Honeymoon 7: The Freedom Trail

The Hyatt’s pillow top mattress hugged me until almost 10 am when Meg finally woke me up with a towel on her head. We had the breakfast buffet and unfortunately couldn't eat $20 apiece worth of food. The concierge working this morning was much more helpful and gave us a map that had all of the subway stops along with the points of interest very clearly marked. We walked to a closer (yet still good distance away) subway station and got to ride for free (it was so crowded the driver just told us to get on the back).

We got off at Boston Common, the country’s oldest public park, and were overwhelmed with tourists, the homeless, and a very conservative (plainly dressed) religious group of singers performing old hymns and passing out literature. We opted to save money and bought a guide book to the Freedom Trail rather than taking a guided tour.

The trail weaves its way through parks, cemeteries, historic sights, and even a street market. Here's a list of things that stood out to me:
1. Old churches didn't allow visitors. Your family had to own a box seat (pew).

2. The tombstones have skulls on them, and literally say things like "Here lies...". They are all crammed so closely together and have been moved so many times that there's no way they know who's buried where.

3. The vendors at the farmers market were very particular about people messing with their stuff, yet I saw their compassionate side too. I watched a couple different people tell them they didn't have money. One vendor gave a man a banana (which he turned in his hand and stared at like it was a crystal vase) and another gave a girl a pear. We lost the trail at the market, but because of the detour experienced a lot. It seemed like most of the patrons were foreign, so I guess this method of shopping was more like home for them.

4. Bunker Hill wasn't Bunker Hill. It was Breeds Hill. The orders were to fortify Bunker Hill, but after thinking about it, the commander chose Breeds Hill instead.

Bunker Hill marked the end of the trail. We were tired and had been standing for a very long time. Boston is gorgeous in the historic parts, and MIT and Hahvahd seem to have beautiful campuses. I can't wait for Fenway tomorrow. I hope we make it on a tour and the weather holds up for us.

We had dinner in the cheapest pub in a string of historic ones built in the 1700s. It was a great way to end the day.