Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Freedom Trail - Boston

I went to Boston in mid-June for a technical conference held at Marriott Copley Place. After 3 time visits to Boston, I decided to hike the famed and historical Freedom Trail.

The trail head of the freedom trail is located at Boston Common, in front of Massachusetts Capital, and it ends at Bunker Hill Monument at the other end. The freedom trail zigzags a lot at downtown area, and one could get lost easily. The trick is to follow the red-line, formed by red bricks, in the center of the trail .

A friend and I set out to hike on a cloudy and hot afternoon.

We started from the hotel we stayed, Marriott at Copley Place. The hotel is over a mile away from the trail head. It was worthwhile to walk from the hotel to the trail head: experience the downtown of Boston - narrow streets, old buildings and many churches surrounded by high rises, enjoy the view of Boston library and the beauty of Boston Garden. Boston Garden is an oasis in the heart of the city. A pair of swans nesting by the pond in the garden made it more appealing.

According to the freedom trail foundation, there are 17 official historical sites along the trail:

We passed by all of them and got into none! There are lots greens along the trail, many grave yards, and churches. The mid section of the trail had decent number of hikers - mostly middle school students in groups, some tourists/visitors like us. Most hikers stopped at the Paul Revere House or old north church. We were among the few people who crossed Charles river via Charleston bridge, wt.talked all the way to Bunker Hill monument. Instead of walking back to the hotel, we walked to the nearest subway station to the monument, we took the train back! Adding the connecting sections to the trail, we walked over 5 miles in 2 hours.

It is really an easy hike. A bit knowledge of U.S. history will make the hike more interesting.