A long Memorial Day weekend visit to Boston proved a positive revelation on many levels. The old city is one often depicted in movies, TV shows, books and other media. This was my first time in Boston and I left impressed and hopeful to return in the future.
Boston and beyond- Boston Harbor and in the distance, the Atlantic Ocean!
Alesia booked our room at the Marriott Vacation Club at Custom House. Wow is this a grand hotel!
Our room on the 23rd floor is a villa. It has huge windows overlooking the harbor and Logan Airport on one side, and the city skyline on the other. It also has a kitchen.
Our villa, room 2302, is part of the clock tower just below the clock where you see windows.
The Classical Revival tower, nearly 500 feet tall, was added in 1915 to top the massive Custom House built in 1847.
This was Boston's tallest building for decades. Click here for more on this landmark's interesting history.
Alesia and I were enthralled right away when we entered the hotel lobby and looked up to see this decorative dome.
The Custom House hotel downtown in the Financial District is within walking distance of many of Boston’s most popular attractions and restaurants.
A nearby park, called Rings Fountain, offers a colorful show at night. We enjoyed comfortable weather the five days we were here. We did lots of walking. I logged 16,000 steps one day, according to my iPhone’s health app.
Daylight comes early in late May in this Northeastern metropolis. I snapped this photo just after 5 a.m. from the hotel. Two ships are passing in Boston Harbor. Logan Airport is in the background.
Speaking of Logan Airport, I captured this image of Boston's Seaport District that we had visited on foot the day before. Boston, then and now, is a shipping and fishing hub.
The long white structure is called the Innovation and Design Building. We saw it on our way to the Harpoon Brewery (keep reading) and I remarked that it is one of the longest buildings I’ve ever seen. I think it has its own zip code! Occupants include Reebok’s world headquarters.
Also, the port behind it was a surprise revealed from this photograph I took from our Delta 737.
Back to the hotel for a minute. It has many unique and interesting features such as this display on the 24th floor of the mechanisms that keep the clock on time. That floor also has a pool table and free washers and dryers for guests.
On the 25th floor is a panoramic observation deck. Greater Boston can be viewed from all directions!
A live camera (check it out here!) shows what the little ones are up to 24/7. We saw the parents flying overhead. Wish I had been able to photograph that!
Marriott has done a great job of incorporating the history of the Custom House with many display highlighting its important past function in maritime business.
“A Spire to Commerce” is the headline of this display showing tower construction in 1915.
And, oh yes, there’s a nice bar too!
For first time visitors like us it’s helpful staying at a place that stands out and can be seen from great distances away as we wandered Boston’s streets.
Boxer Tony DeMarco “The Flame and Fury of Fleet Street” is immortalized in this statue on Hanover Street in the North End. The Boston native was welterweight champion of the world in the mid-1950s.
The Marriott Custom House where we are staying is seen in the background.
Thank you Alesia for arranging our stay at this beautiful, historic and interesting high-rise hotel!
THE BIRTHDAY BOY
Our Boston trip was the idea of Alesia and Joseph. Joseph lives in New York City and was interested in going somewhere new. Alesia said we could meet him and Boston became the destination. He took Amtrak and we flew Delta.
"Wicked Smaht" are they both!
Joseph’s birthday is on May 28. Lucky guy had two birthday desserts! On May 26 at Mamma Maria, a fine Italian restaurant, our server surprised him with this delicacy and candle. This restaurant is very close to the Paul Revere House (keep reading).
Then on his birthday he blew out another candle at the steakhouse Abe & Louie’s.
We had a great time with Joseph and enjoyed spending several days with him, especially his birthday which included a treat we all enjoyed at the Harpoon Brewery (keep reading).
Our first day we met up in Cambridge at the Residential Inn where we spent the night before moving downtown to the Custom House hotel.
Here the Charles River is behind us. We’re in Cambridge and Boston is across the river.
THE HISTORY: FREEDOM TRAIL
You can do it as a guided tour or as we did on our own, using a map purchased at the tour starting point.
It was nice to see youngsters on these tours, by the way! We ran (or rather walked) into guided tour groups here and there.
And what better day to do a tour of one of America’s most patriotic cities than Memorial Day 2024.
Many Freedom Trail tours originate at Boston Common, considered America’s oldest public park (1634).
The Freedom Trail focuses on America’s fight for independence from the British. Boston was a center of what became the Revolutionary War.
This pays tribute to the Black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment who fought for the Union in the Civil War. The inscription here lists the names of the men killed in the July 1863 Battle of Fort Wagner (or Morris Island) which happened near where we live in Charleston. This was a bloody engagement in which Union troops unsuccessfully tried to break through a strongly defended Confederate position at Fort Wagner.
The monument’s other side shows the regiment on the move.
The 54th Massachusetts was lead by Col. Robert Gould Shaw, a Boston native as were many of his Black troopers.
The Freedom Trail is easy to follow thanks to the red brick path to the 16 points of interest. I don’t want to give you the stops one by one.
Commodore John Barry, an Irish immigrant who became “Father of the American Navy.” Click on my photo or the previous link to learn more.
The gold-domed Massachusetts State House (1798). It was built on land owned by wealthy merchant John Hancock, a signer (with flair!) of the Declaration of Independence.
It is the oldest building on Beacon Hill and is the seat of Massachusetts state government- and we were there!
The Freedom Trail focuses on America’s fight for independence from the British. Boston was a center of what became the Revolutionary War.
But this monument at Boston Common recognizes another flashpoint in American history a century later.
This pays tribute to the Black soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment who fought for the Union in the Civil War. The inscription here lists the names of the men killed in the July 1863 Battle of Fort Wagner (or Morris Island) which happened near where we live in Charleston. This was a bloody engagement in which Union troops unsuccessfully tried to break through a strongly defended Confederate position at Fort Wagner.
The monument’s other side shows the regiment on the move.
Shaw died in the battle, among the 270 casualties (killed, wounded, captured or missing in action) of his unit’s 600 men at the battle’s start. Shaw is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge which we also visited. I have a separate post about Mount Auburn.
The 1989 movie "Glory", starring Matthew Broderick, depicts Gould and his 54th Massachusetts Regiment.
The Freedom Trail is easy to follow thanks to the red brick path to the 16 points of interest. I don’t want to give you the stops one by one.
Instead, I’ll show you many of Boston’s historic sites on the list, plus other markers and sites that caught my eye.
Commodore John Barry, an Irish immigrant who became “Father of the American Navy.” Click on my photo or the previous link to learn more.
The gold-domed Massachusetts State House (1798). It was built on land owned by wealthy merchant John Hancock, a signer (with flair!) of the Declaration of Independence.
The dome was originally made of wood, then Paul Revere was commissioned in 1802 to cover it with copper to prevent water leaks. In 1874 it was gilded with 23-carat gold leaf.
It is the oldest building on Beacon Hill and is the seat of Massachusetts state government- and we were there!
The Boston Massacre- you’ve heard of it right?
This is where it happened, right by the Old State House on March 5, 1770.
See the circular marker where people are standing?
This is where five colonists were shot to death by British Redcoats.
British soldiers were being harassed by hundreds of Americans who were shouting and throwing things at them. Several soldiers would fire a single volley into the crowd, killing five and wounding six others.
The deaths included Crispus Attucks (cool name!), the first African American to die for the patriotic cause.
From its east balcony (seen here on the left side second floor) the Declaration of Independence was read to Bostonians in July 1776.
It is the American colonies oldest surviving public building.
A gold lion wearing a crown and a silver unicorn adorn the top of the Old State House. Part of the 1713 design, these are symbols of British imperial power and rule.
They were torn down by American patriots after the Declaration of Independence was read to the public in July 1776.
In 1881 an organization formed to preserve the Old State House replaced the lion and unicorn, but they were made of wood and, as we know, wood rots over time.
In the early 1900s metal replicas were erected and coated with gold for the lion and silver for the unicorn. In 2014 they were taken down and restored. Today they do sparkle and look like new.
Early morning sunlight shines on the Old State House.
King’s Chapel, its architecture Georgian, dates to 1749 when it replaced a wooden house of worship built in 1686 that was New England’s first Anglican church.
The chapel today boasts America’s oldest pulpit in continuous use.
The historic sign says that after the Revolutionary War Kings Chapel became the U.S.’s first Unitarian Church and that affiliation continues to this day.
Kings Chapel has its own “burying ground” (I’d call it a churchyard or graveyard, but this is the term used here in Boston)/
This is Boston’s first burying ground. It was not open so I took these photos from behind a fence.
In Charleston (founded in 1670) are only a small number of graves from the late 1600s.
Boston dates to 1630 so many headstones, thousands, are 17th century.
I found this stone especially interesting. The shape I have not seen before.
It is almost 350 years old and the name of the young “occupant” can still be read. Through Find A Grave I learned that he died of smallpox.
A lengthy article or blog post can be written about the symbol-filled images and the Latin writing.
The images engraved on it are strange and haunting. There’s an angel that looks evil. There’s a skeleton that is holding an arrow in one hand and with its other hand is extinguishing a candle (symbolizing an end to a human life). At the top (above) is a skull with an hourglass on its head.
Here is buried Joseph Tapping, aged 23 who died of smallpox on December 20, 1678.
One of the MANY things I learned is that Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was from Boston. I always associated him with Philadelphia.
A large statue of him is in on the grounds of what was the Boston Latin School, which he attended. The school opened in 1635 and was the first public school in the British colonies and still exists today as a “public exam school” (whatever that is).
Born on Milk Street in Boston in 1706, Franklin was one of five signers of the Declaration of Independence to attend the Latin school. They others were Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine and William Hooper.
The statue’s pedestal has depictions of a few of Franklin’s many accomplishments. From influential leader pushing for American independence…
…to an early discover of electricity.
He and his kite!
The statue of Big Ben stands eight-feet tall. It has been here since 1856.
The sculptor Richard Greenough said he found the left side of the great man’s face to be philosophical and reflective and the right side to be funny and smiling.
I don’t see that. Do you?
The large building behind the statue is the Old City Hall built between 1862-1865.
Across from the Old State House Museum is the Boston Famine Irish Memorial. It is a comparatively new park opened in 1998.
It depicts, with a dramatic sculpture of a suffering family, Ireland’s potato famine of 1845-1852 that contributed to 1,000,000 deaths. More than a million Irish fled for their lives. Tens of thousands would come to Boston.
The second sculpture in the park’s shows a healthy, prosperous Irish-American family. The message may be simplistic but it’s a notable recognition of the city’s prominent Irish influence.
The Freedom Trail continues…
Paul Revere’s fingerprints are all over historic Boston. He’s best known for his legendary midnight ride in April 1775 warning residents, “The British are coming! The British are coming!”
The accomplished silversmith and stalwart patriot (and his mount) is immortalized in bronze in Paul Revere Mall. Keep walking and you be at the Old North Church.
Revere’s lanterns were placed in Old North Church’s steeple to further warn of advancing Redcoats.
Completed in 1723 this is Boston’s oldest church- 299 years old at this writing.
The entry fee of $10 allowed us to explore the sanctuary inside and the basement crypt below.
It has the old style box pews.
Their role is explained here.
Read the part in the lower right corner about how the parishioners were.
British Gen. Thomas Gage had his own pew box when he was in charge of things around here before American independence, per the signage. Click on the image to read about Gage.
Visitors are welcome to sit in the box pews. An employee stood at the pulpit (see her in the background) the whole time we were there. There are limits to what the visitors can do here- no big deal.
It’s a beautifully-designed sanctuary, very intimate and aesthetically pleasing.
I know…I should have taken my hat off in church.
Old North also features the first sculpture of George Washington. The marble bust was carved in 1790 and donated to the church by member in 1815.
The church doesn’t have a churchyard. Member burials instead are under the church in a large crypt.
More than 1,000 church members are entombed in 37 separate brick vaults.
Why do burials this way, instead of in the ground next to the church? Because there really wasn’t enough ground for a graveyard.
The names of the interred are engraved on each compartment door.
Read more about this unusual aspect of the Old North Church in this piece, “Call from the Crypt.”
We took the Freedom Trail to the Paul Revere House at 19 North Square. We walked by the day before but a long line to get in deterred us from visiting. But this day there was no line so we paid the $5 adult fee to check it out.
Visitors can go into the dwelling where the great patriot lived for 30 years.
We were able to see the Revere’s living quarters but photography was prohibited.
A display shows some of Revere’s fine silversmith work.
Not surprisingly, Revere silver like these spoons can be worth lots of money.
The Revere and Son company also operated a busy bell and cannon foundry. The bronze bell in this display was cast in 1804 and in 1805 was sold to East Parish Church in Bridgewater, Mass.
Spoons, bells, and brass cannon- Paul Revere had quite a range of products and a reputation for high quality with whatever he and his workers made.
She also said Revere used an insulation technique called nogging to keep his house warmer in cold weather.
As someone who has a passion for cemeteries, gravestones, and funerary customs (definition of a taphophile) I was excited that there are four old burial sites on the Freedom Trail. I previously covered the ones at King’s Chapel and the Old North Church’s basement crypts.
Another is called the Granary Burying Ground. Its entrance features a pair of inverted torches. They are lighted symbolizing everlasting life in Heaven after mortal death.
Unfortunately this cemetery was closed.
Too bad because several famous Americans are buried here. From the sidewalk we could see Samuel Adams’s massive boulder gravesite. This National Park service biography of Samuel Adams calls him "Boston's Radical Revolutionary."
I could not see the graves of John Hancock or Paul Revere. I wish I had researched those ahead of time or on site. Seeing photos online may have helped me pick them out from a distance.
The obelisk seen here between two tombstones in the foreground is the grave is Benjamin Franklin’s parents, Josiah and Abiah.
Ben Franklin is interred in Philadelphia at the Christ Church Burial Ground.
The five Boston Massacre victims are buried here as are nine governors.
The name Granary Burying Ground came about because of its proximity to a granary, which is defined as a storehouse for threshed grain such as corn.
The fourth Boston cemetery on the Freedom Trail is No. 14 on the list of 16 attractions.
This is Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, established in 1659.
The builder of the American ship USS Constitution, Edmund Hartt, is buried here.
Up to 1,000 freed and enslaved African Americans are also in these grounds.
It was nice to walk among these very old stones. Only 2,200 markers remain of the 10,000 total burials. Most graves are before 1825.
You see here some of the best examples in the U.S. of the old style of winged or soul effigies (stone on the left).
A helpful display shows and describes these symbols that were popular in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Some markers are still easy to read, despite their age. This one says “Here lies interr’d the body of Mrs. Phebe Lane Consort (wife) of Cap (Captain) Ebenezer Lane who Departed this Life 12th Nov. 1781 in he 33rd Year of her Age.”
Three prominent “stonecutters” of this early era get their due on the right part of this display.
Should I return to Boston I will surely return to Copp’s Hill to study more these hallowed grounds.
Because of Copp’s Hill’s high ground overlooking Boston Harbor, the British placed their cannons here to fire on American troops in Charlestowne during the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775.
The tall Bunker Hill monument is seen here. It is stop 16 on the Freedom Trail. We didn’t make it to that landmark, being a little tired.
We also did not see stop 15, the fabled USS Constitution “Old Ironsides.”
But we saw plenty and the experience was refreshing. Three Freedom Trail was a nice escape, ironically, from today’s partisan politics while exploring the divisive British versus American politics that it took the Revolutionary War to resolve.
ROVING CAMERA ACTION
Taking a rest. From here we spoke with Justin by phone so he could wish Happy Birthday to his big brother.
A view of Boston’s skyline and the Charles River from the Southport district.
In the foreground is the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.
We didn’t partake in this attraction but did watch as visitors threw boxes into the river (which were then pulled by rope back into this boat).
The Boston Tea Party Boston Tea Party occurred on Dec. 16, 1773 when Boston residents tossed chests of tea into the Charles as a way to protest “taxation without representation.”
Three hundred forty chests of British East India Company tea aboard three ships were cracked open with axes wielded by Sons of Liberty members and dumped into Boston Harbor.
The sons of Liberty were lead by…
…Samuel Adams. This statue of Adams stands tallThis statue of Adams stands tall and defiant in front of the Faneuil Building on Congress Street.
Adams was an effective rabble-rouser, leading Bostonians to resist British rule. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. A 1740 graduate of Harvard College, Sam Adams had a second cousin who became the U.S.’s third president, one John Adams.
Cheers to you Sam Adams! 🍻 🍺
Your beer is good too!
The statue, unveiled in 2006, is located at 17 North St.
I was curious about the John F. Kennedy Federal Building. I walked several blocks to find that is part of a complex of government offices including Boston City Hall.
Two 26-story towers are part of the JFK building.
Work on the building began in 1963, the year the Boston native was assassinated at age 46.
The architecture is described as Modern and "Brutalist," a style I had never heard of before. Frankly, to me, it’s bland looking. But the large plaza connecting the government complex is nice with lots of seating places and some flowers and trees are here and there.
I thought there might be a statue of Kennedy outside a building named in his honor. That is one of the reasons I went here. There is a statue, but it’s not of him and I’m not sure what it is lol.
This is a very unique building! It is the 19-floor Boston University Center for Computing and Data Sciences. It was completed just a few years ago.
It looks like a stack of books, appropriate for a college no doubt.
I captured this image the first day. We started our trip in Cambridge, across the Charles River from Boston. A big college sailing regatta was going on involving Ivy League schools.
Logan Airport as seen from the Marriott Custom House 25th-floor observation deck.
Also spotted from that eagle nest is the U.S. lightship Nantucket (LV-12)U.S. lightship Nantucket (LV-12). It was in service from 1939-1983 safely guiding to Eastern seaboard ships such as the Queen Mary and United States ocean liners.
It is today a floating museum at Boston Harbor Shipyard.
Quincy Market, named for a former mayor, dates to 1825. I walked past it early one morning when it was quiet and not yet open.
The market is lined on both sides with food options, nowhere really to eat the food, so people go outside to find somewhere to sit or just eat on the ground.
The quiet before another busy day of catering to us hungry tourists.
SOUTH BOSTON FISH PIER
This busy area, the Boston Fish Pier, has been the hub of the region's fishing industry for more than a century.
This building, which says Fish Exchange Conference Center above the entrance, is now a venue for meetings and events.
Is this Neptune? I think so.
To be honest when I saw, I think, "fishing pier" on a map I thought it was, you know, a pier where people go out over the water with their bait and poles and try to catch fish.
Lots of folks are employed here and this display gives you stories about who they are.
A gull- I'm always attuned to the birds when I travel. This is, according to my handy-dandy bird identification app, is a Great Black- Backed Gull. This may be a lifer bird for me!
HARPOON BREWERY
This was definitely a highlight of our Boston visit. Just down from the Fish Pier is Harpoon Brewery, a major beer manufacturer founded locally in 1986.
No. 1 product: Harpoon IPA.
For a nominal fee we were able to tour the brewery. It didn't take long as the operation is very compact.
It all seemed very clean and efficient. And not noisy at all.
Different types of Harpoon beer are produced daily.
The tour includes a 30-minute tasting opportunity. In this area in the back of the building is quite the beer can collection.
Our guide was also a "Beer Captain" as it says on his shirt sleeve. He is very knowledgeable and a bit of a jokester too.
This day was Joseph's birthday and what a treat it was for all of us to be able to sample as many types of Harpoon beer as we wanted!
I'd say the No. 1 seller, the Harpoon IPA, was my favorite.
Clown Shoes? That's the name of one of the brands. Never heard of that kind. I asked our Beer Captain about the origin of that odd name but he didn't really have an answer.
LOBSTER ROLLS, CLAM CHOWDER AND OTHER GOOD EATS!
When in Boston, these are must eats! And Yankee Lobster, 300 Northern Ave. on the harbor, is a good place to go.
A bowl of clam chowder with crackers was my lunch, and it was excellent. Alesia had this too.
Joseph enjoyed his lobster roll and fries.
Our first evening in Boston we had dinner here, at Mamma Maria in the Italian district. It is not far from the Paul Revere House.
And what a fine table we were given! We were in a corner on the second floor by an open window.
From up there I observed a young woman having her picture taken.
There is some interesting architecture in this neighborhood.
We were all smiles!
The food was yummy!
The meal ended with Joseph receiving a two-day head start on his birthday!
We also lunched on Boston clam chowder at an eatery that claims to be the oldest tavern in America.
It’s the Bell in Hand Tavern that presumably has been serving clam chowder since 1795.
Link here: https://thebellinhand.com/
Bell in Hand Tavern takes up a city block so it’s as big as it is old. Its address is 45-55 Union St.
Modern Pastry Shop, 257 Hanover St., is an iconic Boston eatery, among tourists at least. I learned of it through a YouTube video from a son and his father about their adventure on the Freedom Trail.
Link here: https://modernpastry.com/
It seems to be really known for its cannolis.
So we happened to pass by the Modern Pastry Shop and stopped in and were lucky to get a table right away. About 20 people rolled in after we sat down.
The cannoli was delicious! I’m glad we stumbled upon this cool place!
Abe & Louie’s, a very nice (and expensive) steak house, is located in the Back Bay part of Boston. We weren’t sure where the Uber driver was taking us but we eventually got there and it all worth it for Joseph’s birthday dinner.
Link here: https://abeandlouies.com/
Such a classy place with excellent service and the food…
…Let’s just say my steak was as good as it looks! My stomach is growling!
Boston was a special place to be with Joseph on his 30-something birthday. Last year we joined him in Manhattan for his birthday and that was a big time for sure. See my post from our NYC visit. See my post from our NYC visit.
Happy Birthday son! We are so proud of you and proud to be your parents! ❤️
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