| Thursday was a cloudy, cool day in
Boston. What a difference from the day before. The temperature was in the low
to mid twenties (Celsius) with very little humidity. We were planning on taking the
entire day and touring as much of Boston as possible before supper. Then returning
to the hotel, cleaning up and heading to Fenway for the Red Sox vs the Toronto Blue
Jays. The weather was looking like it was going to cooperate perfectly. We
went to Starbucks, across the street, for breakfast and then the weather turned and down
came the rain. So we went to a local pharmacy and bought umbrella's. With only
one day to take in Boston, we were off. We headed East on Cambridge Street past the
JFK building and City Hall to Court Street. We were looking for the Old State House,
we had driven past it on the way in but at the time we were completely lost and hoping to
find it again. After walking down Court Street a few blocks we were at the Old
State House. By this time we were about a half hour walk from our hotel, the rain is still coming down, the wind is swirling around between the buildings and the umbrella's are not fairing very well. The street vendors by the Old State House are even packing up and wouldn't even stop to sell a sweatshirt to Rhonda. The Old State House is in the heart of Boston surrounded by modern skyscrapers, it is really interesting to see how it is all blended together. We took a few pictures of the area and of the Clock Tower. We moved on looking for Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market. They were only about a block from the Old State House. We went to Faneuil Hall first, it was the closest and it was still raining. The main level is boutique shopping. Everything from t-shirt shops, sports items, art work to a post office. After some browsing we went to the second level. This is were the Historical area is. It's nickname is "The Cradle of Liberty".
There are information sessions for Faneuil Hall, but we were seeing Boston in a day so after a few pictures and reading information available within the Hall we headed for Quincy Market. We went out the West End for pictures with the Samuel Adams statue.
With all the shopping and picture taking we were getting hungry. We decided we would walk to the North End, Little Italy. From Quincy Market we followed the Freedom Trail North over the Big Dig, which we could look down and see the underground highway being built as we passed under I-93.
This picture also shows how the Old Boston and New Boston have grown together. The old buildings, single lane cobble stone street and then a skyscraper in the background. After crossing over the Big Dig we tried to locate an Italian restaurant called Pagliuca's, in the North End. It was recommended by a person back at the Market. After a few side streets in the North End we came across it. It was a very unassuming place on Parmenter St. The lunch was excellent. The walk from the Market to Pagliuca's was only about 20 minutes. After a filling, authentic Italian lunch and a few drinks we made our way back to the Freedom Trail and decided to follow it further towards the Inner Harbor.
Our next stop was the Old North Church which is famous for notifying Paul Revere that the British were coming by hanging lanterns in the steeple. After this we made our way through the Copps Hill Burial Ground to the North End Park overlooking the Harbor and the USS Constitution, "Old Ironsides".
This trip on the subway was memorable as it was Shelley's first subway adventure. Being a little claustrophobic, she wasn't really looking forward to the trip. But a deal was struck, Shelley would travel on the subway and Rhonda would go up to the 60th floor of the John Hancock, Rhonda being a little uncomfortable with heights. We were off to Back Bay. |
After thanking the man for all his work in
regards to Beer, we went back around Faneuil Hall to the Quincy Market. Quincy
Market was a long building with various shops, restaurants and street vendors.
Unfortunately the one and only day we were there it was raining so you are confined to the
indoors mostly. There are other buildings surrounding the Market with more shops and
restaurants. On a sunny day the area would be a great place to sit back and people
watch. The area is clean and fixed up very nicely.
The Freedom Trail is actually marked with
bricks or paint directly into the sidewalks. The picture to the left was taken after
leaving the Marketplace and going North on the Trail. On the sidewalk you can see
the two lines marking the Trail. 
