Freedom Trail

Monday, July 04, 2016
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
With a long layover in Boston we decided to take a walk and see some historical sites. While we got ready for the day, Desmond thoroughly enjoyed watching the planes take off courtesy of our airport view. We checked out of our room around 9AM and handed our backpacks over to a bellhop, much to Desmond's chagrin. Having never checked his little bag before, he was reasonably upset that we were handing it over to a stranger. His little voice wailing "Desmond's backpack!?" was quite pitiful. We explained to him that we would be getting them back and made our way to the water taxi.

This boat ride across the Boston Harbor was beautiful and would have been enough to make our layover worthwhile . We enjoyed it even more seeing as our tickets were included as a perk of booking with points. What normally would cost $12 per person felt like a huge value. Desmond enjoyed looking at the water and all the American flags on the ships.

After talking to a park ranger about the Freedom Trail (which had been recommended to us by my family) we walked in the direction of Boston Commons where we would start our self guided tour. On our way we picked up some Gatorade and beef jerky to supplement the breakfast bars we had eaten. As we continued on, we saw a mass of people crowded along the street, and we began to think a 4th of July parade may be about to start. But as we got closer we could tell the crowd was gathered around a single building. Bryan pulled our stroller up next to another stroller and asked the mother "So, what're we watching?" She filled us in that they were about to read the Declaration of Independence from the Old State House (where it had been read originally in 1776). She also told us where we could find a splash pad for Desmond to enjoy.

We followed her suggestion and let Desmond play in the children's play ground at the Boston Commons and from there started our tour. It felt very fitting to be walking the Freedom Trail on the 4th of July where it all started.

One thing that was unexpectedly patriotic today was the confetti they released after the reading of the Declaration of Independence . It was piled up all over the ground and children and adults alike were scooping it up and tossing it in the air and taking photos. At one point and updraft caught it and the confetti soared and twirled high into the air by a nearby building. I had never seen confetti like that except in movies and on television. It was so much fun!

We found a Chipotle in one of the oldest buildings in town, but, alas, it was not open due to the holiday. We ended up eating at a sandwich place that was really good called Sorelle Cafe. It had gotten warm, and we were all happy to get out of the heat and have something to eat and drink.

After that we went over to what ended up being the highlight of our tour - the navy ships they had open for touring. One was the USS Constitution (which I recognized better by its nickname "Old Ironsides") and the other, Bryan informs me, was a Fletcher-classed destroyer. Desmond could get out of his stroller and safely explore these ships, so that was fun .

After that we hopped on another water taxi that took us right back to the Hyatt. The same man we'd left our bags with at the hotel went and got them out for us, laughing and telling Desmond that he'd spent his whole morning staring at that little bag making sure nothing happened to it. Reunited with his bag, we got on the waiting shuttle bus, and Desmond got to sit in his own seat. He was on cloud nine.

~ Merilee

A lot of travel hacking involves taking advantage of the perks that are designed to lure the loyalty of business travelers. Most frequent flyer/hotel programs have various status levels that you can achieve that add in nice freebies along the way. As travelers Mer and I aren't loyal to any one brand, but we've been able to fake it. Some of the credit cards give you the same low level status you might get from several stays in a hotel. We even have Gold status with Hilton. In this case, our credit card status entitled us to either a free breakfast buffet or the water taxi rides. At $12 per person one way, the 4 water taxi tickets were an almost $50 value, which is amazing. That freebie ended up being a fun memory for our stay.

~ Bryan
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Comments

Leslie
2016-07-05

Well I must say that that was a very worthwhile stop! Thanks for the guided tour. Until next time. Mom

Andrea
2016-07-06

What a fun day!

2025-02-12

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