NE Trip: Boston & Plymouth

The train delivered me into Boston about 11am, so I grabbed a quick yogurt & a second latte from a coffee stand to fuel up. I'd researched online ahead of time and heard that you could stow your luggage at the South Boston station. It took a bit of asking around, but I finally was directed to this little shop that stows one bag downstairs in a locked area for a $5 fee. While not quite what I'd envisioned, it worked out great for my main suitcase. After dropping the bag, I headed out into what I discovered was a super breezy Boston setting. Who knew there'd be so much wind?! :)

From the train station I got my bearings and headed to check out the harbor aka the setting of the famed Boston Tea Party. They have a replica ship and museum but I didn't take the time to visit it officially, as I only had about 4 hours to trek around the city. From the museum location I walked along the harbor until I threaded up and over to the "Little Italy" area. While I really headed to this section to walk by Paul Revere's home and the original church where the messenger light was hung, it was pretty neat to see the Italian culture still thriving. I already had a spot in mind for lunch, otherwise I totally would have hit up one of the Italian restaurants here. In this section of town I also walked through a plaza dedicated to Revere and an old cemetery.

From here I crossed the bridge and reconnected with part of the "Freedom Trail" to head up to Bunker Hill. I really enjoyed seeing this historical site, although in its current context it's hard to really envision it being a massive hill and battle site.

I spent about 15 minutes wandering around the park at the monument here and then I trekked down the hill to Warren Tavern, which is supposed to be one of the oldest taverns in Boston and a location where some of the nation's changemakers drank beer. Uh, of course, I couldn't resist! :) I had an amazing Reuben, sweet potato fries, and a local cider while watching part of the Red Sox game, listened to great Boston accents, and charged up my phone so I could keep navigating my way around the city :)

From here, I walked to the historic Beacon Street and the main town square of Boston Commons (which is also where a lot of the finishers were as the Boston Marathon was happening this day). From there I headed back to the train station to pick up my suitcase and then walked the additional mile into a more industrial area to get to the rental car location. The guys at this location were a hoot though and I had my pick of SUVs. I went for the tiniest one both for gas mileage and parking reasons.

Luckily it also was a Boston holiday so I didn't have to deal with traffic as I drove out of the city at 430pm. From Boston I actually headed south to Plymouth to stay in this cute Cape Cod house with a sustainable farmer.

Ironically, the farmer ended up not getting home until later and this particular evening I really started to struggle with my cold so I crashed ridiculously early. I did have time to wander down to the coast line though and imagine some of my ancestors (yea for family history!) making the long trek by ship over the Atlantic and stumbling upon the shore.

I also checked out some of the reading material my host had on her shelves (including a great booklet on issues with FairTrade labeling). Had I been feeling a bit more energetic, I might have gone to one of the local eateries or some of the additional historic sites, but in reality, my stop in Plymouth basically ended up being a bit out of the way just to sleep for the night. On a side note: it also was interesting driving in this area of the NE. The emergency break-down lane can be used for passing on the right and I found the merging strategies of NE drivers to be so incredibly different than us here on the west coast.

I really enjoyed checking out all the various historical sites in Boston and it was great to be in Plymouth for a night as well. Definitely glad I was able to bumble my way along in both locations :)