Following on shortly after exploring Yosemite and San Francisco, I was heading back to the USA. This time however was a work trip and couldn’t have been much further from California. I was heading to Boston, home of the American Revolution (at least that is what they claim) and I was heading there for a 4th July long weekend!!
I didn’t know what to expect from Boston. Would it be like New York with the hustle and bustle, like San Fran with its relaxed atmosphere and hilly streets, or like Houston with deserted streets and trucks everywhere. As it turned out, Boston had its own unique feel; a cross between a large British town, a towering metropolis and a town steeped in history
Exploring Boston is relatively straight forwards. Boston is not particularly large and so can be easily explored on foot. They have made this easy thanks to the Freedom Trail, a two and a half mile long trail that winds through Boston, made easy to follow by the fact there is a red trail in the floor to follow.
Whilst in Boston, I stayed in HI Boston Hostel located next to Boston Common. The Hostel was what I needed, functional and clean with breakfast included each morning. Come Saturday morning, I made my way to the Visitor Centre on Boston Common to join a guided walk along the Freedom Trail. This was given by a historical reenactor and really brought the experience to life.
Along the route we learnt the history of Boston Common (cattle grazing, public hangings), visited the burial grounds where key revolutionary figures are buried or commemorated, stood on the site of the Boston Massacre and saw the Old State House.
The guided part of the Freedom Trail ended at Faneuil Hall in the centre of Boston. Given it was 4th July weekend, it seemed appropriate the British Redcoats were parading!
From here, I continued the tour on my own, which made a nice change and meant I no longer had to worry about keeping up with a group and gathering round to hear what was being said. I found that having a guide made the tour more interesting as relying solely on a small guide pamphlet didn’t provide enough detail.
Eventually I made it up to the Bunker Hill monument, the site of a key battle between the British Army and the colonists which gave hope to the colonists that untrained militia could resist the British forces (whilst the British were ultimately victorious in the battle, they sustained heavy losses and their victory came when the colonists ran out of ammunition).
I was rather fortunate that historical demonstrations were taking place whilst I visiting, meaning I had the opportunity to learn more about the battle and also to watch how a musket was loaded (and then fired!).
Once rested, it was time to head back into Boston. I didn’t really have an awful lot planned for the rest of the day, but I was very keen to watch the fireworks over Boston Harbour (even though this was the 2nd July, a celebratory firework display was planned). This resulted in me spending a few hours sitting on Long Wharf reading my book. As I love reading this was no real hardship. And it was well worth it!
Sunday morning saw me up and about, heading over Boston Common and past the Senate House to the Boston Museum of Science. I have found that visiting the city science museum is a good way to spend a morning when plans are lacking. They often have a planetarium (at least in the USA) and entry fees tend to be reasonable (and go to support the museum). I enjoyed a fantastic show on America’s National Parks, which are celebrating their centenary in 2016. And they had a (replica) dinosaur skeleton!
I didn’t really have a plan after the science museum, and figured why not head towards MIT and enjoy a walk along the Charles river. En route, I found myself confronted with hundreds of kayakers exploring the Charles! The sky was blue and temperatures were rising, so I had to join in!
Launched a top a sit on top kayak, I headed out onto the Charles and headed upstream. I didn’t have any real plan other than enjoy myself on the water and hopefully get some photos of cityscape. On both accounts I was successful.
After docking and escaping back onto dry land, I resumed my journey to MIT. The walk along the river is particularly nice on a hot sunny day. MIT enjoys a large lawn which gave me a chance to continue reading my book before crossing over and wandering along the other side of the river back into Boston. Boston is definitely a walking city. Whilst I spent several hours walking, it is relatively flat and well laid out.
For 4th July I was heading up into Salem as I had business meetings in the vicinity the next day. It also worked out perfectly as I was able to attend a classic 4th July BBQ! Held in the back garden, the afternoon consisted of good company, great food and cold beers. And swinging on a tyre swing (after a few cold ones)!
After two days of meetings, it was back into Boston before flying home the next day. Wherever possible, when I visit the USA, I try to go to a baseball game. This started when I visited New York in 2015 with Laura, and since then I have managed a further game in San Francisco. This was going to be my third game. Baseball games make for easy watching. The pace is fairly steady (games seem to take at least 3 hours), the crowd is laid back but still makes plenty of noise, and it is fairly easy to pick up an outline of the rules just by watching.
Whilst I was in town, the Boston Red Sox were playing the Texas Rangers. When I went to watch the Giants vs the Dodges when in San Fran, it took over an hour for points to be scored. Not here. From the off, runs were flooding in. Only the 5th and the 8th innings recorded no score, whilst 7 runs were scored in the 2nd innings!
Fenway Park was also a great stadium. Very different to the Giants stadium, Fenway Park showcases the historical side of baseball. Visiting a range of stadiums has certainly been good fun!
My final exploration before heading to the airport was to visit Harvard, which was better than expected. Outside of Boston, taking the train takes about half an hour to rattle its way out there. But it was worth it. Harvard is a sprawling campus, and getting lost in it would be easy (I did!). But it enjoys some great open spaces and places to sit, relax and reflect. It provided me with a great wind down opportunity!
And so ended my trip to Boston. I’d sum it up by saying that if you get the chance to visit Boston, try and enjoy a couple of days to yourself. It is a vibrant city with a great feel to it. Exploring the history of the city gives you the opportunity to explore the city as well and there is plenty to do for a weekend.
