Since Kelly had to work, I was going to explore Boston by myself. I told her as long as she got me on a train to Boston, I could figure the rest out on my own. So I got on the commuter rail in Framingham and got off in Back Bay. I had about 7.5 hours to explore Boston before having to catch the train back home. It turns out 7.5 hours isn’t very long at all to explore Boston. I need another couple of days.
BACK BAY/NEWBERRY STREET
One of the things that nearly every Pin on Pinterest said to do was wander Back Bay and Newberry Street. It has rows of 19th Century Victorian Brownstones. Housed inside these Brownstones are high shops that I could never afford and restaurants and cafes. Since this was my first stop of the day, I was looking for breakfast. I wanted something quick and inexpensive. I had a lot to see and didn’t really want to waste time by sitting down for breakfast. I ended up at Starbucks. I definitely enjoyed wandering the Newberry Street before the hustle and bustle started.
BOSTON GARDEN
The one thing I wanted to see in the Boston Garden was the Make Way For Ducklings statue. It is a statue of the ducks in Robert McCloskey's children’s book.
The Boston Garden is a gorgeous green space that abuts the Boston Common. It has walking paths and ponds. There are flowers everywhere. In the middle of the Boston Garden are swan boats you can take a ride on. I made a mental note to come back and ride one in the afternoon. Yeah that never happened.
Not sure where the statue was, I wandered the paths heading towards the Boston Common. I found the statue with relative ease. If I had more time I would have explored the rest of the Garden before heading to the Common but since I had a 10:30 tour scheduled that met at the Visitor Center in the Boston Common, I had to meander my way over there and find it.
BOSTON COMMON
The Boston Common is another large green space in the middle of Boston. It was originally where farmers could take their cattle to graze back in the colonial days. I hoped to spend some time in the afternoon just lounging on the common reading but there just wasn’t any time…well there was but I went to the library instead.
I passed a few statues and a baseball diamond on the way to the visitor’s center. There also was a cemetery I wanted to check out but never got back to do it.
I got to the visitor center with plenty of time to spare. At the visitor center, I found my tour and discovered they had public bathrooms… a rarity in any big city. My bladder was happy. I also got a few
maps and brochures. These stayed in my backpack until I got home. I found my Google map app to be much more useful.
Overall the Boston Common is just a large green space with a few statues here and there. It was actually not very green either. It would be another nice spot in the city for a walk or just sit and read.
FREEDOM TRAIL
The Freedom Trail is a marked 2.5 mile trail through the city of Boston allowing you to see 16 historical sites within Boston. There is a red strip in the sidewalk to follow with markers at each location.
Kelly suggested a take a guided tour of the Freedom Trial through The Histrionic Academy. I found a deal on Groupon so I signed up and luckily I read the fine print because otherwise I would have missed the part of calling to register. The tour was OK. I was expecting a tour of the entire Freedom Trail and not just half of it. Our tour guide was Abigail Adams, wife of Sam Adams. It was very interesting but I would have loved to have a guided tour of the whole trail. Plus we didn’t get to go in any of the places besides the cemetery. Our guide just talked about them outside. She also didn’t take us by all the stops on the Freedom Trail. She would stop us in a shady spot and talk about this sight on the trail that is located over here. I’ve only highlighted the ones I actually saw.
I never made it to the end of the trail. It was still about a 20 minute walk from the North End and I just didn’t have the time. One day I will walk the entire Freedom Trail.
MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE
The new state house isn’t really new since it was built in the 1700s. It is the state capital building of Massachusetts. The gold dome is 23 caret gold that was applied after the wooden dome was leaking. You can tour the state house but since this was the first stop on the tour, we just ogled it from the bottom of the hill.
PARK STREET CHURCH
Park Street Church was built over the town’s grain storage in 1809 so it does not have Revolutionary War history but it still has historical value. The church was the site of William Lloyd Garrison’s first speech against slavery in 1824. It is also where “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” was first sung on July 4, 1831.
GRANARY BURYING GROUND
This cemetery was established in 1660. We saw the graves of Sam Adams, James Otis (taxation without representation), Paul Reeve, and Mother Goose. Next to Sam Adam’s grave is a mass grave for the victims of the Boston Massacre. There is a monument to Benjamin Franklin as well in the cemetery even though is he buried Philadelphia. There were a lot of people in the burying ground and we had to wait our turn at some of the graves so our tour guide could tell us about them.
Monument to Ben Frankin
Monument for Paul Reeve
Paul Reeve's Actual Grave
Mother Goose
KING’S CHAPEL AND BURYING GROUND
Our tour guide told us about this church and burying ground on our tour. I’m don’t believe we walked by it. The burying ground is the oldest burying ground in Boston. I happened to walk by the church on my way back from the North End and stopped in for a visit. There was an organist playing the pipe organ. The pews are more like juror boxes with high walls and hinged doors for each pew. The chapel, besides the organ, was very plain.
OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE
This is where the idea of the tea party was formed. Several thousand people crammed into the tiny church trying to figure out how to send the tea back to end since if they unloaded it, they would have to pay tax on it. They didn’t want to pay tax to England when they weren’t represented in the British Government. We never got very close to the meeting house and it was something I didn’t think of going back to check out on my way back from the North End.
OLD STATE HOUSE
The Old State house was built in 1713 and served as the seat of the colony’s government. The Declaration of Independence was first read from these steps. I wanted to check it out but I didn’t feel like paying the admission to go in and check it out.
BOSTON MASSACRE
The original site for the Boston Massacre is actually in the middle of a busy street. The city actually had to move the marker to the sidewalk for people didn’t get ran over trying to take a picture of the marker.
At this site, a British Redcoat hit a Bostonian in the face with his musket after the Bostonian insulted the Redcoat’s commanding officer. Other Bostonians came to the rescue with hurling snowballs and taunts at the British. More troops arrived and eventually a shot was fired. When all the dust cleared, 5 were dead and buried in the Granary Burying Ground.
FANEUIL HALL
This is where our guided tour stopped. Our guide told us about the last 5 places on the Freedom Trail from here as well as places to eat and shop. We were told not to pay $30 or $40 for a lobster roll since you can get one in the suburbs for like $8.
Faneuil Hall is where the first town meeting was held. Upstairs is the meeting room. Downstairs is where merchants would come to sell their wares in the marketplace.
The climb to the 3rd floor is steep but worth the climb. I did do a little shopping as well. Behind Faneuil Hall is Faneuil Hall Marketplace one of the most visited spots in Boston. There you can shop and eat to your heart’s content.
PAUL REEVE’S HOUSE
I didn’t actually go in Paul Reeve’s house. I would have loved to check it but there was a line to go in the house and I didn’t feel like paying an admission ($3.50) to go in a house I couldn’t take pictures of inside. Maybe another trip I will actually check out his house. However, I did take a few pictures.
OLD NORTH CHURCH
This was my last stop on the Freedom Trail. This is also where Paul Reeve signaled to let Sons of Liberty know that the British were coming. The Old North Church is the oldest church in Boston built in 1723?
I donated the xxx to visit the church. It was worth it. It is a basic New England Church. Like the King’s Chapel, each family had its own pew with walls and a hinged door. Their name was on the door… or I’m assuming it’s the family name and not a donor’s name. You can see the lantern Paul Reeve used to signal how the British were coming… 1 if by land 2 if by sea.
On the backside of the church is a little garden… Assisi Garden name after St. Francis of Assisi. There is a statue of St. Francis. If I didn’t come through from the backside, I probably would not have found this. I’m glad I did find it.
QUINCY MARKET
After my Freedom Trail tour ended, I continued to explore Boston making my way towards Boston Harbor, the North End, and the rest of the Freedom Trail. Quincy Market is another shopping/eating area near Faneuil Hall. If I had more time I would have loved to explore the market a little more. Alas, next trip.
BOSTON HARBOR
I wanted to check out the Boston Harbor because it was on the bucket list. Since I wasn’t probably going to make it up to the USS Constitution at the end of the Freedom Trail, I settled for the wandering around a few of the piers by the museum. I also nearly got lost trying to get myself from the Boston Harbor to the North End. One day I’ll make it up to the USS Constitution and the Tea Party Museum on the North End of the Boston Harbor.
NORTH END
I could spend an entire day in the North End just eating. The North End is Boston’s Little Italy. I knew I wanted to have lunch in the North End since everything I read said you had to eat in the North End.
I just grabbed a quick slice of pizza and soda at a hole in the wall. I couldn’t even tell you the name since there was scaffolding covering the outside. It might have been Galleria Umbert based on the menu board. It didn’t offer a lot but based on the line half way out the door, I figured it was a safe spot. Besides, I really didn’t want a full sit down Italian meal for lunch. In addition to cheese pizza by the square, the menu
consisted of Panini, Pizzette, Panzarotti, Arancini, and Calzones. From what I could tell, it was cafeteria style --- everything prepared ahead of time. It was kind of grab and go. If you ordered to go, they put your food in a box and tied it with string. The pizza wasn’t bad for “fast food” pizza.
The other thing I wanted in the North End was a cannoli. Everyone was carrying boxes from Mike’s Bakery which I guess is like a Boston Institution. I would have stopped but it was the other side of the street and I found Modern Bakery instead. Modern Bakery not only offered cannolis but cookies, cakes, and tortes plus something called a lobster tail which takes several people to eat. I ended up getting 4 mini cannolis… 2 with custard and 2 with ricotta. 1 of each had chocolate chips. Like everything else in the North End, my cannolis were packed in a box and tied with string. I waited until I got home to eat them. They were oh so good. If I had a way to keep them cool until I saw the hubby, I would have brought him a custard one.
STREETS OF BOSTON
After spending some time in the North End, I started making my way back towards Beacon Hill so I could go to Cheers. In order to get back, I just followed the Freedom Trail on the sidewalk.
A Little Piece of Home
It wound me through some of the older streets of Boston and past some of the oldest pubs and restaurants in town. These were all places that I hoped to stop and have a bit to eat or a drink but time was of the essence. Maybe next time….
CHEERS
Cheers is one of those iconic, touristy places that you just need to go to… at least stand outside and take your picture at.
With the help of Google Maps, I managed to find my way there. It wasn’t easy to get to but then again I was looking at the map wrong….
I went the gift shop, bought some overpriced shirts, and sat at the bar had an expensive beer. It was just one of those you do when in Boston.
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
The library was right by the train station. I needed to charge my phone so I would have enough battery power left to text Kelly when I’m on the train. Besides I read that the library is gorgeous and worth exploring.
The Boston Public Library is the first free municipal library in the US opening in it's current location in 1895. I spent about 45 minutes hiding a boring room charging my phone. After that I explored. I found many interesting rooms.
I really liked the map room. It had activities chairs -- perfect for the kid in me.
I love this how intently this guy is studying the map on the stairs
There is also a really nice courtyard where you sit outside and read or relax.
Overall I had a great day in Boston. There are some things I wish I could have seen or spent more time at. However, this does help for my next trip to Boston. It gives me a new list of Must-Sees.
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