Write My Life

Not wanting to drive in Boston, we chose to walk.

Our Boston walking tour began on the historic Freedom Trail, an introduction to revolutionary Boston. A brick or red line marks the trail.

Photo by Kathy Gormish

Our subway stop began partially along the trail so we began near the North Station on the orange line. The sites we saw included:

Old State House. Here the Declaration of Independence was ready in Boston for the first time from the balcony. It was also in front of this building that the riot began that led to the Boston Massacre in 1770.

Faneuil Hall. This building has been a meeting hall and/or marketplace since 1742.

We continued our walk going through an Italian section of town and stopped at the

Paul Revere House. Built around 1680, this house is the oldest building in downtown Boston, and was the home of Paul Revere and his family.

Old North Church. From here Robert Newman signaled from the church’s steeple with lanterns the approach of the British soldiers. He used the following signal: “One if by land, and two if by sea.” We visited the church interior, noting its high box pews.

Interior photo by Elizabeth Gormish

We enjoyed the fact that the pews had the names of people on them.

We walked all the way across the Charlestown bridge to the

USS Constitution. Several of us toured this ship, the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. It was first launched in 1797. The USS Constitution earned the nickname “Old Ironsides,” because cannon balls glanced off its thick hull. Not any sleeping quarters I would enjoy – hotel beds are bad enough!

After our Duck Tour of Boston several people went back to the hotel. Some of us stayed and walked a little bit more of Boston, walking past Massachusetts General Hospital, through a section of Beacon Hill and through the Boston Common to the starting point of the Freedom Trail. I especially enjoyed walking through Beacon Hill and viewing the architecture of the building in that area.