Sightseeing around beautiful, historical Boston, Massachusetts

Boston Public Gardens

I woke up to the lovely sounds and sights of being moored off the beautiful New England city of Boston, Massachusetts.  Boston is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts.  The city was founded in 1630.

The sky was clear, air was warm, there was a gentle breeze and the ripples in the water were barely moving.  Today was going to be a wonderful day to see the sights around Boston.

Randy was very excited because we are going to be in port for two days.  He wants to show me around to the many places he ate, slept and visited during his days working for the IRS.

The TEAMMATES ( Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky )

 

 

We signed up for the Old Town Trolley Tour of Boston.  The fully narrated 90 minute tour would take us to, among other historical sites, Beacon Hill, Fenway Park, Cambridge, Old North Church, Bunker Hill, the Public Gardens, CHEERS, Faneuil Hall, the Old State House, Boston Commons and more.

 

 

Old South Church

CHEERS

 

The bus tour was wonderful.  Our tour conductor was a font of historical knowledge and very funny and kept our interest throughout the tour.  While we were on the tour, I made a mental note of several sights that I would like to see up close and personal.

 

Old State House

Massachusetts State House

 

 

Once the tour was over we left the trolley at the Old State House and started our walk around town.  I was fascinated how this historical area of small buildings seemed so wonderfully nestled between so many steel and glass skyscrapers.

 

 

Fanueuil Hall — Statue of Samuel Adams

We spent hours walking around as Randy reminisced and told stories about his time in Boston.

 

We walked through Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market and strolled down a lovely pedestrian walk lined with sidewalk cafes and shops.

 

We then turned our attention to a small street that was undergoing major construction to stop at a restaurant Randy had visited many times over the years, Ye Olde Oyster House.   I loved it!  We walked around inside a section of the restaurant called ‘Freedom Hill Trail’ with many wooden plaques depicting the history of our country’s revolutionary past.

It was too early for lunch so we continued our walk.  On the trolley tour I had noticed a glass structure and wondered what it was.  As it turned out the structure was just across the street from the restaurant.

Holocaust Memorial

We walked over to take a look and discovered a beautiful, monument to holocaust victims.  The New England Holocaust Memorial was built as, “A beacon of memory and hope, inviting all visitors to reflect on the impact of bigotry and to resolve to combat all forms of oppression”.

We walked slowly on the path through the six structures and were moved by the tattooed numbers etched and quotes made by survivors etched into the glass.

 

With map in hand we continued our walk past the Old South  Meeting House along the Freedom Trail to the Granary Burying Ground and spent a good deal of time reading the headstones.  We found the grave sites of Sam Adams, Paul Revere, Ben Franklin’s family and many more.

 

 

One tombstone Randy wanted to show me was the the grave site of Mother Goose.

King’s Chapel

 

 

Our next stop was the King’s Chapel and burying ground.  The graveyard was at one time in history the only burial ground in Boston’s for 30 years.  Historical figures buried here include John Winthrop, the colony governor, Mary Chilton, the first woman off the Mayflower and William Dawes, who rode with Paul Revere on the Midnight Ride.

 

 

After walking among the rows of tombstones, we decided to spend a few moments visiting the church.  The church was built in 1688 and was originally an Anglican Church.  The interior of the church was lovely.  I especially liked the boxed pews with the red velvet cushions.

 

We eventually made it back to Faneuil Hall in search of a place to have lunch.  I wanted to go to the Oyster House but on our way Randy spotted a sign outside a pub called, Paddy O’s advertising a luncheon special that included a burger and a beer for $7.00.  Well, that is all it took for us to change direction.

The bartender rimmed the glass with pumpkin pie spice. The beer was yummy!

We sat at the bar and struck up a very nice conversation with the bartender.  When he learned that we had been traveling up and down the New England and Canadian shoreline he asked if we had enjoyed any interesting beers.

We shared all the different flavored beers we had enjoyed and that we really loved the Sea Dog Blueberry beer the best.  He asked if we had ever had pumpkin beer.  We said, “No”.  He gave us a sample of Shipyard Pumpkinhead beer.  We loved it so we ordered a pint to share.  We both loved the spicy flavor of the beer; It was so good.

We walked back to the street where we could pick up a ride on the tour bus back to the ship.  By the time we returned to the ship we had just enough time to shower and prepare for the evening activities.

Pictured: Fred, Gayle, Larry, Sue, Joe, Cindy, Craig, Maryann, Randy and Mary

As I have mentioned before, we have great dinner companions and enjoy every minute of time we spend with these wonderful people sharing our various experiences.

The second day in port we made the decision to stay on the ship instead of going on shore.  We had a wonderfully relaxed day reading, having lunch with an officer.  I also managed to enjoy a luxurious mani-pedi.

Tomorrow we are in Newport, Rhode Island.

Enjoy,

Mary