Thursday, October 4, Touring Boston

Drove in to the Riverside subway & took the "T" in to City Place to pick up our 2-day Beantown Trolley Pass. Once onboard, you can tour at your own pace, with the freedom to disembark and re-board at your leisure at any of the16 stops. Or you can sit back and relax during the 110 minute tour.

We went by the original "Cheers" Bar, where everybody knows your name,



Also on the route was the huge Boston Public Library, Boston Symphony Hall, The Old North Church (built in 1723 and is the oldest surviving church building in Boston, Fenway Park, the site of the Boston Tea Party, and the Mapparium among many other points of interest.



The Mapparium is a three-story tall glass globe of over 400 panels of stained glass that is viewed from a 30-foot-long (9.1 m) bridge through its interior. It is a unique exhibit at The Mary Baker Eddt Library. It was fascinating to stand inside a globe instead of looking at it from the outside!

Built in 1935 and based upon Rand McNally political maps published the previous year, the Mapparium shows the political world as it was at that time, including such long-disused labels as Italian East Africa and Siam, as well as more-recently defunct political entities such as the Soviet Union. In 1939, 1958, and 1966 the Church considered updating the map, but rejected it on the basis of cost and the special interest it holds as an historical artifact.

At 1:30, we boarded the Boston Harbour Cruise, which was a fully narrated 45 minute tour of Boston's inner harbour. It took us to the Charlestown Navy Yard where the USS Constitution is moored. We disembarked and toured the world's oldest commissioned warship still afloat. The 44 gun frigate was costructed of seasoned live & white oak and was launched in 1797. She has the nickname "Old Ironsides" because during a battle in the War of 1812, a cannonball fired from a Britisg frigate just bounce off her hull. A sailor on board exclaimed "Her sides are made of iron!" and the nickname has stuck ever since.

 

Following the tour, we boarded the next Harbour Cruise boat for the trip back to the harbour and the Trolley. Finished the Trolley tour, then on to the subway and back to the campground aftera busy day!