We left the RV well outside the city and drove the Acura in for added maneuverability. This is compared to last night when we drove the RV through downtown Boston to get to FedEx before 9PM, and were stopped at the toll gate and had to wait for a state trooper to escort us through a tunnel. The city was hopping this weekend due to the Head of the Charles Regatta, an annual crew event on the Charles River (between Boston and Cambridge). We, of course, had no idea that this event even existed, but it was really fun to stop to watch several of the hundreds of university teams that compete every year. It was exactly the sort of activity that I imagined should be happening along the shores of Harvard.
We ate lunch at a tavern in Beacon Hill and then walked over to Boston Common to start the Freedom Trail – a walking tour of Old Boston and its many historic sites. The trail literally follows a red-bricked line through the city. We only lost it once when it disappeared under a fruit stand at a crazy farmer’s market – by the time we managed to fight our way through the crowd, we realized that we had headed the wrong direction and had to backtrack. The trail took us through areas of town that are not really accessible by car, the streets being too old and narrow. It was very interesting and the kids had fun- although it was a bit chilly. I kept hearing people on the street talking about how great the weather was this weekend -so maybe we are just ill-prepared (in our cotton sweatshirts and T-shirts).
We cheated a little and drove the across the river for the last part of the trail - to the USS Constitution (a still working wooden naval ship from 1797) and to the monument at Bunker Hill (misnamed, we have learned, since the battle actually took place on Breed Hill). I don’t know if the kids are putting all of this history in context, but they definitely know who Paul Revere is. Mom: “What he actually said was ‘The Regulars Are Out.” Drake: “No Mom, I saw it on Sponge Bob, he said “The British Are Coming!” How can you argue with that?
our old stomping grounds!! this post brought back great memories.
ReplyDeleteNow your back to familiar territory again. I spent a summer in Cambridge and met Thor there. All the little coastal towns and so pretty and there is so much to see and do in Boston. It's fun looking at the pictures and seeing what a real fall looks like. We drove up to Tahoe last weeking hoping to find lots of fall colors and there was none. I remember the New England falls though. Do you still love each other after having been together for so long?
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