I got a late start today while attempting to catch up on some sleep.
Initially my transit app said to use the metro to get to the USS Constitution, but when I left the hotel it said to walk to the Long Wharf and take a ferry. The ferry ride in the Boston harbor seemed like a nice idea on such a nice day.
The ferry arrives The ferry docking
The ferry ride was quite scenic, I took some photos and videos. I wouldn’t mind riding on the ferry all day long.
the Navy shipyard
As you can see the ferry docked right at the Navy shipyard / National Park. A TSA like security checkpoint was present to go inside the National Park visitor center and to go onboard the USS Constitution.
obviously the National Park has been asleep at the wheel for several years now. The USS Constitution is shown in the dry dock, but it has been years since it was in the dry dock. I took a picture of another map showing it in the correct location later
I made a quick visit to the visitor center and took some pictures.
rope winding machine
After a visit to the restroom I went aboard the USS Constitution. It was one of the first US Navy vessels – dating back to 1797.
Officer’s quarters Hammocks take up most of the deck, the ship isn’t that big, but required a large crew
The best experience was buying a flag for $25 and hoisting it up and flying it on the ship. It’s a very memorable experience, and patriotic.
At this point I was getting very hungry and my brain was losing focus. I almost took the ferry back to town, but found a nice place to eat nearby with Google Maps. I took a couple of pictures along the way of the empty dry dock.
The restaurant I found was called Dovetail. It was inconspicuous, but very close to the entrance of the Navy ship yard.
cold lobstah roll
As you can see I decided to have a cold lobstah roll this time. This was the first cold lobstah roll I have ever had and it was good, although I do prefer the hot type with the melted butter.
After I replenished my nutrients my brain started to work again and I remembered I wanted to visit Bunker Hill which was very close by before returning to Boston. It was a short walk to the Bunker Hill monument. Upon arrival I was treated to an historic weapon firing demonstration. During the presentation they said the weapons had not been fired in two years, so I suspect that they do not have the demonstration often, or at least it was on hold during COVID.
There was a sign with an audio guide link. Below is the link to the audio guide should you be interested in listening (if you didn’t scan the barcode in the picture).
After the visit at the memorial I visited the Bunker Hill museum which was just next to it. One of the displays I thought was most interesting was how the Boston Harbor had changed so much since 1775-1776 due to land reclamation. There was an old saying by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens was his real name) “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore”, which is odd because the land reclamation projects in Boston occurred during his lifetime.
I headed back to the Charlestown Navy Yard and before I took the ferry back I visited the USS Cassin Young, a WWII era ship.
The USS Constitution is in the actual location shown. Must be a really old sign, before it went into dry dock.
It was getting late in the day and getting back to Boston by ferry before any other museums closed was impossible. I took the opportunity to visit the USS Constitution museum, which was nice, but not too big.
I returned to the dock to wait for the ferry. While I waited a pedal powered paddlewheel boat passed by.
the ferry
I enjoyed the ferry ride through Boston Harbor back to Boston. I took a few more photos along the way back.
I walked in the North End a bit, I stopped by Paul Revere’s house. It was closed, but I was more interested in seeing the outside than the inside. The entire North End was full of interesting architecture.
the red bricks are the “Freedom Trail” which connects most of the historic sights in Boston
As you can see in the picture above there is a trail marked with red bricks called the “Freedom Trail”; should you be in Boston and don’t know where to go you can follow the trail to visit most of the historic sights in Boston.
The trail took me to Copp’s Hill Burying Ground.
I found a skinny spite house nearby.
It was nearly sunset, so I decided to try and take some pictures of the fancy bridge.
It was now time for dinner I started to walk to a popular restaurant, Neptune Oyster.
When I arrived at Neptune Oyster there was a horribly long queue, so I did some more research and found an acceptable alternative with no wait called Libertine.
I tried the Arancini and the Chicken Parmesan.
After dinner I took the metro and bus back to the hotel.
looks really old buses run underground in tunnels… looks like a subway that ran out of money the bus
Today’s timeline is below:
