Boston Area 2015 - Day 7 & 8

May 28, 2015 Longfellow, JFK, Olmsted, Samuel Adams

Inside the Longfellow House

Longfellow House – Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site was an interesting site. Parking was tough in the area. Metered parking was available, but Harvard graduation was going on. Luckily, we were able to find a meter. Apparently if you want to risk it, parking tickets are $20. The house is available only by tour. Tours are free and last 45 minutes to an hour. The gardens outside of the home are very lovely. The home as a ton of history. The home was built in 1759 for John Vassall, a merchant and ardent loyalist. The Vassals’ were forced to flee to England in 1774. In July 1775, General George Washington came along to command the Continental Army. Then in 1791, Andrew Craigie (and his wife), the nation’s first Apothecary General, bought the house and expanded the home. The home became known as “Castle Craigie”; however the lavish living caused the couple to become into debt.  Once Mr. Craigie passed the wife began to take in boarders. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a young Harvard professor and up-and-coming poet began renting rooms at the home in 1837. Longfellow married into a wealthy family which bought the home as a wedding gift to the new couple. 

JFK NHS

The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site was our next destination. Free parking was available near the home. There was a 20 minute video that talked about the Kennedy family and audio tours for the home. All items in the home are original to the home. The home is the birthplace of JFK.

Our last National Park site for the state of Massachusetts was Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site. The home is known as Fairsted. Olmsted is considered one of the nation’s greatest landscape architect. Some of his more known sites include the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, the U.S. Capitol Grounds, New York’s Central Park and Boston’s Emerald Necklace. There was a seven minute video, which was informative. Parking was available at the site.

Samuel Adams Tour

Nearby was Samuel Adams. We went on a tour, which was free (but they ask for a $2 donation that is distributed to local charities). The tour was quite short (45 minutes – 1 hour). Parking is tough and apparently tours usually fill up fast, but we were able to nab the last parking space and get on the next available tour time. The tour guides were quite funny. If you sit at the end of the far end of the table you will be sure to get plenty of beer to sample. They send a pitcher down each side of the table. You get to keep the glass that you use for the samples. Three samples were passed around.

Using my IHG reward points, we were able to book a $400 room in Cambridge (for free using my points), but decided we had had enough of Boston and headed home. We were able to cancel the room and keep all my points. We ended up staying at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites East Greenbush in Rensselaer, NY. We stayed at the same hotel back in 2012, I think it had some updates since that time, regardless we had a good stay.

May 29, 2015 Homeward Bound

The drive home was uneventful. We stopped at Seneca Falls to visit the Women’s Rights National Historical Park. We had visited this park back in 2012, but I really wanted to collect the trading cards the site had. The displays were recently updated.  Also, stopped by the Anchor Bar for Mike to get some chicken wings from the original Buffalo Wings location.

Boston Area 2015 - Day 6

May 27, 2015 Lowell, Saugus, Salem

Boott Cotton Mills at Lowell NHP

It was a busy day, visiting three national park sites. Our first stop, Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center. There was a recently made video that provided a good background of the importance of the site. Parking was available at the park, with validation available at the front desk. The sites that are included with this national park are all a short walk (or trolley ride) away from each other. The park seems to have a lot of special events that run throughout the summer – art in the park, folk festival, canal rides. Not a lot of the stops along the walk were open, but we were able to visit the Boott Cotton Mills. The cost for the mill was $6/adult, but with the annual National Park pass it was half off.  It was really neat the see/hear the 1920’s weave room in action.

Saugus Iron Works NHS

Saugus Iron Works National Historical Site was just an okay site to visit. There was an interesting video in the museum. The buildings at this site were reconstructed over the original 1640’s foundations. Saugus was the first successful location in the New World for the integrated production of cast and wrought iron. The last recorded blast at the site was 1668. Financial problems ultimately caused the closing of the iron works. An hour is plenty of time to see everything, unless you take a tour. Unfortunately, the tours were all late in the afternoon and did not work well with the time we arrived. 

Derby House at Salem Maritime NHS

We finished the day off with a visit to Salem. There is a lot of on street parking available for a small fee, as well as a few parking garages. Our first stop was the National Park Regional Visitor Center. The visitor center was very nice. There were a couple of films and a few displays. The Salem Maritime National Historic Site building is closed for the year for renovations. We unfortunately missed the tours of the U.S. Custom House, which was built in 1819 and two local homes that date back to 1675 and 1762. The walk along the wharf was nice, with a few displays along the way. The lighthouse at the end of the wharf was not anything to special.

We had dinner at Longboards Restaurant & Bar, which was on one of the piers in historical Salem. The food was okay, but nothing special.

Holiday Inn Express Andover Lawrence was the hotel that we ended up in. We discovered that we probably should have booked rooms in advance; the price we were willing to pay was often hard to find. Our stay was nice.

Boston Area 2015 - Day 5

May 26, 2015 Bedford, Providence

First stop for the day was the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park. There was plenty of metered street parking in the area, as well as a couple of parking decks. The meters let you pay via credit card, which was nice.

Seamen's Bethel

The video at the visitor center was very good. There were also some other displays at the visitor center. After exploring the visitor center, we headed down by the water. Interesting fact: scallops make New Bedford the number one fishing port in the country in terms of the dollar value of its catch.

 The Seamen’s Bethel is near the water. Seamen’s Bethel is referenced in Herman Melville’s book Moby-Dick. The building was constructed in 1832. Every year the Bethel hosts a 25 hour Moby-Dick reading marathon. We were told that if you last for the entire reading you receive a free copy of the book.

Scrimshaw at New Bedford Whaling Museum

Our next stop was the highly recommended New Bedford Whaling Museum.  It was $14 for adults, but there was a 10% discount for AAA members. The content of the museum was very in depth.  My favorite part was viewing the scrimshaw. Scrimshaw is scrollwork, engravings, and/or carvings done in bone or ivory. Personally, I did not greatly enjoy the museum. 

Next on the docket – Roger Williams National Memorial. Roger Williams’ left England with his wife because he disliked the religious turmoil. Williams fought for the idea that religion should not be subject to state regulations, but should be a matter of individual conscience. Williams’ was a minister in Salem, but his separatist beliefs forced him out of Massachusetts. He settled in Providence and ultimately created a colony. 

Rhode Island Capitol Building

Another capitol building is checked off our list – Providence, Rhode Island. The capitol is neoclassical in style. The current State House is the seventh in the state’s history and was constructed from 1895 to 1904.

Our last stop in Rhode Island was one of the stops for the somewhat new Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor. There are many different locations to visit along the corridor. We visited the Pawtucket location. There was a nice video at the visitor center. The area of the visitor center was a little sketchy (lots of people lingering waiting for buses). Along the river was the original mill dating back to 1793!

Minute Man Statue

Heading north, we arrived at the Minute Man National Historical Park. The video at the visitor center is good. There is a lovely trail that connects many locations throughout the park. It was 90+ degrees outside so we opted to park at a few of the parking areas hand opt for a short walk rather than a couple of mile walk. Unfortunately, many of the buildings that we thought would be open were not – apparently we arrived a few weeks early. We did not make it inside of the North Bridge Visitor Center before it closed, but we were able to walk to the bridge and enjoy the beautiful flowers.

We stayed at the Best Western Plus Chelmsfords Inn, was okay...but I do not know what was so Plus about it, the room was probably not at nice as the standard Best Westerns that we stayed at earlier in the trip.

Boston Area 2015 - Day 4

May 25, 2015 Cape Cod

Cape Cod Light

The plan of attack for the day was to drive out to Cape Cod National Seashore. We started at the northerly most portion of the site – Province Lands Visitor Center. There is a nice overlook at the visitor center, as well as a decent 10 minute video. We also visited the beach, the National Park pass was really handy, normally it is $20 to enter – yikes that seems steep! The beach was not too busy, probably due to the entrance fee. While at the site, we also hiked the Beech Forest trail. There were some wildflowers blooming and it was a nice and short hike.

After leaving the park area, we checked out the town of Providence. It was really busy and parking prices were $15 and up – yikes! We drove around a bit, but did not option to stop and walk around.

Heading back to the south, we stopped to see the Highland Lighthouse (aka Cape Cod Light). Back in the day, this lighthouse was typically the first seen for ships entering the Boston area. The lighthouse, as currently modeled, was erected in 1857. The lighthouse was relocated in 1996 since it was getting closer and closer to the 100 foot cliff down to the water.

Three Sisters Lighthouses

We also stopped at the Nauset Light Beach, which was closed due to storm damage (I think it will be reopening in the coming weeks). There was one large lighthouse, moved to its current location in 1923, and then just down the road (or path if you wanted to walk) are the Three Sisters Lighthouses. The Three Sisters Lighthouses were constructed in 1892 and were originally used in place of the Nauset Light.

Our last visit in Cape Cod was the Salt Pond Visitor Center. We hiked the Nauset Marsh Trail while at the visitor center. The trail was just okay. 

We did not have plans as to where we were going to stay or eat. We checked out trip advisor and decided on the End Zone for dinner. The food was okay. Our first choice for food was closed for the holiday.

We stayed at the Best Western North Dartmouth, which was a very nice place. 

Boston Area 2015 - Day 3

May 24, 2015 Adams NHP, Boston Harbor Island NRA, Plymouth

Adams National Historical Park - Old House at Peace Field

We arrived at Adams National Historical Park just as they were opening up, which worked out well, since we were able to get on the first tour of the day. There is a parking garage behind the building, in which you can get the parking validated at the Visitor Center.  There is a trolley that takes you to the different sites available to visit – good thing, since the roads are very curvy and the sites were on the opposite sides of town, at least it seemed that way! There is a video (27 minutes) available for viewing at the visitor center, entitled Enduring Legacy, which was very good.  The tour has a $5/person cost, or you can use the annual National Park Pass and go for free (kids under 16 also free). The first stop on the tour is the Adams (John Adams and John Quincy Adams) birthplaces, the second stop is the Old House at Peace Field. Tours have a tendency to sell out, thus one of the reasons we wanted to arrive early. As expected the visit lasted about 3 hours.

Georges Island - Inside Fort Warren

Heading to the east, we headed to Hingham to hop on the 1 o’clock ferry to Georges Island. Georges Island is a part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.  There really is not a lot to do on Georges Island other than visit the historic Fort Warren, but with the time we had it seemed like a good fit – an hour and a half was ample time to check out the island. Georges Island provided a great strategic location for defending Boston’s seaport. The fort was constructed in 1833. The fort was used as a training camp and a Civil War prison before becoming a park. The ferry ride was $17/person round trip. There is a lot of parking available across from the dock, apparently it is free during the summer months, with a ticket from the kiosk, but it is was not yet open for the season. Regardless, parking was like $4 for the day. We grabbed lunch at the Panera Break before setting sail. I would have liked to have lunch at Walburgers (as in the TV show), but we did not have time before the departure time and when we returned we were not ready for more food.

Plymouth Rock

Seeing as I had not planned anything for the remainder of the day and we were going to be going to Cape Cod anyways we decided to check out Plymouth Rock. Really, the rock itself is quite laughable. I seriously have seen field rocks bigger than Plymouth Rock. History explained that the residents of Plymouth intended to preserve the rock in 1774, but the rock split into two, at which point one half of the rock got placed on display in the Town Square.  Visitors also desired to take a souvenir of the rock also. In 1834, the rock was moved to safety inside an iron fence at the Pilgrim Hall Museum. On the way to the museum, the rock fell and cracked. The remaining half of the rock was acquired by the Pilgrim Society in 1859. In 1867, a canopy structure was completed to house the rock at the waterfront. Yet again the rock was made smaller, since it would not fit under the canopy. In 1880, the rock halves were reunited and 1620 was inscribed on the top of the rock, 1620 being the year the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth. Plymouth Rock was moved to its’ currently location in 1921, at which time the rock yet again broke apart!

There was some free parking near the rock, but it was quite busy so we parked in a nearby lot which was not too pricy.  Near the rock is the Mayflower 2, a replica of the original. There is a fee to board the ship, but the ship is easily viewed from the harbor.

We walked around a bit had some ice cream at Ziggy’s Ice Cream. There are 50 flavors of hard scoop flavors! Talk about a tough decision on picked a flavor! Luckily, we were able to pick two flavors for a small. The cones were reasonably priced but, the sundae prices seemed really high – they must have been huge (we did not see anyone eating one). The small cone was pretty large. Mike really liked the waffle cone – definitely made fresh in the store.

We stayed at the Quality Inn in Hyannis for the night. It was okay. The hotel is under renovation, it previously was a Comfort Inn (according to reviews that I had found online).

The British Beer Company, in Hyannis, was our dinner choice. The food was good and the food was very reasonably priced.

Boston Area 2015 Day 1 & 2

May 22, 2015 Boston Bound

We got on the road by 5 PM and made it to Syracuse for the night. We stayed at the Best Western Inn at the State Fair. The hotel was pretty nice and clean; however, the mattress was not the best. Considering it was a holiday weekend, the traffic was not as bad as we had anticipated.

May 23, 2015 Boston

MA State House

After the free breakfast at the hotel, we were on our way to Boston. For lunch, we went to D’Angelo Sandwich Shop at the Natick Service Plaza along the turnpike. Decent sandwich, I would go there again. While at the service plaza, we got the E-ZPass to avoiding having not to stop and pay at every toll booth area. We ended up not going on a toll road again until our trip home, but it sure is nice not to have to stop to pay. MA does not charge monthly fees, or a transmitter fee, unlike most states. Next time, traveling via toll road we will have to remember to put more money in the account.

Continuing on we finally reached Boston!  We had reserved a parking space, via spothero. It was a dollar cheaper than the rate if we had paid when we left. We parked near Boston Commons for $12 (Pi Alley Garage). Once we oriented ourselves, we were able to locate Boston Commons, the oldest park in the country. Boston Commons is the starting point for the Black Heritage Trail and the Freedom Trail, as well as the location of the Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church and the Granary Burying Ground.

Bunker Hill

After snapping some photos of the place in or right around Boston Commons, we walked the Black Heritage Trail. The homes in the Beacon Hill are very pretty. The sidewalks are cobblestone and uneven, which makes it even more charming. Once finishing with that trail, we walked the Freedom Trail. The Freedom trail is easy to find – it is a red line along the sidewalks.  Along the way, there are many store fronts – we had cupcakes at Sweet Bakery. Mike had the Chocolate Covered Pretzel and I had the Not So Rocky Road (okay, so mine was a brownie, not a cupcake…).

There were many neat places along the Freedom Trail – Faneuil Hall, Old South Meting House, Old State House, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Charlestown Navy Yard, Bunker Hill, and the USS Constitution.

Once completing the trail, we went to the Hard Rock Café to get Mike the zippo for his collection and then it was off to find food. We tried The Black Rose, which is an Irish Pub. There was live music, the food was just okay. I had a Rueben sandwich and French Onion Soup, Mike had Fish and Chips.

Deciding we had had enough Boston for one day we headed south to Rockland, where we stayed at the Comfort Inn for the night. It was okay.