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| The Massachusetts State House in Boston. |
After my younger sister Kimberly was accepted into graduate school at the School for International Training (SIT) in Brattleboro Vermont, I realized that I would probably be making several trips over to the East coast during the duration of her schooling. My sister and I are very close, and it was difficult for me to imagine being away from her for over a year! The first trip we planned was an extended weekend away in Boston, Salem, and Plymouth, Massachusetts. She decided to rent a car in Brattleboro, Vermont and drive down to meet me in Boston. We planned the trip to occur during the third weekend in October to coincide with the Halloween festivities in Salem and the beautiful changing of fall leaves in Massachusetts. I was so excited to visit this region of Massachusetts as I have always been extremely interested in the history of the area and the many historical offerings it has for visitors. Although it’s a small state, Massachusetts offers a wide range of activities and sights to choose from that you would normally expect from a much larger state.
Day 1 (Friday, October 17th 2008)
I took an overnight flight via JetBlue that left Seattle on Thursday around 23:00, arriving 4.5 hours later in Boston at 7:30. Unfortunately, although I had planned to sleep the entire duration of my flight, I only ended up with an hour of two of sleep. Needless to say, I was in quite a daze when we landed in Boston and ready to find a bed ASAP!
Fortunately, Boston has an efficient public transportation system, known as the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority). From the airport, I took the silver line bus to South Station, located in downtown Boston. Next, I traveled via train on the red line to Braintree. The entire journey took about one hour and only cost me $2! That was the cheapest public transportation I have ever taken from an airport into a large city; I was quite impressed!
Kimberly and I had decided to stay in a hotel outside of downtown Boston, as hotel prices in the city center were astronomical. Since we were only spending one of our three days together in the city, we figured it was more efficient to find a cheaper place out of Boston that would allow us to park her car for free and make for easy access for the day-trips we had planned. Kimberly reserved a room at the Motel 6 in Braintree. We are not picky hotel travelers and just wanted a place that was clean and close to public transportation. The room only cost $90 per night and was literally right across the street from the T station. Apparently since our visit occurred several years ago they have since remodeled all of the rooms at this motel.
When I arrived at the motel, there were no rooms available for me to check-into, so I had to wait in the lobby for about 45 minutes until one was ready. This did not make my very happy as I was extremely exhausted and ready to collapse. I finally got to the room and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw; the room was very clean and was actually much nicer than any of the Motel 6 “type” hotels I have stayed in. After surveying the room, I literally collapsed in bed with exhaustion.
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| Our room at Motel 6 in Braintree, Massachusetts. |
Kimberly was scheduled to arrive about 90 minutes later, so I knew I had to get some shut-eye before she came. However, my precious sleeping time was soon interrupted about 15 minutes later by several phone calls. Apparently, one of the maintenance workers had knocked on my door (didn’t hear him due to the ear plugs) and since I hadn’t answered, he decided to call me instead. He stated that he had to replace the cover for the heating and air conditioner unit, so I begrudgingly got out of bed to open the door. As soon as he put on the stupid cover, I got right back in bed and feel asleep immediately. About one hour later, I was again interrupted by the room phone ringing. In my dazed state, I didn’t answer the first time, but managed to the second time when it rang again. When I answered the phone, a woman responded and mentioned something about a car, but I couldn’t quite understand or hear her, due to the earplugs. I remember saying to her “sorry, I can’t hear you” and then she mentioned something about coming up to my room. I hung up and began to collect myself to head down to the lobby. I was so confused and irritated at this point, but finally remembered that Kimberly was on her way. I called and she instantly said “why didn’t you answer your phone? I’ve been trying to call you for 15 minutes!” In my sleep deprived state, I had not realized nor heard my cell phone ring. I somehow managed to wake myself up and walk down the stairs to meet her. Once back inside the motel room, she told me that she was the one who called from the front desk. Kimberly had wanted to save money on the reservation so she only booked the room in one name (mine). As a result, when she arrived she was unable to tell the front desk that she was here for her reservation as they would have charged us additional money for an extra person. Instead, she pretended to be from the local car rental agency and informed them she was here to drop off my car. The man at the front desk told her I was probably sleeping and then attempted to call, although I didn’t answer (that was the first phone call). He then gave her my room number and had her call herself. Apparently, her words to me were “this is Kimberly from Enterprise car rental and I am here with your car rental. Never during our short conversation had I realized that it was her! Quite a funny story now but not so much in that moment to Kimberly!
We finally left the motel about 30 minutes later, in my groggy and incoherent state. We took the T into central Boston from Braintree, arriving at Park Street Station about 20 minutes later. I was happy to see the beautiful sun and blue skies as we walked out of the train station. Although it was October, the temperature was warm and pleasant, in the low 60’s. We were both starving, so we stopped in for lunch at a place called Finagle A Bagel, which was a local Boston chain eatery. I had a grilled Panini sandwich with chicken, cheese, and pesto while Kimberly had a vegetarian bagel.
We ate our lunch quickly, so that we could arrive on time for our tour of the Freedom Trail put on by the Boston Common Visitor Information Center. The tour cost $12 per person, was supposed to last 90 minutes, and was led by an 18th century costumed guide. The Freedom Trail is a red path that leads through downtown Boston along 16 significantly historical sights of the city and is definitely one of the “must see” sights while visiting Boston. Although some people complete the 2.5 mile walk on their own, I thought that the tour would make a more meaningful visit as it would allow us to hear commentary on the history of the city and stories of its many inhabitants along the way. I truly feel that guided tours help make landmarks, museums, churches, etc come to life in a way not possible when touring on your own, and this was definitely the case with our tour. Along the tour, we saw many of the famous historical sights of Boston including the large and beautiful public park of Boston Common, the Granary Burying Ground (where many of the notable Bostonians have been laid to rest), and the Old State House, the oldest surviving public building in Boston. Our guide was extremely informative and provided good insight on the history of Boston. However, because our tour group was so large, we had difficulty hearing her at times. She was also the fastest walking woman I’ve ever encountered, so she was always so far ahead of the group!
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| Boston |
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| Our tour guide on the Freedom Trail in Boston. |
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| Boston |
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| Freedom Trail in Boston |
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| Massachusetts State House along the Freedom Trail in Boston. |
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| Massachusetts State House along the Freedom Trail in Boston. |
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| Freedom Trail in Boston |
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| Freedom Trail in Boston |
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| Park Street Church in Boston |
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| Park Street Church in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Granary Burying Ground in Boston |
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| Walking along the Freedom Trail in Boston. |
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| Old City Hall in Boston |
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| Old South Meeting House in Boston. |
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| The Old State House in Boston. |
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| The Old State House in Boston. |
The tour finally ended 15 minutes late in front of the Faneuil Hall Marketplace, which was home to the famous Quincy Market, built between 1824-1826. Kimberly and I decided to continue walking along the Freedom Trail ourselves, first stopping inside Quincy Market. She bought a drink at Starbucks and we both wandered the long hall, looking at all of the many food vendors. Originally, the venue was used as rental space for grocers, but today, most of the space is taken up by fast-food restaurants.
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| Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston |
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| Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston |
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| Boston |
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| Boston |
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| Boston |
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| Quincy Market in Boston |
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| Boston |
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| Boston |
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| Interior of Quincy Market in Boston. |
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| Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston |
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