#121 Freedom Trail, Boston, MA 7-13-09

We are now parked at Wompatuck State Park. It is a little further from the MBTA station, but still easy to get to.

Today is Monday, and we are headed to Boston to meet Donna Douglas, formerly from Lancaster, CA and best friend of Laurie-Dixie’s daughter.

What a time we had. We drove to the Braintree “T” (MBTA) to take the subway into Boston. We knew where to get on and where to get off, thanks to the help we received from the information man at the train stop. But, the parking garage was full, and there isn’t any other place to park. We ended up parking in the Shopping Mall parking lot (where there are numerous signs telling us no T parking, cars will be towed at owners expense). So we found out that Michael’s is open until 9 pm, we went inside, bought some things, put the packages in the front seat, and parked in that parking lot, anyway!

All that time wasted just to find a parking place for our car made us late meeting with Donna. She arrived at least 20 minutes before we did. She took the subway (T) from north of Boston, and we were south of Boston.

Thank goodness for cell phones. We kept in contact with Donna and met her at the Faneuil Hall, which is where a lot of the town meetings were held before the Revolution. It was also used as a marketplace. There are lots of tourist shops inside now. Also, there is a working Post Office.

Here we are at the beginning of our walk down the Freedom Trail. We are trying to figure out which way to go to get to Paul Revere’s house and Old North Church. The trail is about 2 1/2 miles long. We are only going to do part of it.

We found the right way to go and soon were at the home of Paul Revere.

This is actually the back door. But it is the entrance we now use to visit the inside of the house. Of course, there is a charge, but only $6.00 each.

The statue of Paul Revere is on the way into the back garden of the Old North Church.

We entered the gate and into the garden area. This must have been used for carriages or horses in the 17th century.

This is the inside of one of the pews. It has been decorated and furnished by the “owners” of the pew. Each family pew is empty and up to the purchaser to decorate and furnish it. Very interesting.

The organ and choir balcony. It is a beautiful old church.

A view of the church looking down one of the very narrow streets in Boston. The buildings are all built right next to each other. No space in between.

We had to walk through this little park on the way to, and back from the North End. I loved seeing the kids, dog and babies all playing in the water. The weather was warm, but not hot!

We walked through a big common building where “Sam’s Cafe” is located. Along with a bunch of other places to eat!

Even though this isn’t the original Cheer’s. The recreation is fun to see.

Sam’s Cafe—“Where everybody knows your name.” was busy.

We had to say good-by to Donna, who was a great guide. She grew up in the Boston area and has now moved back to be near her Mom and sisters.

She told us a lot of stories about the Boston she grew up with and how it has changed.

The clock tower that can be seen from the harbor and through out the city. As you can see by the sky, we did have another beautiful day to tour the town. It is supposed to rain again tomorrow morning!

Thanks, Frank, for being the picture taker today—Donna and I just visited and looked!