Boston Part 2 The Captain and Charlestown

After last week's amazing experience taking the train into Boston, hanging out at the aquarium and taking in a Bruins game we decided to do it again. For the second straight Tuesday me and my partner in crime boarded the 10:35 train from Union Station to South Station and endured no problems during the pleasant 90 minute journey. The plan for the day was the historic Freedom Trail which this particular idiot writer didn't understand at all. I am so unaware of my own surroundings that I actually thought the Freedom Trail was a stand alone museum or a closed in area of the city. After informing Colleen of this and her responding with the right amount of laughter, we headed down that magic red line which is a lot harder to follow then it seems.

 Our first stop was the old Statehouse and after snapping a quick photo headed into the Visitors Center to get a map. There was a slight step up to get in which my chair wasn't in the mood to make so the Visitor's Center was not all that visiting. Having gathered the necessary maps and materials we ended up at Faneuil Hall. My job for the day was for me to figure out how to get around on my own and hit all the walk buttons. I failed this test several times in addition to struggling mightily at being trip leader and following directions. If this was an audition for a solo voyage  in the near future I don't think I got passed through to the next round. Faneuil Hall had a very small elevator that got us up to the museum and the Great Hall. An old Parks Department guy perked up when we entered and went into full scale tour guide mode. The hall had several impressive paintings including a very large depicting Daniel Webster taking on the floor of the Senate. Colleen was not happy that the painting of George Washington and his horse was identical to the one that already hangs in Mechanics Hall. We then made our way to the Artillery Museum on the next floor that featured some cannons, knives and marching drums. There was also numerous naval uniforms and medals that are worth checking out.

We then headed out to Quincy Market and its various shops and eateries. The tour guide had shocked us when he revealed that Faneuil Hall was really only the hall and museums and everything else was Quincy Market.  Apparently people have most using the wrong terminology when discussing their shopping trips. The outer area really wasn't my thing a lot of chain stores that didn't have great wheelchair access. Our one piece of shopping was done at the Fine Arts Museum store which was fine with me because that is a museum I want to see on my next trip so it served as kind of a sneak preview. I was impressed with the wide array of food court options on the inside but that many options overloads my brain so it was just a quick stop for coffee and a cookie. The next stop was the Holocaust Memorial which is very basic and as sad as you could ever expect.

It was here that we began to encounter some of the less wheelchair friendly parts of the trail like Paul Revere House and a couple of the churches. There were also several short cuts through the trail that had stairs so we had to go up and around a lot. We did get a nice picture in front of Paul Revere's statue and were able to find a way into I think it was Old North Church which was very cool.  

 My favorite part of the Freedom Trail was the Bunker Hill Monument for reasons that were probably only funny to me and Colleen. It had long been established that this would be the easiest place for me to go the bathroom so we were always going there even though it was the most out of the way. What I did not know was just how long that red line on the ground for going to go for, I kept waiting for it to stop and it just kept going. My old chair would have died a half an hour into this trip but armed with the impressive battery life of the Permobil 350 I made it all the way to Charlestown. We got there at 4:15 and it closed at 5 so we weren't really interested in hanging around and chatting. That did not stop a guide from calling us in during the middle of his lecture and going on endlessly about the battle. With the clock ticking and the bathroom way across the street we just had to bail even though the guy was mid sentence. I have no doubt I ruined his life but he had a family there to keep him company. A family by the way that said they had been bumping into us all day on the trail despite the fact I had no recollection of them whatsoever.  By the time we get back to the North End was dinner it was 5:15 so we essentially went 90 minutes out of the way to go the bathroom, but at least I can say I made it to Charlestown!

Dinner this week was at Antico Forno I step down in price from Strega but no less upscale. One again I played no part in the ordering process. I'm kind of lame in that regard, but I like to simply go with whatever someone else wants. We had an appetizer which I think was Antigno but Colleen can correct me. It was very good it was like a fried rositto and meatball dish that we followed with a sausage and broccoliti pizza. We passed up wine this time and went with martinis which brought out my bitter face even though I downed three. We then made a stop at Mike's Pastry which I made sure we didn't skip over this time and ended up picking some awful M&M thing. I would learn on the ride home that Colleen's choice of red velvet cake was a million times better.

  The sporting event this time was Celtics vs the last place Bobcats. I was quite mad at myself for not getting a better game but it couldn't have turned out better. It just so happened that Paul Pierce needed 9 points to pass Larry Bird on the Celtics scoring, list which he got on a three early in the third quarter. It was nice to see a cool moment in team history live and I was shocked to find out it was Colleen's first Celtics game so that made it even better. The Celtics start at 7:30 instead of 7 so it's a lot harder to make the 10:20 back to Worcester and we missed it. That left us with an hour wait for a 11:30 train that only went as far as Framingham. This made for an extremely long day this time around but an equally awesome one. These last two weeks I've been able to do a lot of awesome things that I wouldn't have otherwise done. They were easily two of the best days of my life and take on added significance with Colleen taking her vast talents to NYC next month. It has been awesome to share new experiences, conquer fears and focus on accomplishing more then I previously thought possible. I don't know if I'm ready for a solo trip, I'll probably focus on conquering NYC first but for the first time it seems not only possible but right around the corner.