Boston, MA

Monday, July 19, 2010

I had a day free to enjoy Boston.  I'd been to Boston once before, for only a few hours during a layover of a coast-to-coast train adventure back in 1984.  On that visit I walked much of the famous Freedom Trail, a walking tour that includes many of the historic sites we all learned about in grade school.  This time I wanted to revisit the same general area to enjoy the modern city bustle with wonderful colonial buildings being dwarfed by skyscrapers, all at a walkable human scale.

I'd spent the night before just northeast of Boston, in Saugus.  I wanted to avoid driving in downtown Boston, so I parked the car in a garage near the Charlestown Navy Yard for the day.  The Navy Yard was established in 1800, and served the fleet until 1974, when 30 acres of it became part of Boston National Historical Park.  It is probably best known for the ship I went there to visit, "Old Ironsides", the USS Constitution.

Built in Boston, she was first launched on October 21, 1797.  She is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat.  One has to pass through security to enter the adjacent museum building, and from there one can walk up to the ship.  I was disappointed to learn that I would not be able to board her for a tour, since she was under restoration to return her to her 1812 appearance for the bicentennial of the War of 1812, in which she defeated four English warships.  The restoration was completed November 6, 2010.

After seeing what I could of the ship, I passed the dry dock, which dates to 1833 and was first used by USS Constitution.

I wandered around the navy yard a bit more, trying to imagine what it was like in its heyday.  Then I walked over to the dock for the water shuttle, and enjoyed the Boston skyline while I waited for its arrival. 

Old North Church (white spire) and Boston skyline

The water shuttle was a great deal - $6 round trip.  I sat on the open top deck, enjoying the wind, sun, sea air, and just being on the water.  The shuttle docked at Long Wharf, and I decided to try Legal Seafood there for lunch.  I had a yummy tuna wrap, and a very nice young waiter offered to take my picture.  He got the big tip he was trying for!

After lunch I walked over to Quincy market, an old city market building with internal vendor shops and sidewalk cafes, outdoor cart vendors, and live music.  This was one of my favorite spots on my 1984 trip, and I was really looking forward to it.  This time, however, it was very crowded, hectic, and I found the music unpleasant and much too loud.  It had also become surrounded by large chain stores, not my cup of tea.  Oh well, I still have my memory of the 1984 version.

From Quincy market I followed the "Freedom Trail" to Boston Common, enjoying the busy street scape along the way.  I didn't make any of the historic stops along the trail, mostly because they were very crowded.  I had visited them on my previous trip, and this day I was just out to enjoy the city's ambiance.

The grasshopper wind vane atop Faneuil Hall

The lovely Old State House (red brick just right of center) surrounded by skyscrapers of various eras.

Old South Meeting House

I really enjoyed my walk through Boston Common, a great spot for people-watching.  Tourists, locals, business people, nannies with strollers, snack vendors, etc., etc., all enjoying the open green space it provides.  According to the Freedom Trail guide book, this land was never built on, having first been used as pasture, and then as common open space.  My goal was at the far end of the common: the Swan Boats.  This was something I hadn't had time for on my first trip, and I always wanted to return for a ride.  They are unique in all the world, paddle boats powered by foot, with a swan figure covering the mechanism.  I just learned from their website that they started in 1877 and are still owned and operated by the same family!

The lads operating the boat, one pedaling, one poling.

During the ride a light rain started to fall.  I didn't feel like walking all the way back to the dock, so I took the subway.  I enjoyed the water shuttle return trip, once again sitting on the upper deck, and attempting to take a decent self-portrait.  Pretty funny.

Below is my first attempt to insert a map.  Please forgive me if it goes awry.

View Boston Day in a larger map

Concord, MA & The Battle Road

Sunday, July 18th, 2010 (continued)

When the British troops left Lexington on April 19, 1775 they continued on to Concord, a distance of about sixteen miles, much of which is now Rt 2-A.  I followed 235 years later.  A narrow corridor on either side of the route is now Minute Man National Historical Park, including the five mile Battle Road Trail.  I stopped at the visitor center and watched a very good movie explaining the significance of various sites within the park, and the chain of events that led up to the historic day.

 

 

Pathway to Visitor Center

If I had time and was less jet-lagged I would have spent more time exploring the park.  As it turned out, I did return here at the end of my three week trip.  But on this day, I continued on to Concord.

Concord is a beautiful, peaceful, small town packed with a surprising abundance of history.  In addition to its Revolutionary history, it was the home of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.  I stopped at the Concord Museum and got a taste of each of these - they have Emerson's study, a cosy room with a fireplace and one wall of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves - the tiny, basic desk on which Thoreau wrote Walden and Civil Disobedience - and a lantern that is believed to be one of the two hung in the Old North Church to signal 'One if by land, two if by sea.'  I must admit to having my doubts about that lantern, though.  Somehow it just didn't feel "right" to me.  The museum contains four period rooms in addition to Emerson's study, and many galleries of decorative arts.  I could have spent at least half a day there.

After the museum I continued on past downtown Concord and out Monument Street to the Old Manse, which I found to be a profoundly special place.  It was built in 1770 for minister William Emerson, and is the location of the North Bridge, where the 'shot heard round the world' was fired.  Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nathaniel Hawthorne lived and wrote there for a time, and Thoreau planted a vegetable garden there (now re-created) for Hawthorne's wedding.

The Old Manse

Corn growing in the vegetable garden

Stone wall and path to Concord River

 

'Flower in a crannied wall' - I know, that's Tennyson, but it seemed appropriate.

From behind the Manse a very short walk leads to the North Bridge.  Expecting to find something more imposing, I did not realize at first that the graceful small wooden arch with stone supports was the momentous site.  Only the statuary at either end convinced me.  I am very glad that I was able to experience this place; somehow the 'human' scale and pastoral landscape made the story much more 'real' to me than anything I could have read.

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood, their flag to April's breeze unfurled, here once the embattled farmers stood, and fired the shot heard round the world." - The Concord Hymn, Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

View upstream from North Bridge

Minute Man statue by Daniel Chester French

View across bridge from Minute Man statue to Obelisk Monument

Finally, exhausted from a very long day, I returned to the outskirts of Boston, found my hotel, and slept very soundly indeed.

Lexington, MA

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

When I mentioned to a friend that I was taking the red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Boston she said "Good luck with that."  I'd never flown overnight before, but I figured I'd be able to sleep OK and I got an aisle seat to make restroom visits easy.

I arrived in Boston exhausted and hungry before six in the morning on Sunday, July 18th, 2010.  The family across the aisle from me had been awake and noisy until nearly the end of the flight.  The only breakfast I could find at the airport was an egg and sausage sandwich that may as well have been cardboard and plastic.  At least the coffee had caffeine in it.  Having picked up my rental car I successfully navigated my way out of Boston heading for Lexington, a little over 20 miles inland.  Just outside Lexington I found a Starbucks and got a big muffin and more coffee.  Now I was ready for adventure!

My first stop in Lexington was the Common, where 77 militiamen faced 700 British soldiers on the morning of April 19, 1775.  The British were on their way to confiscate arms in Concord.  Paul Revere and William Dawes had ridden from Boston the night before to warn of the British approach.  Intending only to display their resolve, the militiamen had begun to disperse when someone (it is not clear on which side), fired a shot.  Against orders, the British fired at the fleeing Americans, killing eight.

This boulder marks the line of the minutemen.  The gold car in the background is my rental car.

I wandered around the common, and briefly joined a group being led by this volunteer in period dress.

 

 I took a very interesting tour through Buckman Tavern, the gathering place of the militiamen as they waited for the British troops.  The small one-story wing on the right is the original tavern room.  The tour started there, but continued through the rest of the house, explaining how it was gradually enlarged over many decades as trade and technology changed and as the various owners became more prosperous.

Lexington has a very nice visitor center with friendly volunteers, clean restrooms, and a gift shop, located behind Buckman Tavern.

What I Did Last Summer . . .

In July and August of 2010 I took a 23-day trip through six Eastern states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vermont.  My goal was to be in the places my ancestors had lived and fought; to breathe the air, walk beneath the trees, and get a sense of what these places were like.  I visited places that were pivotal in American history, from historic buildings to battlefields.  I researched my family history in local archives and cemeteries.

I hope to use the first set of entries in this blog to share that trip with friends and family.