Damkier's Travels: Boston

Downtown Boston from the Charles River

Boston is the capitol of Massachusetts and the unofficial capitol of New England. This large city is one of the oldest cities in the United States and was a strategic location for the early colonies. I spent a few days here during my New England road trip to see the Giants play the Red Sox and explore the history and culture of one of the major cities in the country.

Freedom Trail Path Marker

Most people tour Boston using the Freedom Trail. This trail winds from near the Boston Commons to the USS Constitution across the river and showcases the history of the colonies and Revolutionary War period. It is also a long, but relatively easy way to explore an otherwise difficult city to navigate. The trail takes you near several museums and historic landmarks plus many great restaurants, bars, and other fun stops. Once you finish the trail, there is a nice ferry back to Boston that gives a nice view of the harbor and city.

Chipotle in an Old Building

There are plenty of historic places, but an overall lack of museums is somewhat remarkable for a city this size. I was able to see the Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, Bunker Hill Monument, and even participate in the infamous Boston Tea Party reenactment. The latter is somewhat remarkable when you learn the true story of the revolt and how difficult it was to open wooden boxes lined with lead during the middle of the cold night. You quickly learn that England was especially harsh with Boston for many reasons not withstanding turning the harbor into the largest glass of iced tea in history!

Demonstration Brewery at Samuel Adams

Boston is also home to Samuel Adams Beer which is one of the more famous craft breweries in the United States. Paying homage to one of our more outspoken founding fathers, this brewery is famous for bringing quality and flavor back to American beer and had regular free tours and generous tastings in suburban Boston. Having a cold free beer was especially welcome once the heat wave continued into a second week with generous humidity. Needless to say, the constant hum of a window air conditioner was a companion on my whole trip.

Harvard University

Boston is regarded as a very academic city with several world famous universities. Two of which - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (or MIT) and Harvard University - are actually located across the river in Cambridge, but both are served by the subway and are an easy visit. Like most science and engineering colleges, MIT is somewhat boring and plain; needless to say that the lectures and labs are anything but with advanced technology pouring out of here solving many of our most complicated problems. Further down the road, Harvard University is the gem of the region with a campus older than her country and all the trees and buildings you would expect in the king of the Ivy League. Harvard offers several tours and has several museums, but the campus is open and perfect for a stroll. You can even finish up in Harvard Square for some pizza or coffee with the future captains of industry!

Massachusetts State Capitol

Even though Boston should be on everyone's destination list, it is hard to recommend spending a great deal of time here. There is a lot of history and some interesting things to do, but most of these can be done rather quickly - especially if you stay in a central bed and breakfast like I did. Boston wore out its welcome quickly with rude locals, complicated transportation, and many places seeming to duplicate each other. So many other cities in the region do things better than Boston, but it is still worth a trip just to walk the same streets as history and get a feel for its importance. Please enjoy the rest of my pictures below.