Sonya's Blog - Day 117 - Touring Around Boston

Sonya's Blog - Day 117 - October 17th - Touring Around Boston

We decided to go into Boston today and see the sights. We can drive in, take the commuter train or drive a bit and take the subway. The ladies at the front desk recommended the subway because it runs every 10 minutes. The commuter train runs every hour and a half and driving into Boston didn't seem like the best option. We decided to try the subway, the nearest station was Braintree which was a 40 minute drive away. We got out at 9 and headed out. Things were going really well until we were about 5 exits away and then traffic came to a standstill. We were not really expecting that since it is a Saturday, but it happened. Things were moving very slowly, with no end in sight. I found an alternative route behind and we got off at the next exit. The road we got on was much slower, but at least it was moving. We finally got to the subway, but it took an hour and a half! Then we got on the train and by the time we got to where we wanted to be it was 11, so it took us 2 hours to get to downtown Boston. We will try the commuter train next time, it is only 10 minutes away and it is unlikely we will get caught in traffic.

Our first stop was Faneuil Hall, we just had to find it. We went the wrong way and our map was not very helpful. We found it in the end, which was great. As a special surprise there was an A Capella competition going on right in front of Faneuil Hall. We sat down and watched a couple of the groups perform their songs. They were all really good, all collegiate level competitors, so it was like being in Pitch Perfect. Here are some pictures:

We then headed into Faneuil Hall. We wanted to start here because this is where the Visitors Centre is and the start of The Freedom Trail. Many of the landmarks are run by the National Forest Service, which is nice because many things are free. They run tours out of Faneuil Hall and we wanted to sign up for one. They were handing out passes for an upcoming tour and we snagged 4 tickets. The tour was leaving in a 1/2 hour, so we looked around the shops in the marketplace and then Tash and I went back outside to watch some more competitors.

Our tour took us to three locations on The Freedom Trail and discussed the mood of Boston leading up to the American Revolution. Faneuil Hall was a meeting place for the inhabitants of Boston and while there was a Governor, they were self governed. There were five requirements for having a vote in Boston and they were: Male, Free, Protestant, be in possession 40 Pounds Sterling, and 21 or older. As long as you met those requirements you could vote on any propositions that were brought forth at the meetings. Things were getting a little testy in Boston as Britain tried to get it's colonies to pay their taxes and began to enforce taxes that already existed and imposed new taxes. Faneuil Hall was the place where meetings were held to discuss these new taxes such as the sugar tax, the stamp act and the tea crisis. It became the place where the Patriots would gather to air their grievances with Britain and much of the resistance to British rule was planned and organized at Faneuil Hall. It was also where the crowds gathered to discuss The Boston Massacre, five civilian men were killed after a mob attacked a British Soldier. Things got out of hand and signals got mixed up and the soldiers ended up firing on the mob and killed five. Immediately, the recounting of the incident by Patriots and by Soldiers varied greatly. The Patriots started a propaganda campaign immediately by circulating an engraving done by Paul Revere that depicted the Patriots take on the Boston Massacre and to warn the other colonies what the British were capable of. The Captains recounting of the same event was completely different. Boston was in turbulent times and there were mobs and protests all the time.

When the tea crisis hit in 1773 there were meetings everyday for long time discussing what to do about it. Samuel Adams declared that anyone who aids and abets the "unloading receiving or vending the tea is an enemy to America"! Discussions started on November 5th, 1773 and culminated in The Boston Tea Party on December 16th, 1773. Hundreds took part in The Boston Tea Party, but remained anonymous for many years after the event. British response was swift. They shut down the Boston Harbour, brought in many troops, they took over Faneuil Hall and abolished public meetings, and many other things and all of these acts would remain in effect until the 340 chests of tea were paid for (worth 9659 pounds in 1773, so about $2 million today). This caused anyone not loyal to the British to hightail it out of Boston and to unify even more against British rule. It was the spark that led to The American Revolution which began in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.

We learned about this while walking the Freedom Trail and visiting the landmarks that were important to the events leading up to the Revolution. Our guide was really good and we enjoyed the tour very much. There is another tour that we can take, that covers the time period between The Boston Tea Party and the start of the Revolution and the Revolution itself. We may take that tour during our next visit to Boston.

We were pretty hungry after our tour and we wanted to try some Chowda'. We asked the guide and the closest place to us was Ye Olde Union Oyster House which is in a building that houses the nation's oldest continuously operating restaurant. He told us it was a bit of a tourist trap, but the chowder was good. Off we went and it was packed. We had to wait for a bit, but I amused myself by reading the articles on the walls and looking at the artwork. It was a unique place and many people have dined there over the years, from Louis Philippe (the future King of the French from 1830 to 1848 - he fled France during the Reign of Terror and spent 21 years in exile) teaching French lessons upstairs to the Upper Class ladies in the 1790's, to President John F. Kennedy and the 1999 US Ryder Cup team. The chowder was good, only Natasha and I had it. Isaac doesn't really like it and after Blake's reaction the other day, he thought it best to stick with something non-fishy.

We then checked out a market and then walked across the street to look at The Holocaust Memorial. What an amazing Memorial. There are plaques talking about The Holocaust and then there are glass towers for each Concentration Camp and the numbers are engraved on the towers (look at how high the towers are), each side of each tower is covered in the numbers that were tattooed on the prisoners. I think it really helped to show the kids how many people were affected by The Holocaust and how many people died. It's one thing to hear the numbers of people involved and another to see their numbers printed out and how much space that takes up. The Memorial is really well done.

We decided it was time to head back, so we started to walk back to the train station. It was a much faster walk back as we knew where we were going this time. We hopped right on a train and were back at the parking lot in no time. Luckily the traffic was moving and we made it back to the RV in about an hour from when we decided to leave. That was much better than this morning.

It was Octoberfest at the campground when we got back, so we grabbed Kizmet (she was sooo happy to see us) and headed over there. First we stopped at Kamp K9 so Kizmet could run around. There was a 14 week old puppy in the dog run and she played with Kizmet for a bit. Mostly Kizmet ran around and the puppy tried to keep up with her. When Kizmet ran all of her excitement off we went over to the festivities. First we looked at the decorated cabins. Different local businesses decorated a cabin and then we got to vote on which one was our favourite. Zombie Zoo was our favourite because they had dressed up dogs, here is the lion. Then we walked over to all the booths and checked them out. There was a lot of vendors, but it was getting pretty chilly out as the sun started going down. Natasha and I decided to head back to the RV to start supper and have a warm cup of tea. We weren't back very long and then the boys came back with Kizmet. It was going to be a very cold night and tomorrow was not going to be very warm and it was cooling off quickly. We had turkey burgers and salad for supper. We then just hung out for the rest of the night and tried to stay warm, luckily our heat works really good in the RV.

Sonya