Boston Rocks

I managed a Trolley Tour of Boston and would strongly recommend them to anyone visiting Boston for the first time. You get a narrated tour of Boston the historical sites and you can get on and off as many times as you like and go round as often as you want. I did a complete tour then went round again, this time getting off at places I wanted to explore. With only a limited time (shame I had to work) there was lots that I didn't see. But I managed to get a flavour of the city. I visited the USS Constitution the oldest boat in the US Navy and the first to take a British frigate in the war of 1812.

I saw where Paul Revere started his famous ride to warn the troops that the British were coming. He was a fascinating man. he had 16 children; 8 by each of his two wives. His first wife died giving birth to the eighth, he remarried five months later!

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

The old state capitol was an interesting building, outside it is the spot where th Boston massacre took place which was one of the events that Samuel Adams used to stir up anti-British feeling amongst the colonists. I walked around Granary Cemetry where some of the founding fathers are buried.

 

Then across Boston Common

Then to one of the more recent Boston landmarks, "Cheers".

Here I discovered Samuel Adams Winter Ale.  We spent a very happy four years in America when I was on assignment; met some wonderful friends and saw fabulous sites and had good food. But the two things that let America down is its cheese and its beer. How anyone can drink "Bud" and think it a beer is completely beyond me. The rise of the micro-brewery has gone some way to redeem the beer situation and whilst Winter ale does not reach the heights of say Landlord, London Pride, Otter, Doom etc it is a palatable pint.

 

That sadly was all I had time for apart from a quick bite to eat in the Faneuil Hall/Quincy Hall Marketplace. Boston is a fascinating city, very cold in winter but well worth a visit. I will be back in warmer weather; this time with Julia as I know that she will love it.