Boston's Freedom Trail

Day 3 May 10, 2010

Today we walked along the Freedom Trail in downtown Boston. This highlights a number of historical sites important in America's drive for independence. We started at the Boston Commons, the first public park in the Colonies, and around which the city of Boston eventually grew, walked past the Old South Meeting House, where American patriots met to challenge British rule, protested the Boston Massacre, and planned the Boston Tea Party. We also saw the Old State House, where great men such as John Adams and John Hancock met to discuss the possibility of American independence from Britain, and from the balcony of which the Declaration of Independence was read to the city of Boston.

The Massachusetts State House

Park Street Church

Burying Ground and Headstone - many of the early patriots are buried here

King's Chapel

THe Old State House. Queen Elizabeth addressed a crowd of Americans on July 4, 1976 from the balcony

We had lunch at Faneuil Hall, which has always been a market place and where there are dozens of eateries of all types of food and shops of every variety.

Faneuil Hall

Along the Freedom Trail

We then walked to Boston’s North End, or what is known as Little Italy, where every shop and restaurant was Italian, and where I could buy authentic Italian gelatto, which I grew so fond of while visiting Italy two years ago. I think it still tasted better in Italy, but maybe that was because of the 90 degree heat and 90% humidity, whereas in Boston we were lucky to reach 60 degrees with a stiff breeze. In the North End were Paul Revere’s house, a statue commemorating his famous ride to Lexington, and the Old North Church, from which the signal was given warning of the coming of the British (one if by land, two if by sea).

Paul Revere's House

Paul Revere's statue and the Old North Church

Little Italy in Boston's North End

Revere Beach

The Ahs Have It

We enjoyed hearing the people of Boston speak their local dialect. They seem to drop the r sound if it precedes a consonant, such as Hahv’d, or if the r is the final letter of the word, such as cah. I heard a man talking on his cell phone and saying that he needed to “pahk his cah”, and another talk about something that happened “last yeah (year). And it’s not spoken like the British do when they drop the r, but it is more open, like a cross between a short “a” and a long “a”. Marilyn told me that she thinks if I lived here long enough, I would pick up the local accent without any trouble. Well, I do have New England ancestors, don’t I?