27th July 2002 : Boston

This was the day we set aside to explore Boston. We were up at around 8am, which was pretty remarkable given the time difference. The day was heavily overcast with the threat of rain all day which did not materialise. It was hot and muggy, not the ideal weather for touring on foot.

We started by taking a Water Taxi across the harbor to the Hyatt Harborside and getting a ticket for a hop-on hop-off trolley tour.

Custom House Clock Tower	Chris on Trolley Tour	Mike and Sue on Trolley Tour
JFK Expressway and The Big Dig	Mercantile Wharf	Decorated Street in North End
	Decorated Street in North End

We hopped back on the bus which took us back into Boston, through Cambridge and eventually got off at Copley Square.

The Freedom Trail	Contrasts - The old freeway and the new freeway bridge with the Fleet Center in the background	State House with the gold dome
Demonstration against dog racing	State House with the gold dome	Statue of Horace Mann
Statue of Horace Mann	The gold dome of the State House	Row of flags near Kendal Square station
Beacon Hill street	Statue at the corner of Beacon Street and Arlington Street on Boston Common	??
Christian Science Headquarters	One of the many trolley tours of Boston	One of the many trolley tours of Boston

The first trolley took us around North End and across the bridge to Charlestown Navy Yard, where we got off to see the USS Constitution.

Mike taking a picture of USS Constitution	USS Constitution and the queue waiting for a tour	USS Constitution
USS Constitution	Mike in front of USS Constitution	Sue in front of USS Constitution
USS Constitution	USS Constitution	The Boston skyline from Charlestown Navy Yard
Mike and Sue near USS Constitution	USS Cassin Young	Old North Church Tower and Custom House
USS Constitution	Bell from USS Boston	USS Cassin Young
US Coast Guard Vessel leaving port	USS Cassin Young	Bell from USS Boston
Sue and Chris reading about Boston Harbor	Life Belt and Seagull	Seagull on top of life belt
USS Constitution	USS Cassin Young	Bunker Hill Monument
A Sparrow	A Sparrow	A Sparrow
SS Knobska in Dry Dock		SS Knobska in Dry Dock

At Copley Square we started to walk towards Boston Common, stopping first at the Square itself, with Boston Public Library on one side and Trinity Church on the other, but dominated by the reflective glass of John Hancock Tower.

Boston Public Library	Fountain in Copley Square	Reflection of Trinity Church in John Hancock Tower
Fountain in Copley Square	John Hancock Tower	Mike in Copley Square
Reflection of Trinity Church in John Hancock Tower	John Hancock Tower	Reflection of Trinity Church in John Hancock Tower
Sue in Copley Square	Mike and Sue in front of Trinity Church	Mike and Sue in front of Trinity Church
Chris in Copley Square	Rabbit sculpture in Copley Square	Sue in Copley Square
Rabbit sculpture in Copley Square	Turtle sculpture in Copley Square	Mike in Copley Square
Turtle sculpture in Copley Square	Boston Public Library	Boston Public Library
Boston Public Library	Statue of Phillip Brooks at Trinity Church	Statue of Phillip Brooks at Trinity Church
Reflection in the windows of John Hancock Tower	Sue and Chris outside FAO Schwarz	Duck Tour vehicle

Next, we walked through Boston Public Garden across to Boston Common and the start of the Freedom Trail.

Boston Public Garden	Statue of George Washington in Boston Public Garden	Starling in the grass
Mike taking photos of other tourists	Squirrel in Boston Public Garden	Statue and Bird Bath in Boston Public Garden
Statue and Bird Bath in Boston Public Garden	Sue in Boston Public Garden	Statue and Bird Bath in Boston Public Garden
Statue and Bird Bath in Boston Public Garden	Swan Boat in Boston Public Garden	Geese on the Lagoon in Boston Public Garden
Geese in Boston Public Garden	Geese in Boston Public Garden	Small boy and a statue in Boston Public Garden
	Open Air Shakespeare on Boston Common

In the late morning, we walked the Freedom Trail from Boston Common to North End.

The burial place of Samuel Adams	The burial place of Samuel Adams	Mike taking a picture of The burial place of Samuel Adams
Site of the first school (inlay in footpath)	Kings Chapel	Old City Hall
Statue outside the Old City Hall	The Freedom Trail	Old City Hall
Statue outside the Old City Hall	Custom House	Custom House
Custom House	John Hancock Tower	Street cleaning sign
Faneuil Hall and statue of Samuel Adams	Statue of Samuel Adams	Statue of Samuel Adams

Lunch was at a restaurant near Faneuil Hall.

Union Oyster House	Mike, Sue & Chris at lunch	Mike at lunch
Sue at lunch		Mike at lunch

After a quick trip to the Holocaust Memorial almost opposite the restaurant, we carried on into North End on the Freedom Trail, but decided that the hot sticky weather was enough and went back to the hotel by about mid afternoon.

The Holocaust Memorial	Gas light in North End	Mamma Maria Restaurant
Flowers near Paul Revere House	Square near Paul Revere House	Paul Revere House
Street in North End	Pigeon in Revere Place	Entrance to the Callahan Tunnel to the airport
JFK Expressway and Boston skyline	Rose Kennedy Park (being renovated)	The waterfront near Long Wharf

In the early evening, we walked along the East Boston waterfront from the hotel.

North Harborside Promenade	The Hyatt Hotel	Sue and Chris on the North Harborside Promenade
	The North Harborside Promenade

Dinner was in the hotel. We originally intended to eat in the bar, but it was closed for a wedding reception, so we ended up spending rather more than we planned in the main restaurant.