Title: October 17, 2018 - Boston, Freedom Trail Part I
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's
Hike Info:
Type: City
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| Orange Line Subway |
Description:
I got up at 7:30 local time.
That seems pretty consistent now. I had my quiet time. Sherri
followed around 8:00. We get off to another slow start, but yummy
start. Sherri fixed pancakes for us under a little bit of hardship
conditions. While the AirBnb is nice and comfortable, the kitchen
lacks a certain amount of equipment, such as a spatula. So Sherri
improvised with a plastic knife we got from a restaurant. Another
thing for a shopping list.
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| Visitor Information in Boston Common |
We leave a few minutes after
10 for Malden Center station where we pick up the subway. The Orange
train comes pretty quickly and we are on our way downtown. We stop
at Starbucks for Sherri’s coffee fix. While I am waiting for her, a
guy asks to use a power cable for his phone. At first I did not think
I had one until I remembered my battery. His phone still would not
charge. But we got into a conversation. At one point a lady came over
in our direction-was this my wife? No. Then Sherri came over and my
new friend approved. After that it was talking about sports.
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| Robert Gould Shaw Memeorial |
We walked to the Common
after Starbucks. The Freedom
Trail
starts at the Visitor Information place we stopped at yesterday. At
11:30, we started our walk on the Freedom
Trail.
We cross the Common and end up at the Robert Gould
Shaw
commemoration-not that it is part of the Freedom Trail. The Freedom
Trail celebrates the Revolutionary War while the Robert Gould Shaw
monument is about going to war, the Civil War.
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| New State House |
We cross over and take a few
pictures in front of the “new” State
House.
The new is in the late 1700’s. We thought about doing a tour, but
we will hold off for another day as there will be lots of things we
are seeing. The “new” State House is currently in use.
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| Park St Church |
We cross the Common again and
stand in front of the Park
St Church.
It looks closed today. But the description is that it is where
several of the leading people in the Revolutionary War, as well as
the abolitionist movement went to this church. Beside it the the
Granary
Burial Grounds.
Several of Massachusetts leading Revolutionary War citizens (anti
taxation) where buried here-Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere
to name a few. We spent an hour or so wandering the grounds. Most of
the grave stones were highly weathered, so it was hard to read them.
Still it is a wonder to be among the graves of those who lead and
fought in the Revolutionary War.
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| Inside the Kings Chapel |
A short walk brings us to the
Kings
Chapel-even
though most places seems to call it Kings Church. As the name sounds,
this is a church which supported staying in the British Empire and
then later on, were anti-abolitionist during the Civil War. In the
churches which I have seen have pews all in a street line. Here, it
seems more like box seats at a baseball game. The signs said that
these were for those who well-to-do who would rent out the boxes for
their families. The signs also indicated that the reason why people
in the church supported slavery is that many of them owned the
garment mills in Massachusetts, such as in Lowell, who depended on
the cotton for their factories. Several signs show famous people who
have been members of the Chapel. Also backgrounds of many people are
given.
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| Kings Burial Grounds |
Besides the church is another
burial grounds. But the church and the burial grounds are not
associated with each other. The church has its own crypt under the
church. People like John Winthrop who founded the Massachusetts Bay
Colony and Richard Dawes of the Paul Revere ride fame are here. Plus
a variety of other folks. These burial grounds are smaller than the
Granary one.
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| Ben Franklin |
On the church's other side is the site
where the first public school in Boston (America?) stood. Now a Chris
Ruth steakhouse is here. Also a statue of Ben Franklin stands
towering over its visitors, with a fellow named John Quincy at his
side. While interesting, I wander over to a side of the courtyard
and see a donkey with a pair of shoe prints. Wonder what this is?
Close by there is a sign which explains how the two current major
parties came into existence. The symbolism of the donkey and
footprints are explained-you can either stand with the Democrats or
stand against them.
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| Free Little Library |
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| Old Bookstore |
Onward down to
Old Corner Bookstore.
Now it was around 1:00pm by this time. When we located the bookstore,
we discovered it was a Chipotle. Somehow this feels a bit of a
sacrilege. I guess if a school can turn into a steakhouse, a
bookstore into fast food-a sign of our times. But across the way from
the Old Bookstore, there is a new bookstall. Or more accurately, a
Free
Little Library.
I am used to seeing these libraries as a little box stuck on a post.
But this is a full size cart. Restores some hope.
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| Old South Meeting House |
We stand in front of the Old
South Meeting House,
but do not go in. Seems like there is a $10 charge for everything. I
needed to figure out what is worth going in and spending our time and
money on, and what looks mildly interesting. We make our way to the
Old
State House,
but we come across a bit of modern revolt going on. One of the hotel
unions is staging a protest in the streets. Lots of meaningless
noise, no violence.
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| Old State House |
We get to the Old State House,
the site of the Boston
Massacre. Sort of interesting, Sherri
and I have been at this site before, but we did not know it. We made
a connection here Monday
when we came in. Underneath us is the site of the State station where
we did our transfer. At the corner of the building is a door leading
down to the station. I guess space is so valuable here that they used
the basement of the Old State House as a subway station. We do go
into the upper building and look around the gift shop. But we think
we will come back here when we have a little while longer to explore
the museum and the building.
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| Faneuil Hall |
Close by is Faneuil
Hall.
The first floor is befitting its history. It is an emporium of small
shops, anchored by a park service visitor center. Right when we enter
in, a man was giving an old style printer demonstration and
explaining how books were produced and sold-by subscription. Once
enough subscriptions were sold, the printing would be done. But there
is something important which Faneuil Hall has for us, bathrooms! We
go into the basement and make use of the facilities. Now it is hunger
time, but we go outside where it is cool to eat. It is discouraged
from eating on the benches below. Once done, we look around the
shops. I look at the gift store and find they have a large assortment
of National
Park passport stamp sheets
going back to 1986. I spend a wad of money procuring these sheets. I,
with some forethought, had made a sheet of the sheets which I was
missing. Now it is maybe about 10 of them.
Sherri found out that there
will be an NPS tour going on the part of the Freedom Trail which we
have not been on yet. After yesterday’s tour, we are up for it. So
we wait around for it to start. A young lady-all of them are young
now at my age-from down South is leading us. She starts by giving a
lesson on Faneuil Hall and how it was built. Then we take off.
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| Paul Revere House |
There seems to be a maze of
streets. We cross over a pleasant looking parkway
where many people are strolling through. Our guide explains that this
area used to be part of Boston’s highway system, but the Big Dig
put the highway underground. Now it is a delightful strip of green
with water fountains. In the distance I see a gold topped dome. I
asked what church it is? Boston’s Public Water Department.
Surprise!
We continue on into the North
End. We pass many Italian restaurants along the way on the way to the
Paul
Revere House.
We are told that not only was Paul Revere living here, but his mother
and his siblings. Then when he got married, and had a family, they
lived here as well. Sounded like about twelve people lived here-the
house did not look that big. We then move on to the Old
North Church.
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| Old North Church |
Of
the North Church tower as a signal light,—
One,
if by land, and two, if by sea;
We also learned that it was
not only Paul Revere who road but Dawes also road to Lexington and
Concord. There was a connection between Revere and the church’s
sexton which allowed for the use of the church.
The tour ended here-it was
getting a bit late. But Sherri and I went up the road a ways to
Copp’s
Hill Burial Grounds.
The gates are closed, so we just peep over the wall to see what is in
there-more headstones. Now it is time to think about food-dinner
specifically. As was noted, we are in an Italian section. We wandered
around a bit, going from one promising looking place to another. But
the promising places all at lines. I had seen a place called
Limoncello
which thinking about the family’s enchantment for the drink, maybe
this would be a good place. But the prices were a bit more than this
cheap guy wanted to spend. So we end up at a place called Quattro
which seems promising. We go right in and are seated. The service was
good, but the food was a bit plain. But we eat and are satisfied.
While we were wandering
around, looking for a place to have dinner, we spied an establishment
called Mike’s Pastry. Unbeknown to us, there are three of these in
the Boston area. All which we knew was that we had been seeing boxes
being carried around Boston with that name and had seen a line out
the door. When we stopped in, there was only a few people. So we got
a mint chocolate-chip cannoli and a Boston cream danish.
Now it is make to Malden and
our temporary habitat. As we make our way back towards downtown, we
come across the Haymarket Station-which is on the Orange Line. So
down we go. And now it is back to Malden. Then the ¾ mile walk back
to the house. Here we enjoy a pleasant evening of rest.
Background
• New State House
• Robert Gould Shaw
• Park St Church
• Granary Burial Grounds
• Kings Chapel
• Kings Burial Grounds
• First Public School
• Ben Franklin Statue
• Old Corner Bookstore now a Chipotle
• Old State House. $8.50 for museum
• Boston Massacre
• Faneuil Hall. Ate lunch. Got tour.
• Paul Revere house
• Old North Church
• Copp’s Hill Burial Grounds
• USS Constitution
• Bunker Hill
Reviews posted on TripAdvisor
Quattro.
Three star. 264 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113, (617) 720-0444. We
were looking for a place to eat on the North side of Boston. After
wandering around the area, we picked this one-not too busy, but still
had people in it.I had the Ziti Caserecci all' Amatriciana, while my
wife ate the Cuscinetti Ripieni di Pollo Arrosto con Funghi
Selvatici. Her comment was that it was good tasting, but not
filling-it could be because we were walking all day. While there was
a substantial amount of the Ziti. I felt the noodles were a bit
undercooked while the tomato sauce cold use a bit more flavor to it.
The service was courteous and quick. He paid attention without being
overbearing. My overall impression was that it was an OK place to
eat, but not an unforgettable dining experience.
.Freedom
Trail. Five star.
This is a short walk between 2.5 to 3 miles. But it is packed full of
American history-mostly of the Revolutionary War. With 14 (and
probably more) different sites along the way, you can make at least a
full day just visiting several of the places-we took two days. You
can go on either a guided tour or one which is self-guided. There are
many self-guided pamphlets-you can pick up a free one at the NPS
visitor center. Also at the NPS visitor center at Faneuli Hall, you
can go on mini-tours with an NPS interpreter-well worth the use of
your tax payer money. One piece f\of advice-determine how much you
want to spend and which places you want to go into before starting
your walk.
Extra Photo's
Mike’s Pastry.
There are three shops in Boston-we were at the North End shop. We had
been seeing packages for Mike’s all over our walk along the
Freedom Trail. So when we stumbled across this shop, we had to go in.
Our order was for a mint chocolate chip cannoli and a Boston creme
danish. They did not disappoint. So glad we stopped.
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| New State House |
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| Daniel Webster |
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| New State House |
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| Granary Burial Grounds |
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| John Hancock's Memorial at the Granary Burial Grounds |
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| Granary Burial Grounds |
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| Kings Chapel Organ |
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| Josiah Quincy statue |
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| Site of the first public school |
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| Old State House |
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| Old South Meeting Hall |
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| Our guide at the Paul Revere House |
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| Faneuil Hall Weather Vane-that really is a grasshopper on top |
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| Old North Church |
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