Freedom Trail on Town Me

So today I finished the bulk of a week's worth of work writing up the Freedom Trail from the perspective of a local--someone who not only has walked the Freedom Trail several times, but knows the areas of Boston and can give more of a contextual guide to what's going on and what's around the stops.  Anyone can give you history (and as a former State House Tour Guide I like to think I deliver on that front anyway) but I can give you a real sense of place and context.

So check it out; I had a blast doing the research and letting my inner geekdom resurface.

The Freedom Trail starts with the Boston Common (technically at the information center) but if you want information you should go to the National Parks Service Visitor Center.  From the Common, the Trail leads you to the Boston State House, where, like I mentioned, I used to be a tour guide.  After that is the Park Street Church, which isn't all that interesting as a tour but it's always been one of my favorite buildings on the Common.  Head over to the Granary Burying Ground (or the Beantown Pub where you can drink Sam Adams while looking at Sam Adam's grave), don't get distracted by the Franklin tomb that's just Ben Franklin's parents, and then move onto King's Chapel and King's Chapel Burying Ground. If you don't get distracted by Downtown Crossing or need a snack, then head over to the Old South Meeting House, which was where they gave the signal to dump the tea for the Boston Tea Party.   Then there's the Old State House where they read the Declaration of Independence every July 4th, Faneuil Hall (everyone's favorite stop), and suddenly you find yourself in the North End to see Paul Revere's House (my favorite stop as a kid).  At this point I tend to get pretty distracted by the shininess of the North End, but if you continue on you'll see the Old North Church (where the lanterns were hung!) and Copp's Hill Burying Ground (which is way too idyllic to be associated with death, if you ask me).

Honestly, I think every Bostonian should check out the Freedom Trail every few years.  It's pretty inspiring to remember that aside from the highly educated and wealthy gentry like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams (who I admire more for their minds than their guts) there were common men like Paul Revere that risked everything for freedom.

It's not a bad thing to remember, and it might just give you a few ideas for free things to do in Boston.