Gary-Summer: October 20, 2018 - Boston-Freedom Trail, Part II

Saturday, October 20, 2018

October 20, 2018 - Boston-Freedom Trail, Part II

Title: October 20, 2018 - Boston-Freedom Trail, Part II
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's

Trail head: Community College Station

Hike Info:

Type: City

Description:

I got up at my usual time, 7:30. But I felt a sore throat coming on. Not bad, maybe a precursor of things to come. Certainly will not make me bed ridden. Sherri fixed pancakes this morning. I must have been hungry as I ate a whole bunch of them. We must be getting a bit tired as we do not leave until 11:30 or so.

Bunker Hill Memorial

Our objective today is to finish the Freedom Trail. So we walk to the now familiar Orange Line subway, even though it is above ground and get on board. Today’s stop will be at the Community College station rather than downtown. After exiting the Orange Line, we walk up Austin Street towards Bunker Hill. We spy a CVS and procure some EmergenC for my cold.

Col. William Prescott

Now it is on to Bunker Hill. As the name might indicate, it is on a hill. So we go up this. Certainly not as steep as San Francisco hills, but still it is a good climb up. We pass by a church which catches Sherri’s fancy. The slogan for the church sounds pretty good: Love God, Love People, Make Disciples. It says it was established in 1632. Sounds like it is having a pretty good run.

At the top of Bunker Hill, actually its twin which is called Breed’s Hill, is an obelisk which was built in 1848 as a memorial to the battle of Bunker Hill.We see that a tour will start in an hour, so we select a side of the hill a little bit sheltered from the wind and have our lunch-peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches.

We wandered around the hill for a bit until the ranger came up the hill to talk with us. There was a group of about ten people. She normally would lead us down into the city some, but she hurt her knee making the journey a bit painful for her, so we maneuvered around the top of the hill, observing the area how the Patriots would have seen it.

She talked about how the British tried to outflank the Patriots, but an experienced Patriot was able to hold them off. The Patriots were also able to lob cannonballs into the center of the British officers. But the British found something at least as effective by rolling cannonballs up the slope, knocking down and killing or maiming anything in its way. Eventually the British won the battle, but lost a great number of men and officers in the battle.

USS Constitution

After the tour, we decided not to climb up the monument-it was either that or spend another day on the Freedom Trail. So we went down to the museum at the bottom of the park. This museum is run by the NPS and we looked around some more-Oh yeah, I bought some more passport stamps. It explained both the battle of Bunker Hill and how the monument came to being. Now it is time to follow the bricks of the Freedom Trail.

We head off down the hill towards the USS Constitution. It is a short walk ¼ to ½ of mile all downhill. When we get to the entrance to the USS Constitution, it looks like there is a minor-league TSA line formed. We pass through and into a mini-visitor center. We walk around through there, gaining a few facts-which you can get online-about the USS Constitution. Then it is out behind a fence and there she is. Most people are entering through the port side, which is the way you should go. We see that there is not much going on on the starboard side, so off we go that way. When get on board, there is a sign which says do not exit on the port side, so I can only imagine that we might have missed another sign.

Sherri Boarding the USS Constitution

We traverse the poop (top) deck examining the ship’s wheel-pretty impressive Then up to the bow area looking out over the bay. I ask about the flags and the person admits that they are mostly decoration for this part. These days they are mostly for things like “Party tonight, you bring the beer this time.” Then we decide we should go down below.

The first thing we notice is that the ladder down is a bit steep along with the opening is cause for me to duck under it. Then the height of the ceiling is OK, but there is cross-beams which causes me to duck every couple of feet. How tall were these sailors? There is a row of cannons, looking all shiny.

Sleeping quarters

The officer quarters look more like prison cells than anything luxurious. The crew? They slept on hammocks-even these looked short. There is a mess area-standard tables and chairs. I could only imagine what this would have been like in a storm. The other thing which I notice is that everything smells clean. I think that during a voyage, the air must have been pretty heavy with smell. We go down one more floor, but nothing really to talk about.

USS Constitution's canons

We exit the ship on the starboard side and walk over to the dry docks. The USS Constitution was rebuilt here several years ago. Then it is off to the museum. Here it talks about the construction of the ship and the battles it fought. Apparently it had the right combination of construction and speed to make it a formidable enemy.

Mess

It is getting a bit late so we continue along the Freedom Trail. This leads us over to Washington St and the Charlestown Bridge. At the start it says that a solid plate is an acrophobia free zone. Not sure how reassuring that it because the rest of the way is a grate so you can see the water beneath you. Lucky we are used to it with the grate at Delilah. Also there are some nice sights of boats all lined up in a row.

Leonard Zakim Bridge

But the main attraction going across the bridge-or more on the approach to it is another bridge-the Leonard P Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. As we were crossing our bridge, the sun went behind the Zakim Bridge with clouds draped around it. Just a bit of nice eye candy this evening.

After crossing the bridge, we make our way up to Copp’s Burial Ground. Once again it is closed-we are getting here a bit late. But we can still peak in at what looks like some kind of ceremony going on. We watch for a few, then make our way down the street to the Old North Church. That is closing up as well. One of the classic views of this church is from a Paul Revere statue . The area is under renovation, but the statue is still there. So we go all the way around to get our view, along with some Korean tourists. Amazing the variety of people you see looking at our historic areas.

Boats from the Charlestown Bridge

It is getting dark now and I think we have walked the entire Freedom Trail. The question now comes up, like it does every night at this time, where should we eat? We think about the lady at the airport and say, The Green Dragon Tavern. We start walking downtown, crossing where the Haymarket Station was-this is where we caught the Orange Line a couple of days ago. Then following the bricks we get to a part of town which we recognize as close to the Tavern. We meander off of the brick path and find it.

Not much of a line there. We talk to a guy at the entrance about it-he works there. He indicated that the food is good. Make sure we get seated where we can see the wall. This is where the assortment of historical firearms and other items are on display. This tavern, or at least the forerunner to it as the original burnt in the 1850’s-is where many of the conspirators for the American Revolution met. Also one of the guides also said the British met here as well. We get seated and scan the menu. Independently, we decide that a shepherd’s pie is what we want. And it was pretty good. no dessert for us, at least at the Green Dragon.

Steeple of the Old North Church

We have had enough for the day, so it is time to get back to Malden. The State Station-below the Old State House is not too far from us. So we head there and descend into the bowels of the earth and pick up the Orange Line. We get off at Malden Station and walk to our AirBnB. There was rest and enjoy a couple hours of comfort before turning in.

Background
Reviews posted on TripAdvisor

Bunker Hill. We walked around the Hill which is really Breed’s Hill. A ranger’s talk was scheduled so we hopped on that-very recommended to get a good appreciation of how the battle formed around this area. You can go into the monument and climb the stairs to the top-but we did not. Also be sure to hit the museum at the base of the park.

USS Constellation. The ship is a worthwhile place to visit. You get a feel for what it was like to be onboard a ship during that era. The size of the quarters and height of the ceiling made an impression on me. I doubt that this ship was ever so clean while sailing. You should make allowances timewise to get through security. The museum was OK, but I do not think you would miss a whole lot if you skipped it. You should be able to find the information on Wikipedia.

Green Dragon Tavern. When I got off the plane in Boston, a woman asked if I was visiting? Yes. Then you got to go to the Green Dragon Tavern. The helpful Bostonian was right. Even though it was a Saturday evening, we got into the Tavern rather quickly even though it was full. After looking at the menu, my wife and I both ordered the Shepherd’s Pie-it just seemed like that kind of evening. A good choice. The pie was filling and tasty. Plus you got to be in an establishment which made history (the original tavern burnt down). It was a good choice to stop and eat at.

Extra Photo's