FREEDOM!

Could you feel the William Wallace vibe in the title?! Yesterday Tara and I finished up our stay in Boston with a walk down the Freedom Trail. Of course, several hundred others had the same idea, so we had plenty of company. It made it easy to stay on the trail, just follow the crowd (and the red line on the ground didn't hurt). Rather than paying for a tour guide, we took a guided tour through the use of downloaded mp3 and our iPods. It had it's advantages and disadvantages: not traveling with a group - plus, not knowing when to turn off the tour and walk - minus, hearing lots of locals and actors discuss and reenact the history - plus, listening to Ted Kennedy go on and on about his history - minus.

The trail was pretty cool. There were several historic spots that I didn't know much about and it brought the Revolution to life. It was great to spend time in the local cemeteries and see where some of the framers were buried. Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock were all buried along the tour. It was interesting to see who had headstones and who had monuments. Not surprising that John Hancock had a monument, is it?

The information around Paul Revere's ride was great! I was surprised that Revere's house is now in the heart of Little Italy, the two don't really seem to mix. The Old North Church was fun to see and it truly is a landmark of the Revolution. It's no wonder that the tower was the way they signaled the troops, that bell tower is high! I can't believe how small the bricks were in the church and other buildings on the tour - it would take forever to build around that time.

After we finished the trail it was back to the hotel to wait for Chappo and our trip to Stow, MA. It's great that David and Michelle live in Massachusetts, as it gives us another excuse to head east. After a long week in Beantown, it was nice to relax last night at home. A trip to Erikson's Dairy was about the only agenda item.