Today was beautiful. It was in the mid-70s and sunny. There was a stiff breeze in downtown Boston.
We drove 30 miles to Braintree and caught a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter train to downtown Boston. This mass transit option is very convenient and it brought back fun memories from 1959. Do you remember Charlie on the MTA by the Kingston Trio? Well … the MBTA used to be called the MTA. Their current electronic card-based fare pass is called a “CharlieCard”. So, we bought a “CharlieCard” and took a ride on the MTA.
We arrived at Boston Common at about 11am. We decided to get oriented by taking some guided tours. First, we joined a wonderful Freedom Trail walking tour. It went to about a dozen historic sites in the near downtown area. Then we took a Historic Boston Trolley Tour that expanded our view of the city.
The Walking Tour
This 1 ½ hour walk covered a portion of the Freedom Trail. It was lead by an outstanding narrator who played the role of Robert Newman, sexton of the North Church. Our stops included The State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burial Ground, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, and Faneuil Hall.
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| Robert Newman (a.k.a. our tour narrator) |
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| Paul Revere's Grave Site |
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| Paul Revere's Headstone |
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| Samuel Adams' Grave Site |
The Trolley Tour
This is a hop-on/hop-off bus tour that covers a large part of downtown. It includes a harbor tour. We rode the loop today. We’ll do the hop-on/hop-off bit tomorrow.
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| Cheers at Quincy Market |
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| Theaters on Washington Street |
Chinatown
We walked from the Financial District to Boston Common and found a great place for dinner on the way … in Chinatown. Bubor Cha Cha is an unlikely name, but it was an authentic Chinese restaurant. Every customer but us spoke Chinese and they actually had to hunt for forks in exchange for our chopsticks (they found two and had to wash them).
Tomorrow
We’ll return to Boston tomorrow for a harbor cruise and a much closer look at many of the historic sites we found today.
Kim Jackson is meeting us for dinner. Kim is our pastor’s daughter and a graduate student at M.I.T.
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