We got to Boston, parked and headed out to find our tour guide to walk the Freedom Trail – the first thing we saw was a guard shack with three bullet holes in it. The guide and the Trail were awesome – we learned all about the players in the Revolutionary War, including some of those we had not heard of before. From how it sounds, our forefathers had quite a sense of humor and really didn’t take England seriously. When things finally got serious, they just never backed down, it was very inspiring. We saw both of Paul Revere’s headstones; at the time, the size of your headstone was relative to your importance in the community. Initially, his headstone was very small, but Boston re-thought their decision and gave him a bigger one. The skull and wings is a common theme on headstones and represents the death of the body and the soul going to heaven. We saw that theme in NYC and in a couple graveyards we saw earlier in the summer. This was a really cool end to our summer and tied in with the forts and Minute Man Park. We headed to the USS Constitution, the oldest, floating commissioned warship in the world. We were able to go to both below decks and see the staterooms and the main room where about 300 men slept in hammocks. We also learned that the keel is the only original remaining part of the USS Constitution and that it’s floated into the harbor weekly to ensure it remains seaworthy. We hired a guide in Salem, as well. In Salem, once the governor figured out what was going on and put an end to it, the government decided to remove any and all proof and evidence of the situation that they could. They tore down all governmental buildings, courthouses, jails, etc that had anything to do with the witch trials. The stories that exist are taken from journals of residents that were found from the time. The majority of the accusations came from a few girls and because the law at the time gave all property of an accused to the sheriff (regardless of their innocence), the sheriff became very wealthy. Over 200 people were accused and jailed, many of which in the famous coffin cells, before it was over. So, Salem was really interesting, but outside of a couple of homes, there was nothing from that time period to see. On another note, Salem was the home of the sending end of the first ever telephone call, that building is still standing, but is a restaurant.
Jim and Sherry's RV Life 