Boston

On Tuesday, after a day of much needed rest from traveling and walking NYC, we headed to Boston, MA. It rained on us all day, but we did not mind it much because there was little to no wind and it was warm. New York City was a lot colder and had wind gusts that would chill us.

This is a picture just inside of Massachusetts at an information center.

MA has a lot of history and seems to embrace it. That is what I loved about it!
Boston was about 2 hours from Kira's house and we got there right about noon. We parked and then decided that the best thing to do was to walk the "Freedom Trail." This is a wonderfully marked trail that goes by several historic sites in Boston and Charlestown. This trail is marked by red bricks and is almost 3 miles long. We parked about half a block from the Boston Commons where the trail begins.
In this picture the history of Boston is visible by looking at the narrow streets and brick buildings everywhere. I loved this city!One of the first stops on the trail was Capitol Building. This was a beautiful building and like most of the buildings in downtown was red brick. This is a wonderful tribute to General Hooker. We thought it interesting that they named an entrance "General Hooker Entrance." Every building should have one of these as opposed to the "VIP Hooker Entrance"

Another wonderful thing we loved about Boston is that the city was built around the history. For instance there was 3 separate graveyards that were right in the middle of the town and the offices and buildings were built around them. One of the first graveyards we went to has several historical figures. One had Paul Revere and Ben Franklin's parents.

Don't mind the face that I am making I don't know why, but here I am at the headstone of Paul Revere as you can read. Of course Boston has a lot of monuments and respect paid to Paul Revere. Below is Kira at John Hancock's burial site in the same graveyard.
Above is one picture that I love! It is an amazing place to pay respect to American heroes of the past and the American Flag is in the background. Kira and I in the third graveyard on the trail. As you can see it was getting dark, mostly because of the storm because it was not long after 3pm in this picture.

Of course we saw the Cheers Bar, a must in Boston! I am not sure that they knew our names though.


This is the Old State Building where a lot of America's history took place. Just read the green sign in the picture underneath it because it tells the history a lot better than I can.

For lunch that day we dined at the oldest restaurant in America as the sign says. We had some delicious "chowda" and seafood here. The people were so nice and friendly. We really enjoyed lunch and would recommend this place to everyone. It was right on The Freedom Trail.

This is another tribute to Paul Revere in front of the Old North Church where the lanterns were lit to tell that the rebels the British were coming. "One if by land, Two if by sea."
We crossed a bridge into Charlestown and this a view of the Boston Harbor from that bridge. Here is a fire station right in the middle of Charlestown. As you can tell I like the American flag and love to see it displayed. This fire station had a really cool old look to it. That is not real fog in the picture but it's my breath being blown in front of the camera. It sure did make for a cool picture.

The Bunker Hill Monument. This is where a key turning point in the Revolutionary War took place. The win for the rebels here boosted morale and led helped lead them to victory!


Right in front of the steps to the Monument was this map of The Freedom Trail.



At the base of the Monument there is the famous order from William Prescott during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Which reads:

Here we are at the top of 294 steps in the Bunker Hill Monument. It's not that bad of a climb, but when you have been walking all day long and you're weighing an extra 10-15 pounds because you're soaking wet from head to toe, it can be quite the challenge!
The trail actually ended at the USS Constitution, better known as "Old Ironsides", but we found out that during the winter season they don't give tours of the ship Sunday-Tuesday! We were able to get a small glance at it, but no pictures because it was too dark and not close enough.

Although we were all soaking wet we had an amazing time! It wasn't cold at all and we loved the history that Boston and The Freedom Trail had for our viewing pleasure. There was not better way to be thankful, so close to Thanksgiving, than to go around and honor the many people who were instruments in God's hands to make this country what it is today!