The Grunwald's 2014 Christmas Tree Adventure

Today was the day for the Grunwald's annual Christmas Tree hunting trip. This year's adventure was a little bit different than that of previous years though. We went back to Frosty Mountain Tree Farm where we had gone last year. However, this year we went to lunch before headed to the tree farm and our lunch spot was very appropriate. We ate at the Choo Choo Cafe in Erwin, TN.

It is a furniture store where you sit amongst the furniture displays. The food was pretty good, but the highlight of the place is the train and Christmas town displays which we all really enjoyed looking at.

After eating we made the short drive to the tree farm where we bought a nice specimen of Fraser Fir.

It was a good day for tree hunting as it was warm, yet there was still a little bit of snow in shady areas.

We've already got the tree set up in the living room and Sierra is really excited about it. She even got to put on some new ornaments and they're Thomas ones!

Today was a great start to our Christmas holiday season.

Boston National Historical Park and the Freedom Trail

Over the course of my 4 days in Boston, I spent most of my time (when not at my conference) exploring town on the Freedom Trail. Heck, the trail passed right in front of the hotel I stayed in. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Freedom Trail, it's a 2.5 mile long trail, marked with a red line,

that meanders through downtown Boston and Charlestown passing 16 historic sites. What an interesting way to hike and experience history at the same time! Here is my experience with it as I hiked parts of it on 3 different occasions.

The Freedom Trail starts in historic Boston Common, a short walk from my hotel, the Omni Parker House.

Boston Common itself was established in 1634 and is the oldest public park in the United States. The trail heads north to the Massachusetts State House,

then back south before leaving Boston Common and passing Park Street Church.

Park Street Church is an attractive structure dating to 1809 and is the site where William Lloyd Garrison gave his first anti-slavery speech. Perhaps even more interesting though, is the adjacent Granary Burying Ground.

The Granary Burying Ground contained some of the most ornate (and perhaps creepy) old, carved headstones that I've seen in any cemetery.

It is most significant though as the burial site of such famous patriots as John Hancock,

Samuel Adams,

Paul Revere,

Robert Treat Paine (a signer of the Declaration of Independence).

Mother Goose

and Benjamin Franklin's parents

are buried in the Granary Burying Ground as well. From the Granary Burying Ground the trail continues on Tremont Street to King's Chapel.

When I visited the King's Chapel site on Monday, it was raining hard, and so I did not spend much time exploring it or the adjacent burying ground. The cemetery there contains the grave of Massachusetts' first governor John Winthrop and Winthrop's grave is said to have inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write The Scarlet Letter.  From The King's Chapel the trail turns onto Schools Street and passes the site of the first public school in America. Today the Old City Hall stands there, along with a nice statue of Benjamin Franklin.

The trail continues on to the Old Corner Bookstore which was a meeting place for such writers as Hawthorne, Longfellow, Emerson, and Dickens. Today it houses a Chipotle and on Thursday I stopped in to eat a burrito just like Charles Dickens would do if he were alive today.

From the historic Chipotle restaurant, the heads across the street to the Old South Meeting House.

When I stopped by on Sunday, they were having their yearly Thanksgiving service inside and so I did not get an opportunity to see the exhibits inside. It was at a meeting in this location that the ideas that hatched the Boston Tea Party were first discussed. From the meeting house the trail follows Washington Street to the Old State House.

The Old State House is, perhaps, one of the most recognizable historic landmarks in Boston. It houses a subway station and a museum. When I visited on Sunday I discovered the museum to cost a whopping $10. I felt the admission was a bit pricey, and so I headed back outside. I'm glad I did, because I got to see some history going on outside the building right before my very eyes. Located on the building are a gilded, gold lion and unicorn which are symbols of the British monarchy. The existing statues are replicas of the originals that burned in 1776. The replicas themselves, however,date from 1882 and were recently restored. I got to see the restored unicorn lifted using a crane and hoisted over the Old State House to be set back in place on top of the building.

After leaving the Old State House the Freedom Trail heads over to Faneuil Hall

and the large marketplace there. On Saturday night I attended the tree lighting ceremony here. The Hall itself houses the Great Hall

which seems to be a meeting space used for ceremonies and also house the National Park Service visitor center for Boston National Historical Park.From Faneuil Hall the Freedom Trail weaves through the streets of the North End. Interestingly I saw a Highland Brewing sticker on a post along the trail.

It was a little reminder of my current home in the southeast.

After passing a plethora of Italian restaurants the trail finally arrives at another historic site, this time the Paul Revere House.

I paid to go into the house and was pleased with my self-guided tour of the small home. I than headed back out onto the street for the walk to Old North Church.

Again I paid to see the interior of the Old North Church

which is the site from which the two lanterns were hung to warn the patriots of the advancing British. From the church

there the trail heads up Hull Street to the Copp's Hill Burying Ground.

Copp's Hill is another old cemetery, though it is not as interesting as the Granary Burying Ground. Still, I enjoyed seeing all the old headstones.

From Copp's Hill the Freedom Trail crosses the Charles River into Charlestown.

In Charlestown is the interesting Bunker Hill Monument which I visited twice. My first visit was at night which was peaceful and quiet.

My second visit was during the day

and allowed me an opportunity to go inside

and climb the nearly 300 stairs to the top. The top was a bit small and crowded, so after snapping a quick photo looking back towards downtown Boston

I headed back down and then over to the Charlestown Navy Yard.

The highlight of the Navy Yard is the USS Constitution,

or Old Ironsides, as she is affectionately known.

However, there is a lot more to the Navy Yard than the Constitution. There is the interesting Commandant's House,

the USS Cassin Young,

and all the structures associated with a shipyard

including the dry dock

and this interesting advertisement.  

I thoroughly enjoyed my time "hiking" the Freedom Trail. My only regret is that I did not have enough time to fully explore its sites. I guess that just means I will have to head back to Boston at some point to explore again. Hopefully, Noelle and Sierra will be able to visit with me in the future!

Boston, Massachusetts

I just got home from a long weekend in Boston. What a city. I had been there before, briefly. It was after I had finished thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2000. I had taken the train into Boston only to find that every single hotel room and hostel bed in the entire city was filled. I devised a plan to head out to Rhode Island. I ended up staying in a cheap hotel in East Providence. As a result my exploration of the city was not a very thorough one. I did return a few days later to see a Red Sox game at Fenway Park though.

On this visit I would be visiting for the annual conference of the National Council for the Social Studies. It was a work trip obviously, and I spent much of my time attending sessions trying to get some ideas about ways I could improve the lessons that I teach in the local schools. My hotel room was about 1.5 miles from the Convention Center and my walk took me right through beautiful Boston Common and the Public Garden. There's lots to look at as you stroll through these two connected parks. There is public art,

water,

interesting people, and great views of the Boston skyline.

There's even an interesting old cemetery in the Boston Common.

Don't put your luggage down for a second though. The squirrels in the parks are fearless!

In addition, I found the walk down Commonwealth Avenue with its park-like setting a much more relaxing alternative to busy Boylston Street.

To end the conference I got to hear Ken Burns speak,

and his talk (a question and answer session really) was interesting and inspirational to those of us who teach social studies.

Besides the conference I managed to walk the Freedom Trail a few times (once at night and once during the day.) And finally, despite my final day in town being a rainy one, I still managed to make the walk out to the Fens to check out the statues that have been installed outside Fenway Park since I saw that game back in September of 2000.