Beantown Visit - First 28 hours

At the beginning of May I took a trip to Boston and Maine.   We landed in Boston about 1 in the afternoon  and we were picked up by a friend.   

She took us to our hotel, we passed by Fenway on our way, we parked the car at the hotel, meant up with my daughter, Amy and we were off in an Uber. 

The architecture in Boston was varied and awesome.

The first stop of course, was Cheers.    

After lunch we walked around Boston Gardens and Boston Commons.   Wandering here and there until we  were off down Newbury Street. 

Too bad it was too early for Swan Boats because I would have taken a turn!

Beautiful beds of tulips everywhere.

 Look at these yummy chocolates we found on Newbury Street.  The chocolate mice were the cutest!

Below is the much talked about new statue dedicated to Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King.  I have seen the photo that the sculptor used to create the bronze statue - I think on Sunday Morning.  Once unveiled it has been meet with many negative comments and memes.   You see the embrace in the statue, no race, no cultural background, no color - just an embrace.  It could be an embrace of condolence, an embrace of joy, an embrace of comfort an embrace of love.  Personally, unlike the detractors, I like it.  It’s a hug.  What can be more comforting than a hug?

Wandering here and there until we came across a beer garden.   We say sat and enjoyed the open mic singers and performers until it was time for our ghost tour.    In the background is the Park Street Church, founded in 1804.

The Massachusetts State House, the start of our tour.

This relief work is dedicated to the 54th Massachusetts Regiment lead by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.  The 54th Massachusetts was an all black regiment in the Civil War.    Matthew Broderick starred as Colonel Shaw in the movie Glory.

This statue is of Mary Dyer.   She arrived in Boston as an American Puritan but then became a Quaker.   After three arrests for having anything to do with the Quakers, she was hanged for her beliefs.  Funny the Puritans came to America for religious freedom but I guess it was only their religion they tolerated.

The State House from another angle.  The night time does bring some spooky views.

Boston Atheneum- a private library - It houses a copy of a book that is bound in skin!   Yuck. 

Park Street Church

No ghosts seen but creepy stories nonetheless.  We were back at the hotel for some beverages at the bar and then to turn in.    Up in the morning and off again by Uber for a tour of the Freedom Trail.

But first - the perfect chair in the lobby of our hotel - a cross stitch chair!   It was a sign.  LOL 

The Freedom Trail is a walk in the footsteps of our founding fathers.   It is a curated walk featuring churches, cemeteries, historic sites, build and homes.     The path is marked by a brick and paver path throughout the city.

The Granary Burying Ground, founded in 1660 located on Tremont Street.

 

The skull on the tombstone was a motif used by 17th century grave markers.   It symbolizes mortality.   When with wings, it means ascension to heaven.  

 

 

This particular cemetery has the grave sites of  John Hancock, Samuel Adams and his wife Dorothy, Paul Revere, Peter Faneuil and fighters from the Boston Tea Party.   At Paul Revere’s monument it is customary to leave a coin as homage to his profession - silversmith.

More of the unique architecture of Boston

I wish I could remember what this building was.   Must be something worth two photos of.  

The Old Corner Bookstore - now a Chipotle - was built in 1718.   It was a residence and an apothecary before it starting operating as a bookstore on 1828.  Books by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Charles Dickens were published here.

A view of the same building from another angle. 

This is inside the Omni Parker House Hotel.   This is where the Boston Cream Pie and Parker House Roll were created.  

The mirror at the end of the hall is said to have the image of a ghost appear when you are just the right vantage point……funny me, I snapped the photo at the INSTANT a workman popped out of the stairwell.   I didn’t stick around to see if he was real or not! 

Boston Latin School with a statue of Benjamin Franklin to the left.

Old South Meeting House

The Old State House

Faneuil Hall with its unique weathervane on the dome.    Often called the cradle of liberty.   This building hosted the first American Town Meeting.

When the grasshopper was taken down for repairs centuries after installation…..it was found to contain a time capsule from the original creator.  

Street dining on a side street

The Bell and Hand Tavern, oldest tavern in America.   First poured - 1795.  It was a gathering place for printer, politicians, sailors and students.

Home of John Hancock’s brother, Ebenezer.   John bought the home for his brother.

Merchant Seaman’s House - Still in operation, although no longer free to sailors. 

Paul Revere’s House

Paul Revere statue

Old North Church Memorial Garden.  Dog tags of serviceman from the Iraq and Afghanistan war.

Famous North Church where legend has it - one if by land, two if be sea - lanterns were light to warn of the British coming.

More of the beautiful architecture.

The skinny house.   The story goes that a father left land to two brothers.   One brother was off in the Civil War so the first brother took the majority of the property and built his home.   The second brother returns home with a mere 10 feet of property left for him to build a home.   Not to be outdone, the second brother constructed his house right against his brother’s and blocked all the light on that side.   It is in the North End across from the Cobbs Hill Burying Ground.

Cobbs Hill Burying Ground

Before heading towards Maine, we had a delicious mid afternoon lunch in style at Lucia Ristorante in the North End.    And that’s what you can do in 28 hours in Boston!