Boston's Freedom Trail

Known as America's Mother City, Boston is also known for it's walking tours. The city is compact, with so many historical, ethnic, and gastronomical things to see that it cry's to be explored by foot. There is an extensive rail/subway system, known as "The T", which we took advantage of today by driving to the Riverside station in Newton, MA. We found a daily parking space, then walked a quarter mile or so to the station, where a kind lady who works for the MBTA helped us through the ticketing procedure, and off we went toward North Station. There were 18 stops until we got to the Park St station, where we got off to go to Boston Common, the start of the famous Freedom Trail.

It was about a 40 minute rail ride to Park St, and we couldn't help but think about the old Kingston Trio song about Charlie riding the MTA (now known as the MBTA). "Oh, he'll never return, no he'll never return, his fate is still unlearned". It's a great song, but kinda scary when the train dives underground!

The Kingston Trio - M.T.A.

We fortunately didn't suffer the same fate as Charlie, and disembarked at The Boston Common. Boston Common is America's first public park and is sited on 48 acres of open land. Used as a common pasture for grazing cattle, a training field for the militia and as a British Army camp during their occupation of Boston, this park is, like Central Park in NYC, a welcome respite on a warm summer day. The Common was sold to the city of Boston in 1635 by William Blackstone, who had settled on Beacon Hill in 1622, but was unhappy with the increased number of people living in his neck of the woods. The inhabitants of Boston were assessed a tax of six shillings to pay for the land, and Mr. Blackstone moved to "roomy" Rhode Island.

The 2.5 mile long Freedom Trail leaves the Visitors Center and heads toward the State House.

The trail is marked by a stripe of red paint or, for the most part, a double row of red brick, so all us dummy tourists have to do is follow the red brick road. 

The State House is the seat of government in Massachusetts, and is the oldest building on Beacon Hill. The dome was covered with wood shingles in 1798, but now sports gold leaf!

Our next stop was the Park Street Church with its 217 foot tall steeple. For many years this was the first landmark seen by travelers approaching Boston. For nearly two centuries, the church has organized its life around the Christian Gospel and been a pioneer in human concerns.

Known as Brimstone Corner, either because of the many "hellfire and brimstone" sermons preached here, or because the basement housed Brimstone, a component of gunpowder, during the War of 1812.
Adjacent to the church is Granary Burying Ground, Benjamin Franklins parents, along with Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, James Otis and all five of the Boston Massacre victims are buried here.

Just up the road from the Granary Burying Ground is the Kings's Chapel and Burying Ground. We weren't able to go into the church due to a special event taking place, but the Chapel was built in 1686 and became the first non-Puritan church in the colonies, Paul Revere crafted the 2,347 pound bell i 1816, and proclaimed it to be the "sweetest sounding" he had ever heard. The adjacent burying ground includes the resting place of Mary Chilton, the first woman to step off the Mayflower. That's her in the foreground….

The Old South Meeting House was built in 1729 as a Puritan house of worship. On December 16, 1773, 5,000 angry protesters gathered at the Old South Meeting House to protest a tax on tea and start a revolution. Samuel Adams gave the secret signal to throw 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor, and the world has never been the same.

The Old State House is dwarfed by the surrounding city these days, but it has stood as a symbol of liberty at Boston's historic center for 300 years.

Built in 1713 to house the colony's government, the Old State House was at the center of many key events of the American Revolution. James Otis railed against the Writs of Assistance in 1761 and in 1776 the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston from the balcony. The Great Hall was the place where Daniel Webster spoke, and John Adams declared in 1768 the the "child Independence was born"here.

Paul Revere's house is the oldest remaining structure in downtown Boston and the only home on the Freedom Trail. Paul Revere bought the home in 1770, when he was 35, and lived here when he made his famous messenger ride on the night of April 18-19, 1775. It is now a museum.

The Old North Church, immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere", is still an active Episcopalian congregation, and one of the most visited sites in Boston!. "One if by land, and two if by sea" ignited the American Revolution.

Copp's Hill Burying Ground is the final resting place for merchants, artisans and craft people who lived in the North End, one of whom is Increase Mather, the man who hung the lanterns on the night of Paul Revere's ride.

We stopped for lunch at Ducali on Causeway St. and enjoyed a Porchetta Panini and a side salad. The pork was prepared with Rosemary and Garlic and was absolutely delicious, and the open windows gave us a nice cool breeze. D and I shared the sandwich and the salad, but we each had our own Sweet Tea! Try a bottle of Sweet Leaf Tea the next time you're in the mood!

Right after lunch we strolled across the street, still following the red brick road, and crossed the Charles River.

Parallel to the Charleston Bridge we were on is the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge.
Built as part of the "Big Dig" that so famously overran cost estimates (2.8 Billion turned into 14.6 Billion, and there continue to be significant problems with the project), the bridge is an engineering marvel. It carrys traffic on I 93 as it exits the underground tunnel and heads north.

The USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides", was our next stop on the Trail, but the ship is in dry dock and undergoing significant renovation. Most of the masts and spars have been removed, and all of the cannon. We chose not to invest in a tour.

The ship has not been defeated since her launch in 1797, and still flies the "Don't Tread on Me" flag.

The last stop on the Freedom Trail was Bunker Hill. 

Today, a 221-foot tall granite obelisk marks the site of the first major battle of the Revolution. During the night of June 16, 1775, the Colonists quickly built a redoubt made of dirt and straw. On the morning of June 17, Colonel William Prescott uttered the famous order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!". Although technically a British victory, this battle has come to immortalize the determination of the ill_equipped Colonists facing the powerful British Army.

Just down from the top of Bunker Hill, we passed a building that has been converted to apartments with a for rent sign:

The rent is $2395 a month, one bedroom, no pets but includes water and heat. Hey, it's location, location, location…..and that 8-foot entry door is priceless!

We walked nearly seven miles today, navigated the MBTA a couple of times, and made it home through rush hour traffic. What a day!