Cheers! We loved Boston! What a cool city, I tell ya. Of course being the fan of popular culture, I dragged Chris and Reid on a long detour to check out the inspiration for the TV sitcom, Cheers. And of course the only part of Boston actually on the TV show is this shot of the outside (and the rest was filmed on a sound stage in LA. Go figure)...but fun to see anyway!
Ok, so settle in, this is a long one...
Possibly Chris' favorite part of the tour around Boston was the USS Consitution. A historical ship aka "Old Ironsides" because even though it is made out of wood, it deflected so many cannonballs in battles that it was like the sides were made out of iron. It is owned an operated by the US Navy since 1797. The USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the US Navy. Named after the Constitution of the United States by President George Washington, she is the oldest commissioned vessel afloat in the world.
Chris and Reid in front of the cool old ship.
We had an active Navy member (originally from Oregon!) as our tour guide wearing traditional style crew clothing. He took us down to the next of the 4 decks down to see the many cannons on the "cannon deck" (as I call it...but really what else could it be called?) ?Ok, so Chris just informed me it is the Gun Deck...close!
Being the picky sleeper that I am, I was amazed to see how the men on the crew slept. I just couldn't do it. Also couldn't do the food. There was just one cook for 450 men! Talk about slop, but they did have lemons and limes to help with their scurvy.
Reid and I waiting outside of the ship while Chris continued the tour due to Reid's meltdown on the actual ship. If you know Reid, strange I know, meltdowns usually aren't a part of our vocabulary, but we were on a wacky traveling schedule...
After finishing the first day's trolley tour, where we could get on and off all day, we jumped off near Chinatown and found our way. We were craving some dim sum lunch! So after being in Hong Kong, we are no longer afraid to seek out a Chinatown to bring us back to the magic.
If you take a look at Reid's face, you can see the fear of sticking his hand in the lion's ear! Daddy laughing...
What a perfect stop for a little boy! A good 0l' Boston Firetruck or "wee oh wee oh" as Reid calls it (the sound the siren makes).
You can also see the Staples sign in the right side background. It is actually established as the oldest office supply store in the US.
just kidding
The firemen nearby saw us checking out the truck so they ran over and opened the door so Reid could climb up inside! It was sooooo cute.
It was a cloudy 4 days in Boston, but warm enough not to be miserable, so some of our cityscape pics are a tad grey...however here is cityscape #1...you can see a mix of the old (historic) and new buildings. Boston has really done a nice job mixing the two.
Cityscape #2 a misty shot
Cityscape #3, what a beautiful city and extremely clean too
Here is the Massachusetts State House near the start of the "Freedom Trail", (The Freedom Trail is a red, mostly brick, path through downtown Boston which leads to sixteen significant historic sites). We spent a lot of hours walking!
Nearby in the historic Beacon Hill area (Gaslight district) there are alleyways and gas light lanterns that have remained so true to history that you could almost see the horses and wagons and people milling about.
Faneuil Hall , (with a statue of Samuel Adams out front) located near the waterfront has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain.
The Quincy Market...by the time Boston was incorporated as a city in 1822, Faneuil Hall was bursting at the seams. So to to provide an expansion of shop space, Quincy Market was built, as an indoor pavilion of vendor stalls and a marketplace which now hosts many food and tourist items booths (and also the best chocolate chip cookies in all of Boston...guess who's weakness dragged Chris there daily?!)
The Old North Church..."One if by land, two if by sea" sound familiar to anyone? The Old North Church (officially Christ Church), in the North End of Boston is the location from which the famous "One if by land, and two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. (You know Paul Revere's midnight ride, of April 18, 1775 during the American Revolution?)
The tower of the Old North Church where Paul Revere's lantern signal was displayed!
Paul Revere's house. The Paul Revere House (1680) is the colonial home of Paul Revere during the time of the American Revolution. You could actually feel the history here!
Happy guys on the trolley city tour
Just off the freedom trail near a statue of Benjamin Franklin, (and the former sight of the very 1st public school) was this "stand in opposition" sign...there was a donkey nearby and these footsteps were stompin' some good ol' elephants...which I took to represent freedom and democracy...(and also some fellow democrats expressing themselves!)
The Boston Common, established in 1634, it is the oldest city park in the US and was once used for military training and public hangings, but now a beautiful park in the middle of the city and serves as a public park for all to use for formal or informal gatherings.
The Granary Burying Ground is the city's 3rd oldest cemetery, founded in 1660. Another stop on the Freedom trail, it is the final resting place for many Revolutionary War patriots and 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence, and 5 victims of the Boston Massacre. It was so super cool, like straight out of a spooky Halloween movie.
One evening, we had heard that Harvard Square was a pretty hip spot (yes, right next to the Ivy League college known as Harvard) for restaurants and bars. So reliving Hong Kong days again, we are not afraid of a good ol' subway and we made our way to Havard square for some of the best Mexican food we have had in a really long time! We also walked a little through the Harvard campus after dinner and absorbed some of the knowledge seeping through the ivy covered brick buildings. We started reviewing Reid's alphabet skills with him in prep for his return to Harvard in 16 years.
On our 4-5 hour drive back from Boston, we chose a fun stop to Mystic, CT. Our drive took us through Rhode Island, through CT, and back into NY then to Jersey. So I digress, here is the quaint coastal town of Mystic.
Another shot of the waterway through Mystic that leads to the Atlantic Ocean.
Reid and Chris playing in a park in Mystic.
We crossed the Mystic River bridge to get to my next pop culture stop...
Mystic Pizza anyone?? (Ok, so it is an 80's movie for all of you wondering what I am talking about! )
So ends the history lesson for the day. Stay tuned for more from the East Coast living Nordys!
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