For a city, I think Boston was my favorite.  Admittedly it wasn't as easy to get to and we ended up having to drive into the city instead of staying outside and taking the public transportation but we were able to park at a garage right at the starting point of the Freedom Trail. Since we were in Boston in the middle of December, it was decorated for the season. It seemed as though every business, every house and every lamppost had wreaths and swags and ribbons adorning it. I loved it and have it on my bucket list to see Boston again around Christmas time but this time I want to wander little Italy and eat my way through that part of town.
We started the Freedom trail at the park with a stop at the visitor center where we purchased a small brochure that listed each stop on the trail.  It was a bit chilly and we bundled up, but could have worn even warmer clothes. The squirrels at Boston Common were brazen and forward.  In fact, they would run right up to your feet begging for food.  I leaned down and the squirrel turned its back on me since I didn't have anything in my hand so I reached out and petted it's tail.  That thing shot straight up in the air and did a 180.  It glared at me and scampered up the tree.  From the commons we walked up to the Massachusetts State House which we ended up viewing from every angle.  We came around the backside of it on our way back to the commons.


We looked for John Hancock's tomb as well as Paul Revere and Samuel Adams but many of the names were so worn that we decided to continue on our way.

Faneuil Hall is also marked as a nuclear fallout shelter.  I thought that was interesting.  I'm not sure that I've seen buildings here in the PNW that are marked as fallout shelters.  Maybe there are and I haven't paid attention to them.


Paul Revere's house is a little wooden house tucked behind a large brick wall with large brick apartment buildings stacked next to it.  It was open for tours but since we were walking and had much of the tour left we opted to snap a couple of photos and be on our way.  I wish we would have waited though until this area of town to grab a bite to eat.  It was like being in Italy with all the names of the restaurants and canoli being advertised.  We instead ate at a typical Irish restaurant earlier.  20/20 hindsight. After Cop's Hill bBurying Ground, we crossed the Charles River and made our way over to Charlestown.  It was here that we climbed to the top of the monument at Bunker Hill and was able to get a view of Boston.  At the museum we went inside and met a super nice park ranger.  He noticed John's Coast Guard Dad hat and asked who was in the coast guard and then shook Job's hand and thanked him for his service.  It touched my heart.







The USS Constitution was our very last thing we saw and we arrived just as they were lowering the colors for the day.  A couple of cannon shots, and the bugle signaled the time.  Job just smiled and said since he wasn't in uniform he didn't have to stand at attention. and then it was a trek back to the car in the dark, trying to find short cuts so we could make our way out of the city and onto our next destination - Maine.