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Walking from our Washington digs to the station we walked through some markets dragging our luggage behind us. One of the stall ladies called out “Have a great trip folks” .Never seen her before but rather indicative of the general friendliness of the Americans we dealt with. First experience with USA internal flights – unfortunately the night before had read in the local paper a review of all of the Flight companies (by customers) and ours came last in all categories – Delta! The check in was fine apart from a minor security check – memo to visitors USE THE TSA APPROVED LOCKS – and the flight was fine if a little cramped. We had been spoilt by Qantas Clubs up til now so at end of day the product reflected the price. Got a private car to The Copley Inn which was fine if a little creaky. Did not know much about Boston to be honest except maybe Cheers TV show and Red Sox Baseball. If pressed I would have stated that generally I assumed it was bit upper class so was surprised when we bumped into the mayor on our walk through the gardens – friendly guy though

Beautiful gardens with plenty of water around supporting a plethora of paddlers but the ducks don’t eat much. Then again they don’t chase you either. Good location for a picnic or even a Tea Party?

After wandering through the gardens it was time to check out this famous Freedom Trail. Luckily it was free of people. Luckily there was a big red line to follow. We followed this trail over hill and dale past some significant sites until we came to the revered grave site of Paul. What is this American fascination with The Beatles!

Next stop was some more Paul Revere memorabilia. There was a statue of him on horse. The old saying “one if by land two if by sea” completely confused me as we had come by air! We crossed over more sea than land so compromised. Then we travelled on to his house which suddenly made The Copley Inn look spacious. Think I might go for long rides at night too.

There were some men dressed in soldier outfits prancing around for some reason but there out of the corner of my eye I glimpsed the Holy Grail! The Cheers Pub at last. Or was it. It was certainly called Cheers but it appears that the “real pub” is downstairs in a more exclusive area of town. I needed a drink and the people hanging around here seemed like my kinda people. CLP of course had one too many as usual. Can’t take her anywhere without her eventually finding her way home!

 

It had been a full day so was time to head back to Copley Inn and what better way than a Hansom cab ride. We had travelled around Central Park NYC as dusk set in and was tres romantic. Apparently they don’t have horses in Boston but there are plenty of impoverished students who will pull you along on a bicycle. The CLP thougt the view was better than a horse’s rear end and hard to argue there – being a devout heterosexual though I was more pleased in the significant price drop!

Next day dawned cloudy and overcast but time was short so it was off on the hop on hop off city bus.First stop was Fenway Park. We had seen Yankee Stadium but only from the outside. Now it was time to mingle with the great unwashed … and it was great. Plenty of history here and the volunteer tour guide who was 100 if he was a day was very knowledgeable. Sadly the fifteenth set of stairs was too much for him – let’s just say the pitcher’s mound had some extra padding from that day forward.

Then it was back on the bus and head downtown fore lunch. Apparently Boston has a famous oyster house where JFK use to regularly attend. Went around the block 3 times looking for the tell tale sign of Marilyn with her legs in the air but it alludes me to this day. So we settled on Ye Olde Oyster House as who can resist ye olde anglais.Lo and behold there was a JFK booth but you had to give over your first born to sit at that table. Memo to self – take boy child one on next trip. So it then transpired that I put the second worst tasting fleshy mess in my mouth ever!

As it was still a gloomy day even misty one could say time to check out Mystic River territory. This involved a fair walk past some historical sites like Bunker Hill amongst the very classic Bostonian neighbourhood with the window flower planter boxes. Then we came across what one could only call the poorer part of town. It was a leisurely walk down and a quick walk back – think I saw Omar walking the streets wondering to myself why he had left Baltimore but deciding it wasn’t worth finding out.

Time to check out this place called Harvard. Easy subway to the centre of knowledge which reminded me of chewing gum stuck in your hair. Never quite worked out where the University started and ended. Still time for some fun and it was an easy walk around the place even if I didnt really know when I was on University grounds.

Last full day dawned bright and sunny which was ideal as this was the day we were going to cruise around the harbour. But first we had to listen to the Sate of Origin rugby league match on the radio via the iPad – Rusty Crowe had organised for Fox Sports to show it in USA but Copley Inn was too tight for cable channels! Stll Qld won so all was good with the world. Off to the water. Great views back to the city and across the bay to the bridge. Very pleasant way to fill in the morning.

So we had a great few days in Boston and saw a lot more than could relate in this short blog. We had seen NYC and Washington – the big guns – and even a few hours in Philly. Our last few days would be spent somewhere a little different which should round out a varied exploration of the good old USA and some of its big cities. Next stop – Gooday LA! Think I better have a drink first