Boston June and July 2011

picasa photos
https://picasaweb.google.com/richardnichols22/BostonJuneJuly2011

We were offered a house at Chestnut Hill near Boston College by our good friend Hanni Myers, who is the mother of our next door neighbor and friend Michael. We had two weeks to explore Boston and surroundings and we took full advantage of the opportunity, not stopping even one day for a rest. We explored Boston, walked hut to hut for 4 days in the White Mountains of NH, and took several excursions to places surrounding Boston.

Here are some of the highlights.
Walking Boston

Boston is called American's walking city for good reason. Its compact size, distinct, interesting districts and history going back to 1630 makes it a fascinating place to explore on foot. It reminded us in many was of San Francisco. It is old (for the US) history embedded in a thriving modern city.  The aptly named Freedom Trail (see footnotes) was first on our agenda. The 2.5 mile route meanders past historic sites from the Revolutionary era such as the Old State House where the British opened fire on protesters in 1771, fanning the desire for self rule. The trail passes the Paul Revere house, a cemetary where Revere, Sam Adams, John Hancock and others are buried, and ends at Bunker Hill in Charleston, the site of the first major revolutionary battle.

We did the Beacon Hill Walk (footnotes), a place with magnificent old brick mansions, including the Nichols House Museum (1804). The Backbay at the base of Beacon Hill is another place filled with stately mansions for the 1800's, and the North End is primarily the Italian district, full of winding streets, brick flats and restaurants. We had a great and expensive Sicilian style fish dinner in the Daily Catch, a funky and basic place with only 18 seats, but what a meal.

Another highlight was a walk in the Emerald necklace, a connected chain of parks running for 6 or 7 miles through Boston, designed by Olmstead (GG Park and Central park)
www.emeraldnecklace.org/

Wonderfully, a trolley terminal was just a few minutes away from our house, and we never once used a car to get into Boston. The subway and trolly system (the T) is great. On one of our rides we engaged in a conversation with a group of charming and intelligent Turkish high school students here to learn more English.

We head for the White Mountains
www.fs.fed.us/r9/white/

We booked 3 nights in the historic Appalachian Mountain Club huts in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Whites are old, forming when the African continent collided with North America. They may have been more Like the Sierra Nevada at one time, but weather and glaciers have round them off to a vast (700,000 acres) series of 4000 foot mountains and ridges. We chose a 20 mile stretch called the Franconia Ridge. We stood atop four of the 40 mountain tops over 4000 feet. One of the goals of New England hikers is to climb all 40 peaks. Although our route seems short with days of 3,7,7 and 3 miles, we were completely flummoxed by the difficulty of some of the "trails". When the Appalachian Trail was laid out years ago contouring and switchbacks were out. The trail takes direct routes straight up the mountains and straight down! We were told that the seven miles from Galehead to Greenleaf huts was tough but we had no idea how difficult. The AT has few improvements such as steps, but instead passes over jumbled boulder fields. Our seven miles took 8 solid hours including one treacherous 1/2 mile that took an hour.
However, it was a wonderful hike, the rolling wooded mountains were beautiful the food was great in the huts and we met some great people, including several AT (2300 miles) thru hikers.

Excursion highlights

If you go to Boston, do not miss the JFK Library, easily reachable by subway. We also visited the JFK birthplace in Brookline, now a National Park on one city lot.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/
Birthplace
http://www.nps.gov/jofi/index.htm

Minute Man National Historic Park
http://www.nps.gov/mima/index.htm

In April 1775 The British sent 700 trained soldiers to Concord to confiscate the suspected store of arms the  Colonial militias hid in barns. The first skirmish of the Revolutionary War happened at the old North Bridge, when the militia confronted soldiers guarding the bridge. The British did seize some weapons, but they had a major problem. They had a 20 miles march back to Boston. The Historic Park preserves a 5 mile piece of the road and some of the houses and a tavern that lined the road. The militias came from villages all over the region and ambushed the British all the way back to Boston. The walk along the road is well worth the visit.

from Paul Revere's Ride

You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

-Longfellow


The Coast

We spent some time along the Maine, NH and Mass coast, and found some nice places.
Much of the coast is developed with  extravagant mansions and private but we found some gems.
Glouchester was the first US port, and was a major fishing port. With the collapse of the fishery, with perhaps 100,000 fisherfolk out of work, many the old New England coast towns have turned to tourism, so that much of the old fishing port sense is gone. One great little find was a tiny "dive museum" run by one old guy who was a diver and has a great collection of diving equipment. He took donations, but really just wanted people to see his collection.

 http://www.capeannhistoricalmuseum.org/history/gloucester_hist.htm

Maine
On the way back from the White Mts. We drove on back roads through south Maine. Very peaceful little villages with absolutely nothing going on. In the Coast we visited the Wells National Marine Sanctuary where we explored coastal forest, estuaries and the beach, as well as the Landholm farm buildings. Lotsa bugs, but very pretty.
http://www.mltn.org/trust_detail.php?t=1224

Also visited Halibut Point SP (Maine) and got a little insight into granite quarrying. The pit is full of water now, and the little museum tells the story.
www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/northeast/halb.htm

Let Freedom Ring (kinda)

Brenda and I braced ourselves to attend the Boston Pops Fireworks Spactacular, along with 700,998 other people. The music was great, the fireworks were by far the best we had ever witnessed, and the crowds were well mannered. It was a little over the top militaristic and patriotic for our taste, and the program was laced with advertising. That's where the "kinda" comes from. Let Freedom Ring To advertise, in other words. We both felt it tainted somewhat what should be celebrated: our personal liberties, our peacemaking, our generosity and the sacrifices many have made. And the flag waving, OMG!



FOOTNOTES

From the Freedom Trail Foundation
The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads you to 16 nationally significant historic sites, every one an authentic American treasure. Preserved and dedicated by the citizens of Boston in 1958, when the wrecking ball threatened, the Freedom Trail today is a unique collection of museums, churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, a ship, and historic markers that tell the story of the American Revolution and beyond.

We
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HISTORY OF THE NICHOLS HOUSE MUSEUM
The Nichols House Museum occupies one of four connected townhouses constructed in 1804 for Jonathan Mason, successful businessman, real estate developer, and Massachusetts State senator. Historians suggest Mason built the townhouses to the east of his own mansion for his four daughters and their families. The houses' designs have been attributed to Charles Bulfinch by his biographer, Harold Kirker. Located at 55 Mount Vernon Street, the Nichols House is a fine example of a four-story Federal Period brick townhouse. The service wing (rear ell) and wood shed survive as rare examples of a mid-nineteenth century service area.
During the first quarter of the nineteenth century Jonathan Mason's daughter Elizabeth Mason Parker and her husband Samuel occupied the house. In 1885 it became the home of Dr. Arthur Nichols and his wife Elizabeth. Their daughter Rose Standish Nichols, noted landscape designer, author and one of the founders of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, became the sole heir of the property after her parents' deaths. Miss Nichols owned and cared for the house from 1934 until her death in 1960. She bequeathed her estate as a memorial to her parents. As specified in her will, the Nichols House has been open to the public as a museum since 1961. The house is a contributing resource to the Beacon Hill Historic District, listed in 1966 as a National Historical Landmark.

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History of Beacon Hill
Before the Revolution, Beacon Hill was pasture land with a few notable exceptions, including John Hancock's country estate, which was demolished to make room for the western addition to the Massachusetts State House.

The South Slope was developed in the 1790's by the Mt. Vernon Proprietors for Boston's richest families, who by the late 1800's were being called Brahmins. South Slope streets were spacious and carefully laid out.

One of the proprietors, who also designed several Beacon Hill houses, was Charles Bulfinch. For a time, he was immortalized at 84 Beacon Street in the Bull & Finch Pub, which was the prototype for the television show, Cheers. The bar is now just called Cheers.

The North Slope developed more organically than the South Slope did. It grew up and down alleys and into nooks and crannies. Its residents were former slaves, sailors, poets -- people who were, as one wag put it, the morally emancipated. In the late 19th century, the North Slope became home to immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe and many of the homes were remade into tenements.

The Flat of the Hill originally was part of the Charles River. After it was filled, it became home to blacksmiths, shoemakers, stables and later, garages of the homes on the South Slope. Now almost all these buildings have been renovated into living quarters.

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Back Bay

is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts famous for its rows of Victorian brownstone homes, which are considered one of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States, as well as numerous architecturally significant individual buildings and important cultural institutions such as the Boston Public Library. It is also a fashionable shopping destination, and home to some of Boston's tallest office buildings, the Hynes Convention Center, and numerous major hotels.
Prior to a monumental 19th-century filling project, the Back Bay was an actual bay. Today, along with neighboring Beacon Hill, it is one of Boston's two most expensive residential neighborhoods.