Today we are going to Boston, Massachusetts to walk the freedom trail, on the way we stop at Dunkin Donuts at 7:30 AM so my daughter could purchase a tea and a pumpkin spice bagel that she had cut in half.
I ate a banana and a slice of angel food cake for breakfast.
It took my daughter about two hours to drive to Boston, MA.
We parked at 50 New Sudbury Street Boston MA 02114 (617)-227-0385 at 10:10 AM.
We had a good view of downtown Boston from the parking garage.
I took several pictures before we left the parking garage.
We were not sure where we were going so we made several wrong turns.
My daughter had to use the restroom and we were not sure where to go.
We asked several different people where the restrooms were and finally, someone said to go to City Hall.
Faneuil Hall Visitor Center and Retail Shop is where we purchased tickets for the Tours of the Freedom Trail. (Here is where the trail began once cattle grazed here).
The tours of Freedom Trail is where a ranger takes a group of up to 30 people on a 60-minute walking tour where they tell you about people, places, and events that happened in Boston that helped shape the American Revolution.
We walked past the Old State House built in 1713, implanted in the concrete is a marker of the Boston Massacre, we were told the Water Street story, we walked past the Old Corner Book Store, Old South Meeting House, and our last stop was Park Street Church where the hymn “American” was first sung.
This is where the tour ended.
My daughter and I began our tour walking along the red brick-walking trail.
Right across the street was Boston Irish Memorials and from there, we followed the red bricks to Old City Hall.
At the site of the first public school, we saw a statue of Benjamin Franklin, the democrat donkey, and the Republican Elephant standing in opposition footprints, a statue of Josiah Quincy 1772-1864 (who served in the senate, congress, judge, mayor, president Harvard University).
We followed the red brick to Kings Chapel Church and the cemetery where John Winthrop, the colony’s first governor is buried.
This cemetery inspired the book The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
We visit the Granary Burying Ground was Paul Revere and his family are buried.
Mother Goose, John Hancock, James Otis, Samuel Adams, Robert Paine, and the victims of the Boston Massacre are also buried here.
We walked past the Capitol building through the park to 84 Beacon Street to Cheer’s Club “Where Everyone Knows Your Name.”
We split Rebecca’s Fish and Chips, which was a plate of Crispy, and flakey Cod lightly battered and deep-fried served with fries and slaw.
Dipping tartar sauce for the fish and Ice tea with lemon to drink total cost $16.45 plus tip.
After we finished lunch, we walked upstairs and took pictures of side famous actors, actors from the Cheers TV show.
We took a few pictures outside the restaurant and then we walked back to the park.
We stopped at the Visitor Center on Tremont St to use the restroom and look around.
At the visitor center, I took my daughter's picture with one of the volunteers.
We also stop to take a picture of a living statue.
We walked past Central Burial ground and at the Government Center where there was a Lebanon Day Festival going on.
They were dancing, playing music, had exhibits, folkloric, and they were just having a good time.
We walked back to Faneuil Hall where we first began to use the restrooms.
We walked upstairs to Faneuil Hall a 1742 public debate in Boston and Meeting Hall.
We saw John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Daniel Webster's statues in this hall alongside pictures of George Washington and James Faneuil.
We walked back downstairs and over to Market Square where we split a chocolate fudge candy.
We exited out the side door, were turned around, and we were going in the wrong direction.
We were headed to visit the Paul Revere Home.
We met a US Coast Guard who was on his way to catch the bus home and he asked if we were lost and if he could help.
My daughter said we were going to Paul Revere's home and we needed directions.
He walked with us to get us going in the right direction, said goodbye, and then went to catch his ride home.
We walked along Cross St to Hanover St passing Ristorante Villa Francesca 150 Richmond St Boston, MA (617) 367-2948 and Limoncello’s Lebanese Ristorante 190 N Street Boston, MA (617)-523-4480.
We arrived at Paul Revere's house at 19 N Street Boston; Ma's cost to enter was $3.00 each.
On the night of April 18, 1775, a silversmith, Paul Revere left his small wooden home in Boston’s north end and set out on a journey that would make him into a legend.
We walked through a park where stood a statue of Paul Revere riding a horse.
Inside the park were plaques on both walls.
We stopped at the printing office of Edes and Gills where he was showing the process of printing a legal document.
On to the Old North Church “the midnight of Paul Revere” on April 18, 1775, where Robert Newman hung two lanterns in the steeple to warn Charlestown of the advance of the British.
Next, we stopped at Copp’s Burying Ground where British soldiers placed cannons to bombard Breed’s Hill.
We are headed to Charlestown but first, we must cross the Charles River Bridge.
We strolled through Charlestown City Square Park where we saw a fountain, marker (Charlestown established 1828), fish, (markers) Great house and three cranes Tavern City Square continuity Change, and four large markers listing the American Soldiers killed on June 17, 1775.
We walked past the Vietnam Memorial, firehouse ladder number 24, St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, and the Deacon Larking House.
We are on our way to Bunker Hill where the famous quote: “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
There were 294 steps to the top of the monument; by the time we arrived, the monument was closed.
Thank God!
By this time, we had walked from Beacon Street in Boston, to across the bridge to Charlestown.
Our last stop was the USS Constitution at Charlestown Naval Yard
To go inside the gate and board the ship required a photo ID.
I took pictures of markers, “A State of Perfect Chaos”, Charlestown Navy Yard, Dry Dock #1 How it Works, Dry Dock 1, Serving the Fleet, “Old Ironsides “in Dry Dock 1”, The Changing Yard, Boston, the Navy Yard, and the War of 1812, the Yard as Home, Working in the Yard, Life, and Work in the Navy Yard in 1812, of anchors, dry dock ships, Old Ironsides and many more.
It was now getting late and my daughter and I were both very tired from all the walking.
We tried to board the trolley but they were done for the day, no more trips.
We met a couple and started talking to them, they said they were going to take the ferry back across the Charles River to Boston, so we followed them.
We also met a man from Chicago and we told him about the ferry, so all of us rode the ferry back to Boston.
Ferry ride cost three dollars each.
The man from Chicago took my and my daughter's picture while we were riding the boat back to Boston.
I also took some great shots of Boston as the sun was setting.
As we arrived in Boston Harbor, we saw a Godzilla Boat and Legal Sea Foods.
We started our walk back to the visitor center stopping at Dunkin Donuts to use the restroom.
We were going to get a sandwich but they had stopped making them for the day.
We saw a small red brick building (Crosio) nestled among giants (skyscrapers).
We pass the Old State House and we are on our way to the parking deck.
You pay before you go back to your car costs thirty-five dollars; we got our ticket and headed to the car.
We took the elevator this time and not the six flights of stairs.
It had been a long day and still, my daughter had to drive us back home.
