On the way to Freeport, Maine for the July 6, 2003 wedding of John and Sabina, we decided that, instead of staying in a hotel, we'd crash with one of our groomsmen-to-be, Alex, at his place in Boston. Although we didn't have much of an option other than driving all the way there after work on the 3rd, we can't say we'd repeat the experience - especially the 1.5-hour crawl on the Cross-Bronx Expressway.
Given the 2-hour drives to and from Maine for the various wedding events, it may not have been the best idea to stay in Boston, but we were able to do a little sightseeing during the mornings of the 4th and the 6th.
 |
It's not easy to believe that this is just off Massachusetts Avenue in downtown Boston, with a big stone medieval-looking building just outside the picture. This is one of the last places one would expect a religion to be headquartered, but it is, in fact, the world headquarters of Christian Science, of the Reading Rooms. |
| Boston is so old it literally has at least 10 historic churches over 200 years old. This is one of them, Trinity Church, well known for its stained-glass windows. |  |
 |
And this, right next to Trinity Church, is the John Hancock Tower, billed as the tallest building in North America north of New York City. Of course, that's not saying very much - what else is north of New York City? Montreal? Duluth? Anyway, it is pretty damned tall. |
| Here is the Old State House, the actual seat of government back when Massachusetts was still a colony. Nowadays, there's a subway station in the basement, and a Visitor's Center (where we started our walking tour) across the street. When we visited, there was a squad of reenactors in British uniforms showing off their moves as part of the July 4th festivities. |  |
 |
During the Revolutionary Period, Faneuil Hall used to be a coffeehouse where the Sons of Liberty (among others) met. It has since had expansions added onto it and is now basically a giant (if you've been to Miami) Bayside or (if you've been to Baltimore) Inner Harbor. |
| It's kind of funny (assuming you haven't shelled out a lot of money) when "historical" sites aren't quite what you may think they are. Take this - the Paul Revere House. While Paul Revere did live on the site for quite a few years and some of the house dates from that time, some of it has been reconstructed to what they believe it was like then. In any event, it lies inside Boston's "Little Italy," a place that, if we ever have time, I'd love to go visit to have a bite. |  |
