Boston, Mass; Patriot’s City! Part 1

From a historical perspective, Boston Massachusetts has been on our must see list since we began our full-time RV travels just over a year ago.  This is where our great country began from the Plymouth Rock landing of the Mayflower to the first battles of our Independence.

We also met up with our RV friends Suzanne and Calvin in Boston.  They arrived in town a week earlier and are staying at an RV park on the south side.  So we agreed to meet at the subway parking lot to enjoy a ride into town and spend a couple of days sightseeing!

Travel

We left our Waterloo, NY campground on June 16th and were facing a long 365 mile drive to Boston, MA.  And we try to limit repositioning at 150-200 miles, so we stopped at Broadalbin, NY for a couple of nights.

I fueled up at $3.20 per gallon and our MPG on this hilly phase was 10.9 resulting in 33 gallons used and $107 diesel cost.

It was a lazy day off at this stopover with a 1 mile walk into the small village of Broadalbin.  It was a very warm morning and just made a lap looked around some.  Pretty sad actually.  Most buildings and homes are run down.  Of the 20 some business buildings in the downtown area, only about 5 or so were occupied.

Boston Minuteman Campground

This campground is located about an hour plus from the “T,” the Boston area subway transit system.  From the Riverside station it is another 30 minutes to the Boston Common, the heart of the downtown historical section.

This campground is a beautiful, heavily wooded park that enjoys large spaces between campsites.  It was built back in the 70’s, so the roads are fairly narrow and large rigs are very tight negotiating the roads.  I would say that a 40 foot rig is the limit without trading paint with their trees.

Also, mosquitoes are terrible at all times of the day.  This is the first time that we have that issue.  If you come to this area, have plenty of insect repellent!

Boston 

Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States, founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630 by Puritan settlers from England. It was the scene of several key events of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Battle of Bunker Hill, and the Siege of Boston. Upon U.S. independence from Great Britain, it continued to be an important port and manufacturing hub as well as a center for education and culture.

The greater Boston area has a population of 4.8 million people.  This is a large city in addition to one of the oldest in America. Boston is also an international education capital with 52 institutions of higher learning including Harvard, MIT, Boston College, UMass, and many others.

Boston Traffic

We have been to/through a few large cities so far even though I dislike the heavy traffic and Boston is the worse that we have seen.  The main roads all come to a standstill daily.

When we drive into the city it has to be after 9am in the morning and then back home by 2:30pm or else after 6:30pm.  Or else a 1-hour drive turns into 2 hours.  I don’t know how people do it.

I would have liked to see more in Boston proper, but we chose instead to go to other surrounding areas due to this traffic issue and just the long, long 1.5 to 2 hour commute from where we are to the downtown.

Walking Tour of the Freedom Trail

This was definitely one of the highlights.  The Freedom Trail winds 2.5 miles through the city and has a red brick lined path to follow.  This path leads you to the 16 significant historical sites.

The main sites are the Boston Common, the Old State House, and New, site of Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere’s house, Old North Church, USS Constitution, and many more.

USS Constitution

USS Constitution is a 1797 wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy named by President George Washington after the United States Constitution. She is the world’s oldest commissioned naval vessel still afloat.  How amazing is that?

The ship is still manned with sailors who will answer any questions that you may have.

The ship is sailed once per year out into the harbor and then returned to her slip and changing directions so that the sun weathers both sides evenly.  One of my old coworkers, Carl Bess, was stationed on this ship in his Navy days.  Amazing.

Boston Weather

It has been some good weather with the highs at the mid-70’s and lows getting down to the mid-50’s.  We did have a couple of rainy days, so stayed home and did laundry.

That wraps up our part one from this 10-day stay in Boston.  We move next week to a small coastal town in New Hampshire.  Take care and God Bless.