I slept better Saturday night in Boston than I did my first night there. My Dad and I had a good complimentary breakfast at the Ramada Boston before heading out for some more sightseeing. We wanted to do the Fenway Park tour but we wouldn't have been able to get there in time by taking the T or a cab. I'm a Braves fan but I also like the Red Sox and hate the Yankees. I want to do the ballpark tour and see a game the next time I am there.
We decided to go the Prudential Center in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. There are 75 stores and restaurants to go along with 2.6 million square feet of office space. My Dad and I headed up to the Skywalk Observatory for some of the best sightseeing in Boston. It is Boston's only sky-high vantage point for sweeping 360 degree views of Boston. They have an acoustiguide audio tour you carry around that gives interesting facts, explanations, and a history of the historical and cultural interest sites visible from the tour. You get a great view of Fenway Park, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, the Boston Marathon finish line, the Zakim/Bunker Hill bridge, MIT, the Charles River, and the Longfellow Bridge just to name a few sites. They also have some good exhibits too. I recommend doing the Skywalk Observatory because you can learn a lot about Boston and have some amazing views. We ate lunch at in the Prudential Center before leaving on our next adventure.
We took the silver line to the New England Aquarium and started walking parts of the Boston Freedom Trail. The Freedom trail is a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads you by sixteen nationally significant historic sites. Our first stop was the Old North Church, also known as Christ Church. It's the oldest standing church in Boston and my Dad sat in the saw pew as former US President Theodore Roosevelt sat in on December 29, 1912. The Old North Church is where Paul Revere met up with Robert Newman to tell him how many lanterns to hang from the 191 foot steeple to signal how British troops were advancing. Newman and Sons of Liberty Capt. Pulling climbed the eight stories to hang two lanterns to signal the people of Boston, Charlestown in particular, that the British were advancing by boat across the Charles River.
Our next stop on the freedom trail was Paul Revere's house. The tour of the house is only $3.50 per person but they do not allow photography inside the home. The house dates back to 1680 and it is downtown Boston's oldest building in existence. Revere shared the home with his wife and between five and nine of his children. He had 16 total children, eight with his first wife and eight with his second wife.
The Boston Freedom trail is a free tour and some sites on the tour are free, such as the Old North Church. The Freedom Tour is easy to follow because you just follow the red-bricks and red line painted on the sidewalks and roads all over Boston. My favorite period in US History is colonial and revolutionary; so I naturally love Boston because it was the center of the colonies during that period.
I debated running the Boston Marathon ever since the Boston Athletic Association sent out the deferment option in their email. The heat was going to be bad, the hottest ever for the race. After talking with many friends, family, and my girlfriend I ended up deciding to run the race. My girlfriend, Jamie, reassured me I could handle the weather conditions and still run well and finish higher than I did last year. I didn't want to waste the eighteen weeks of training that put me in the best shape of my life. I also didn't want to look back on the race wondering "what if". I wouldn't deserve to wear the Boston Marathon jacket or the shirts I had bought if I didn't run the race.
Not only was I going to run the race but I was going to run it to the best of my abilities. I thought about running the race with my digital camera and taking pictures and video along the way but opted not to do that. My friend Tim Hawkins was a big reason why I decided to just go for it. He gave me a great pep talk full of motivation. My goal was to get the race over with as fast and as safely as possible.
We decided to go the Prudential Center in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. There are 75 stores and restaurants to go along with 2.6 million square feet of office space. My Dad and I headed up to the Skywalk Observatory for some of the best sightseeing in Boston. It is Boston's only sky-high vantage point for sweeping 360 degree views of Boston. They have an acoustiguide audio tour you carry around that gives interesting facts, explanations, and a history of the historical and cultural interest sites visible from the tour. You get a great view of Fenway Park, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, the Boston Marathon finish line, the Zakim/Bunker Hill bridge, MIT, the Charles River, and the Longfellow Bridge just to name a few sites. They also have some good exhibits too. I recommend doing the Skywalk Observatory because you can learn a lot about Boston and have some amazing views. We ate lunch at in the Prudential Center before leaving on our next adventure.
We took the silver line to the New England Aquarium and started walking parts of the Boston Freedom Trail. The Freedom trail is a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads you by sixteen nationally significant historic sites. Our first stop was the Old North Church, also known as Christ Church. It's the oldest standing church in Boston and my Dad sat in the saw pew as former US President Theodore Roosevelt sat in on December 29, 1912. The Old North Church is where Paul Revere met up with Robert Newman to tell him how many lanterns to hang from the 191 foot steeple to signal how British troops were advancing. Newman and Sons of Liberty Capt. Pulling climbed the eight stories to hang two lanterns to signal the people of Boston, Charlestown in particular, that the British were advancing by boat across the Charles River.
Our next stop on the freedom trail was Paul Revere's house. The tour of the house is only $3.50 per person but they do not allow photography inside the home. The house dates back to 1680 and it is downtown Boston's oldest building in existence. Revere shared the home with his wife and between five and nine of his children. He had 16 total children, eight with his first wife and eight with his second wife.
The Boston Freedom trail is a free tour and some sites on the tour are free, such as the Old North Church. The Freedom Tour is easy to follow because you just follow the red-bricks and red line painted on the sidewalks and roads all over Boston. My favorite period in US History is colonial and revolutionary; so I naturally love Boston because it was the center of the colonies during that period.
I debated running the Boston Marathon ever since the Boston Athletic Association sent out the deferment option in their email. The heat was going to be bad, the hottest ever for the race. After talking with many friends, family, and my girlfriend I ended up deciding to run the race. My girlfriend, Jamie, reassured me I could handle the weather conditions and still run well and finish higher than I did last year. I didn't want to waste the eighteen weeks of training that put me in the best shape of my life. I also didn't want to look back on the race wondering "what if". I wouldn't deserve to wear the Boston Marathon jacket or the shirts I had bought if I didn't run the race.
Not only was I going to run the race but I was going to run it to the best of my abilities. I thought about running the race with my digital camera and taking pictures and video along the way but opted not to do that. My friend Tim Hawkins was a big reason why I decided to just go for it. He gave me a great pep talk full of motivation. My goal was to get the race over with as fast and as safely as possible.
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