The Patriots of America

---

It’s amazing how little of USA history I and most non North Americans know. Sure through TV and movies we know that something happened when 4 scores and 7 years earlier someone said that. Which you’d say with a bit of confidence was by Ab Lincoln. George Washington was the first president. But how did it get to that point? The answer, Boston and the surrounding area of New England.

I had a contact here across the river in Cambridge. When I arrived with no GPS I was looking for a place to park for free until my friend had finished studying. Somehow I found myself in Charlestown. Weaving my way through the streets of lovely wooden houses, I managed to park near a hill with a large obelisk style tower surrounded by lush green grass. It seemed a perfect spot.

I was lucky enough to find an easy park and hopped out. I walk towards the 67m high granite obelisk and find out that this was the site of the official start of the American Revolution. The place of the first pitched battle of the USA saying enough is enough of British rule.

Boston for a tourist is close to an ultimate destination if you give yourself a few days. There is no rest bar a few moments at the beginning on that green grass. The views from the bottom have been blocked off by the houses now but back in 1775 Boston would have been in full view.

Charlestown is directly across the river from Boston and the next suburb to the College town of Cambridge (the home of Harvard and MIT). Charlestown has been depicted as the rough part of town in many recent movies mainly with Ben Affleck in it. Pointed out by some other tourist, “Man Ben Affleck has just ruined Boston’s reputation internationally.”

The sites significance is due to the hill (actually Breed’s Hill) seeing one of the bloodiest battles during the fight for independence from the British. The British had plans to occupy the surrounding hills to knock off the uprising but overnight on news of this the rebels from the New England area dug up trenches and set themselves up for battle.

To the British generals surprise the colonials looked organised and willing. Twice the British attacked the position and were repelled. There are some interesting art pieces on this battle around with the British firing from over the river. On the third attempt they broke through and the colonials retreated. Despite the official win, the British lost personal far greater than the colonials and the psychological battle was won by the Americans - Over time independence was America’s.

Because of these scenes people on the radio and some people I’ve spoken to from around the country see New England people as a group with a chip on their shoulders. Obviously a generalisation but when the Baseball team promote themselves as the “Red Sox Nation” It does wreck of a bit of wank (Although some other teams do the same).

Yet there was a pre-curser to all of this leading to two familiar names. The Boston Massacre in 1770 where British Redcoats killed 5 people without order and the Boston Tea Party, which was the big baby, still used even by politicians today running for Republican candidacy for President. This was when the British ordered 3 shiploads of taxed tea back to Britain. Instead some boarded the ships and threw them overboard. Paying taxes to fund British wars was not liked by the colonials. The British acted by closing commerce in Boston, which eventually lead to the pre curser to Bunker Hill where the Bunker Hill monument Obelisk stands today.

2 months earlier on April 18-19 1775. The British knowing that the rebels most likely are storing ammunition for a possible uprising set off for Concord about 18miles west. Majority of the major sites are in the Minute Man National Park, which is what the men who fought here are called. You follow the Battle Road trail starting from Lexington where the first skirmish took place.

The organising was quite prepared in Boston; the sexton (great name) at the Old North Church promised to put up 1 lantern in the tower to indicate that the British were going the longer route by foot or two lanterns if the Redcoats were coming by sea. On the night of April 18 1775 the sexton put up two.

That led to two guys on horseback going through the villages warning the English are coming and avoiding British patrol areas on their way to Lexington and Concord. One, William Dawes went the long road route the other Paul Revere took the quicker sea route.

At Lexington they were joined by another Samuel Prescott who would be the only one to break through British patrol outside Lexington. Whilst Sammy boy went off - In Lexington a stand off occurred with 80 militia clearly outnumbered by the British soldiers. Most of the ammunition was in Concord and they stood on the Lexington Green opposite each other. Both leaders barked a few orders. The order to leave and put down arms was said and suddenly an unknown shot triggered a few shots and the first casualties of the revolution began. 8 were killed including a black slave Prince Estabrook who has his own memorial and another Johnathan Harrington who crawled to his doorstep and died.

The British moved on toward Concord and North Bridge where the ‘shot heard round the world’ occurred. A minuteman statue commemorates the event as well as a tiny granite monument on the British entrance side. (There was no bridge for a long time so they were unable to put it on the colonials side when that monument was built) but to mark the anniversary and to show unity after the civil war a bridge was re-built followed by the monument.

The British after searching in town for ammunition set the village alight. The men had retreated to Punkatasset hill and of seeing this advanced down the hill to the bridge. They advanced to the bridge where another stand off occurred. Just after Lexington the tourist information shows an interactive presentation of the whole event and it depicts it as again a nervous moment where no one knew what was going to happen next. The bridge crosses a small river about 20m long.

Again a loose shot occurred and the battle began. Major John Buttrick of Concord barked the order for the militia “Fire, fellow soldiers, for God’s sake, Fire!” For the first time Americans fired a series of shots at British soldiers. Possibly surprised, the British retreated and the Colonials soon to be no more pursued.

They pursued them all the way back to Boston. Running along a 20mile gauntlet. The British arrived at sunrise at Lexington, 930am at Concord and ran the gauntlet from 1230pm arriving to the port in the late afternoon saved by the relieving fire of the HMS Somerset who would take them back to Boston across the river. In all 73 were dead, 174 wounded with 26 missing. The Americans had 49 dead, 40 wounded and 5 missing. The colonialists were ready to fight.

I am unsure on how to get to these places on public transport as I was driving a car but if part of your US trip is to understand America than discovering its humble beginnings and its struggle against the British monarch is a must. The peaceful scenery is worth it too as many of the key buildings are still there with part of the road resurfaced with the same grainy sand that was there at the time. Under a forest the only thing to take you away from the moment is the calm highway about 20m off the trail. I’d recommend this place to any history buff or someone who wants to take an easy walk and get out of the city.

A side trip is at the coastal town of Salem where in 1692 the witch trials took place. Many people were arrested or imprisoned but not convicted of witchcraft 150 approx. But 26 were put on trial all of which were given the death penalty. Trials were conducted in various towns but most were in Salem town.

Nowadays it has a touristy feel to it and its best to time it so you can go to the museum, which I didn’t, I was 10 minutes to late. But there is a graveyard where the names of those hung are in a special cordoned off section describing how they were killed. All were hanged but Giles Corey was ‘pressed to death’ by heavy stones to try and force him to make a plea.

The ride back to Boston is only 20 odd miles so it should be easy but it was otherwise. I will again bitch about signage. It seems like the states like to tease you with their signs. They either give you some and when you get close (like 20 miles) they go ‘ah we’ve helped you good enough. You can do the rest.’

I asked a few people and they had no idea. One guy says, “Oh man you are like 20 miles away! (Like I am way off course)” I was close to saying sarcastically “Oh shit really! Well why do you think I’m asking for directions then, dickhead?” He didn’t’ know. I then asked a petrol station and the sub continent attendant says, “I don’t know I am not from here.” I’ll repeat I was only 20 miles from Boston. I finally get directions from a bakery and was on my way back to Boston crossing the river when I didn’t want to. Confirming in the process I will have to get a GPS.

I was in Boston for the weekend so with that goes free parking in Boston (I’ll get to the parking issue in later blogs) So that gave me time to walk the streets. There is a walk that starts or finishes from Charlestown at the Bunker Hill monument. Called the Freedom Trail, any day would be good but doing it whilst a weekend game of any Boston team playing is a must if you can.

There are plenty of bars along the way and half way through I stopped off at one during the Patriots entertaining clash between Buffalo. So I grabbed myself a Samuel Adams one of America’s nicer beers thus far from the ‘hot as’ bar tender, gave her the customary $1 tip and ordered buffalo wings (I’ll explain that in next blog).

No one spoke to me until I finished the wings and a guy said, “You put that down quicker than me!” A large man sitting next to me. He offered me a beer but I knew where that was going to lead to and said it was okay. Currently my only real problem from enjoying the whole American experience is that going out drinking is too expensive so I am restricted to 2-3 beers an outing. Which is probably a good thing for my health.

Boston sport is called ‘the nation’ and whilst I was here the Red Sox had been on the cusp of giving up a 7 game lead into the last month to potentially miss out on the post season (How’s that for sounding like I know my shit!!). Listening to the radio going up from New York got me in with the topic so I was able to appear knowledgeable. So I was able to hear the locals disappear and complete give up attitude that the season is basically gone before it is finished with them still with an advantage over Tampa Bay.

The story of the Red Sox long stretch without a win. The dramatic loses when they had it won. It aligned nicely with my team back home the Parramatta Eels and I felt possibly this is my team so I headed to Fenway Park Stadium to see the iconic baseball field since 1912. There is a guided tour that takes under an hour and pretty much the stadium won’t change from here. Next year will be the 100 year anniversary and the national government will heritage list it so most of the changes have been rushed in before the deadline.

It started out at the stands near the outfield where the guide said to me that they had just signed a NZ catcher who is 15 and only played softball and his brother. It’s a typical tour really, media rooms, a few viewpoints but this is a special sporting ground even empty its carnival like. You can see the families, the drunken guys, and people eating; lining up for drinks, a home run being hit. But than my love affair ended partly from my stupidity but still…

The Green Monster is the big green wall to the left field. It is the last point I remember of significance on the tour. I travel with two cameras - A digital SLR and an underwater compact. I take a photo of me sitting on the wall with the compact, I leave it on there (saying to myself ‘you shouldn’t put it there you may forget’… I ignore common sense) and take more photos with the SLR. The group have left so in a hurry I get up and go.

It wasn’t until I hit Lexington that I realised I had misplaced my camera. I call up the Red Sox and get put through to the guides and one goes. “Oh yes I remember hearing that someone found it.” “Oh great I am in Lexington at the moment but I can come and pick it up later this afternoon.” “Oh no I don’t know where it is now. It might turn up in lost property this afternoon.” That is even worse than saying we haven’t found it. So some idiot saw it didn’t pick it up and give it to the guide. Instead they left it there and by the time the guide got there it was gone.

The reason why I am telling you this is because yes I do take pleasure in the Red Sox losing in dramatic fashion like it would do a few days later but on that camera was info for the next part of this blog which I now don’t recall.

Back to the Freedom Trail… After the hill it’s down to the Charlestown Navy Yard where the oldest commission navy warship still afloat lies. USS Constitution is a free visit on the top deck and nice enough on a clear day. Across the bridge is Copp’s Hill Burying Ground where British Soldiers set cannons up to bombarded Breed’s Hill on June 17 1775. It is now a burial ground dating back to 1660. There are plenty of historically significant buildings along the way but the highlight for me is the Old North Church.

Built in 1723 it’s still laid out for services in the old protestant way with sectioned off areas for worshippers. A bit like modern day box seats at sporting events. Residents would fork out money for prime seating in the middle of the church whilst the sides were less expensive. Wooden inside with large windows providing a breezy refreshment to church going. I never thought I would hang around a church for so long but this does capture the imagination a bit. Some pillars (box seats) have been passed down from generation to generation for almost 2 centuries. Each box seat was the owners and they could decorate the inside however they chose.

As well as understanding America’s history a bit better I also wanted to discover college life. I never went to university, choosing travel as my education instead of university debt. So I am a novice to this. My friend is studying at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) that’s the smart geeky one of the many colleges in the Boston area.

To prove the geekiness which is pretty good actually. A dare was set in 1958 where Oliver R. Smoot a student from MIT used his body to measure the length of the longest bridge along the Charles River – Harvard Bridge. Every body length is called a smoot. A smoot covers 5 feet 7 inches or 170cm. The bridges length is 364.4 smoots plus or minus an ear. The plus minus is to indicate the uncertainty of the measurement. Each smoot was marked but now every 10 smoots is remarked by the current crop of MIT students. The Police requested it to be kept as it is used as a measurement point for car accidents.

For years now I have had a legitimate excuse for not going to Uni. In Australia it is too expensive. There is an assumption that if you don’t go to uni you are dumb and that is basically universal by most people who went to uni. Even 3rd world countries people look at you in a different light when you say I didn’t go to uni. But my staple comment that to go to university will cost me around $15-20000 a year puts people in their place but in the US it’s a lame excuse.

People are talking about 100K plus debt by the time they finish... I now look like a dumb arse. I realised this when going out with some college people who took my tight arse claims as lame. I didn’t really capture the nightlife but did head out to Harvard territory on my last night.

We went to a dinner bar and I have to say I have an issue with tipping. We were sitting on the stools at the bar (something I miss in Sydney bar life) we got a nice bar tender who went through some beer options than ordered food. Half an hour later I still have no food - She forgot to order. I am fine with that normally but here it’s different. I chose to tip for the drink and not for the meal but my friend felt obligated to give a tip so put in extra to cover me.

I just don’t get it? Even on the Morning Express Show on TV they mentioned in the economic situation they will have to charge a fee of 25% automatically in a San Francisco restaurant. How can this country get the wool pulled over their head so much. My mission is to discover why deep down they tip and why on earth they don’t think about changing this ridiculous necessity.

They say the service is good. It’s a bit better but not by much. Sometimes it is worse than when I am home. I asked a few people on my travels why do they accept it when you have to pay so much for a meal or a drink. Clearly the owner is making a bit of a profit. Why should you pay his/her employees wages? Does anyone tip you in your office job?

They replied the owners have to pay a lot of taxes and bills (yeah like any business in the world… keep going) Yeah but if we don’t tip than the food will be more expensive… What!! Are you serious? But you are already paying more money by tipping. Why don’t you just get it over and done with in the first place. Generally it doesn’t take long for Americans to change the subject once challenged.

Boston was a really enjoyable few days and being here during a dramatic time of the baseball season was even better. If you only have a few extra days after New York for the east coast Boston is not a bad option.

###
Since I am travelling solo at the moment I have my own thoughts and the radio to keep me company so in case someone reading this is about to be in the same situation I will be providing my favourite radio station to each region. If I don’t mention one in a blog it means it was a tough ride for that period.
RADIO 90.3fm – Played some great alternative music similar to triple j or Sydney’s FBI. Student DJ’s who sometimes forget to put the CD in before playing the music. Fantastic stuff!!

Special Mention should be Notre Dame (The Fighting Irish) Radio the specific channel dedicated to everything of the college and around fall time that’s the college football team. Advertising, merchandise, pre game talk etc.

---

Comments

[Sojourner1208]

Road Atlas
I have traveled by truck, van, and car in the US extensivly and would like to suggest that if you are going to be traveling extensivly you go online to walmart.com and invest $12.75 and order the 2012 Rand McNally Large Scale Road Atlas. It can be sent to any Wal Mart on your route where you can pick it up which would be the most convienent method for you since you are traveling. It is an excellent atlas and has the location of every SuperWalmart in the US, most of which will permit overnight parking. SuperWalmart is open 24 hours as well which is convienent for late night shopping and restrooms. The map is excellent for finding your way around. Personally I have found that the locals don't know where anything is because all they do is work, shop, eat, and watch TV anyway. Be sure to get the Large Scale version....much easier to read.

[thedribbleman]

Thanks for the info
Yeah I eventually heard about the neat set up at Wallmart. Haven't heard of the atlas b4 though thanks.