Freedom Trail

We got to Boston just before 10 and were able to find a parking spot in the Boston Common’s lot.  We walked all through the park, which was incredibly beautiful, before starting the Freedom Trail.  

I took this cool picture of Kara and Thomas with a George Washington statute...

A nice man offered to take a family photo, but Luke wouldn't cooperate and he cut off the General's head!

These pictures don't convey, but it was so beautiful.

The Freedom Trail connects 19 of the Revolutionary War sites. My favorite was the Old South Meeting House. In 1773, 5000 Boston residents (about 1/3 of the city’s population) squeezed in to discuss the injustices being inflicted upon them by the British and specifically what to do about the 3 ships full of tea currently in the Harbor. When the British took over Boston, they knew the importance of the building and therefore turned it into a horse riding school! They gutted the church and brought in 8000 pounds of dirt. After the war, it took the congregation 8 years to make it usable for worship. They had a fun scavenger hunt and everyone had a great time. It was a very cool building. And, we learned, among other things, where the term sounding board came from.

The thing hanging over them is the sounding board, which help amplify the speaker.

After the Old South Meeting House, we saw an old used bookstore. Thomas, Kara and Jack went inside to look around. Luke was sitting inside his stroller when a little Origami flower came floating down from the sky, landing in his cup holder. We looked up to see a little girl waving from an open window a few stories up. It was a very surreal moment.

Luke holding his flower in front of the building it dropped from.

There were lots of other cool stops. We really enjoyed seeing the Old State House. On July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read there publicly for the first time. They had lots of great exhibits.

Luke in front of John Hancock's door. It was a pretty cool piece of history.

Jack signing some important document.

We saw Paul Revere’s House and the Old North Church. We walked through old cemeteries and across a big bridge. We got to tour the USS Constitution, which was pretty awesome.

Kara with Paul Revere's house

One if by land, two if by sea...

Taking a well-earned ice cream break

Inside the USS Constitution. So many canons!

About 6 hours from the time we started, we finally made it to the last stop, Bunker Hill. Everyone was tired, however, some were determined to climb the stairs. But, Luke had to go to the bathroom and frankly, I was happy for an excuse to skip it. I remembered being sore after climbing the steps in Antietam and this one is considerably taller (294 steps). Thomas, Kara and Jack climbed up. They said it was really hot and crowded. Luke, Anna and I hung out in the air-conditioned gift shop. I think I made the right call!

They don't look the least bit tired!

We took a more direct route back to our car and left the city. We stopped for dinner at a Cracker Barrel on our way to my Aunt's house. We arrived around 7:15 and were able to catch up a bit before sending the kids to bed. It was an exhausting, but super fun day.