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.