#121 USS Constitution, Boston, MA

We had to take some time away from our tourist visits and do our “chores.” So in the morning we both got haircuts and did the grocery shopping. The weather was cloudy and did sprinkle on us a little. But, we are getting used to the water coming out of the sky! We just work around it!

After getting back to the RV we decided we would try the T again. This time we drove a little further up the line to Quincy Adams terminal. No problem parking there! So off we went to another part of the Freedom Trail. This time we had to walk across the bridge to Charlestown Navy Yard. On our way over the “old” bridge I took a picture of the new bridge that the Interstate uses to cross the Charles River. It is really a pretty bridge.

Here it is—The USS Constitution, the oldest war ship still commissioned in the US Navy.

We had to wait in line to get aboard. Only about 40 people go aboard at one time. We can see the extensive rehabilitation and restoration work they are doing. The entire deck is covered with silver tarps. The ship is getting a new deck with a pitch to it so water will run off. While they are doing that, any other work on the sides are being taken care of as well as some work on the masts.

The masts have been removed for the repairs. What you see is only about 1/3 of the height of the ship when it is fully assembled. How do you like the little work car?

From the Charlestown harbor you get a great view of Old North Church Steeple and the Clock Tower in Boston. Check out the clouds. The just threaten—no rain while we are out and about.

As you can see, the ship is still in the water. All the repairs are being done above the water line.

The ship was commissioned as a 44 gun war ship. The least amount of cannon it has had was 52. They are a pretty awesome sight.

Above is just some of the implements used to load and clean the cannon. On each deck is an active seaman who will answer any questions. They are serving their duty time right aboard the Constitution. Nice Duty!!!

This is the Captains Quarters. It is up in the bow of the ship. On one side of the dining room (picture below) is his sleeping quarters. On the other side (where all the people are) is his office. Pretty spacious.

The crew’s sleeping quarters below. I wonder if the US Sailors who go out on this ship actually have to sleep in those hammocks? I should have asked.

The midshipman’s galley above is actually in the middle of the ship. The Surgeons room is pictured below. Pretty crude, I wouldn’t want to get hurt or sick on this ship. No helicopters!

An officer had a little nicer hammock, and even a small writing desk in his quarter. Can you imagine swinging in that when there were 4-5 foot swells?

All the structures you see in the picture below, will probably be removed when the new deck is finished. I think it is just for setting the pitch of the deck.

The brass work and the old wooden structures are highly polished and gleaming. The first sailor told us that each day they are required to spend an hour cleaning and polishing before any tourists come aboard.

The ship’s bell is actually a working bell and the Captain and higher officers are “rung aboard.” We were asked to please not ring it!

I guess the sailors don’t have to sleep in the hammocks when they are tied up to the dock. Right next to the visitor center is their quarters!

After our long walk over the bridge, up and down the ladder wells of the ship and the walk back over the bridge, we were hungry. Donna had told us to be sure and try the Italian food in the “North End.” So we walked some more, and found a nice Italian restaurant with a little patio where we were able to eat our dinner. While we were eating and watching the people pass by, I noticed that many of them were carrying bakery boxes. Our waitress headed us to a cute little Italian Bakery just down the street. The name was Modern Bakery. We stood in line (must be good the line was out the door) and bought some goodies to bring back home. While we were in line the owner passed by with a tray of home made nut bars. I asked him about them and he told us he was 80 years old and still baking. Then he told us about his 98 year old uncle. Giovanni introduced himself to us and was very friendly and talkative.

By now we are tired and so we headed back to the T station. We are getting to know our way around this place! We even boarded the T from a different station than we had came in from. Woo Who, we are getting the hang of this mass transit stuff!

#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!

#120 Weymouth and Boston, MA 7-10 thru 12-09

We drove a huge 34 miles to the Weymouth Elks for a couple of days. We met a couple of nice ladies from California that also parked their RV on the parking lot. They were headed south and had been where we are going, so we swapped stories and places to see and stay.

We found out that the last day the tall ships were going to be in the Boston Harbor was Sunday, and Saturday the weather was supposed to be really nice. So, we got ourselves up and out to the ferry at Quincy and rode over to Boston Harbor. We disembarked at Long Wharf. There seemed to be a million other people there to see the ships. We walked a few blocks along the wharves and then decided we would see the ships better from a Harbor Tour Ride. We signed up for a 20 passenger boat leaving at 2:30 in the afternoon for a one hour ride. When we arrived for the ride, they were running about an hour behind schedule. But, by the time the 1:30 people got on board a couple of returning boats, we were only about 20 minutes later than our boarding time. So turned out good.

This was our first tall ship. Just look at the crowd of people lining the dock. It was one of the nicest weather days the East has had in a couple of months. I think everyone was here!

We were stuck behind the first big boat and in front of the second boat. Both are tour boats loaded with people. We were so fortunate to get on a small boat with only 20 people. All of us had our own window seat.

We had to wait in line to get into one of the docking areas to see the tall ships. So our tour ended up being almost two hours. But it was worth it to be on the water and away from all the crowds.

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We saw about 19 tall ships. Pretty amazing sight. The one below I really liked because of the sail. A Happy Sunny Sail!

What an unbelievable sight, a tall sailing ship, luxury cruise boats, a tour boat and the US flag flying in the fore front.

After our harbor cruise, we headed back to the ferry—but had to stop and have an early dinner at Natural’s restaurant. They have the famous clam chowder that has been served at the White House. So, of course, we had to sample it. We bellied up to the oyster bar and sat next to a nice couple who shared some good tips on what to order. We ended up ordering the steamed mussels. Oh my, were they good. They taste more like our West Coast butter clams. And the sauce they were cooked in was so delicious we wanted to bottle it and take it home. It was a really good choice for dinner. Soup and mussels! A perfect way to end a beautiful day.

The ferry ride home was smooth and relaxing. We were glad to get back to the RV and Gidget was glad to see us.

Sunday we found a nice Baptist Church right around the corner from where we were parked at the Elks. We attended the 9:30 service and then took a ride out to Wompatuck State Park. We had phoned the park to see if there were any open spots for us to park the RV and were told to come and see. We knew we needed to use the dump station there, and we might just as well stay where we would have some electric service. The cost of the space was $17.00 a night. Pretty reasonable. Only 15 amp service at the sight, and no water or sewer. We looked at the site, and paid for three nights.

Saturday night it rained buckets while we were asleep. The site we had at the park had a big mud hole right beside it, but not on the pad. We went back to the Elks and got the RV and moved into the park that evening. Our site was in the trees, but we had a clear shot at the Southern sky which meant we were able to watch TV. Pretty sweet.

#119 Plymouth, MA 7-9 and 10-09

We drove all of 84 miles to Plymouth, MA and stayed in the parking lot of the local Elks. There aren’t any hook-ups and the donation we gave for two nights was put in the purple pig. The lodge is close to a big shopping center. We were going to stay another day, but the parking lot was going to be resurfaced the next day and Dixie didn’t want to have to get up and leave early!

Our first afternoon we drove to Old Town Plymouth right on the harbor. We visited Plymouth Rock and walked around the area a little. We also found out about doing the tour of Plimouth Plantation and the Mayflower II.

This is the sign about the rock. If you look behind the rock you will see the pavilion that the rock has been placed in. The rock has been moved three times and was broken once. It has quite a story besides being the rock where the first pilgrims stepped on land.

Me, Dixie, with Plymouth Harbor in the far background and the rock below the fence.

Plymouth Harbor on a beautiful afternoon.

What a nice Bed and Breakfast, right across the street from the harbor and the pavilion where Plymouth Rock sits.

I love the cross walks here in Plymouth. You really can’t miss seeing them—unless you are red/green color blind!

Here we are at the Plimouth Plantation (spelling is correct). First we are introduced to the Wampanoag Homesite. These are the natives that the Pilgrims first encountered.

A winter home for the Wampanoag.

A summer home for them

A descendent of the Wampanoag doing bead work inside the winter home.

This is how they taught the Pilgrims to grow their corn.

A short walk along the Eel River to the Pilgrims settlement.

The settlement as viewed from the fort.

Home was usually one room. The bed separated by the curtains you see above. The floors were hard packed dirt and the older children slept on the floor on straw filled mats. The baby had a cradle.

The fireplace was at one end of the room, and that is where the meal were cooked. It was also the only source of heat.

The table was up against the wall and was used for sewing, and cooking and eating. It was moved out when the main meal was served and pushed back when it was time to sleep. Much of the furniture was brought over on the ships, or traded for when the merchant ships landed in the harbor. Other furniture was hand made.

The Pilgrims doing their daily work. All the “actors” spoke in old English and knew nothing about any thing after the 17th century.

Building a warehouse to store grain, food and straw harvested throughout the summer.

An outdoor oven.

This is the inside of the fort, also used for meetings and church services.

A peaceful setting now, but it must have been frightful to be so far away from everything that was familiar. The Wampanoag people were helpful and they did celebrate the harvest feast, which we now call Thanksgiving, together.

We left the 17th century settlement and drove our 20th century car about 7 miles back to Plymouth Harbor where we boarded the 1950’s Mayflower II which was built just like the original Mayflower. There we encountered 17th century sailors!

A couple of Old Salts and a modern tourist!

Cooking facilities aboard the Mayflower II.

Sleeping facilities for the passengers.

Sleeping facilities for the crew.

Protection from Pirates?

The boat that brought the Pilgrims from the ship to land.

The Mayflower II tied up to the dock.

Good by Plymouth, we are headed about 35 miles away to the Weymouth Elks.