Friday, July 25, 2008

Day 4: Hiking the Freedom Trail

The lame title for today's activities is purely my idea after patently rejecting many other suggestions including "The British are coming", "The Home of the Free and the Sox", "One if by land, two if by sea", and "... Are you guys here for the game?" Taken together, those titles might explain the day we had, but the central theme was really the journey through history that is the Freedom Trail.

After getting another late start, we picked up the trail in downtown Boston near the Old State House. We ventured around a bit in that area, then took lunch near Faneuil Hall at the replica Cheers known as Sam's Place. Quite good, but extremely overpriced for what you get. That's how hungry we were after missing the hotel breakfast buffet. Skip this tourist trap if you have the choice. The service was horrible, but the open-air market noontime vibe was fun. Taking stock as we waited for our food, we would have preferred to patronize the Salty Dog next door, but now, after reading its reviews, I think we did as well as could be expected for the tourist area we visited.

What became evident upon boarding the T train for downtown, while at lunch, and just about every other event, was that this is a Red Sox - Yankees weekend. The anticipation of the weekend series at Fenway was palpable in all quarters. Many fans from both teams were out and about all day in all places. We even were greeted by a group of grandmas heading back from their dinner to watch the game on someone's new widescreen HD TV.

Taking the trail really brought home the need to spend more time than the brief one day we had planned. Yes we were able to see all the sights, but the richer learning experience and context to the history was lost in sacrifice to time. We did take the fully guided tour of the USS Constitution, the oldest sailing warship in the world and found the 45 minutes invested to be well worth it.

After impersonating sardines on the T, while trying to get back to our hotel during the outbound commute time, coupled with the extra load of Sox game T riders, we did get back and were somewhat exhausted. We found a local Vietnamese fusion place across the street from the hotel, called Zenna. I heard no complaints and would venture that it truly lived up to its rave reviews. Jake and I had the House Fried Rice, which was delectable. Kimberly had the Chicken Fried Rice and loved it. Only Cathy showed any bravery and ordered a more traditional Viet-inspired noodle concoction, which she also loved. The service was outstanding.

Plans for tomorrow: For me, the fun part of the trip begins as we set out in our rented Chrysler Town and Country for the road portion of the vacation. To facilitate a long road trip after flying across the country, we decided to provision the trip locally. That means we will invade a Walmart tomorrow and get things like a large cooler, lunch staples like deli meats, peanut butter, bread, healthy snacks, liquid refreshments, and ice. Otherwise, tomorrow's leg will be relatively short, and will feature a trip through New Hampshire and Vermont to visit the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial, a Mormon Church history site near Sharon, VT. We should get there around noon, and have also heard about an amazing "sugar house" near Royalton, called Eaton's Sugarhouse, which doubles as a restaurant and maple sap refinery. After that, its on to Albany, NY, where we prepare to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame the next day in Cooperstown.
Comments: Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

Subscribe to Posts [Atom]