the freedom trail

while our friends scott & susan + kiddos were here, we ventured out to walk the freedom trail in downtown boston. we have seen most of the sites on the trail, but our kids had still never walked it.  husband and i walked it a few years back when we were visiting boston.

this particular day was a beautiful, sunny afternoon when we headed out – we planned on walking it by ourselves, then last minute signed up for a tour which turned out to be worth every penny. the guided tours don’t cover the entire trail, but our tour guide was totally into his character which made history a bit more exciting for all the kids…

in case you don’t know, you follow the red-brick-trail for two-and-a-half miles throughout downtown boston. i’m guessing we covered just less than a mile…

“The Granary Burying Ground, founded in 1660, is the final resting place for some of the most famous names in the history of our country. Standing front and center in the cemetery is a large monument marking the graves of Benjamin Franklin’s parents, Josiah and Abiah. The victims of the Boston Massacre are located under a single stone near the front entrance to the cemetery. A walk around these aged stones reads like a who’s who of history. The markers for Samuel Adams, John Hancock(right), Paul Revere, and even Mother Goose, yes, Mother Goose, can be found with relative ease. These people seemed like only myths when reading about them in school, standing before the markers of their graves brought the human element out of what used to be just stories growing up. It is easy to lose track of time here but there is so much more to see.”

the headstone on the right reads “mother goose” as mentioned above. she was a woman with 22 grand-children known during her time for telling stories. i bet i would have really liked her…

Paul Revere was a copper smith, and today it is considered good luck if you add a penny to his headstone, the kids all added pennies…

you can spot christmas in the city everywhere you look!

our guided tour ended at faneuil hall, where we ate dinner at hillstone, boston’s “houston’s” if you are familiar with it from other cities… i can not recommend the veggie burger enough!!!

the rest of our night went down in Rhodes/Bland history…

{in hillstone with a football. nbd. this pigskin goes with us e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e.}

and this year, we visited the frog pond ice skating rink at boston common. but, we were wise and chose not to ice skate. we just enjoyed the atmosphere.

have you walked the freedom trail?

{photos by me, Jane Rhodes. the freedom trail info. here}