Wrapping It Up

Today was our last in Boston. We slept in a bit, such as we are able (sleeping late is the part of retirement that we are failing), ate a leisurely breakfast in our room, read the internet a bit, and then checked out of the hotel (leaving our suitcases behind in safe keeping).

Pond in the Public Gardens of Boston Common

Starting again from Boston Common, we walked the Black Heritage Trail in Beacon Hill. First stop was the monument to the 54th Massachusetts Regiment -- the all-Black (except for commanding officers) regiment that was the subject of the 1989 feature film, Glory, starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freeman. The bravery of these soldiers was not just a Hollywood gimmick.

The Black Heritage Trail is not nearly as carefully marked as the Freedom Trail we walked yesterday. Many of the sites don't even have a plaque to mark the location or explain the significance. Most were the homes of notable African freemen who were leaders in the abolitionist movement and/or organizers of the Underground Railroad.

An abandoned school building was on the tour, but no background was provided. The Trail ended at the African Meeting House, which is now a very highly-rated museum. The museum looked very interesting, but in an overly cautious anti-Covid effort, tickets must be booked online 24 hours in advance. There isn't much that we plan 24 hours in advance when traveling, so that was out.

Similarly, our attempts to tour the Massachusetts State House and the John F. Kennedy Library were thwarted by Covid precautions, either because the sites are completely closed or only open by advanced reservations.

After a respite in a local coffee shop, we set out on a mile walk across Boston to visit the Boston Public Library headquarters in the historic McKim Building at Copley Square. Although portions of this architectural masterpiece are also closed, most of the artwork is in the publicly accessible areas.

Some of the art works are pretty spectacular. Some took almost 30 years to complete, and others never were, because they were too controversial. (The Puritans were long gone by 1888 when construction of this building was begun, but the Puritan ethic ran deep!)

Our walk back from the Library took us past the famous Trinity Church of Boston. The congregation was founded in 1733, but the present building was begun after the Great Boston Fire of 1872. Architect Henry Hobson Richardson's revolutionary Romanesque design set the tone for several other church buildings that were similarly rebuilt following the fire, and for buildings of various sorts all over the country. Unfortunately, renovation work, and a big festival being set up for next weekend in Copley Square, sort of ruined the photos.

Trinity Church and Parish House from the back

We also stopped off for a very good lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant, right across the street from the Central Burying Ground -- there are old cemeteries all over the place here! Riding the T and shuttle bus, reversing our route from yesterday, was uneventful. Airport security was crowded, but we arrived in plenty of time.