Ned here again. Our big focus for today was to walk Boston’s Freedom Trail. Knowing this would be a long day, we shoved out of our campground by 8:20 to find our way into downtown Boston. Despite the fact that my trusty Navigator, Debi, was armed with 3 different maps for reference materials, and I was calling off every road name and landmark as we cruised past it, we became completely befuddled in our assault of the heart of Boston. Between the circuitous nature of the roads that approach the city, and the consistent lack of road signs on many roads and highways, it took us a while before we finally had our van parked in a downtown high rise parking garage. Once we were on foot, however, everything changed for the better. Starting from the Boston Common, we followed the red brick path throughout the town for 2.5 miles past fifteen historic sites from the Colonial and Revolutionary era. At first we groaned as we realized that we were among a sea of school children, possibly all on their end-of-the year field trips. Soon, though, we saw that most groups of kids were led by very informed and entertaining guides, dressed in full Colonial or Revolutionary garb. We learned several interesting facts while eaves dropping on those tours. Some places we saw were the State House, the graves of John Hancock & Samuel Adams, Paul Revere’s House, and the Old North Church, from whose steeple were hung the two lanterns to signal the beginning of Paul Revere’s famous ride. The grand finale was our tour inside the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides), the 1797 fully commissioned US warship, which still floats in Boston’s harbor. I was amazed by the elegant beauty of the ship, but also the huge number of crew required to man her, and the exceedingly cramped quarters below deck. (See today’s pic of me next to one of the “guns” below deck and the limited headroom) Our tour guide, Seaman Gonzalez, was a very engaging young Navy recruit from San Diego. Our trip back to our van was via a fun water taxi ride across Boston Harbor, and a walk through the elegant Beacon Hill area. We left Boston and wound our way up Highway 1 to Gloucester, seeing the famous Gorton’s Fisherman statue, then headed to Rocky Neck Artist Colony, and from there we drove to the very tip of Cape Anne to Rockport for dinner at a funky little place called the “Lobster Pool”. We’re now settled down in a huge beachside campground a the very top of Massachusetts, ready to start our official trek back toward the west.
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