Downtown Boston

We made it into downtown Boston about 10:30 this morning. The drive to the subway station took about 40 minutes ii it is somewhere around 25 miles from the campground. It was about all interstate driving and there was traffic, not too bad though. We bought the tickets through a kiosk at the station. They were about like the ones in New York City. The train we rode on looked like it was in service when we were here in 1972.Ha! When we came back this afternoon, some of the trains looked a lot newer but not like NYC and nothing like Washington DC. The DC system is the newest in the country, I believe. Boston's subway started in the late 1800's by going under the harbor. The first of its kind in the world.

We got off at Park Station, which is the Boston Commons area. It is a small park in downtown Boston. After we came up from the subway and got acclimated to our suroundings, it seemed a little strange. After being in NYC, this area had a "small town" feel to it. Maybe it was the park, I don't know. Boston isn't a small town at all and it did wear off as the day went along, The state capital is at the top of the hill and we took a tour. The building dates back to the late 1700's. It has been added onto. The original dome was covered with wood shingles but leaked. Paul Revere (the same guy that made the midnight ride) was a metal smith by trade and later covered it with copper. Sometime in the late 1800's it was covered with gold leaf. We did see his grave in a cemetery just off the Commons.

There is a walking trail leaving from the Commons, named the Freedom Trail, set up for visitors to follow to the different historic sites in the area. What they have done is paint a red line down the sidewalk for you to follow. It is about 2 1/2 miles long. Some of the historic sites are free to visit and some are not. One of the buildings is the old state capital and dates back to the 1600's. Paul Revere's house is on the tour but we did not go in. We may go back and catch some of the things we missed today. There were several. The highlight today for me was a very good tour of the USS Constitution. It is the oldest commissioned ship in the world. They take her out on occasion and sail her. Hard to believe. I believe the highlight for Glenda was taking her shoes off when we got home. Ha! She can only take so much when it comes to museums, guided tours, and the like! I have added a picture of the Old North Church where Paul Revere warned the colonists that "the Red Coats are coming".

The ride home went quickly, but the train was full, we had to stand for about half the trip out. The traffic on the freeway was much better than this morning. We got home about 7 PM.

We are not sure what we will do tomorrow. We may take a day trip to Cape Cod. We will see. Thanks for checking on us. We will write more later. L&G