(the title is The Freedom Trail in reverse because we started at the end of the Freedom Trail and worked our way back to the start)
We had a plan to leave the campground at 9:30 this morning. We got on the road at about 9:45. Boston is about an hour from where we are camping so we got parked and headed to our first stop, Bunker Hill, at about 11.
Melissa was our tour guide, reading to us from the National Parks website. Other tourists were stopping to listen to her too! Unfortunately, Bunker Hill is closed on Tuesdays. We didn’t get to climb the obelisk the last time we visited either but the girls were already seeming low on gas (not a good start for a walking tour) so we Martins probably wouldn’t have climbed the tower anyway. I was a little disappointed we couldn’t get a Junior Ranger Badge here though. Later, at the USS Constitution, we found out that there’s just one Junior Ranger program for all of the Freedom Trail so we didn’t miss out on that in the end.
Here is our photo near, our parking spot, right across from the USS Constitution! This is when we first started out, before the rain started, when everyone was in high spirits.
Every day before we start a “liberty” related visit, we have been asking the kids, “Will you wear wigs?” and we had many takers today.
On the way back from Bunker Hill, it started to rain. Esme and Nova were kind of complaining about the rain, the walking, the walking in the rain, and we were all a bit hungry, may I even say “hangry”. So we walked in the rain back to our parking spot rather than explore the USS Constitution. I hadn’t brought anything with me (umbrellas, ponchos) for the walk to Bunker Hill and back because I had hoped it wouldn’t rain.
We ate our lunch and listened to an audiobook, eventually the Yatzecks joined us and ate their lunches as well, and this time before we left, I made sure we had everything we needed for the longer part of the Freedom Trail still ahead of us. Ponchos, umbrellas, snacks, bribe candy…
Not familiar with the Freedom Trail? Here is a description from Wikipedia.
Off we went, following the brick inlay on the sidewalks.
Here are some of the stops we made.
Copp’ Hill Burying Ground
Paul Revere Statue
I tried the AI feature on my photo app on the above picture and here’s what it came up with. It made me laugh!
Paul Revere’s house
This cool bronze art embedded in concrete (look for paper plate, banana, and newspaper).
Union Oyster House
Faneuil Hall where we got Junior Ranger badges.
Candy/bribes to continue walking at Quincy Market.
Old State House/the site of the Boston Massacre
Boston Latin School
Massachusetts State House
Shaw Memorial. Remember when we saw the artists home earlier in the trip? (Saint Gaudens)
We separated at this point from the Yatzecks. They were ready to head back but I still wanted to see Cheers up close. We didn’t get a close up look last time we were here. The girls and I went inside but decided not to stay and went to a Starbucks instead to recharge before the walk back to the car. We considered public transportation or even a taxi but those options took as long or longer than walking and we all agreed to walk.
I wanted to go across the street and see the statue “Make Way for Ducklings” so we did that first. We also fed a friendly squirrel there.
Nova wanted to shop on the way back to the car so from there we walked back to Faneuil and Quincy Market. The girls definitely had a pep in their step and were singing as we walked. It was a total of a 30 minute walk back to the car if we didn’t make any stops.
This Starbucks featured a huge steaming teapot above the entrance
We were feeling a bit peckish so Nova and I shared some shrimp cocktail.
Nova looked at the shops but ended up not buying anything. Both girls did buy a little something at It’sugar, an overpriced candy store.
Along our walk back to the car, we also saw a carousel which had some pretty unique animals on it, and a labyrinth with a water feature.
We carried on, still cheerfully walking and singing.
We watched the cormorants diving as we crossed the river.
And took a photo in the same spot we did earlier.
1pm
5pm
When it was raining earlier, both girls were not really feeling it and Nova wanted to go back to the camper. We walked over 5 miles today and when we got back to the parking lot, Nova said “I’m glad we didn’t leave before. It turned out to be a good day.”
Martins Take Flight 