Destination: Boston

Boston became of the last destinations on our Amber of Green Gables adventure to Prince Edward Island.

(Come explore Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Acadia National Park, and a day with Anne of Green Gables!)

Because we flew out of Boston to come home, we decided to spend an extra day exploring this amazing historic city.

We always planned to visit Boston when we take our Northeast US trip someday, so having a sneak peek was really fun! An afternoon for adventuring is all we had this time, so we put on our walking shoes and made tracks to see as much as we could!

Boston Public Garden

First stop (after we found a parking spot – much easier said than done!) was Boston Public Garden right smack in the middle of the city. As in, the Make Way For Ducklings public gardens. Bringing classic literature to life makes my heart so happy!

I can’t get enough of these beautiful, stately homes. And having the park in your own front yard? I’ll take it! (I want the apartment that has that little dormer window.)

After Yelping something yummy and local for lunch, we scouted out an epic little coffee shop for our vanilla latte fix. Gracenote Coffee was a winner! Chill vibes, cool espresso machines, and just what we needed for an afternoon following Boston’s Freedom Trail.

Yuuuum!

Boston Harbor

Next stop: Boston Harbor! I was really excited about seeing this. You know, the Boston Tea Party and everything. We didn’t have time to do any of the presentations, but we found our official destination magnet in their gift shop! Their gift shop was amazing. Definitely pop in if you’re exploring the harbor.

Every once in awhile they’d have barrels being thrown off this ship. :)

When the Freedom Trail brought us by the Granary Burying Ground, I originally just wanted to breeze through. We’re personally not huge into cemeteries ourselves. But with names like Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, we decided to wander through. Definitely worth it!

Random fact – there’s a claim that Mother Goose is buried here! Whether Mother Goose is actually a real person or just a fictional concept is still up for debate, but some people insist that Mary Goose was the real deal.

Massachusetts State House

And…the Massachusetts State Capitol Building! Truthfully speaking, this was one of the main reasons we added Boston to our PEI trip. We’ve taken on the challenge to visit all state capitals in the US, and this made #14! It’s also known as the Massachusetts State House, and it’s conveniently part of the Freedom Trail.

If you’re there, go inside!

It became one of our top favorite capitol buildings (along with Iowa and Utah), so prepare yourself to scroll through a whole bunch of gorgeousness.

And all the history that’s here! Boston is so rich with stories of events that changed our country’s history.

There’s also a famous 5 foot carved wooden cod in here. As in, a big wooden fish. It’s symbolic, of course, but definitely notable.

Along the Freedom Trail

Back on the trail. Lots of statues of famous people from history. I loved it all!

The Old South Meeting House!

Just outside of the Old State House is the site of the Boston Massacre.

And from this Old State House balcony, the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time!

You never know what you’re going to stumble upon.

 

We had a chance to tour Paul Revere’s house! It’s the oldest building in downtown Boston, and they have it set up in the typical “this is how they lived back then” style. I thought they did a really great job with it.

Random fact: did you know that Paul Revere had 16 kids? I had no idea.

 

Our Boston selfie!

We took the time to watch a printing demonstration. Suuuuuper neat! Instead of just going through the motions of showing how they used to print things, he made it come alive by making it relevant to our lives.

Like showing us where the terms “upper case” and “lower case” letters came from. The large letters were all organized on the top half (the upper part of the case), and the small letters were located on the lower part of the case.

I did laugh when he sold the Declaration of Independence copies he printed for $17.76. Nice.

We stopped to peek inside the Old North Church.

So many beautiful spots in this city! Our very favorite spot that we wandered into were the neighborhoods around Beacon Hill. It was too dark to take any pictures, which made me so sad! We fell in love with the stately architecture, cobblestone streets, and the feeling of elegance and history all mixed together.

There’s also a pretty hefty price tag to go with it. Fun to dream, but it might be a few years before we invest in our summer home there!

(Not to mention the $8,000 you pay to buy a parking spot in one of the garages. A local told us about a spot that sold for over $600,000. Umm…what? I think it has the record for the most expensive parking spot ever!)

It was a short day in this amazing city, and we can’t wait to go back someday! We hope you enjoyed coming along!

*hugs*

Amber

{P.S. Don’t miss Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, or Acadia National Park!}