Lina Shah
This summer was the perfect timing to visit and explore the historical City of Boston – the capital of Massachusetts and the Newport Mansions of Rhode Island. We were very excited to explore Boston’s vibrant culture, abundance of colonial historic sites, luxurious mentions, unique cuisine of restaurants and stylist shops and galleries.
To thoroughly enjoy the downtown of Boston, we looked for hotels near the waterfront, Back Bay and Seaport areas of Boston and ended up staying in the South Boston area. We all bought the CityPass, which was a great option to cover major attractions at discounted rates, i.e., New England Aquarium, Museum of Science, Boston Harbor City Cruise and Harvard Museum of Natural History.
We took the original and world-famous Boston Duck Tour. Through this 80-minute “Duck” tour of Boston, on a World War II style landing vehicle, we explored the city from land and water and learned Boston as the birthplace of freedom. It was fun driving the duck and learning about the little-known facts and heritages of the city. We had a wonderful vegan lunch at Pressed Café. That day we explored USS Constitution – the oldest commissioned ship of United States Navy and its Museum. The glorious stories of the 200-year-old Constitution were very eye opening into how US won the many battles they did. It was amazing to go on the oldest ship still afloat in the world, and explore how the soldiers lived on the ship. The museum has a variety of artifacts and rich history of the “Old Ironsides”.
On a wonderful sunny day, we took the Boston Harbor Cruise of cityexperiences.com. On this fully narrated one-hour tour through Boston’s world-famous harbor we learned about local legends and heroic tales, the Bunker Hill monument, cleanest waterways, spectacle island, etc. and enjoyed beautiful views of Boston Harbor, the city skyline, and historic site. In the afternoon, we visited Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall, where we had a great time enjoying variety of food and the street performers engaging in juggling, magic shows and dance. That day we went to see the Museum of Science, which was very interactive with plenty of videos and collection of artifacts. We enjoyed the famous lightning show there. We had a delicious dinner at Veggie Crust, the best fully vegetarian restaurant. We used the Old Town Trolley Tour for a hop-on hop-off experience to various attractions.
The next day we took a tour of Freedom Trail, basically a 2.5-mile-long red brick line snake path from Boston Commons in downtown to the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown. It hits 16 major historical sites exploring the history of freedom.
It was interesting to learn about how the Donkey and Elephant became the symbols of today’s political parties. We then visited the Boston Tea Party Ship Museum that probably had the best hands-on experience at the Harbor. It was nice to learn that when 92,000 pounds of tea chests of British East India Company tea were smashed and dumped at Griffin’s Wharf, the events impact was enormous and led to sparkling the American Revolution in 1775. That day we also visited world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology-MIT and the oldest institute of learning in the United States and most prestigious in the world – Harvard University Campus.
We visited Spectacle Island and Castle Island. Both are worth visiting for a quick hike and time for relaxation. We also took the Charles River Canoe & Kayak tour and our children really enjoyed it. We had a lovely romantic dinner at the Inn at Hastings Park, Lexington.
The following day, we took a day trip to Plymouth Rock where the pilgrims first arrived in the Mayflower in 1620 and founded Plymouth colony. Pilgrim Memorial State Park – the whole waterfront, Mayflower Museum and the fantastic view of Plymouth Harbor was worth visiting. There’s also a very captivating real life reenactment museum at Plimoth Patuxet replicating the original settlement of the 17th century Plymouth colony.
On our last day, we visited Newport Mansions of Rhode Islands, conserving heritage properties in a Romanesque Revival Manor. Newport is 90-minute drive from Boston and you could stop by Plymouth on the way. The Breakers, Marble House, The Elms, Isaac Bell House and Hunter House are the treasure of Newport’s Gilded age, built by some of the country’s most wealthy industrialists. You will really appreciate the richness of the Vanderbilt family, the craftsmanship of the classic Italian palazzo design, the view of the sea, and the luxuries and entertainment of that era.
Our trip to Boston was very memorable, inspiring, entertaining and educational. I hope you all can get a chance to enjoy the beautiful and awe-inspiring city of Boston and the major developments surrounding Boston as well!
