Boston, Massachusetts

Since we only had about a day to spend in Boston, we chose to walk the Boston Freedom Trail. They say the trail is only 2.5 miles long but somehow we ended up walking seven plus miles. Maybe it’s because we got lost a couple of times, which was okay because I think we were able to cover most of Boston proper!

It was a little glumly flying into Boston, but luckily it stayed dry most of the day, only raining hard on us once. Boston reminded me a lot of Philadelphia with the more modern skyscrapers mixed in with old historical buildings and churches. Above are some of the more modern buildings and things to see and do around the city.

Our tour began in Boston Common where we jumped on the red brick trail to the Massachusetts State House, Massachusetts’s capital building, located in Beacon Hill, with Park Street Church right around the corner. The next stop was Old Granary Burying Ground, one of Boston’s earliest historic sites, dating back to 1660. Here we discovered the graves of Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and the Boston Massacre victims. We also learned what the different gravestone carvings represented.

Next, was King’s Chapel (the first Anglican Church in mostly Puritan Boston) and King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Boston’s oldest graveyard. The Old South Meeting House was the site of many speeches and in 1773 it’s where a crowd of 5,000 Colonists waited to hear if ships carrying British tea would be able to leave Boston Harbor and return to England. On July 18, 1776, Colonists gathered around The Old Statehouse to hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud for the first time in Massachusetts. At Faneuil Hall and Faneuil Hall market, Sam Adams and other Sons of Liberty gave some fiery speeches. It continues to be one of Boston’s most popular shopping areas, and has some pretty great entertainment as well, like the guy riding a unicycle high in the air, while playing the bagpipes, and juggling knives! We grabbed lunch at Quincy Market which had every kind of food imaginable, but finally settled on Korean corn dogs from Kong Dog (sooo good!)

Located near historic churches of all denominations, is Pauls Revere’s house. It was made in the medieval-style and is located in the historic North End neighborhood. It’s the only 17th century wood building still standing in its original Boston site. Close-by is the Old North Church, built in 1723, it’s the oldest place of active worship (Episcopal) in Boston. In 1775 a friend of Paul Revere, Robert Newman, hung 2 lanterns from the steeple to warn Patriots in Charleston that the ‘British were coming’. I had Brad take pictures through the high open windows…it’s quite stately inside with cubicles for religious worship and study.

After passing the stadiums along the Charles River, and crossing the bridge to Charlestown, we explored Charlestown Navy Yard. There we saw the USS Constitution, built in 1793 to protect U.S. merchant ships from pirate attacks. It’s the oldest commissioned warship in the world. Another historic boat was the USS Cassin Young, a destroyer that fought in WWII. The Navy Yard built many similar boats during the War, and in 1950 the yard continued to repair and modernize these boats. Although cloudy, the views of East Boston, across the river, were beautiful! Last, but not least, was the Bunker Hill Monument, commemorating the first, and deadliest, battle of the Revolutionary War. It was in the process of a major face-lift, but no less impressive, towering 221 feet in the air!

I loved visiting Boston, if only for a short time, and am grateful the weather held out long enough for us to walk the Freedom Trail. I discovered and learned so many new things about Boston, and it really was the cherry on top of our amazing, Autumn in New England!