ungkler: The Freedom Trail

Boston
Winter 2007

Aboard the USS Constitution docked at Charlestown Harbor in Boston
(Feb-2007)

Journal Entry... Looked forward to walking a 2.5 mile Freedom Trail around the city to "steepled churches, grand meeting halls, and battlegrounds to America's oldest commissioned warship"... in historic Boston.

Aboard the Amtrak -
NYC to Boston

5-feb: Fourth city stop, Boston... It was a short taxi ride coming from Boston South Station, to the hotel - US$6, after a 4-hour train ride via Amtrak from NYC, to Boston - US$150, per person. Check-in: #BostonMarriottLongWharf. The train journey got me so tired, as I did not get any sleep on the train guarding the luggage, and collapsed on the hotel bed dozing off to dreamland in a snap. Zzzzzz...

Traveler's downtime

Dinner time, hubby and I crossed the underground tunnel that connected to Quincy Marketplace, with a food court. When in Boston, must-try the calorific "Boston Clam Chowder". Best meal after a long nap and in winter weather.

6-feb: Freedom Trail... Can't remember from what marker hubby and I began the trail, we just started following the set of black footprints on cobblestone upon seeing it. Faneuil Hall showed up first, which was right next to the Quincy Marketplace where we had dinner the previous night. Faneuil Hall looked familiar at first glance, it's where Nicolas Cage went searching for fictional clues in the movie, "National Treasure" (American film, 2004). Trivia: Faneuil Hall was built in 1742 as a central marketplace, and Peter Faneuil's idea, a wealthy merchant in Boston; it included a hall for town meetings. On the third floor of Faneuil Hall was the museum/armory of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, which interested the hubby.

Faneuil town hall in Boston - a scene from the National Treasure film

Nearby was Cheers restaurant, which turned out to be the replica of its original inspiration of the restaurant in Beacon Street, as well as the TV sitcom.

Quincy Market
for clam chowder

Hubby and I continued on the Freedom Trail and came across everything prefixed "old"-- Old State House, Old South Meeting House, Old Corner Bookstore and Old City Hall, the last of which had become the #RuthChrisSteakHouse.
Until... those black footprints had vanished from the ground. Hubby and I were at a loss where the footprints would turn up... and walked our way to a park, the Boston Common.

Boston Common - a National Historic Park in Boston

At the park was a Visitor's Information Center, and there I got hold of the Freedom Trail Map. It indicated that the trail begins from Boston Common-park, and not somewhere in the middle where we started. On the far end was the Old State House, with a gold dome, that looked familiar from the Bourne movie franchise, I think. When in Boston Common, photo-op with the Frog statue. I called off the Freedom Trail, because it needed a full, fresh start.

Photo-op with "Mr. Frog"

7-feb: Cont. Freedom Trail... Now guided by a trail map, next stop was the Paul Revere House, displaying how the folks lived back in the days. Around a corner was yet another historic old site, the Old North Church.

Until... the Freedom Trail required crossing Charlestown Bridge - a steel bridge over Charles river connecting downtown to Charlestown, and where the USS Constitution was docked. The innocent-looking bridge had a mesh flooring that one can see right through it and down to the river water far below, that triggered acrophobia in me and I panicked, not knowing whether to walk ahead, or turn back. Hubby got affected, by osmosis. The cold breeze did not help any calming the nerves. Knees trembling, hubby and I held on to each other and managed to cross the Charlestown Bridge in one piece, screaming out a sigh of relief reaching the other end of it!

USS Constitution naval vessel afloat on the Boston Harbor

Photo-op aboard
USS Constitution

The USS Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat on the Boston Harbour, and named by President George Washington after the US Constitution. On a far distance towered the monument at Bunker Hill commemorating the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775).

We were told, Charlestown Bridge awaited our return... Thankfully, our Boston Pass for unlimited access to public transport, i.e., Metro, included the water taxi plying the Charles River, from USS Constitution to Long Wharf, which happened to be right smack in front of the hotel entrance. So, on that note, Charlestown Bridge got stood up by us.

At Harvard Law grounds

8-feb: Lawyers in Harvard University... Boston is home to the Ivy league Harvard University, known best for its Law Department; Elle's alma mater in the movie, "Legally Blonde" (American film, 2001). Being lawyers in town, checking up on Harvard came rather instinctively... for photo-op!
More than halfway through the travel, admittedly, I craved badly for a dose of Asian carb, and Boston had Chinatown. Discovered the Vietnamese restaurant #XinhXinh satisfied the craving with a steaming bowl of pho noodles in broth, spring rolls... perfect in winter and after visiting Harvard.

9-feb: Shopping in Boston... Marshall's store in Downtown Crossing was timely having a 3-day sale, 25% off! I scored a cool pink #Coach handbag, while the hubby was at SMH. I know... my luggage was already heavy as a rock... containing my friend Rhoda's four Victoria's Secret giveaway body spray and lotion bottles, my Tita Fe's three 1-kilo giveaway bags of walnuts, my own purchases, and a lootfull of hotel toiletries. Hubby sternly reminded me his luggage was (still) off limits!@#$% Well, not for long... As hubby went into deep slumber that night, I began sneaking items into the crevices of his luggage compartment. As they say, what one does not know, won't hurt, right*wink;)

10-feb: That Amtrak faux pas... Bye, Boston! Next destination city: Tampa. All is well... until Murphy's Law.

Not Legally Blonde

It all started in Boston South Station. Hubby and I had a scheduled outbound train at 11:45AM, then taxi to JFK Airport, and a #DeltaAirlines outbound flight at 7:50PM to Tampa, in Florida, where my brother lives. We arrived early at the train station, which was a short distance from the hotel. Checked the Schedule Board, and noted the train's departure time and track no.; I even took a video of that Schedule Board to be sure. Hubby did, too.
Passing time, hubby went to buy food, while I people-watched... passengers arriving... passengers leaving on the train. Until... this particular Amtrak train arrived. I sensed it was our train to NYC, but it did not match the Schedule Board's departure time. Gut feel won't let up, and hubby said he will check with Information. Hubby's absence took some time, while passengers boarding the Amtrak train have finally thinned out. When the hubby came rushing back, pointing to the same Amtrak train, frantically telling me it was our train! Grabbed our luggage, and to the gate we ran...only to catch the flashing red tail lights of the outbound Amtrak train, which was by then 50 meters away. The ticket checker on the platform declared the obvious-- we (just) missed the Amtrak train to NYC! The ticket checker assured our tickets can be rescheduled for the next available train.
Dang! What was wrong with that Schedule Board?!! It turned out what we were looking at, and what I took a video of, was the "Arrival Schedule" for inbound Amtrak trains, and that is why it did not match our ticket schedule. Next Amtrak train was leaving at 1:45PM. I crossed my finger hubby and I would make it in time for the flight to Tampa... Well, the 1:45PM Amtrak train kept slowing down a couple of times on its track, adding more minutes to the delay. When the Amtrak train ran by the Manhattan skyline, the buildings were already lit up, because it was night time.
Taxi stand outside Penn station had a long line, of all days. Finally, it was our turn to ride the taxi, driven by a Pakistani who understood our predicament to get to the airport, ASAP; to his credit, the Pakistani driver made efforts to rush to the airport, in fact, giving us 45-minutes to spare... if hubby and I had no luggage to check-in. Delta Airlines staff at check-in counter told us we were short by 1 hour, and that the boarding gate was closing; next outbound flight to Tampa was at 8:40AM the next day.
At the ticket dispensing machine, hubby had the Delta Airlines tickets to Tampa rebooked a third time; first rebooking was to fit our Boston schedule, and second rebooking was to fit the Delta Airlines flight after we missed the Amtrak train. To make light of the situation, I told the hubby Tom Hanks in that movie, "The Terminal", had to spend nine months waiting in JFK airport. What's the fuss about waiting overnight for the outbound flight, huh? Except, hubby and I took turns sleeping in a hard concrete bench, one guarding the luggage as the other sleeps, until the check-in counter reopened in the morning.
Can I say, "All's well... that ends well?" Oh, well...
Link to>>> Journal Entry: In the Sunshine State #florida #tampa #winter2007

oOo
PHOTOSTITCH

#USA #Boston #winter2007