The Great American Road Trip

Today we came in to Boston to spend the day. After the trouble I had navigating Baltimore, and especially Philadelphia, in the truck, I decided to park her somewhere and purchase some Hop On/Hop Off tickets. A few years ago we used this mode of transportation for Washington, DC, and found that it could be a convenient way to get around a city for a day.

The trolley has 14 stops around Boston, all near some key tourist spots. You can get off at any of the stops, check things out, and then catch the next available trolley. The driver is also the tour guide, and if you wanted to, you could stay on the trolley and never get off – just go round and round the city, taking in the sights and the people.

Boston is a city that is old and full of history. This is a city built upon the battle for independence. Revolutionaries hatched the plan to overthrow the British rule, and then later saw itself as an early capitol for a new country. Patriots like Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere, paved the way for the birth of this country. All three men are prominent in most parts of historical Boston.

Paul Revere, especially surprised me. We all know about the “One if by land, two if by sea” story, but Revere was a man for all seasons. Blacksmith, goldsmith, silversmith, revolutionary, messenger man. Heck, he even was Boston’s first health inspector. He kind of reminds me of what Ben Franklin was to Philadelphia. He had his hands in all of the history in this region. Same with the other two. It would be fitting that they would all be buried in the same cemetery.

Boston was not only the site of the Boston Tea Party, but also the Boston Massacre in 1770. Not far away, the “shot heard ’round the world” would be fired in 1775, starting the Revolutionary War.

We took in as much as we could, and even endured some rain this afternoon. I guess when there isn’t a heat wave, then there are nasty, wet storms to deal with. Thunder and lightning today, as well as torrential rain. Might have more of the same tomorrow. We stopped at the oldest ship in the US Navy that is still operational: The USS Constitution (“Old Ironsides”), the Old Granary Burying Ground, the Old State House, Boston Common, Faneuil Hall, and Quincy Market (for lunch). Lot’s to see here. So much history.

Here are some pics from our travels today:

A couple of parting shots…

• I wore my “Make America Read Again” shirt today. Several people stopped me on the street to comment on it. All of them loved it. A couple of them asked me where I got it (the internet). And every single one of them was a…teacher.
• The statue of Poe is a relatively new one. The funny thing is, Boston only grudgingly acknowledges their connection to Poe. First, Poe was born in Boston in 1809. His mother, Eliza, was an actress here. His dad left when he was born, and when he was just two years old, his mother died of tuberculosis. Poe returned to Boston a few times, lived here briefly, but hated it. He famously called out the Boston elite on a few occasions, publicly, and told many people of how Boston was distasteful to him. He loathed this town. In return, the big-wigs in Boston referred to him as a hack and a loser. One of the biggest slights he could give Boston was when he claimed that Henry Wordsworth Longfellow (a big deal in Boston) was a plagiarist. The feud between Poe and Boston left a bitter taste in people’s mouths here, and it wasn’t until 2014 that they acknowledged that Poe was actually a big deal, and they erected this statue. No word yet on what Poe thinks of it.
• A disturbed man at a bus stop we walked by was singing, very loudly, the song “La cucaracha”. He sang, “La cucaracha, la cucaracha,” then he stopped, and I immediately picked up the tune and finished it. “Ya no puede caminar.” The dude just looked at me funny, and Nathan told me to knock it off. I think it made him, and the disturbed man, a little uncomfortable. Sometimes I just can’t help myself.
• I think that people who deal with the public should not speak badly of the public while the public is still standing there. Case in point: We come up to the entrance to the USS Constitution. I follow another group into a security line. Apparently you have to go through security before you can board the historic ship. Just before I entered the building, the people who went in before us were coming back out. Thinking nothing of it, I push the door open and enter the security room. There are two security personnel there. “The ship is closed to the public today sir,” says the woman seated at the X-Ray machine. The male officer stands next to her, looking at me and my boys. I say, “It’s closed today?” She says, “Yes. It’s Monday.” I say, “Oh, it’s closed on Mondays?” She says “Yes, it says it right there on the sign on the door.” I turn and look at the door I just came through, and notice a little 3×5 card saying “Closed Mondays”. “Oh, okay,” I say. She looks at her partner standing next to her and says, “I don’t know why these tourists can’t read a simple sign. They just walk in here like they’re going somewhere today.” She said these things as if I wasn’t still standing there. I had a few choice words to say to her, but kept them in my mouth for once. Seriously, if they were closed, then what the hell were they doing there today?

Tomorrow we may end up in either New Hampshire or Vermont, after briefly visiting Maine. Then our east coast part of our trip will be done. I can’t say that it has been the best part of our trip, what with the incredible heat, crowded streets, and frenzied pace. But, the last few days have been packed with some very interesting things. We’ve turned the corner on this trip, and tomorrow, we will be pointing ourselves in the opposite direction for the first time in over two weeks. Oregon, here we come!

Talk to you tomorrow.