Walking the Boston Freedom Trail

Again I have to say, what a difference a day makes. Although it was windy and cloudy some of the time, there was no rain and even occasional sun. It was a perfect day to walk in Boston. Since we are staying in the Back Bay area we started there heading north with a stop in the Boston Public Library, which is beautiful. We wandered up Commonwealth Avenue, which is like the Portland Park Blocks, and then took a jog over to Beacon Street to see the Original Cheers which inspired the TV series by that name.

After walking through the Boston Commons we came to the beginning of the "Boston Freedom Trail" which is a marked path that takes you past the major landmarks of the American Revolution. It starts at the Massachusetts State House where we noted the side entrance named for General Hooker. I am standing by his statue. The path is well marked with a double row of red bricks in the sidewalk and a red painted line across all intersections. You can't get lost.


Then there is the Park Street Church, and the Granary Burying Ground where Sam Adams and Paul Revere were buried along with other famous people of that time. There was the Kings Chapel, the Old South Meeting House and then the Faneuil Hall Market Place.

At the Market Place we had to stop in to see the newer Cheers Bar which is made to look like the TV set. Then we went to Dicks for lunch where it is a sport for the waiters to harass the customers with lots of fun banter. After lunch we went around the corner for the obligatory stop at the Hard Rock Cafe so Paul can add to his T-Shirt collection. I found one I liked as well.


The next stop was Paul Revere's House which we paid a fee to walk through. It certainly was small, and to think they had sixteen children. The last main stop was the Old North Church where the lanterns were hung: "one if by land, two if by sea."

From there is was a long walk across the Charleston Bridge over to Charleston where the sailing vessel the USS Constitution, or more commonly called "Old Ironsides," is birthed. We took the short tour which allowed us to walk around on the top deck. There was too long a wait to go down below deck.

The last stop on the Freedom Trail is the monument on top of Breeds Hill where the Battle for Bunker Hill was fought. By the time we got there it was about 3:30 and we were all ready to head for the closest Transit station, which wasn't that close. We called it a quits after a full day of touring.


After a couple hours rest, however, we were ready to head out for dinner. Ira had his mouth watering for a Clam Boil so we headed for the Summer Shack. We all ordered the Boil which consisted of one lobster (1 and 1/4 pound) an ear of corn, lots of clams and mussels, a sausage, potatoes, and a boiled egg. This is all eaten with your hands and a few utensils and is very messy but very good. Now that we have had lobster twice, we really feel like we have been to Boston.


Tomorrow looks like a nice sunny day and we plan to visit Harvard and maybe MIT. Also we will go to the top of the John Hancock building (the tallest in New England) which is right next door and which affords an great view of the city.


That's it for now. Grace and Paul