Boston: Day 2
A full day in Boston! At the top of my list of things to do was take a brewery tour of Samuel Adams. However I think my mother would kill me if I went to Boston for the first time and didn’t do one type of historical tour. So I took to trip advisory and found a highly recommended Freedom Trail tour. The meeting spot was about a mile and a half from my hotel so I gathered my gear and started the trek. The city is beautiful. A giant mix of old brick and glass modern buildings. Like New York everyone walks with purpose and is heading to where they need to go. I walked through Boston Commons Park which was packed with people. People laying in the grass, people having picnics, kids playing in the wading pool, and people enjoying the paddle boats. In Hawaii we have parks but either they are filled with homeless and/or somewhat poorly maintained. This park however was immaculate. The grass was deep green and no homeless to be seen. I reached the meeting spot and hung out in front of the 300 year memorial.
Amelia was our tour guide. She was extremely personable and was clearly educated in the history for the tour. Our group was about 15 or so people. Mostly it was parents with kids (which I suspect was the parents telling their kids that we are doing this because it’s good for the kids to learn this history). We started the tour in the Boston Commons Park and learned of its history and its significance to Boston. We saw the State House in the distance with its gold gilded dome roof. Next we saw the Park Street Church and Granary Burying Ground. The cemetery is the third oldest cemetery in Boston, and burial site of Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and more.
We made our way to the Old State House where it was across the street that the Boston Massacre took place. We learned all about the building and what people think actually might have happened during the Boston Massacre. The corner now has the Old State Building and towering new modern buildings. We continued the tour up Hanover Street and saw Paul Revere’s home. The street was all old spaced out brick and colonial architecture. Paul Revere’s house was built in 1680 and remains 90% of its original build. We finished our tour at Copps Hill Burying Ground. It looks out over Constitution Wars which is home to the USS Constitution. She is the oldest ship still afloat, launching in 1797. You can still walk on board as it is a museum. The tour was fantastic and extremely informative. I would highly recommend taking their tour and I will link their site below.
I headed toward the train which the stop is next to TD Garden home of the Celtics and Bruins. I rode the train about 7 stops and landed in Stony Brook. I had recognized that I wasn’t going to do a tour as they had all passed but still wanted to go to the brewery and have a beer. I got there to find a nice open patio area outside the brewery that was filled with people. I sat down and ordered a beer. The gentlemen next to me learned of my Metallica trip and said that he does the same thing but for Pearl Jam! The bartender in passing mentioned that there was another brewery tour and there was space available if I wanted to join! It was $10 and about 45 minutes. We saw all the different tanks and learned about their brewing process, of course sampling beer the entire way. The tour had about 12 people from all over the world. A family was from India, another couple was from Scotland, and other various places throughout the US. When the tour was done one of the gentleman said he was from Quebec. I introduced myself and told him that I was heading to Montreal tomorrow and did he have any recommendations. We chatted a moment and then was on my way.
Outside of the brewery was a metal art shop. I had seen it on my walk to the brewery but it was silent. This time however it was loud and had people grinding metal. I decided to walk over and see if it would be possible to snap a few photos. Walter, an extremely nice man, who worked there said if I followed him on Instagram then of course! We exchanged instagrams and he proceeded to continue his work. He introduced me to a student Farley and said it would be cool to get a few photos of her as well. She was new but could tell he was really in to in and wanted to learn. I snapped photos for a few minutes and then said goodbye. On the way out I ran in to Steve, from Quebec, and we stopped to chat again. He learned of this Metallica adventure and couldn’t believe it. He thought this was the coolest thing ever. Immediately he said “Here let me give you my number and if you need anything please please please call.” He was extremely nice and I told him no matter what I would send him photos from along the way.
I hit the train back to the hotel which was only about 4 blocks. Dropped my gear in the room and headed down the street to see what food I could find. I found a bar called Dillon’s. They had the Redsox game on and the bar was bustling with people. Found a seat at the bar and ordered a local IPA. Not to long after being there a group of 4 guys, clearly coming from the game, sat down next to me and struck up a conversation. Like the bunch of people before they saw my Metallica shirt and were curious. They nearly lost their minds when I told them of this adventure. Im starting to see a trend haha. They all asked for a link to the blog so they could follow along. They were incredibly nice and what a great way to end a full day in Boston. I have an early 6am flight in the morning heading to Montreal. Adios USA, HELLO CANADA!
