Freedom Trail, Boston, MA

Kevin learned all about the commuter train and the schedules to Boston and then got the payment app on our iPhones. With the Saturday schedule, the commuter doesn’t go as often and starts at 5:09 a.m. with the next one 7:09 a.m. The train ride is about an hour. That is a big time difference. He said we should get up at 3:45 a.m. and drive to the train station to be there for the first one. Well, when the alarm went off, we decided to take the next one and went back to sleep. HAHA We left at 6:00 a.m. and drove the 20 miles that takes 35 minutes due to all the little twisty curvy roads. There were a few vehicles in the parking lot. We paid for parking there and walked to the train platform. We waited and waited and then Kevin looked at his phone again and saw an alert that for this weekend, the train isn’t coming to this end stop due to bridge work being done. HA We decided the small shuttle bus must be for us, as the alert said shuttles would go from there to Halifax, the next stop. The bus driver was sleeping so we waited until the time the train was suppose to leave. He woke up and opened the door. A few other passengers got on as well.

Commuter Train To Boston, Halifax, MA 06/24

We got on the commuter train and went to the top level. Very nice and comfy vinyl seats. The train is so smooth and we were surprised when we looked at an app and saw we were going 65 mph. We went to the end of the line, which is South Station. This station has 13 tracks plus Amtrak. We were set for a rainy day with rain coats in the backpack. The forecast for today was rain all day but highs in the low 70s. We thought this was better than the heat dome of 95° but feeling like 104° with all the humidity! We picked good. No rain, until the end, just overcast.

We started walking and followed Kevin’s iPhone map. After about 0.6 miles, he had me check my map and we had gone the wrong direction. We see his map was set to driving. Why the long way around? We soon found out! There is a movie being filmed on several streets. I first smelt burning oil/gas and thought there had been a wreck. Soon we could tell it was for a movie. Debris everywhere. Next we saw a pile of zombies…yep, I won’t be looking for this movie. Eck! The scene stretched over 4 or 5 blocks. We saw the crane with cameras. They weren’t filming right then but had security guards and police (actors?) around. 🙂 

Boston Common & Freedom Trail Brick Trail, Boston, MA 06/24

Where were we going? To walk the Freedom Trail. There are 16 locations of very significant places. Last night we downloaded the Freedom Trail app; paid $15.00 for it and it is well worth it! It is audio and linked to Kevin’s air buds. But also, there is a script. I read it last night. Then today when I wanted to “read” again, Kevin would hand me his iPhone while he listened. Very impressive app! Another neat thing is, you follow a brick path the whole way, all 2.5 miles (one way). You don’t get lost and you don’t have to use GPS to know where to go! Whoever thought of this idea was genius!!! It starts at a tiny visitor center at Boston Common. I will remind myself of the places we saw by just checking out the website https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/ 

Famous Granary Burying Ground, Boston, MA 06/24

Granary Burying Ground is famous for several people buried, including Paul Revere, John Hancock, Sam Adams, and others. Also here is Mehitable Center Bailey, my 7th grandaunt. I tried to find where she is, even used Find A Grave, but couldn’t get a map. There is a picture of the headstone there and on FamilySearch but we could’t find it. Didn’t look too hard, as she isn’t a direct descendant but still cool to have her here among famous people. 

Old South Meeting House, Boston, MA 06/24

Old among the new. The Old South Meeting House was the site of the Tea Tax Protest in 1773.

Boston Irish Famine Memorial, Boston, MA 06/24

A dramatic memorial depicts the Irish Famine which was 1845-50. One statue shows a starving family who stayed in Ireland. The other statue shows a family well fed, well dressed, with a good look about them and they are the ones who came to America, mostly to Boston.

We saw the site of the Boston Massacre in front of Old State House. From reading books, I can picture in my mind what happened here.

In Faneuil Hall we watched the National Park Service film about slavery and the Underground Railroad. Behind this building is the Marketplace and it is filled with food places. One sign said, “Boston Chowda” and I saw several others with that word, chowda. They drop the R here. We decided to eat lunch there but at a restaurant that had outdoor seating. The weather was nice temp and still no sun.

National Park Service Bathroom Sign At Faneuil Hall, Boston, MA 06/24

In the National Park Service bathroom, located at Faneuil Hall, there is a sign by the hand dryer that made me laugh out loud. We didn’t learn THAT in school!

We ate at Ned Devin’s Irish Pub. I had “Award Winning Clam Chowder – chef’s secret recipe, three times Boston Harborfest winner for best calm chowder & now proud hall of fame member 12.” It was delicious. Kevin had fish and it was huge and the shape of a fish! I asked if the breading covered the head and tail because it looked like it. HA it didn’t. Rated: Once Every 3 Months.

Old North Church, Boston, MA 06/24

We saw the Old North Church. This is where Paul Revere saw the lanterns.

USS Constitution, Powered By This? HA Boston National Historical Park, Boston, MA 06/24

The National Park Service has the USS Constitution in the old Navy Yard. It is free to walk on. It is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat. I saw Kohler power on there and laughed. No sails needed, I told Kevin.

The Freedom Trail tour ends at Bunker Hill. This was an incredible walking tour and I haven’t even mentioned all 16 stops. We started at 9:00 and got done at 3:00. Everyone should take this path and use the app. More of “it happened here, right HERE” was exclaimed many times by us. Now to walk back to the train station which was 1.9 miles. It was starting to rain and so we decided to get Lyft. The funny thing is, by the time the car got to us (we picked the cheaper slower option) and got to the train station through traffic, it was 45 minutes…the same amount Apple maps had said it would take to walk. Well, we were just fine with the ride. 😜 Got on the train and headed south. Another wonderful day.