Boston, Part 2

Boston was cold. REALLY, truly, frigidly cold. But it was awesome. Friday morning we got up and bundled up as much as possible and headed downtown. We started at Boston Common and explored the surroundings. It's a beautiful park, I think, but it was mostly just cold on a day like this.

There were a lot of things I learned on this trip. Like that George Washington is a die-hard Red Sox fan. He's wearing the jersey to cheer on his favorite team.

Also, these ducks are kind of a big deal. They are from the children's story Make Way for Ducklings. That book was in every single gift shop I saw during our trip.

They were cute, as they were decorated with red bows for Christmas

 The new state house is very cool. It's an impressive building both inside and out. In contrast to the New Hampshire capitol, this one had a lot to see and I think a lot of interesting history.

 We toured through the building and there's no way I could have captured on camera the beauty of the art and architecture inside this place. Everything from the stone floors, to the columns, the domes, and stained glass were just beautiful. One cool thing was looking at all the portraits of the governors of Massachusetts. Each one got to choose the artist who was commissioned for their piece and it was interesting to see the varying styles they chose to be presented in. One was almost impressionistic, with loose brushstrokes, one chose to be depicted outdoors near a tree in his jeans and flannel shirt, and Mitt Romney was the only one who figured out how to get his wife depicted in his picture. While it was against the regulation to have her pose with him, he had his portrait painted in his office next to his desk, on which of course there was a photograph of his wife Ann. It was important to him that she appeared in the portrait with him.

The next stop was the Granary Burying Ground. There are a number of famous people buried here including Benjamin Franklin's parents, John Hancock, and Paul Revere.

This is the monument and tombstone of Paul Revere

 As we continued along the Freedom trail, we followed a path of red brick, two bricks wide that has been embedded into the sidewalk to mark the path for tourists to follow to see all the sights of Historic Boston. We came next to the first public school of America.

Quite an elaborate hopscotch, I must say. They don't make them like they used to!

 In front of the old City Hall stands one of the oldest representations of our two political parties symbols. The donkey or "jackass" and then two bronze foot prints with elephants engraved on them that say "Stand in Opposition."

Ryan is butting heads with the Democratic Party. We'll stand in opposition!

 Next stop was the Old South Meetinghouse. Back then it was used for a lot more than just church. It was also used for all sorts of community meetings and functions. One of the most famous things about it is this is where all the Boston Tea Partiers met and got so worked up they went out and threw all the tea into the Boston Harbor!

Old South Meetinghouse

The Old State House was the next stop on the trail. It was cool inside! It's kind of amazing how many times the use of this building has changed and it's been redone. There have been varying facades or porches on it as it changed from statehouse, to offices, to community bazaar, among other things. Now it's a museum primarily. The coolest feature about it is the spiral staircase right in the center of the building!

Just outside the Old Statehouse in this square was the site of the Boston Massacre.

Faneuil Hall was a great place to stop for lunch. There was a marketplace just behind it packed full with places to eat. Unfortunately they neglected to include many places to sit while eating, and since it was so frigid, eating outside was out of the question. My LL Bean hand warmers were tucked into my shoes and doing their best to keep my toes from freezing right off, and we all needed a break from the cold. There were a lot of places with clam chowder and it made for a great New England style lunch.

We explored Faneuil Hall after lunch. It's used to primarily be a meeting place, and the second level still is, and community meetings and events can be held there. They like to say that the main level of Faneuil Hall has been a marketplace for a long time and still is, but really the main level is just a bunch of cheap souvenir gift shops.

I'm not sure the significance of the golden grasshopper on the top of Faneuil Hall, but there it is. 

Not too far away was the Paul Revere House. It was in a really cool area of town. It's kind of an Italian sector and it is full of restaurants that looked and smelled amazing. I sort of wish that we'd waiting until here to get lunch! But then I remember how starved I was from the cold and all the walking when we arrived at Faneuil Hall!

We are trying not to look cold

The back of Paul's House. Large by Boston standards, but tiny when you think of what some of the other revolutionaries were living in down in Virginia!

I also have to include this portrait by John Singleton Copley. It's the most famous portrait of Paul Revere, and ever since the first time I saw it in one of my college humanities classes, I knew that Paul shared a special connection with Jack Black. I swear this portrait is Jack Black himself dressed in colonial garb. 

Anyone dare to contradict the resemblance?

Revere mounted on his faithful steed. Every good man needs a good horse.

We arrived at Old North Church just in time for a historical lecture on the place. It's most well known for being the signalling place for Paul Revere's midnight ride. This was where the lantern was hung. But another thing I thought was interesting was the set up of the place. You can see this a little in the photo below, but instead of long rows of pews, the church was sectioned off into lots of little boxes. There was a door into each box that could be closed and then a bench on the sides of the box. This was because it was often so cold that this helped families to be able to sit together and stay warmer. They could bring a heated stone or something to put in their box during church to keep from getting so cold.

Box pews! I think this is a great idea. You can lock your toddler in and put some toys on the floor and then there's no chasing after him in the middle of church!

Beautiful clock and organ at the back of the church

And a trip through the Italian sector of town could never be complete without some dessert! We stopped at Mike's Pastry for some treats. Three of us had cannolis, and Ryan got an amazing, rich piece of chocolate cake.

I don't think it's quite possible to see this in the photo, but this place was packed. Wall to wall packed. You don't stand in line, you stand en masse and order when the mass gets close enough for someone to hear you.

Looks like there will be a part 3. It was quite a trip...