Boston! We liked it!
We left New Hampshire late morning with Martha, who had an evening flight from Logan Airport to California. She said that she had tried several times to see the USS Constitution, but had missed it, either because it was too late or the lines were too long. So we decided to drive to our hotel, drop off our bags, and drive to the Constitution for a tour, then drop Martha off at the airport. Other than a very confused and confusing GPS that had us floating in the middle of the block several times, and seemed to be taking us in a very circuitous route, the plan worked like a charm.
When we left the car in the lot near the shipyard, it was about 75 degrees, sunny and breezy. By the time we had gotten a quick bite and perused the shipyard museum and were waiting for our tour, it was about 50 degrees, overcast and damned cold. We managed to slip into the tour ahead of us so we avoided the 20 minute lecture, and were very glad that we did.
The USS Constitution is the oldest ship serving in the Navy, and our tour guides were all active Navy personnel. In fact, the day before was the ship's birthday, and it had gone out for a spin, so if we had come one day earlier, we would not have been able to take the tour. We saw the deck and two lower decks, learned about how the cannons work, the number of sailors and marines aboard and how they lived, the history of the ship. We learned how she got her nickname, Old Ironsides -- a sailor in the heat of battle saw the English canon balls seeming to bounce off the hull, and yelled that her sides were made of iron. The canons balls may not have stuck but the name did. We also found out that scuttlebutt refers to the keg of water for the sailors, so their water cooler becoming synonymous with gossip.
Above, ye olde scuttlebutt; below, one of 24 canon.
After our tour and a trip to the Constitution's museum, it was time to deliver Martha to the airport and drop off our car. It turned into Mr. Toad's wild ride as we found a gas station to fill the tank, then the drop off point, then caught the shuttle back to the airport to catch the bus to the T (underground train), then the train to downtown, and the walk to our hotel. Our hotel was spectacularly well situated, across the street from the Boston Public Library, kitty corner to Copely Square, and on a street with much more expensive hotels. We found out why later....
Meanwhile, when we emerged from the T, we were standing in front of the New Old South Church, which had a sign advertising a Jazz Workshop. We went inside and were welcomed by a lady with programs and ushered into what turned out to be service. We stayed for a bit, listening to the hymns and singing, then ducked out to see the church itself. We were welcomed there by a docent who showed us around and told us about the history of the church. The church interior was beautiful, and entirely unexpected of the straight-laced church folk we had expected.
Dinner that evening was at Legal Seafood, a chain known for its fresh seafood, so much so that it provides clam chowder for the presidential inaugural luncheon. Tom remembered it as a diner, but it isn't a diner anymore. He enjoyed the chowder and oysters while I had lobster bisque and a salad. Good food, not cheap.
After a quiet and comfortable night at our hotel, we enjoyed the continental breakfast before heading out to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. Our young friend Holly is a conservator there, and offered to give us a tour. It was an interesting museum for several reasons, and it was more than a treat to have Holly show us around and tell us about some of the background we would not have learned from a guidebook or an ordinary tour. It turns out that the founder left a will that virtually nothing in the museum can be changed -- she arranged every piece as she wished it to be, and only the most minor changes can be made. So Holly has her work cut out for her as she repairs damage to pieces that might be better preserved some other way. Art works on paper for example are exposed to natural light; the museum is working to replace them with reproductions so they can be rotated on and off exhibit as in other museums.
Isabella Gardener Stewart Museum. No photos, natch.
After our tour and a lovely lunch in the museum cafe, we headed back into town for the Freedom Trail. We were wandering around (not having come across the red line in the streets and sidewalks that are designed to keep the local folks from going nuts when the 4000th person before lunch asks them which way to go), when we happened upon a movie set. Ben Affleck was shooting a movie. We stood around for a few minutes to catch a glimpse, but were shuffled off by grips and gripes.
Where, oh where, is Ben Affleck?
Our first official stop on the Freedom Trail was Old North Church. Paul Revere had ridden to the church to tell the folks to shine "one, if by land, or two if by sea". Outside the church is a square with Revere's statue, and a memorial of blank dog tags remembering the dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One if, two if...
Directly across from the Old North Church is another small church, this one Catholic. It was the family church of Rose Kennedy; her funeral was held there.
We followed along the Freedom Trail for the remainder of its route, stopping to look at the various sites, but not spending much time inside the buildings. It was interesting to see the older neighborhoods juxtaposed against the modern skyline.
This is the Haymarket, the oldest market in Boston. Note the brass fruits and vegetables and the smashed bushel basket in the pavement.
This is the Old State House, which we looked into but did not tour. There is tea from the original tea party inside, as well as other memorabilia. Maybe next time.
The Granary Burying Ground, the final resting place of Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere.
After completing the Freedom Trail, we decided to have tea at the Public Library across the street from our hotel. We were too late, though, so settled for a bit of a walk-thru.
Someone has a sense of humor.
That night we had dinner at Joe's American Cafe, which was good but not spectacular. We returned to our hotel and got to sleep, only to be awakened at 1:00 AM and every 15 or 20 minutes thereafter by noisy guests coming and going, using the ice machine next to our room, and generally making a ruckus. At 6:15 AM there was another disturbance -- the night manager had been locked out of the building all night and was making sure that we all knew it. After a total of 2 hours sleep for the night, we packed up, made reservations at another hotel, had our included continental breakfast and checked out. I'm sure there is a moral here, but one of them is never stay at the Charlesmark Hotel in Boston.
Once that had been taken care of, we were off to the Museum of Fine Art, the fifth largest museum in the US, with the largest collection of Japanese Art in the country, and an impressive collection of impressionists. We spent the morning taking in as much of the museum as we could, then braved the rain to get back into the downtown area for another Boston must-do.
This is the oldest object in the Museum's collection, a rabbit from 1400 B.C.
There were several groups of students working on sketches and drawings of various objects in the Museum.
A teapot by Paul Revere.
We had tried to get together with another friend, Stuart, but our schedules were not going to mesh. But he told us that no matter what we did, and no matter what the weather, we had to take the DuckTour. So we did.
We had seen these vehicles cruising around town, as ours did once we were underway. We retraced the Freedom Trail, then went down a short ramp into the river, and cruised around the river for a half hour or so, looking at the landmarks from that point of view.
It was hilarious.
The beginning the water portion of our voyage....
watching another Duck go by....
and we emerge from the water unscathed!
After a nice early dinner at a bistro downtown, a cab ride to the airport hotel, a pre-dawn departure for the airport, we arrived at SFO at 10 AM. (We actually arrived a half hour early, but no gate was available so we sat around for a while. There's a moral here someplace, too....)
Sigh. Our Epic Travels of Fall 2009 were over.
Boston! We liked it!
Above, ye olde scuttlebutt; below, one of 24 canon. 
Dinner that evening was at Legal Seafood, a chain known for its fresh seafood, so much so that it provides clam chowder for the presidential inaugural luncheon. Tom remembered it as a diner, but it isn't a diner anymore. He enjoyed the chowder and oysters while I had lobster bisque and a salad. Good food, not cheap.
Isabella Gardener Stewart Museum. No photos, natch.
Where, oh where, is Ben Affleck? 
Our first official stop on the Freedom Trail was Old North Church. Paul Revere had ridden to the church to tell the folks to shine "one, if by land, or two if by sea". Outside the church is a square with Revere's statue, and a memorial of blank dog tags remembering the dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One if, two if...
Directly across from the Old North Church is another small church, this one Catholic. It was the family church of Rose Kennedy; her funeral was held there.
We followed along the Freedom Trail for the remainder of its route, stopping to look at the various sites, but not spending much time inside the buildings. It was interesting to see the older neighborhoods juxtaposed against the modern skyline.
This is the Old State House, which we looked into but did not tour. There is tea from the original tea party inside, as well as other memorabilia. Maybe next time.
The Granary Burying Ground, the final resting place of Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere.
After completing the Freedom Trail, we decided to have tea at the Public Library across the street from our hotel. We were too late, though, so settled for a bit of a walk-thru.
Someone has a sense of humor.
There were several groups of students working on sketches and drawings of various objects in the Museum. 
A teapot by Paul Revere.
We had seen these vehicles cruising around town, as ours did once we were underway. We retraced the Freedom Trail, then went down a short ramp into the river, and cruised around the river for a half hour or so, looking at the landmarks from that point of view.
It was hilarious.
The beginning the water portion of our voyage....
