Boston

After transportation study, we decided to catch the 8:37 train at the Kingston stop, which we drove over and saw last night. I have to get there early enough to buy tickets, so I woke the kids up about 7:15, which is about an hour earlier than they have been getting up. I probably over thought it, because driving over there, parking, paying on the phone for the parking, buying the tickets, and getting on the train was very easy. They were excited to ride the train!

The guy I bought the tickets from suggested that instead of switching to a subway, we should just ride the train all the way in and walk to Boston Common, which is where we wanted to start. His directions involved "looking for the large building with the skinny top and bulging bottom," and to go past that on the left for four blocks. Miraculously, I didn't identify a building that looked like that. Thank goodness for google maps. Anyway, when we popped out of the train station, holy crap...we aren't in Liberty Hill anymore! I like it, but the kids say they'd rather be in the country.

Stacey found a Freedom Trail tour that we thought about taking where a guide (dressed up for the time period) would take you along the trail and tell you about all the stuff, but it was about $40 and they only did one mile of the 2 1/2 mile trail, so I decided we'd just buy a map and do it ourselves. I think the guide did add a lot (we ran into them and heard them several times along the route), but I'm glad we did it ourselves.

The Freedom Trail starts in Boston Common (a huge park) and follows these distinct bricks in the sidewalk along a 2 1/2 mile trail that ends on the north side of the city. It was pretty cool and very easy to follow. I'm not sure I took a picture of everything, but here they are.

*Plagiarism disclaimer: much of this is copied directly from the $3 pamphlet I bought.

Boston Common is America's oldest park, purchased in 1634. The girls were disturbed to learn that it has been the site of hangings and duels. There was a little playground that the kids played on for about 15 minutes.

On the north side of Boston Common is the Massachusetts State House, which is a cool looking building built in 1798. That dome is actually gilded with 23-carat gold leaf.

On the edge of Boston Common just across the street is Park Street Church, built in 1809. For many years, the white steeple was the first landmark seen upon approaching Boston.

Just around the corner and down the street was Granary Burying Ground, the third oldest cemetery in Boston. The look of the cemeteries that we saw were so unique with the arched, thin headstones. Many of them had skull and crossbones or angels engraved. John Hancock, Ben Franklin's parents, Paul Revere, the Boston Massacre victims, and Samuel Adams are all buried here.

John Hancock's gravesite

Ben Franklin's parents

Just an old gravestone...1689, I think

Paul Revere's gravesite on the right. A memorial on the left.

The Boston Massacre victims

Samuel Adams gravesite

Just down the street was the King's Chapel. This was built in 1688. In 1749, the original wooden structure was too small for the congregation and so the chapel was constructed around the original church. The pulpit is about 300 years old. Inside, there are pews, but in these box things. Imagine cubicals with half-height walls. The sign explained that the walls were to keep drafts out and to keep the heat from small foot heaters in. Families would pay to reserve them, sort of like football season tickets :)

Adjacent to this church is Boston's oldest cemetery.

Around the corner was the Old City Hall which is right at the location of the first public school in the United States in 1635. Ben Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others attended. It is located at another location now. Just outside the Old City Hall is a statue of Ben Franklin completed in 1856.

We ate lunch at an Einstein Bagel's type of place, but I can't remember the name. It was good, but nothing to write about (or take a picture of). Literally across the street, we caught up with this tour guide and his group and glommed on to hear what he had to say. He was pretty funny.

You can see this just behind the tour guide, but this is a monument to the Irish famine and their refuge in Boston. We just read the signs, but I had no idea how devastating it was. Between 1845 and 1852, approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, reducing their population by 20% to 25%. By 1850, the Irish made up one quarter of the Boston population.

This is the Old South Meeting House. Built in 1729, this is the second oldest church in Boston. Often used for public meetings, this was where over 5000 people gathered to protest the tax on tea.

This is the Old State House Museum. Built in 1713, the Old State House is Boston's oldest surviving public building. This housed the merchant's exchange, a precursor to today's stock exchange.

Just behind the Old State House is the site of the Boston Massacre. The kids had watched a video about that, so I think this was one of the few things they could really identify with.

I have no idea what this building is, but I thought it looked cool.

This is Faneuil Hall, a gift from wealthy merchant Peter Faneuil in 1742. This served as a meeting place and an open-air market.

So, this will be sort of hard to explain in words, but just outside Faneuil Hall was this group of guys with speakers and a microphone that were going to put on some sort of show. With the music playing and the excitement building, the girls wanted to stick around and see what they were going to do. They all looked to be in very good shape and a few of them were shirtless, so it was clear they were some type of athletes/gymnasts. A big group of people gathered and they ended up doing this sort of gymnastics/break dancing routine, but then, they grabbed about seven dudes from the crowd, including me (hence, no pictures). I'm not really a big fan of this kind of thing, but they had us line up in a row and told everyone they were going to jump over us. It became clear very soon that the entire "show" was really all about getting money, and they shortly started asking for donations explaining that the "normal" donation was $20. When I pulled out a $10, they put me in the very back of the line and eventually let me go before the dudes jumped over the remaining group. I managed to get some video of the jumping. I think this show was the kids' favorite part of the entire trip into Boston.

Across the river, about a ten minute walk from Faneuil Hall is Paul Revere's house. You could pay for a self-guided tour, but we skipped it.

This was down the street in Paul Revere mall.

At the end of this mall was the Old North Church, Boston's oldest church. There was a line to get in and the girls by this point did not want to wait, so we skipped that as well. I sort of regret it now, but it was a lot of walking and they were tired and thirsty. It was from this steeple where the two lanterns were hung on April 18, 1775 to signal the beginning of Paul Revere's famous ride, widely regarded as the spark that ignited the American Revolution.

Just down the street was Copp's Hill Burying Ground, but as this was our third cemetery, the girls wanted to keep moving. We weren't there five minutes. This headstone was from 1693.

We crossed the river to go see the USS Constitution and this was the view. Just across the street is the Boston Garden (no matter what they call it now).

This is the USS Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides. It was launched in Boston in 1797 and is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. The nickname was earned during the War of 1812 when British cannonballs were bouncing off her hull. Today she is manned by an active U.S. Navy crew and is docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard. There was quite a line to go on board, so we just took a picture. I also took a picture back into downtown Boston and you can see how far we have walked today.

A little park area with a monument dedicated to the people of Boston who died during the Civil War and a few houses nearby that I thought were cool looking.

The last stop on our tour is the Bunker Hill Monument. This is the battle where the famous line, "Don't fire until you see the white's of their eyes!" comes from. This is the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution, leaving 1400 casualties on the field. This 221-foot granite obelisk commemorates the site of this first major battle.

There are stairs inside so you can climb to the top, but they were so narrow that you couldn't pass someone coming down without turning your body sideways. It was 294 steps and we were all huffing and puffing by the time we reached the top. Man I'm out of shape. It was a good view of Boston though.

The kids did NOT want to walk all the way back into town, so we managed to find a subway about a ten minute walk away that led us back into downtown. The kids have never ridden a subway before, so they thought it was pretty cool.

After a subway transfer, we got back to South Station for the hour long train ride home. All of our legs are sore. I think we'll take it easy tomorrow.