Boston Day 2

We got up at 8 and ate breakfast at the hotel. We took the hotel shuttle to the subway stop and then caught the subway to Park Street Station. We got off right in front of the Freedom Trail Visitor Center. Before we even went in, there was a guy announcing a guided tour. My parents LOVE guided tours, so we went for 90 minutes over the first half of the Freedom Trail with him. It was ok—he showed us the current Massachusetts State House, the Old State House, the graveyard where the Boston Massacre victims, Sam Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock are buried, various old buildings, and the site where the Boston Massacre took place. I kind of wanted to go at my own pace but whatever. It’s a little odd because Boston is so built up now—like the spot where the Boston Massacre happened is now a busy intersection with honking cars.

(Site of Boston Massacre

After the tour, my Dad was hungry so we ate a light lunch at Salty Dog in Quincy Market. We then went into the 2nd Freedom Trail Visitor Center (there’s one at the start and one at the halfway point). We watched a movie and got maps. I was impatient to get going and was extremely glad when we finally started walking the second half on our own at 1:30.

We walked through a huge chunk of Boston (the Freedom Trail is 2.5 miles long total), and it was so beautiful. It was GORGEOUS weather—the tour guide said it was the best weather they’d had all year. In the second half, we saw Paul Revere’s house, Old North Church (where the lanterns were hung during Paul Revere’s famous ride), and another old cemetery. We got to the Boston Shipyard and watched a brief video. My parents wanted to tour the USS Constitution, but boats aren’t my thing so I walked to Bunker Hill by myself. My parents have been to Boston before and have already seen most of what we saw, so they wanted to do a new thing.

(Marker at each Freedom Trail site)

Bunker Hill was my favorite part of the day, partially because I was alone (my parents can be wearing) and also because Bunker Hill is more in the suburbs so the walk was quiet and pretty. Also, the monument is on a hill and looks down on Boston and it is a spectacular view. People live all-around the monument and they were out walking their dogs due to the nice weather. Kids were playing around the monument green and there was a wedding party taking pictures.

I walked back to the Shipyard and read my Kindle while waiting for the parents to finish. At 4:15, we took the Charles River Ferry back across to near where we started. That was second-best part of the day as the view was lovely but it was cold. 

(Waiting for the ferry)

We ate an early dinner at Union Oyster House, which is allegedly the oldest restaurant in America. Earlier in the day, the tour guide had told us there was going to be a reenactment of the Boston Massacre at the Old State House at 7. (The Massacre happened 244 years ago this week!) My Dad wanted to see it and get a good view, so we went back to the OSH and my Dad went to stand. Mom and I said no way to standing up in the cold for an hour, so we loitered in a nearby Staples for 40 minutes, sitting in their office chairs. We went back out 15 minutes before, but it was packed so we stood far back. We couldn’t see anything, but we heard it. It was actually funny because every time a Redcoat talked, everybody booed. It got over about 7:30, and Mom and I met up with Dad in the subway. We took the subway back and then had to wait for the shuttle. We got home about 8:15.

In short: we walked a lot and Boston is cold. And the weather was only supposed to get worse unfortunately!