Update 29: Plymouth and Boston, MA

Update 29:  Plymouth and Boston, MA Sept. 9-14

On our way to Boston we stopped at Old Sturbridge Village.  I envisioned a town like Stonebridge. However, Old Sturbridge Village is yet another 1800 village with costumed interpreters, so we passed. The actually town of Sturbridge wasn't much, and I was glad we only had a quick one night stop here.

Our RV site at Plymouth turned out to surprise us too.  I expected something different. In Pinewood Lodge RV, even though I made reservations months in advance the two rigs were not placed together. The Stauss site was difficult to get in, and our site looked directly at the main road just past the gate.

We even had a side road next to us.  Fortunately we aren't spending a lot of time at the rig. We were camped on Pinewood Road though. :)

 Our first explorations took us to Plymouth, MA.  In their harbor you can see THE Plymouth Rock. Apparently the rock wore down over time. So the top part was put into a museum.  Then the bottom part was moved to a location to protect it from weather and people. Then the top part was returned and glued to the bottom.

The rock now sits  in a protective sunken well below a cement gazebo-like structure. Visitors  look down at it.

 

The Mayflower II floats at its mooring.  We toured this replica of the original ship that recreated the voyage in 1957. 

 Costumed interpreters speaking the "King's English" offered information about life on the original Mayflower. Derrille enjoyed listening to the stories of the man in the captain's quarters.

Boston feels alive! White canopied booths display arts and crafts for festival shoppers. Rowers race their sculls quietly down the river. White triangles of sails glisten against the sparkling blue water. Participants in the Heart Walk proudly follow their route. Music blares from an outdoor festival venue.  Trolley tours and sightseeing buses move people around the busy streets, while guides point out places of interest.

We chose an open air tour bus that had tiered seats rising to the same height as a double-decker bus.  Our driver/guide offered minimal information, but you can't always get a Rosetta like our guide in Chicago. The historic parts of town could only be seen in the distance from the bus. The streets in Boston's North End are too narrow for the bus to negotiate, and better suited to walking tours.

Downtown Boston  sits on a peninsula of land that touches Charles River and Boston Harbor. In the NW corner of downtown the exclusive neighborhood of Beacon Hill rises over the downtown. Townhouses and apartments with 19th century architecture line the narrow streets.

 

The people who can afford to live on Beacon Hill probably enjoy shopping the exclusive stores on Newbury Street.

After the bus tour, we lunched at a restaurant on the wharf.  Then we boarded the boat for our water tour of the harbor.

We got off the tour boat at the Charleston Navy Yard to tour the USS Constitution.

To our surprise the Constitution and the Navy Yard fall under active Navy care, requiring security checks before entering. We joined a guided tour group that allowed us to see not only the main deck, but the canon and berthing decks too.  I found it interesting to learn that the cannons on the gun deck recoiled 4 feet at about 35 mph. The youngest sailor, an eight year old boy, ran powder supplies to all the firing position dodging these recoiling cannons all the way.

Below the gun deck rows of hammocks hang within inches of each other. The more senior crew members got the hammocks closest to the ship's sides that offered a few more inches of elbow room on each side of the hammock. Officers berthed in small cubicles in the back of the ship that surrounded their meeting/mast area.

The USS Constitution won its "Old Ironsides" name for winning all 33 battles in which it engaged. The triple wall construction protected the boat. The hull uses two walls of white oak sandwiching a wall of Live Oak.  The Live Oak tree comes only from Georgia.  The Constitution launched October 12, 1797 remains the oldest active warship afloat. On July 21,1997 the ship's 200th birthday was celebrated. She now serves as the Navy's ambassador to the public. Her70 active crew members take her out at least twice a year on a turn around cruise. She sails out and turnaround when docking to equalize the weathering on both sides that she receives when moored.  Only sails and wind power the cruise.

As we completed our tour, a huge modern freighter with tug support moved toward the Boston docks. The water traffic slowed to accommodate the freighter. This slowed down the harbor tour boat just long enough so we could make it to the pickup site for a return trip to Boston Harbor. The condos at the right with the big yacht sit on a pier that extends out into the bay and sell for about $1.3 million.

We attempted to drive to the Trinity Church, North Church and Paul Revere's house. However the tour books were right.....don't drive in Boston.  The streets travel at odd angles and getting around can be a nightmare. After getting these shots of Trinity Church, we left the city and went home without any additional stops.

Day two in Boston, we studied the maps and took the freeway straight to Bunker Hill in Charleston. Outside the military base that houses the Constitution the old Navy Yard brick buildings house the yuppie set in apartments and condos.

The narrow streets of Bunker Hill surround the Bunker Hill monument and tower on at the top. Four storied townhouses in 19th century architecture line the streets.

 

Gardens and sundecks peek out from their rooftops.

The Bunker Hill obelisk pierces the sky. The four entrances to the monument honor Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and the United States.

A columned roman style building offers information regarding the important players in this battle. 

 Derrille and Jay climbed the 294 steps of the circular staircase to the top of the obelisk.

 Below the monument pricey townhouses line the narrow streets.

We also found a triangle shaped parked with memorials to the Civil War and to those who fought at the Bunker Hill battle.

With a better sense of Boston we ventured again downtown. We parked near the Boston Commons which provides a large grassy expanse of park for various city functions. On this day a dog show occupied one corner.  We lunched at a small restaurant on the foot of Beacon Hill. Then we entered the Public Gardens across the street from the Commons. Swan boat ride visitors around a large pond in the gardens. A swan boat holds about 15 people who sit in chairs on the flat barge like front of the boat. the boat operator sits by the swan cutouts at the rear and pedals the boat around their course. 

 

Many people enjoyed the sun and the gardens the day we visited.

As we toured Boston we noticed people travel around Boston  with white, string tied boxes tucked under their arms. Mike's Pastry stands boldly out in blue print against the white box. The tour guide mentioned that Mike's makes the best cannoli in town. So we went in search of Mike's in Little Italy. A line of people  waited in a long line outside the pastry shop.  Jay and Lynn braved the jostling crowd and checked out all the pastry at Mike's. They bought some cannoli and a Boston Cream Pie piece for me.  Lynn said the strings hangs above the boxing area and the clerk only need seconds to package and tie your purchases.

A stroke of luck placed our parking spot right in front of Paul Revere's statue and the cobblestone lane leading to the Old North Church.

I walked through the doors of the church and stopped in amazement. Each pew sits inside a wooden box that includes a door for entry. Boxed pews  attach to each side wall and a double row of boxed pews fill the center of the church on each side of the main aisle.

Sitting on the enclosed pew, church members can see the heads of other adults just above the top of the box. A lectern for the minister high above the boxes lets the parishioners have a good view of the minister.

A guide stood at the lower lectern and told us about the Old North Church, which continues to be used for services today.

The box pew design provided warmth for the early church goers.  Each family brought hot coals, from home, in a metal warming pan that warmed the box. People purchased their own personal box, and decorated them to match their personal preferences.  The boxes closest to the front were most costly. So box positions also showed family wealth. My mother would have loved having her "own" private pew.(Not that the end of the second pew, south side was "her" place at 9:45 Mass for years. :)

 

Paul Revere's family bought this pew on the side and to the back of the church.

We continued walking around the cobblestoned neighborhood looking for Paul Revere's house. A little girl playing ball with her sisters outside their brick townhouse directed us to the Revere house. If Paul Revere hadn't been "famous" his house probably would not have been spared demolition.

We ended the day, which happened to be Derrille's birthday at a 5 Guys restaurant. Lynn and Jay had heard of this award winning hamburger place currently found in the Northeast. The interior and set up looks like an In and Out. However 5 Guys offers more choices and makes a great burger!

The roads in and out of Boston reflect the harsh weather results. Most of the highways need repair. Several highways provide two lanes in and two lanes out of the city. In some places a wide shoulder serves as an extra lane during peak hours.  This sign indicates where and when the shoulder can be used. Breakdown lane 6-10 AM    3-7 PM  The guys were thinking if the breakdown lane is used for traffic, than no one is suppose to really breakdown during those hours because there is no place to pull off.

Throughout the Northeast houses show freshly painted or shiny aluminum siding fronts and brown shingled sides. Many of the houses in the block just before the RV park were painted this way. We think that the shingles have less maintenance needs in the harsh weather, and painting just the front of the house is an economical solution.

Next:  Beyond Boston