Boston Day 4: Freedom Trail

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was filled with a little fun and a lot of relaxing. Ours was!

Since Scott and I have been traveling the past few weekends, we took this one to catch up on some things around the house, and well… spend some quality time with our couch and recorded television shows. There is nothing wrong with a little vegging every now and then!

Monday morning = back to the grind, but before I get into recapping our final day in Boston, I have a giveaway winner to announce…

Drenched 5K Entry WINNER

Congratulations to Anna-Marie for winning a FREE Entry into the Jacksonville Drenched 5K! Here is what she said:

“The only way to get drenched is to run through the sprinklers during a run! This sounds like a fun race-especially doing a 5K in the summer!!”

You will be receiving an email from me soon with a promo code for you to use to enter the race. Have fun and please don’t be shy to share your experience of getting drenched!

Now, onto my final Boston recap. Like I mentioned last week, I normally do not highlight a trip more than a day or two. For some reason, Boston has pulled on our heart strings and both Scott and I have fallen for the city. We love the history, the culture, and the fact of being able to walk everywhere.

Last week, I highlighted our first three days: The North End, visiting the Boston Marathon Memorial, and eating a plethora of seafood while Duck Touring. We spent majority of the trip walking the city, and on our final day there set out to hit everything we missed.

Day 4: Following the Freedom Trail

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile man made path throughout the city that passes through the sixteen Historical Landmarks in Boston.

It starts at the Boston Common, ends at the Bunker Hill Monument, and is easily recognizable by a line of red bricks outlined in white.

For the duration of our trip, we unintentionally hopped on and off the trail as we walked about the city. This time, however, we wanted to see how long we could stay on it while finishing off some sight seeing.

Our afternoon of exploring started with a trip back over to Little Italy.

You might remember we tried to get into Giacomo’s Ristorante the night before, but the line was literally out the door with at least an hour wait. Upon our arrival the next day, we were bummed to find out it does not open for business until 4:30 p.m. We expressed our interest in the restaurant to the staff, and they nicely guided us across the street to grab a bite at Panza.

At 11:45 a.m., we were the only ones in the restaurant, but it was the day after Memorial Day so figured the locals were probably back to work.

We started with a Chopped Salad with Italian meats and cheeses, pepperoncini, roasted peppers, artichoke harts, pancetta, and chopped romaine.

We then split the Chicken Saltimbocca with a side of pasta as our main entree.

Everything was molto delizioso (and filling!).

Pleasantly full, Scott and I looked over some of the landmarks we wanted to hit for the day. While on the Duck Tour, we took notes of things still on our list of things to check out, and which of those points of interest were free of charge. Come to find out, a lot of the landmarks on the Freedom Trail are free to enter!

Starting at the North End, we set foot on the trail in hopes of covering at least three or four big landmarks.

First up was the Old North Church!

This is the church that gave the infamous “one if by land, two if by sea” lantern signal (also related to Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride), and is the oldest known church building still standing in Boston.

Built in 1723, it has been reconstructed and serves as a museum and National Landmark to this day.

We found it very interesting that back when the church was in service, the congregation purchased boxes for their family instead of sitting in public pews. Each box has a number and a family name, and members attended service in their box week after week. Some of the pews (like one purchased by Joseph Warren Revere in 1808) are still owned by descendants today.

The church offered a $5 tour, but general admission is free with a suggested donation of $3. Great spot to check out!

Back on the Freedom Trail, we made a pit stop by Mike’s Pastry one last time before heading out of the city. Once again, my mint-chocolate sweet tooth got the best of me and I ordered a small cup of gelato. Scott had been talking about getting a Boston Creme Pie the entire trip, so we finally gave in and got one. Below you will see his “well… here we are again” face!

Oops! Fantastic as always, Mike’s.

After dessert, we remembered two more landmarks we wanted to visit from the Duck Tour. As we got back on the Freedom Trail, we headed over the Charleston Bridge and enjoyed a great view of the city!

Through the red bricks, we eventually found ourselves visiting “Old Ironsides”.

The USS Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat! The ship is open for free guided tours (in certain areas) and we took full advantage of hopping on board to check it out.

Check out those cannons!

It is still pretty crazy to think all of this American history is still (and in this case… literally) floating around the city! Absolutely incredible.

Directly next to Old Ironsides was another marvel currently being worked on: USS Cassin Young!

“After serving in World War II, Cassin Young continued in active service until 1960. She is preserved today as a memorial ship, berthed at Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, across from USS Constitution.” -Wikipedia.

Both ships were powerfully stunning, and it was exciting to be able to walk the grounds where everything is being worked on. We also took some time to look around in the USS Constitution Museum, also free of charge.

With just about an hour left to wander around, we quickly headed over to our final landmark: the Bunker Hill Monument.

I knew it was tall, but the closer we got to the 221 foot granite monument, the more intrigued I was to go inside and climb all the way up to the top!

This giant monument marks the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution, the Battle of Bunker Hill. (No big deal.)

By this time in the day, my legs were already starting to feel tired so I decided to take a quick rest on the grass before taking the climb up. Scott thought it was funny and took a picture, which I am choosing not to share here. He thinks he is hilarious. <- sometimes, just sometimes he is. 😉

Ready to go, I already felt my heart rate climb on the first few steps. (Does anyone else feel ridiculously winded from climbing stairs? Even just a flight or two does me in every time!)

(Notice I am sporting my Reebok ZigKick Ride’s. A few of you asked me how I have been liking them and you can read my full review here!)

By the time we got up to step 100, I felt confident about getting through the rest. Piece of cake. By the time we got to 150, then 200, my confidence lacked and I thought I might have to start crawling.

By step 250 we got the extra motivation to push through and by the final step of 294 we were pulling ourselves up!

(Not dramatic or anything.)

Holy geez. We did it! When we got to the top, we took a few minutes to look around and soak in the high view of the city. It was breathtaking!

What a great way to finish of our trip! We made our way around window to window, looking at what we could pick out and recognize previously visiting. Oh, hey sweaties.

As expected, going down was a lot easier than climbing up, and with time running out we sped walked away back to the main part of the city. Show us to the Freedom Trail, Col. William Prescott!

We made our way back to the hotel with a few minutes to spare before our car arrived to take us to the airport. Without a doubt, Scott and I feel like we did our best to see everything we could and learn a few things along the way.

If you ever get the chance to visit Boston, I highly recommend you doing and trying anything that made it onto the blog. If you like to get outside and explore by foot, take advantage of this being a “walking city” and make the most out of your time there by getting a free pass onto the Freedom Trail.

Thank you for taking the time to enjoy the city right along with us. Until next time, Boston. Stay Strong!