Joan Baez singing "Please Come to Boston" first stirred my interest in visiting Boston. Later, that zany Cheers gang sparked further inducement. And then, there's all that history! So cruising New England aboard Carnival's Glory, I fulfill a longstanding dream.
Upon docking, excited shipmates go to Harvard, the J.F. Kennedy library, Salem's witch country or the Red Sox home in beloved Fenway Park.
Others search out burgers and beer at Cheers. And we join fellow history buffs aboard a bus heading for the Freedom Trail.
Along the way, guide Daniel begins, "You've heard of Back Bay? Well, before a huge 19th century project filled it in to create new real estate, that's exactly what it was, a pretty bay!"
Known for beautiful Victorian brownstone homes, narrow streets and tidy brick sidewalks, Back Bay and Beacon Hill became Boston's most expensive neighbourhoods.
Our four-kilometer walk into revolutionary times begins across from the gold-domed Massachusetts State House. Daniel introduces Boston Common, established in 1634.
"Puritan settlers grazed their cattle in this wonderful public park. Over 1,000 redcoats camped on the lush grass during British occupation in 1775. Huge bonfires and fireworks celebrated the Stamp Act repeal- and end of the Revolutionary War. It's still used for celebrations and gatherings."
A familiar landmark, Park Street Church anchors Brimstone Corner, nicknamed for passionate preaching there and gunpowder kegs cached for the War of 1812. Twice daily, melodious carillon notes ring out from its elegant steeple.
At adjacent Granary Burial Ground, Daniel says, "The first bloodshed of America's revolution became known as the Boston Massacre; redcoats fired into a crowd of Bostonians, killing five."
Those casualties, as well as settlers ravaged by fires or plague rest under weathered headstones bearing unusual winged skulls.
Elaborate markers identify the Revolutionary War's best-known patriots. At John Hancock's gravesite, Daniel reveals some not so statesmanlike behaviours, "At the Continental Congress, John Adams appointed experienced officer George Washington as troop commander, not Hancock-and Hancock never again spoke to his longtime friend! One other patriot, John Adams' controversial cousin Samuel Adams often justified violence in the name of freedom!"
An eye-catching sidewalk mosaic denotes America's first public schoolhouse; today Benjamin Franklin's stately statue overlooks Boston Latin School site where he, Samuel Adams and John Hancock attended.
Down the block, over-flow meetings of angry citizens at Old South Meeting House frequently objected to injustices in the colonies. Even nowadays, everyone can relate to their loud protestations against unfair taxes.
Across the street at old Corner Bookstore, Daniel beams, "And THIS was the literary center of the mid-1800s! Longfellow, Emerson, Hawthorne, Stowe and Alcott, all our greatest writers published their manuscripts here."
Near the historic dock area, we sight stalwart Faneuil Hall built in 1742. Second floor rooms still host meetings and gatherings. Here between 1764 and 1774, colonists loudly challenged British rule at crowded town hall meetings.
Such fervor inspired Sam Adams to organize Boston's Tea Party, dumping some 342 chests of tea into the harbour, valued today at more than four million dollars.
To our amusement, artsy bronze replicas of market-day "garbage" lie scattered across the intersection, whimsically reminding us that the Hall's ground floor market stalls have long served shoppers.
As we sit in box pews inside old North Church, a docent teaches us about its pivotal role at the start of the revolution.
"On April 18, 1775, Paul Revere ordered two lanterns hung in our steeple, which warned 400 countrymen of three British brigades heading for Lexington and Concord via the Charles River."
During his famous midnight ride, he informed Samuel Adams and John Hancock that redcoats were marching to arrest them.
This well-marked trail ends where the Bunker Hill monument memorializes the Revolution's first bloody battle. Here, colonials demonstrated that they could effectively fight trained British soldiers-if not win that day.
We return through Boston's Little Italy, an area first settled in1630. Looping through narrow streets lined with quaint cafes and bakeries, we pass Paul Revere's home. The oldest building in this earliest neighbourhood, his preserved 1680's house stands among brick apartment buildings and modern streets.
Nearby, old State House housed the first colonial and state governments, including a merchants' exchange. Now a museum, it hosts re-enactments of momentous events such as annual readings of the Declaration of Independence from its tiny balcony. Below, a cobblestone circle marks the site of the 1770 Boston Massacre.
Churches, meetinghouses, burial grounds and parks along Boston's Freedom Trail provide insights into America's Revolution. Back aboard ship we toast this cradle of liberty.
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