The British are coming...

Yesterday we took a family trip to Boston and walked the Freedom Trail. I am actually ashamed that despite living in New England as long as I have that I have never taken the time to do this until now. We started at the far end below Bunker Hill and took the guided tour of the USS Constitution.

Upon departing the ship we worked our way through the USS Constitution Museum which we could have dedicated much more time to but wanted to complete the entire walk today. We decided to take in the Bunker Hill museum during a future trip and instead made our way into the city and our first historic site was the Copp's Hill Burial Ground.

 From there we made our way into the North End of Boston and stopped at the Old North Church - I was a little distracted and didn't take any pictures until I was right below the church. It's amazing that so much of our countries history has been preserved.

From here we made our way down through the memorial mall area where there was a woman playing an armonica which was an unexpected treat.

It was a short walk through the Italian Section of Boston (which I especially enjoyed) until we arrived at Paul Revere's House. I was intrigued with the cobble stone on the street level as well as the fact that this really was the house that Paul lived in.

We then made our way down towards the area we are most familiar with in the city and stopped for some local pizza before continuing on to Faneuil Hall. We took a break from the history lesson and wandered around Quincy Market where Alex was taunted with the sight of dry aging beef - Even I must admit I had a sudden desire to eat prime rib!

And of course we couldn't continue on without a picture of the beloved Samuel Adams! 

We then made our way into the heart of the city and stood where the Boston Massacre took place in front of the Old State House. Once again everyone was amazed at the little old building nestled in between all the skyscrapers.  We continued on past the Old South Meeting House and Corner Bookstore and finally stopped to rest at Benjamin Franklin's statue at the Site of the Boston Latin School 

We worked our way down the street past King's Chapel and entered the Burying Grounds where we slowly worked our way around reading the head stones tomb markers.

We finished the walk passing by the Park Street Church and the Massachusetts State House. On our way back to the Naval yard we stopped at the Holocaust Memorial because I feel it deserves recognition when we are learning about the honor of freedom.

As we made our way back to the truck we stepped off the beaten path and checked out some of the local shops which included ethnic groceries and pastry shops. It was a great day together as a family and I think the kids enjoyed the experience as much and Rebecca and I did. As we made our way over the Charlestown Bridge Alex posed for a picture in front of the TD Garden and the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. Needless to say Rebecca didn't enjoy this moment in our trip as the bridge was nothing more than grates which allowed you to look down into the churning waters below but Alex still managed to make us all smile with his antics. Ariel and I joined in on the fun too - This is a free country after all!