More than anything, our vacation in Boston was a trip down history lane. Beantown almost had too much a part in the American Revolution. Like the other colonies weren't really even involved.
My head was spinning a bit trying to retain as much knowledge as I could about New England and its patriots -- see what I did there?
But what I mainly picked up on is that Boston and, really America, owes its existence to three men: John Hancock, Sam Adams and Paul Revere.
Everywhere we went, there was a monument, statue or something named after one of those three. It became almost comical. We would pass some historic thing and I would say:
Nicole, guess which three names this thing mentions?
Nicole: "Gee, let me guess."
A brief lesson: Hancock -- most famous for signing the Declaration of Independence first and the biggest -- and Adams -- notable for being the second president -- were the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, and therefore, the leaders of the Revoultion in its early stages.
Revere -- well known for riding a horse to warn everyone that the British were a coming -- mainly helped stir the thought of starting the Revoultion through propaganda against the British he made as a silversmith.
Revere actually went on the midnight run to tell Hancock and Adams that the motherland troops were heading to Lexington to take all their ammunition and arrest the duo.
Now that you've learned something, let me show you some pictures from our days breathing in the history of Boston.
On Saturday, we walked the 2.5-mile Freedom Trail from the Battle of Bunker Hill to the Massachusetts State House, which sits on what was once Hancock's massive estate.
That's the monument to Bunker Hill in the background. We walked enough over five days, so we didn't climb the 200-something steps to the top.
The statue is of the patriot general who led the troops against the much larger British army. The British came across the river from Boston to Charlestown, as we headed to the top of Bunker Hill to make a stand.
The patriots held off two waves of troops but were forced to retreat on the third wave. But the Americans had shown that they could hold their own against the world's No. 1-ranked army and they stopped the depleted British from being able to penetrate farther. U-S-A! U-S-A!
There's Paul Revere and the horse he rode on, Brown Beauty. Though he didn't get the horse until he crossed the Charles River, so he didn't actually ride the horse in the area where this statue is located. But oh well, I guess.
Around the corner from the statue is Revere's house, where he had two wives and like 16 kids. It was built in 1680, and he lived there from 1770 to 1800. The foundation and main structure are still the same! Fucking crazy!
They said no photography allowed in Paul's house, but you know what they say about rules.
All three first sons of Boston are buried in Granary cemetery. Yeah, these dudes from the late 1700s, all three bodies in the same little area. Boston! History! Go Sox!
There's Paul. His descendants still live in Boston. So look up Paul Revere if you're ever in clam chowder city and tell him his ancestor was a wicked pissah -- ah, local dialect is funny.
There's Sam Adams. Don't think he ever drank his own beer. But when you drink a Sam Adams -- always a good choice -- remember that you're drinking freedom.
Didn't get a photo of Hancock's tomb. But I did note that his name wasn't written big enough on the tombstone. Disappointing.
That's the mark of the Freedom Trail. You follow it like Dorothy did the yellow brick road. Every building on the trail is the place where this happened during the time before the actual war and the next building is where that happened and so on.
It was all too much to keep track of. So I didn't.
Not on the trail is the Boston Harbor, but it should be. It would just make the walk too far, I guess. But we went there on Sunday to partake in the Boston Tea Party.
At the Harbor, there's a presentation of the town hall meeting where they decided to dump the tea into the water. You know who was in charge of the meeting? I'll give you three guesses.
So the dude playing Sam Adams called on my character, Thomas Porter, and I yelled that line above with all the fervor Portry probably did in 1773. Even slammed my hand down on the pew in front of me to cheers of "here, here!"
Then we all took turns dumping fake tea crates into the Boston Harbor. No taxation without representation!!!!!
If King George could see me, he would have me hung in the street for treason. Yikes. The patriots were brave souls.
So if you don't remember anything else about Boston, remember Hancock, Adams and Revere.
Thanks for all my liberty and shit, guys.
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