We chose the Old Town Trolley Tour, a two-day hop-on, hop-off bus tour of Boston historic sites. After another great breakfast at Quincy Market, we boarded the bus to meet Bruce and Sharon at the Cheers stop. They are driving into the city and using the subway. Our first stop was Trinity Church in Copley Square, situated across the square from the Boston Public Library - the first public library in the United States. Our tour of Trinity Church was excellent. John La Farge's murals and stained glass were exquisite!
We skipped several tour stops and arrived at Fenway Park right in front of the Carl Yastrzemski (Yaz) statue. His number 8 was retired by the Red Sox. After our fitted baseball hats were in the bag and big league stadiums in our dreams, we took the one-hour tour of baseball history. It was so interesting to hear about the Park's history and to get a "behind the scenes" look at the nooks and crannies the public does not normally get to see. We started in the lower seats on the right field line, climbed the stadium up behind home plate to the top of the Green Monster, back to the press box and over to the right field foul line. Of course our guide gave out little bits of history and trivia like hard candy at a parade to eager middle-aged kids. Don't pinch me, I am living the dream.
Across the street from Fenway, it was time for some brews and a snack at the Beer Works Brewery (they brew all of the beers they serve). No Bud or Coors served. They had some really good beers and we had one that puckered our taste buds with 82 IBU's (supremely bitter).
We had a long gallop over to Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church. They are just a few blocks apart. Paul had a pew for his family of 8 children with wife 1(she died) and 8 children with wife 2. She probably suggested that he take a long ride that night for a little rest.
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| Inside the old North Church - Front |
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| Looking towards the back |
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| Paul Revere's House - needed a lot of room for all of the children |
The dinner hour was near, so the troop made our way to Hanover Street in the Little Italy area of Boston. We found so many restaurants that it was hard to choose. The standard line in Boston is that they are all good. With appetites at the ready, the girls decided to eat dinner at Ristorante Saraceno, a family-operated restaurant since 1931. Yummmmm and the best Chianti I had ever imbibed. Dinner was delicious - but we found that we had room for dessert. Six shops up the street was Mike's Pastry, which David recommended, for their signature pastry - cannolis (heavenly). What a sweet end to a great day in Boston!
