Last week, I took off for Boston with three friends. I had never visited the city before and was excited to see what we would discover. I will be sharing my travelogue in four installments, one for each day we were there. If you find travelogues boring and pointless, then you're going to be bored if you keep reading. I make no apologies.
Day 1: We flew out Monday night from SLC to Phoenix and from Phoenix to Boston. When booking our flights, we thought it would be a good idea to fly overnight so that we would have more time in Boston. We were right on one part. We did have more time in the city, but the all-night flying was not so fun. I think I got two hours of sleep.
We arrived non-bright-eyed or bushy-tailed around 6:30. Our first adventure was to find the T station (the T is the subway system). Little did we know that the T is a BUS at the airport. Yeah, so we wandered all over until we got clued in. Super fun.
Once we found the T, we went straight to our hotel to drop off our luggage and freshen up a bit. Then we headed straight out to get breakfast and find the Freedom Trail. Breakfast was at a Dunkin' Donuts, which was sort of hard to find since there are only 5 on every city block. Here I am enjoying my first (of many) Boston Creme donuts. Yuuuuum.
Then we struck out for the freedom trail. This is a 2.5 mile marked path that takes you through the city past many historical sites. It begins in Boston Commons, a park. At the starting point, they have some random statues. If I didn't know better, I'd think this one was a depiction of Joseph Smith during the first vision. Am I right?
There are tons of cool things to see along the Freedom Trail. I won't bore you with all of them. Here are just a few of my favorites. The state building has a gold-covered dome (just like Georgia's state capitol building). I think it's a gorgeous building.
Here's a shot of the trail along with one of the markers to help you remember what it is you're following. The trail really is just red bricks, two-wide set in the regular sidewalk. Pretty easy to follow.
One of the first stops was a cemetary. A few Revolutionaries are buried here, including Paul Revere, Ben Franklin's parents, victims of the Boston Massacre, John Hancock and some other people I can't remember right now. It was cool seeing headstones for people who were born and died in the 1600s.
Here's a statue of Ben Franklin. He seems to be more connected to Philadelphia than Boston, but there was still quite a bit about him.
You know you're in Boston when you see random people walking around in Colonial dress. He's the one on the left in the breeches.
Towards the end of the trail, you come to the USS Constitution, which is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat (side note--I've been on the oldest warship still commissioned, but not afloat, the HMS Victory, which is kept in Portsmith, England. Also very cool). This was one of my favorite things that we saw. The navy has sailors who take groups on tours, so you get to see lots of the ship and learn what life was like for those who worked on it. The three things I remember are 1) the sailors only got 4 hours to sleep (oye vei!) 2) the cannons weigh as much as a Ford Explorer and 3) the ship has live oak wood in it from Georgia. It gets to sail out once a year, usually on July 4.
We made it all the way to Bunker Hill, which is the end of the Freedom Trail. We arrived very tired and worn-out. After a sort of (non-intentional) meandering walk with a couple from Arizona, we found the T station and went back to the hotel. There was a great need for a nap. Refreshed and hungry, we walked over to Quincy Market and had dinner at Ned Divine's, one of the restaurants there. This is where I had the BEST macaroni and cheese I have ever eaten in my life. Oh, the cheesy goodness. I remember it still.
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