Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

November 18, 2014

Day Trip to Beantown!

In 1979, I started writing to one of my first foreign penpals, Cheryl.  I think I got her address from a friend of my cousin's, who had just moved to Barnstable from England.  We tried to hook up in 1982 when I went on that high school trip, as I was going to be at Canterbury Cathedral and she lived in that area.  Unfortunately, we were unable to find each other as that place was big and I was with a group tour, and there were no cell phones or texting capabilities.  We kept in touch over the years with letters and cards, then email, and now Facebook.

This year, for her 50th birthday, she came over to New York City; her first time in the states.  Upon further research, we discovered she could take the train up to Boston, a 4 hour journey, and I could take the bus, and we would arrive at South Station within minutes of each other.  We also knew the weather could be really iffy in November, and I was fully expecting a cold, rainy/slushy day, or a freezing cold windy one.  The only thing that would've kept me from going was snow.  What we got was a crystal clear, sunny, warm day! It was perfect.  

I took the P&B bus from Sagamore.  I am a P&B veteran, having taken it tons of times to go shopping, see friends, go to/from the airport, and when I was at Emerson College.  It's the best way to get up there. Anyone who drives to Boston is crazy.

Arriving in the big city!  John Hancock Building.

I started snapping pics as soon as I got off the bus of all the places I've seen a zillion times but never once took photos of, since all I had was film back in the 80s.  Entrance to Chinatown.  This has always been in a sketchy area and it's not the tourist attraction like you see in SF & NYC.  I did not venture down there.


I'm glad that the original facade of South Station was maintained while they expanded it to epic proportions since the last time I saw it in the 80s.  It's huge now, yet surprisingly intuitive & easy to figure out where you need to be and how to get out.

Thought that was cute.

We met up quickly and it was so great to finally see her in person after all this time!!!!  We started our walk and I played tour guide from memory, as the street layout hasn't changed of course and as I said, this city was my stomping ground for years, and it all came back to me.  We cut through Downtown Crossing to get to the Freedom Trail.  Filene's is long gone, but in it's heyday, it was a humongous, multi storied department store, with the famous deeply discounted Filene's Basement.  I went down there a couple of times and it was absolutely insane with bargain hunters literally fighting over the super cheap items.  You could easily wait in line to pay for an hour.

Downtown Crossing has become a complete pit now.  I was surprised at how run down it is.  A lot of stores have changed since I was last there, but I wouldn't want to stick around there & shop one bit.

We emerged at the corner Boston Common and we picked up the Freedom Trail from there.  This takes you past all the historic stuff, and in a small city like Boston, you can really maximize the site seeing in a short amount of time.  This is Park Street Church.

Looking across Boston Common to the west, at the Hancock Buildings.

I forgot about the vast quantity of pushcarts selling all kinds of great souvenirs, food and wares.  I could easily spend gobs of money up there and I do plan to return in the spring.

Boston Common

Massachusetts State House.  When I think about how many times I passed by all these historic places barely giving them a second look, it makes me laugh.  I was so used to seeing it that it ceased to be noteworthy and I was usually focused on getting wherever it was I was headed (read: record stores) that I stopped giving them a second glance.  I just did not appreciate amazing history that surrounded me.




This is Cheryl, under the Hooker statue.  It's the obligatory 'Hooker' picture that everyone loves to do.

Then we walked back down the block past Park Street Church and went into the Granary Burial Ground, established in 1660.  




Ben Franklin's parents & relatives are buried here.


John Hancock is also buried here.

As well as the victims of the Boston Massacre.

And Paul Revere.


 I love the old stone art.  Many of the stones are so worn and crumbling and hard to read/photograph.


16 comments:

  1. Loved seeing your photos of the city. Really cool you got to meet up and visit! ♥

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    1. Yeah I wish we'd had longer but it gets dark so early and I can't drive at night. Plus it's not wise to wander around the city after dark either.

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  2. Amazing after all these years, glad you got to meet at last. You reminded me of a trip I did to Boston a loooong time ago. I was at a conference and they took us by bus to visit a lot of those places you show here. Traffic was appalling and I never thought we would get back to the hotel.

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    1. And that is why I will not drive up there. It's bad enough driving through on the highway. The way the streets are laid out is so messed up....they used old trails and paths. It's a pain. Their subway is easy to navigate plus it's very walkable as cities go.

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  3. What a fun photo walk through Boston!! I will age myself when I say I used to shop at Filene's Basement when I was in college!!! :) Bet that was fun to meet your long-time penpal!!

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    1. That store was just crazy. I could not deal with it the few times I went. lol Too many people, literally fighting over clothes and stuff.

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  4. I was in Boston once, and I loved that every few steps, you find yourself in yet another site you learned about in US History. It's such a fun city! Glad you got to enjoy it with your friend, JoJo.

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    1. And yet growing up here, I was like, 'yawn. American Revolution...tea party...the pilgrims in Plymouth...blah blah blah'. Youth is wasted on the young.

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  5. I read your comment on Weekend-Windup blog. I could relate to what you said and it brought me here to say "hi". :) you have lovely photos! and love your puppy dog! we have four pups.
    stop by and see me!
    Marie :)

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    1. Thank you so much SweetMarie! Welcome to my humble bloggy. I had to go back to Weekend Windup to see what I said. lol

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  6. How wonderful that you not only met up with your friend but had a wonderful day to see the sights too!

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    1. Thanks! Yes it was!!! I hope it won't take another 35 years to see her again though. Stay tuned...there are more Boston pics coming. We saw and did a lot of stuff in just a few hours.

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  7. Hi human, JoJo,

    What a marvellous time you and your friend had in Boston. I wont make any mention of the Hooker statue.

    Boston looks way bigger than I imagined. Oh wait a sec, I was thinking about the Boston in England. I might be turning into a Boston terrier...Arf and ruff!

    Pawsitive wishes,

    Penny :)

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    1. HI PENNY!!!!!! Thank you so much for stopping by!!!! You would enjoy Boston I'm sure! What's Boston in England look like? I'm going to have to google image it.

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  8. How cool is that! So awesome of you to play tour guide - I definitely know who to call should I ever get the chance to visit!

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    1. YES! I would LOVE to play tour guide!!!! It's one of my fave things to do!!

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