After the hockey game in Bridgeport, we drove about an hour and stopped at a hotel about 2 hours from Boston. Saturday morning we woke up and drove the rest of way to Boston and arrived at our hotel around 10:30am - the Marriott near the historic Faneuil Hall Marketplace. We set our bags down and then headed out right away to hit the 11:30am guided tour of the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile trail through downtown Boston that connects 16 historic sites. They are all connected by a red brick line down the middle of the side-walk so you know where to turn, but we decided to do a guided tour to gain a little more knowledge.
The tour started at the Boston Common where we met our tour guide. She was dressed in a traditional 18th century Puritan costume and portrayed a real women of the 18th century throughout the tour. The tour definitely helped us brush up on our American history knowledge along with finding out some things we never knew about Boston. Boston Common is America's oldest public park and was used back in the 18th century for a variety of uses such as grazing sheep and cattle and even hanging pirates and witches. Our next stop was the Park Street Church which its main claim to fame is that "America-My Country Tis of Thee" was first sung there in 1831.
Following that was the Granary Burying Grounds which the tour guide spent a lot of time explaining. There are several very famous Americans buried there including John Hancock, Paul Revere and Sam Adams and the Boston Massacre victims (all five of them). I had forgotten this from history class, but apparently the Boston Massacre really only had 5 deaths, but Sam Adams used the event as a propaganda to gain support against the British. We also learned that the logo that you see on Sam Adams beer is actually not an accurate portrayal of the man himself, instead it is a portrait of Paul Revere. But the beer-makers decided they liked the sound of "Sam Adams" for the beer more than a Paul Revere Beer, but Paul Revere was a better looking man, so they used his portrait for the labels.
(Entrance to Burial Ground)
(Grave for Boston Massacre Victims)
Samuel Adams Grave Site
Paul Revere Grave Site
(John Hancock Grave Site)
We stopped briefly at the the Old South Meeting House which is where the colonist gathered in 1773 to protest tax on tea and where Sam Adams gave the signal to throw all those crates of tea into the harbor to be known as the Boston Tea Party. Right outside of the Old South Meeting house is also where the Boston Massacre occurred.
(Old South Meeting House)
(Old State House - from this balcony was where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the Boston citizens)
(site of the Boston Massacre - right outside the Old State House)
Our last stop with the tour guide was the Faneuil Hall, which was right next to our hotel. Faneuil Hall is actually known as the "home of free speech" because it hosted many town hall meetings and debates. The first floor was used a marketplace and the second floor housed the meetings and debates. It still operates as a marketplace with lots of local vendors and a food court with local eats. At the very top of the building, there is a weathervane with gold grasshopper....which the colonists use to use as a code to determine if someone was a spy or true "Bostonian" by asking them the question of "what sits on top of Faneuil Hall?"
After all this walking, we were starving so we went to the recommended Oyster House for lunch...although neither us had oysters but the restaurant is apparently the longest operating restaurant in America and John F Kennedy was known to frequent it quite a bit and they have a booth labeled as his favorite place to sit. We got some fish and chips and New England Clam Chowder and was quite delicious. After that we walked through the Faneuil Marketplace and got some ice cream and then went back to the hotel for a nap before the big OSU game.
(JFK's booth)
(The Oyster House)
On Sunday, we walked the 2nd half of the Freedom Trail that the tour guide did not cover and saw a few more notable things such as Paul Revere's house, which is quite small and indicative of conditions in the 18th century....no indoor bathrooms. We actually walked into the whole house, which is the only 17th century house still left in Boston.
Next stop on the trail was Old North Church. We got there just in time for a free lecture by a local clergy-man who explained the significance of the church and its uniqueness. The church is best known as the start of the American Revolution because it was here that the signal - "one if by land, two if by sea" was given from the steeple of the church which started Paul Revere's ride to alarm the country of the British. The church was also unique in its pews, because they were built almost like penalty boxes from a hockey game...with high walls and a door that could be closed. Apparently we learned that since there was no heat back then, they built the pews like this so that families could keep warm.
After that we crossed the Charles River and briefly saw the USS Constitution and then Bunker Hill. Bunker Hill has a large monument (looks similar to the Washington Monument in DC). Charlie walked up the 294 steps to the top and since Katie was 5 months pregnant decided that she better skip the steps and just head over the gift shop. This was a good move, because Charlie - who is obviously not pregnant - said he was pretty gassed by the time he got to the top.
After all this walking we were hungry again so we stopped at Regina Pizzeria, which claims to be one of Boston's original pizzerias. After all this, it was time for another nap for Katie and for Charlie to watch the rest of the basketball games.
For dinner Sunday evening, we walked over to the Parker House, which is a famous hotel. Our tour guide pointed it out and told us that apparently JFK proposed to Jackie here and then also held his bachelor party here at the restaurant on the top floor. We ate at the more casual bar on the first floor of the hotel and especially went there because it was the birthplace of the Boston Cream Pie. Neither of us had ever had this before, but Katie decided it is her new favorite dessert. Instead of sharing one, we each had to get our own (Charlie didn't want to argue with pregnant Katie, and he was fine with his own desert anyways).
On Monday before hitting the road, we walked over to the Boston Public Garden which is right next to Boston Common and Beacon Hill. Although it was a cold day, we walked through the garden which is kept very well and is probably very pretty once the weather gets nicer. Alongside the garden is the well-to-do area of Beacon Hill and most importantly the Cheers bar. It was actually originally called the Bull and Finch Pub and the inside doesn't have the same setup as the TV show. But the TV producers did use it as their inspiration for the TV show and the local bartenders and customers were even inspirations for the characters. We ate lunch there and hit the gift shop and then got on the road for Jersey.
Although the weather turned cold on us while we were there, it was a really fun long weekend for just the two of us!
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