the education of henry

Day 9: Freedom Trail and the USS Constitution

2023-09-22

Today was our first day in Boston. We found Boston Common without too much trouble, but there was so much traffic! The weather was wonderful, and we explored the Common for a little while before our Freedom Trail Tour started. Our guide was awesome - I stuck to her like glue and asked about a million questions. It was a great day and we saw so many amazing things I have read about and heard about - it was so much fun to see them in person.

At the Founders Monument in Boston Common.

The Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Boston Common.

The new MLK scuplture.

Mom by the scuplture's inscription.

At the start of our Freedom Trail tour.

The Park Street Church.

The Granary Burial Ground. Three signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here, as well as the victims of the Boston Massacre.

The marker for James Otis. He was the one who came up with the phrase "no taxation without representation." He's not as well-remembered as other founders because he was hit in the head by a redcoat during a protest in 1769 and suffered brain damage. He never really recovered, and ultimately died by being struck by lightning.

The marker for John Hancock.

The marker for Paul Revere.

The big one in the middle is for Ben Franklin's parents - Ben is buried in Philadelphia.

Marker for the Massacre victims.

The Ben Franklin statue at Old City Hall, which is also the site of the Old Latin School, where Franklin, Sam Adams, John Hancock, and other founders went to school.

The Old South Meeting House.

We went down an alley and found this marker for some of our ancestors.

The old State House. This is where the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston for the first time. They still read it there every July 4th.

Faneuil Hall

Quincy Market - we had lunch here.

This marker was near Paul Revere's house.

This is Paul Revere's house - the oldest building in Boston.

Paul Revere's statue commemorating the Midnight Ride, with the Old North Church in the background.

The Old North Church where the lanterns were hung to signal that the British were coming.

A sidewalk marker for the Freedom Trail.

Cool bridge we saw walking to the USS Constitution.

We found LEGO! A model of the USS Constitution build out of LEGO - it was to scale for minifigures, too.

Dad is there to show the size.

A fully rigged wooden model of the USS Constitution.

The USS Cassin Young.

Mom found the galley!

Panorama shot from the dock.

The USS Constitution.

Almost on board...

I am finally here!

So excited to finally be on board after a year of thinking about seeing this ship!

Checking out the cannon.

I asked this guy a lot of questions about the ship...and we talked about Star Wars. He likes the same characters I do.

More cannon.

A display of different kinds of things you can shoot out of a cannon.

Not a lot of clearance below deck.

Officer's quarters.

Where the enlisted men sleep.

Outside the captain's quarters.

Captain's dining room.

Another cannon - this one has an aiming mechanism.

At the wheel.

Look at this, another LEGO model, this time of the battleship.

We took a water taxi to cut off some of the walking back to the car.

Enjoying the ride.

The skyline from the boat.

Walking back to the car.

The Massachussetts State House seen from the Lafayette Mall.

We found the car with no problem, but it took 90 minutes to drive the 11 miles to our hotel. Boston traffic is every bit as bad as people say. But we had a great day!

Thanks for reading!