Blogs from Massachusetts, United States, North America - page 9

We arrived in Boston Harbor and were able to tie up at a cruise terminal, yea no tendering! We had signed up for the Freedom Trail walking tour of Boston. Our walking tour started with a (long) bus ride to begin our tour at Boston Commons where we started the Freedom Trail tour. I remember doing the tour from our trip to the coast in 1968. It would be interesting to find my dad's slides he took from that trip and compare how Boston has changed in 49 years! We (now) covered lots of historic sights included a graveyard where Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere are buried. We continued the trail to Paul Revere’s house and his statue just outside the Old North Church. We got to go inside the church and hear the ... read more

As I wanted to visit another stadium before the end of the baseball regular season, I decided to take a short trip to Boston. Kind of a last minute trip, as I had a hard time making up my mind. This would be my third visit to that city, as I got to visit in 1998 and 2005. After packing up in the morning, I would take the train to the airport. Then went straight to security, as I had already checked in online. After that, I just hung out at the food court for a bit. I ate some food that I packed along. Then went to the gate, where it seems like so different, with a lot more outlets to charge your devices. And that is exactly what I did, until boarding time came. ... read more

What does one do when coming off the amazingness that is spending the 4thof July in Boston? Why, visit the places that presidents and future presidents lived, of course! My whole reason for staying in Cambridge was to visit the house that had once been General Washington’s headquarters during the Siege of Boston. The house was originally owned by John and Elizabeth Vassall, who were Tories (Loyalists). Their house is one of several – including that of John’s uncle Henry – that are on present day Brattle Street, once known as Tory Row. I spent part of my day walking Brattle Street and seeing the exteriors of these houses – they are privately owned and not open for tours. The only one that is a National Historic Site is the Longfellow House (formally Vassal House)-Washington’s Headquarters. ... read more

Today was an unplanned day of rest - we just didn't really want to be traveling on the 4th of July, so we thought we would spend an extra day in Lowell. Even with the extra day, we still didn't have time to connect with all the friends in the area we would have liked. Maybe next time! So we did sleep in a little late this morning, but it didn't matter as we weren't planning on eating the hotel breakfast anyway. Today we were heading back to Lowell for breakfast at the Owl Diner! I know that technically the Owl Diner is really the Four Sisters Diner, but to me it will always be the Owl Diner. It's been around Lowell forever, one of the old fashioned classic counter diner with a few booths, with ... read more

We're having a couple of days of rest. We were frozen for so long, it will take a couple of days until we are fully thawed. Last night was a good night's rest in a normal hotel - Homewood Suites by Hilton - Thanks Maureen! This morning it was already in the 70's when we got out to the bike and it quickly rose to the mid to upper 80's, a typical Florida fall day. We rode into Lowell, and spent most of the morning just wandering around through some of my old neighborhoods. We visited Burnside St where I grew up, St Margaret's Church and St Margaret's School where I went to church and school as a child. We also went by my first apartment and over to B St and our first house. In ... read more