Schellhase 2016 New England Trip: 30 July

30 July

Today is the day we visit the sites in downtown Boston. We drove about 15 miles south of Hanscom AFB to the Riverside train station bright and early and took the "Green Line" to Park Street Station. We chose the Riverside Station because there is ample outside parking for big RAM dually one ton pickup trucks! We have trouble getting our truck into parking ramp areas because of it's height.

There was a bit of a detour on the way in and we had to de-train at Fenway and take a shuttle bus to Kenmore Station and finish the train ride on into Park Street Station. From there we walked up the hill to the Massachusetts State House building.

Behind the State House is the Boston Common area, a huge park with grass and trees. We will revisit this later today with more pictures and comments. So we had tickets for the Gray Line "hop-on hop-off" trolley. We waited and waited, and never saw a Gray Line trolley. I called them several times and the calls went unanswered, including the voice mails (Grrrrr #$@##$#@#$!!). There were many others that passed by, but not that one. Finally after over an hour or so Doreen checked with one of the competitors, and even though it was a competitor they agreed to honor our tickets. So Ed is fuming by then, and that is how the day started.

So we got on the Old Town Trolley and headed for our first stop, which is Union Wharf. We walked from there to the Boston "North End". We walked through the Paul Revere Mall to the Old North Church. The church is most known for the events of the evening of April 18, 1775, when the steeple was climbed and two lanterns were lighted as a signal from Paul Revere that the British Army was marching to Lexington and Concord by sea (the Charles River) and not by land. This led into the American Revolution - one if by land, two if by sea.

Red brick lines in the sidewalk. This is the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile-long route through downtown Boston that passes by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States.

Statue of Paul Revere with the steeple of the Old North Church in the background

The Old North Church entrance

Beautiful sanctuary

Lantern hanging in long-hidden window, like the two that were in the steeple the night of April 18, 1775

We then proceeded back through the Paul Revere Mall and passed one of Boston's 35 fire stations. This one houses Ladder 1 and Engine 8.

Next stop was Paul Revere's House. It was apparently close to being demolished but Paul Revere's great-grandson purchased it in 1902. It took several years to raise the funds but it was finally preserved and opened to the public in April 1908. Here are a couple exterior pictures as taking pictures inside was prohibited.

A view from the side/rear. The second floor stairs is the exit from the tour.

We then walked back to the Trolley stop, boarded the next trolley, and headed for the Charlestown Navy Yard. We toured the USS Constitution which went into dry dock for it's first significant overhaul in over 20 years. They hope to have it done for the 4th of July, 2017. All of the cannons were removed and significant repairs were being accomplished. Most of the masts had been removed

One of the cannons on display outside the ship

The cannons removed during the dry dock

Repairs to the wood structure

Ahoy mate!

Ships bell

A US Navy sailor assigned to the USS Constitution

Beautiful woodwork

Doreen on the Gang Plank!

We left Charlestown on the trolley and passed the Bunker Hill monument in the distance on the way to our next stop.

Next was the Old State House. The Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony here and out in front of this building was the Boston Massacre. Like many of the other sites we took a bunch of pictures but will not post all of them here. The inside was beautifully preserved.

The site of the Boston Massacre.

Then we walked a couple blocks to the Old South Meeting House. Also know as the “Sanctuary of Freedom,” this is where the Boston Tea Party was orchestrated by Samuel Adams on December 16, 1773. The line was long and we did not get to tour the inside.

The Old South Meeting House.

In our travels we missed lunch, and we have the dog back in the RV with a time limit on her, so next stop was headed back towards Park Street Station. The Cheers Bar, famous for the TV show "Cheers" sounded like a great place to grab a sandwich and a "cold one"

Sitting in "Norm's Seat" at the bar!

The placard on the bar.

On the way to park Street Station we walked through the Boston Commons. It was a very busy place on a Saturday afternoon. Many people were sitting in the grass on blankets with their families and pets. We walked over a bridge to get to the launch point for the Swan Boats, but again, the line was long and time did not permit us to wait.