Freedom Trail on Town Me

By AC

Aug

9

So today I finished the bulk of a week’s worth of work writing up the Freedom Trail from the perspective of a local–someone who not only has walked the Freedom Trail several times, but knows the areas of Boston and can give more of a contextual guide to what’s going on and what’s around the stops.  Anyone can give you history (and as a former State House Tour Guide I like to think I deliver on that front anyway) but I can give you a real sense of place and context.

So check it out; I had a blast doing the research and letting my inner geekdom resurface.

The Freedom Trail starts with the Boston Common (technically at the information center) but if you want information you should go to the National Parks Service Visitor Center.  From the Common, the Trail leads you to the Boston State House, where, like I mentioned, I used to be a tour guide.  After that is the Park Street Church, which isn’t all that interesting as a tour but it’s always been one of my favorite buildings on the Common.  Head over to the Granary Burying Ground (or the Beantown Pub where you can drink Sam Adams while looking at Sam Adam’s grave), don’t get distracted by the Franklin tomb that’s just Ben Franklin’s parents, and then move onto King’s Chapel and King’s Chapel Burying Ground. If you don’t get distracted by Downtown Crossing or need a snack, then head over to the Old South Meeting House, which was where they gave the signal to dump the tea for the Boston Tea Party.   Then there’s the Old State House where they read the Declaration of Independence every July 4th, Faneuil Hall (everyone’s favorite stop), and suddenly you find yourself in the North End to see Paul Revere’s House (my favorite stop as a kid).  At this point I tend to get pretty distracted by the shininess of the North End, but if you continue on you’ll see the Old North Church (where the lanterns were hung!) and Copp’s Hill Burying Ground (which is way too idyllic to be associated with death, if you ask me).

Honestly, I think every Bostonian should check out the Freedom Trail every few years.  It’s pretty inspiring to remember that aside from the highly educated and wealthy gentry like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams (who I admire more for their minds than their guts) there were common men like Paul Revere that risked everything for freedom.

It’s not a bad thing to remember, and it might just give you a few ideas for free things to do in Boston.

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the power of the universe (and walking)

By AC

Aug

4

i had an amazing day.  i really did!

1.  last night my dad called and asked if i wanted to go to the cape for a few days.  naturally, i said HECK YES!  and this was especially enthusiastic because i’ve been dying to go on vacation.  lusting over it.  poring over travelocity, checking city after city for cheap deals, checking writing retreats, all to the determination that i really can’t afford it now or in the next month or so at least.  now, i really wanted to go somewhere and write for a few days, which won’t happen this time around, but still, it will satisfy the wanderlust and hopefully chill me out a little.

2.  i’m not throwing up any more, which i was doing yesterday.

3.  today, for research for townme, i went into Boston and walked the freedom trail, which i haven’t done since i was a kid, but more over, when i told people i was researching an article and asked them questions a) they treated me like “press” and b) they let me go into things for free!  i don’t know about you, but i’m not used to such treatment.  this combined with my successful help a reporter out query that led to my break into grant writing articles (the second of which will be going up this week) is making me feel very researchy and journalistic.  all of which feels surprisingly good for the girl who vowed to write fantasy because she couldn’t be bothered doing research ( i swear, it’s true).

4.  My Robin Hood book came into the library today, all about the real historical evidence of Robin Hood.  I’m brewing ideas for my next novel and not holding back!  …despite the fact that i’m still finishing the one i’m still working on…

5.  I got hing shing custard pastry from chinatown and had lunch by my onesies in a bistro in the north end, culinary delights one and all.

6.  i swear to god, aside from the geekitude of loving the freedom trail, i loved just walking the city for 5 hours (in 85 degree heat…).  it’s kind of made me feel like i’m on drugs.  it was very centering, and very tiring and very refreshing all in one; it made me feel like i really had a fulfilled day, and that really feels good.  moreover, it was interesting, inspiring, and let me take another look at a city i often take for granted.  i’ll let you know when the freedom trail pages are up and you can see if that gets reflected back.

so all in all, i’m feeling pretty good.  i feel like i’m on an upwave, a swell.  and i feel like lately the universe, like the rolling stones, has perhaps denied me all that i’ve wanted, but made sure i’ve gotten what i need.  like this town me job that i’m loving, like this vacation that feels so necessary, like this positive, ebullient attitude that i feel like is so intrinsically me and yet i’ve lost touch with.

so i bow to the power of the universe and offer my genuine thanks.  i’m a happy camper.

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