The city of Boston is full of such history. As we walked the streets we could almost hear the bustle of years past. We stayed in an RV Park located on Winter Island which enabled us to take the ferry almost directly over to Boston. That left us on foot for the day. But downtown Boston is a City that a car would be of little use anyway.
The ferry ride gave us a good view of the Boston skyline and also of Boston Light that is located on Little Brewster Island. Built in 1716, Boston Light is the first lighthouse built in the United States. During the American Revolution that light house, however, was blown up in 1776. The British had occupied the lighthouse and as they withdrew, they blew up the lighthouse. The present reconstructed lighthouse (the first 75 foot) was completed in 1783 and this lighthouse was raised higher in 1856 to 98 feet. This lighthouse is the second oldest, continuous operating lighthouse in the United States today.
Departing at the ferry terminal we began our day walking the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile brick lined route that takes one through 16 different historical sites in the city. We began our journey on this trail at Paul Revere's House where we also toured within his house. This house is the oldest standing structure remaining in Boston. The house was built around 1680 and was purchased by Paul Revere in 1770. This is the house that Paul Revere lived in the night he made his famous midnight ride (April 18-19, 1775).
The Old North Church is the oldest church building in the city of Boston. The church was constructed in 1723. Its 8 story high steeple is the location that the lanterns where hung to shine (one if by land and two if by sea). The two lanterns were hung on that famous night for just under a minute. Besides the historical significance of this church, we also found the interior to be quite interesting.
Inside the old church, the congregation would sit within box pews. Box pews were common during colonial times and those that sat in these had to purchase them for their families. More on who those families were can be found here Pew Families We also found it interesting that the 4 cherubim figures that are prominent in the church were essentially stolen from a French Ship in 1746.
Copp's Hill burying ground dates back to 1659. It is a shame that the headstones are deteriorating so badly. Robert Newman (the man that hung the lamps in the Old Church that famous night) is buried here. We found the gravestone art to be interesting, that which we could still make out through the deterioration.
We ventured on, across the Bunker Hill bridge to visit the U.S.S. Constitution, known as 'Old Ironsides'. This ship was first launched in 1797 and earned her nickname in the war of 1812 when she held herself up against the British 'HMS Guerriere'. Today, 219 years later, she is still a commissioned US Navy ship. We were not able to go on the ship to tour as she is in dry dock at the moment, undergoing a huge renovation.
The Old State House was constructed in 1713. As we stood and looked at this beautiful structure, we could not help but realize how many of the freedoms we have today originated within the walls of this building. Our Declaration Of Independence was first read to the people from this Old State House balcony in 1776 and the building served as the center of the Massachusetts State Government until moved to the present State House in 1798.
The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. While the revolution would not occur for six more years, this event prompted the removal of many British troops within the city and is signified as a founding demonstration of the tensions that were growing between the new Colonists and British. As we stood at the location of this event, we found it a bit moving to realize that 6 years later the reading of the Declaration of Independence could be heard and seen from this same location.
The King's Chapel was founded in 1686. Like the Old North Church, pews had to be purchased to attend. The King's Chapel is the oldest continuous attended American Pulpit. The existing building was completed in 1754. The existing building was built around the original wooden structure from 1686, before the wooden structure was removed to enable the continuous holding of services. The Bell in the church was forged in England and hung in the church in 1772. When this bell cracked in 1814, it was recast by Paul Revere. This same bell calls people to service to this day. In the King's Chapel, in the picture below, note the center spindle in the picture of the hand carved rails below. Following the Puritan tradition, there is one spindle that rotates the wrong way, which is intentional to represent the imperfection in all of us.
Our day in downtown Boston was moving and informative but hiking the Freedom Trail in the over 100 degree heat, we were pretty spent by the time we returned in the evening on the Ferry.
Our second and last day in Boston we debated if we would see Salem or head out to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum. We choose the Presidential Museum and it did not disappoint. This museum has many original and informative videos to watch. The museum begins at young John's life and explains how in his youth he was an under achiever and a rebel. As a high school student struggling with Latin, he named his racing 25 foot Sloop, 'Victura', which means about to be victorious in Latin. His father was frustrated with him and believed that he would never amount to much.
He was originally rejected for military service due to back and intestinal problems. Later as a World War II Navel officer he is credited with saving 10 of his crew members when their PT 109 was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. Surprisingly, things would come full circle when eventually he was honorably discharged from the Navy for those same back and intestinal challenges.
The museum does a good job of covering his life and career. One surprise for us was the video of Jacklyn Kennedy. Jacklyn seems to always be held in the highest esteem in this country for her poise, fashion and elegance. We were surprised by her presentation, however, when viewing the video where she gives a tour of the White House. Despite the fact that she was fluent in multiple languages, to us when she spoke in this video, she came across to viewers as both simple in thought and simple in sentence structure.
Included in this museum is a room dedicated to Hemingway. At first this seemed odd to us. Then we learned that when Hemingway died in 1961, a good portion of his estate and writings remained in Cuba. Kennedy approved a visit by his widow, during the U.S. travel ban to Cuba, to retrieve all his belongs. In appreciation, she would eventually offer all of these writings to the Kennedy Presidential Library.
The ferry ride gave us a good view of the Boston skyline and also of Boston Light that is located on Little Brewster Island. Built in 1716, Boston Light is the first lighthouse built in the United States. During the American Revolution that light house, however, was blown up in 1776. The British had occupied the lighthouse and as they withdrew, they blew up the lighthouse. The present reconstructed lighthouse (the first 75 foot) was completed in 1783 and this lighthouse was raised higher in 1856 to 98 feet. This lighthouse is the second oldest, continuous operating lighthouse in the United States today.
Departing at the ferry terminal we began our day walking the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile brick lined route that takes one through 16 different historical sites in the city. We began our journey on this trail at Paul Revere's House where we also toured within his house. This house is the oldest standing structure remaining in Boston. The house was built around 1680 and was purchased by Paul Revere in 1770. This is the house that Paul Revere lived in the night he made his famous midnight ride (April 18-19, 1775).
The Old North Church is the oldest church building in the city of Boston. The church was constructed in 1723. Its 8 story high steeple is the location that the lanterns where hung to shine (one if by land and two if by sea). The two lanterns were hung on that famous night for just under a minute. Besides the historical significance of this church, we also found the interior to be quite interesting.
Inside the old church, the congregation would sit within box pews. Box pews were common during colonial times and those that sat in these had to purchase them for their families. More on who those families were can be found here Pew Families We also found it interesting that the 4 cherubim figures that are prominent in the church were essentially stolen from a French Ship in 1746.
Copp's Hill burying ground dates back to 1659. It is a shame that the headstones are deteriorating so badly. Robert Newman (the man that hung the lamps in the Old Church that famous night) is buried here. We found the gravestone art to be interesting, that which we could still make out through the deterioration.
We ventured on, across the Bunker Hill bridge to visit the U.S.S. Constitution, known as 'Old Ironsides'. This ship was first launched in 1797 and earned her nickname in the war of 1812 when she held herself up against the British 'HMS Guerriere'. Today, 219 years later, she is still a commissioned US Navy ship. We were not able to go on the ship to tour as she is in dry dock at the moment, undergoing a huge renovation.
The Old State House was constructed in 1713. As we stood and looked at this beautiful structure, we could not help but realize how many of the freedoms we have today originated within the walls of this building. Our Declaration Of Independence was first read to the people from this Old State House balcony in 1776 and the building served as the center of the Massachusetts State Government until moved to the present State House in 1798.
The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. While the revolution would not occur for six more years, this event prompted the removal of many British troops within the city and is signified as a founding demonstration of the tensions that were growing between the new Colonists and British. As we stood at the location of this event, we found it a bit moving to realize that 6 years later the reading of the Declaration of Independence could be heard and seen from this same location.
The King's Chapel was founded in 1686. Like the Old North Church, pews had to be purchased to attend. The King's Chapel is the oldest continuous attended American Pulpit. The existing building was completed in 1754. The existing building was built around the original wooden structure from 1686, before the wooden structure was removed to enable the continuous holding of services. The Bell in the church was forged in England and hung in the church in 1772. When this bell cracked in 1814, it was recast by Paul Revere. This same bell calls people to service to this day. In the King's Chapel, in the picture below, note the center spindle in the picture of the hand carved rails below. Following the Puritan tradition, there is one spindle that rotates the wrong way, which is intentional to represent the imperfection in all of us.
Our day in downtown Boston was moving and informative but hiking the Freedom Trail in the over 100 degree heat, we were pretty spent by the time we returned in the evening on the Ferry.
Our second and last day in Boston we debated if we would see Salem or head out to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum. We choose the Presidential Museum and it did not disappoint. This museum has many original and informative videos to watch. The museum begins at young John's life and explains how in his youth he was an under achiever and a rebel. As a high school student struggling with Latin, he named his racing 25 foot Sloop, 'Victura', which means about to be victorious in Latin. His father was frustrated with him and believed that he would never amount to much.
He was originally rejected for military service due to back and intestinal problems. Later as a World War II Navel officer he is credited with saving 10 of his crew members when their PT 109 was cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. Surprisingly, things would come full circle when eventually he was honorably discharged from the Navy for those same back and intestinal challenges.
The museum does a good job of covering his life and career. One surprise for us was the video of Jacklyn Kennedy. Jacklyn seems to always be held in the highest esteem in this country for her poise, fashion and elegance. We were surprised by her presentation, however, when viewing the video where she gives a tour of the White House. Despite the fact that she was fluent in multiple languages, to us when she spoke in this video, she came across to viewers as both simple in thought and simple in sentence structure.
Included in this museum is a room dedicated to Hemingway. At first this seemed odd to us. Then we learned that when Hemingway died in 1961, a good portion of his estate and writings remained in Cuba. Kennedy approved a visit by his widow, during the U.S. travel ban to Cuba, to retrieve all his belongs. In appreciation, she would eventually offer all of these writings to the Kennedy Presidential Library.
   Boston  Boston Present Building (1833), Original (1649)  Boston  Boston Interior  Boston Interior   Boston Interior    Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  Boston  John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum Boston |
