Our Travelogue
Canada/New England cruise on Crown Princess
Day 3 – Boston, Massachusetts
We cruised into Boston harbor later than the originally scheduled time of 10:00 a.m. After a VERY rough night at sea where we were shakin’, rockin’ and rollin’ we were happy to get inside protected waters where we had smooth sailing for about an hour.
Our tour today was an all-day tour out to Lexington and Concord, then back to Quincy Market for lunch, then on to the Old North Church and finally out to Cambridge and Harvard University.
Ernie was our driver and Steve was our tour guide for the day. As we drove out of Boston, Steve began to give us the history of Boston and its’ ties with the American Revolutionary War.
Boston was founded by a group of Puritan colonists from England. It was the location of several major events during the American Revolution including the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Boston Tea Party and you can walk along the historic path on the Freedom Trail in Boston proper. You can also take the tour that we took out to Lexington and Concord to hear again the story of the midnight ride of Paul Revere.
The drive out to Lexington takes about an hour. The rolling hills were full of trees beginning to change color; but we were told we were about a week early for the peak of the “changing of the colors” in New England. It was still beautiful. The roadways are green with manicured grasses that back up to acres and acres of multi-colored trees. The trunks of many of the trees were white which gave way to a dramatic color change once you looked up to the tops of the trees which looked like puffy pillows, each a different color of green, yellow, gold and a few had turned to rust. There are numerous varieties of trees including hemlock, spruce, sugar maple etc.
When we arrived in Lexington, Steve continued with our history lesson and took us to the Lexington Visitor’s Bureau where there was an incredible miniature diorama protected by glass inside that depicted the events of the Revolution. It also serves as a souvenir shop. Outside was a memorial to the 78 Minute Men who battled the British. Across the street was a beautiful white steeple peeking out through the trees which belonged to the Congregational Church. The church steeples are quite prevalent in the landscape as you gaze across the valleys and hillsides. There are memorials in many places indicating where soldiers lost their lives (British and American).
From Lexington we continued on to Concord and through the quaint New England town out to the Old North Bridge where the first shot of the Revolution was fired – “the shot heard round the world”. We got off the coach and walked down a path lined with rock fences indicating where the farmers had portioned off their property. It was these very same rock walls and barriers that the colonists used to hide behind when the British were coming.
The path had a slight incline and at the crest of the hill, we could see down into this beautiful valley with a small river running through it. Across the river stood a beautiful arched wooden bridge with handrails. The original bridge was washed out by rains and floods many years ago; but this new one was built and is a replica of what once was there during the Revolution. The trees along the river had more reddish color to them than did the trees in the surrounding acres. Nestled off to the left of the bridge was an old wooden boat house. The wood was old and grey, but it had so much charm to me; and I knew that it had many stories to tell if the walls could only talk.
There is a memorial to the commemoration of the “event” and the fact there had been bloodshed there so many years ago. It was an obelisk and stood about 20 feet tall. It marked the death of two American militia men and two British soldiers. As we walked across the bridge, the river waters were moving but very calm, and the reflection of the trees was beautiful in the blue water. Across the bridge was another memorial, this one was to the Minute Men.
After this, we traveled back into Boston, to Quincy Market where we had lunch and were able to walk around a little. From there we went over to The Old North Church which became famous back on April 18, 1775 when the colonists (including William Daws and Paul Revere) came up with a signal to alert John Hancock and Sam Adams who were out in Lexington and Concord, that the British were coming! Two lanterns were hung up in the steeple of the Old North Church for only one minute on that night – and that is all that was needed to let the Minute Men know the British were crossing the river by boat because it was shorter.
The Old North Church is on the Freedom Trail in Boston and well worth seeing. Behind the church in the courtyard is a bronze statue of Paul Revere on his faithful steed. Our tour guide recited the entire poem by Longfellow as we stood around the statue. From there we walked up towards the church where we passed a memorial to the men and women who have lost their lives in Afghanistan. Trellis type frames were built behind a lovely garden of flowers. On each rung of the trellis hung hundreds of blank military dog tags. When the wind blows, the tags make an incredible wind chime.
Inside the church we sat and listened to a docent tell us once again the story of that faithful night. It was quite interesting as she told the history of that story and several others after that.
From there we walked down the street past an old cemetery and also could see Old Ironsides in the harbor. Then we were back on the coach and on our way out to Cambridge and Harvard. Harvard University was where several of our President’s went to school including John F. Kennedy. It is also the school where some rather famous people dropped out only to make millions on their own – including Bill Gates, Matt Damon and the founder of Facebook.
Harvard Yard is an area inside the campus that is surrounded by many old, brick and granite buildings and now where the students gather to study under the trees on the lawn. The granite library with its tall columns and massive steps were the inspiration for the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC. We saw the dormitory where JFK once lived. Several of the buildings originally were the home of military officers.
It was a long day, and once we were back on ship we enjoyed a slice of pizza for dinner onboard and then it was off to sleep for all of us. The weather was beautiful and about 65 degrees. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Tomorrow we are off to Bar Harbor. Till then…
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