So during my time in grad school at UMSL, I decided to fly to Boston to visit my two friends who were in grad school out there, and of course, explore the history of Boston. I left on a Wednesday from St. Louis and transferred to O’Hare before arriving in Boston.
Keep on reading for my day-by-day adventures!
Day 1, November 8: Salem
That first night, I spent the night with my friend Nick, who was studying physics at Harvard. Since everyone had classes the next day, Thursday, I decided to go to Salem, which is about an hour and a half train ride north. Since I only had the day in Salem, I had to forego seeing the “Witch House” (home of Judge Corwin), the “Phillip’s House Museum” (some historic house of some millionaire), and the “Salem Witch Museum” (about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692). I would have liked to go in but opted to see Nathaniel Hawthorne’s house instead, the House of the Seven Gables. I probably should read that book sometime… I walked around Salem a bit but it was difficult since most museums closed around 4-5pm. I grabbed some seafood for dinner and then headed back into Boston for the night, where I stayed with my friend Nick again for the second night.
Day 2, November 9: The Freedom Trail
I started at the oldest park in the United States: the Boston Commons. There were a ton of pigeons and squirrels that were super fat. They were so used to people, you could feed the squirrels peanuts out of your hands. I brought some honey roasted peanuts and the squirrels were all over them! There were also many statutes and plaques around the park, as well as some fun statutes like ducks and frogs in the park!
The Second stop was the oldest state capital building, the Massachusetts State House. The dome is actually covered in gold! I did the weekday tour of the building and it was interesting. Did you know there’s an almost 5 foot “Sacred Cod” that hangs in the House of Representatives room as a memorial to those who used to catch cod? Continuing on the Freedom Trail path, I stopped at the Park St. Church. Finally it was lunch time and I got some Chinese Food before continuing on the trail! Apparently the trail is only 2.5 miles but it felt like so much longer… probably because I kept lingering and walking around the different stops!
The Granary Burial Ground was next, which is where Paul Revere, Benjamin Good, and Mother Goose (Mary Goose) are all buried. There were so many cemeteries just sitting around Boston! The next stop on the trail is the King’s Chapel and King’s Burial Ground. I went inside to tour the inside of the Chapel and then it was time to move on to the next stop! Old City Hall was where court was until they moved into the new city hall in 1969. I didn’t go in, but walked by it. It was actually where the Boston Latin School was located before it became the Old City Hall. I kept walking and then I found the statute for the democratic donkey. According to the sign: “When, in 1929, Andrew Jackson established the Democratic party and ran for president using the populist slogan, ‘Let the people rule’, his opponents thought him silly and labeled him a ‘jackass.’… Over the years, this donkey has become the accepted symbol of the Democratic party.” As for the elephants, “other cartoonists used the elephant to symbolize Republicans, and eventually, Republicans adopted the elephant as their official symbol.”
I then passed the Old South Meeting House (which I also went inside to tour) as well as the Old Corner Bookstore. While the Old Corner Bookstore is now Chipotle, it was famous for the meeting place of people like Hawthorne, Emerson, Dickens, and Beecher-Stowe. Continuing down the trail, I passed the Old State House. Then I passed the spot of the Boston Massacre. I stopped at the North Market to get an afternoon coffee before proceeding on. I passed the Paul Revere House where Paul Revere hung the lantern to warn the Country of the British Troops coming into their town. I quickly passed the Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burial Ground, the USS Constitution, and finally made it to the last stop: Bunker Hill. I wanted to go up to the top, 294 steps. I made it with 30 minutes to spare. So basically, I had to run up the stairs, grabbed a quick pic, and then left as the monument was closing! At least I made it before it closed though. That evening, I took a train to Worcester, as that is where Elizabeth was going to vet school. She made me some belated birthday cupcakes and we spent the night near a fire pit before going to bed.
Day 3, November 10: Plymouth and Cape Cod
I first made Elizabeth drive me to this Bancroft Tower, which was only 15 minutes from her place and yet, she had never been! I don’t think there’s much history to it. It was built by Stephen Salisbury III, a rich man with no wife or children. We picked up Nick and made it to the National Monument to the Forefathers which commemorates those that were on the Mayflower. We stopped at the Cabby Shack Restaurant and Pub for some seafood before seeing the Plymouth Rock. We then walked to Brewster Gardens, a cute little park with a small pond for ducks. It was a pretty cute park. We went into Richard Sparrow’s House, the Powder House, and another cemetery. We found a tower to see the sunset before we called it a night. We dropped Nick back off in Boston and headed back to Worcester for another fire pit night.
Day 4, November 11: MIT
MIT had this Alchemist sculpture by Jaume Plensa. It was fun to roam the campus of MIT. We found an open auditorium and played on the stage, we played in leaves and just walked around.
All good trips have an end. My extended weekend in Boston was over and so was my visit with my friends. It was fun to have some time to explore the area on my own, and also fun to have some time to explore with friends. But now it’s back to St. Louis and back to my own classes that I have to attend.