Where It All Began

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Cambridge home.

Thursday, 10/14

Actually, it didn't "all begin" in Boston.  That was 1609 when the English attempted a settlement in Jamestown, VA.  In 1620, pilgrims landed, first in Provincetown, MA at the tip of Cape Cod.  They needed to make beer and do laundry ... maybe even taking a bath.  Later that month, they stepped foot on the continent at Plymouth, MA.  The famed rock can be viewed with a yawn and a question, "Is that REALLY the rock they first stepped on?"  The answer?  Probably not, but it's a symbol of the first successful settlement.

Then, there's Boston, begun in 1630 as a successful settlement and natural seaport.  Today, we board our 20 seat tour bus (i.e., our group of 10 taking control by our sheer numbers and loud voices) and, with John, our driver/guide zipping off to see what today's Boston and Cambridge have to share.  In spite of our presence, John did a great job of navigating and steering with one hand while hold a mic with the other and giving us a continuous narration that covered the past 380 years.  Bunker Hill, a tour of the USS Constitution (oldest US Navy ship still in service), touring all throughout haphazard streets of Boston, lunch at Fanueil Hall (more seafood), Boston Common, "Cheers" pub, Newbury Street, Old Trinity Church and its towering neighbor, The glass sided Hancock Tower.  Then there was Cambridge, home of Harvard and MIT universities.  It has been quite a day that didn't require much effort beyond trying to remember all the data that filled our ears, along with the sights of sites of historic significance.  How fortunate we are to have this day of over viewing a great city.  We now can return to explore in greater detail those areas of personal interest.

Aboard the USS Constitution.  They don't make sailors, uniforms or ships like they did in the 1700s.

Sleeping quarters below deck.  Not for the tall, nor the insomniacs.

Rum.  A sailor's best friend.

Copley Square's Old Trinity Church, mirrored in the 62 story Hancock Tower.  Designed by the I.M. Pei architectural firm, the insurance company had to replace all the windows due to imperfections in the glass that caused them to shatter.  Meanwhile, the tower's weight on the landfill below also caused flooding of the church's basement.  The lawyers were the only winners in all the cases.

Tonight was another dinner with our touring friends ... and the beginnings of a torrential rain storm that pounded our roofs with water and tree parts.  

Boston's Copley Plaza Hotel gloriously flys Old Glory.