The weather gods have looked favourably on us once again, and it looks like the rain has gone, and we are in for a fine day. After much research, the plan is to drive into downtown Boston, park the car somewhere near the seaport / convention centre area, and buy a ticket on the hop on hop off trolley bus.
At just after 9am, we head off into the city, traffic isn't too bad, and Tom Tom's guidance seems fine. As we approach the selected parking station, things go awry, and I and see the station (a tiny lot) as we drive by on a major road with not much chance of corrective action. Eventually we find another parking station, that, out of sheer luck, is half the price, closer to a pick up point for the trolley bus, and right near the Westin Hotel, where we buy our tickets from the concierge.
So all of a sudden we are back on track, catch the bus to the main starting point, and decide to do the complimentary harbour cruise that came with the tickets, before embarking on the ground travel. We are within 20 mins of the next departure so line up in anticipation.
Looking up the street from Long Wharf
Long Wharf where or harbour cruise will leave from
Looking back into long wharf as we depart
Not too long after we leave the shore we are told that the USS Constitution, the Worlds Oldest still commissioned warship, is on the harbour today, which only happens twice a year, once on 4th July, and for the graduation of new naval officers (which is today). After today, she goes into dry dock for 3 years for refurbishment, so we are extremely lucky both with the selection of the day and timing of our cruise.
We get a glimpse of her in the distance (with a telephoto lens)
Also known as "Old Ironsides", she is a true sailing vessel, with no power plant, so must be moved around by tugs in closed waters.
I assume the helicopter hovering overhead is part of the security
As the cruise progresses we get a lot closer and get to see what magnificent vessel she is
As they passed the Coastguard Station they fired a 21 gun salute from the ships cannons
Here are some sights around the Harbour.
The Charlestown Bridge (note the yellow “duck” tour amphibious vehicle in the foreground)
The harbor cruise went for 45 minutes, so we ended up back on land at about 12.15 pm, and went in search of the trolley bus, that would take us around the city on the historical route. We didn’t have to wait long, and were soon on our way. The plan is to stay on board until we get to “Cheers” Pub, the original site for the TV series, and stop there for lunch.
Along the way, we are given a history lesson about Boston. There are some great photo opportunities along the way.
Bunker Hill Bridge
The Oldest Pub in Town
Old Gas Lamps that Stay Alight 24 hrs a day
Here we are in in the theatre district
After lunch we went for a walk in the Boston Public Garden, across the road from Cheers pub. It is not a huge garden, but a nice green refuge in the city area, and the squirrels seem to like it.
It was then back on the trolley bus for the rest of our tour.
The rest of the trip takes us past the famous landmarks, wove through MIT, and eventually back to the seafront, where we caught a different trolley bus back to where our car was parked.
After enduring the Friday night peak hour traffic back to our motel, all we felt like was a pizza for dinner.
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