Since we were doing the Charlestown bit, we walked directly to the NPS office to pick up Jr. Ranger booklets. While there, Grandpa bought tri-cornered hats for the Things. Thing 1 immediately put on his hat and wore it the rest of the trip. Thing 2 insisted on wearing his Boston Redsox hat. [Turns out, when you're in Boston, complete strangers will comment on the quality of the Redsox if you are wearing their cap. Curiously, it seems like equal portions of comments are for and against the Sox. Damn Yankees.]  From there, we walked down towards Long Wharf to catch a ferry over to the Charlestown Navy Yard. Since it was lunchtime, we stopped at Quincy (pronounced "Quinzy" locally) Market and had a bite a a local establishment. There was a "living statue" street performer there who drew quite a crowd.

After lunch, we had a bit of walking around all over Long Wharf (due to bad signage and bad directions), we finally discovered which dock we were supposed to be on to catch the ferry. After a lovely ride with nice views of the city, we arrived at the Navy Yard and strode over to the Constitution complex.

The USS Constitution is actually an active ship-of-the-line - the oldest active warship in the world - so it is in a Naval installation and the tours are run by active duty sailors. (Good gig if you can get it.) After going through security, and looking around the visitor's center displays, we waited for the guided tour. The tour of the ship was very interesting. We learned why she was called 'Old Ironsides', what a scuttlebutt was, and to duck your head pretty much all the time when below decks.

From there, we walked over to Bunker Hill. There is an enormous obelisk at the site of the battle, which at one time you could climb up like the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., but right now it's under repair. We saw the statues of William Prescott and Dr. Joseph Warren, and heard a Ranger talk about the battle. Across the street from the monument is a small museum, which we stopped by to see the diorama of the battle and buy some water.

That concluded our visit to that section of the Freedom Trail, so we headed home. The Things were pretty worn out. (I think Grandpa was, too.) We returned via T from the Community College stop, which is at the college where some scenes from Good Will Hunting were filmed (you like apples?).

A successful day one, ended with more good times with family. Vacation is good for the soul.

Boston Vacation Day 1

Day 1 of any vacation is never very interesting. Especially for us, since it mostly consists of finishing packing and getting on a boat for the mainland. We spiced it up a little by stopping by REI to pick up some shoes and a fleece Sweetie ordered for Things 1 and 2 (respectively). Thing 1 needed new sandals because he lost one of his nearly brand-new pair. He left it at the lab, and when we got home he asked me "Didn't you bring it home?"

We stayed in a hotel that evening, eating in the restaurant there. Thing 2 managed to leave his new fleece in the restaurant, which we didn't discover until the next morning. Total time actually possessing the fleece: 4 hours. I suppose it's possible it will be in the lost and found when we return, but somehow I doubt it.

Turning from the foibles of my children, we move on to...

Day 2. This day started with getting up very early (looking for a lost fleece) and going to the airport. The hotel was very close to the airport, or we would have had to get up even earlier. When we got there, our gate was changed and we boarded a little late. The reason, it turned out, was that our original plane had a maintenance issue. ("It had this problem the last few times it landed," the pilot told us, "and there's only so many times a problem can occur before maintenance pulls it from service." I feel so much better.) So then we needed to wait for the catering to deliver food to this new aircraft. For an hour we waited for airplane fare. Oy.

The flight was relatively uneventful. There was a bit of turbulence, but nothing major. We arrived to muggy Boston. Thing 2 complained about the heat. Cousin S picked us up and took us to Uncle B and Aunt M's house. My dad was also there. They were just getting back from a day's cycling in Rhode Island. We dined and talked and had a beer or two. It was good to catch up with family, and they hadn't seen the Things in about 5 years, so there was a bit of catching up to do. The Things also got to meet their second cousins L, S, D and M. They are considerably younger, so the Things were alternately charmed and irritated by them.

I'll leave off here for now and save the juicy bits for the next few posts.