WOMPATUCK STATE PARK (MA)

We only spent three nights here at Wompatuck State Park and most all of our daylight hours were spent in Boston. The park is located just 6 miles from the Hingham Ferry Dock and the boat drops you off right in the heart of the Boston Harbor Walk.

The fare was just over $18 round trip ($9 senior) and as long as you didn't try to get aboard any of the rush hour ferries there were plenty of seats. The campground had wonderfully hot showers, clean bathhouses and naturally wooded campsites, just the way we like them.



MONDAY

TRAVEL DAY
YEAR #2 - STOP #34

Today we said farewell to the Cape Cod area and took the short drive up the coast to our next stop. From this new location we will be exploring Boston for a couple of days. We originally selected this park because of it's proximity to the Braintree Station of the Boston Subway. But during the week in Cape Cod a few of Tricia's relatives informed us it was more scenic to take the Hingham Ferry to Boston than the subway, so that's what we did. It was just slightly more expensive, but we only did it twice.



TUESDAY

SIGHTSEEING DAY
13 MILES DRIVEN TODAY

Day 1 of our Boston visit kept us pretty busy. We made the short drive from our campsite to the Hingham Ferry dock for our scenic ride into Boston. The ferry dropped us off just one block from Stop #1 of the CityView Trolley Station. We boarded the first trolley of the day at 9:30AM and did a complete loop around the town to get an overview of where we wanted to spend our time today.

I should mention that while we usually do the Old Town Trolley tours last night we were able to find a great deal on Groupon and saved over $40 by switching to CityView Trolley, a Boston only trolley company.

After our first time around we decided to get off at the Paul Revere House and do the self guided tour. No photography is allowed inside the house or museum, but we did take several photos of the outside from the garden and the street. We also walked to the Old North Church and Paul Revere Statue. From here we walked a little further to Copp's Hill Burying Ground, a cemetery with headstones dating back to the early 1700s.

We then reboarded the trolley and rode around to Stop #1 again where we saw quite a few food trucks setting up earlier all along The Rose Kennedy Greenway. We sampled food from three different trucks and food from three different continents. I had shredded pork from Brazil and Tricia had a Greek pita wrap. I was still hungry so I went to the Grilled Cheese truck and got some french fries.

Since we were so close to the harbor again we decided to check out one of the Boston Harbor Cruises. Our Trolley Ticket got us a 50% discount so off we went. It was a short 45 minute cruise from the Harbor over to the USS Constitution Dock near Bunker Hill and back. It was a beautiful day out and we got to see a close up view of Boston from the water. It was well worth the price, plus it got us off our feet for a while.

There was one more thing on our to do list for today and that was to taste a Boston Creme Pie from where it was first created at the Parker House Hotel in 1856, which is now owned and operated by Omni Hotels. It's called a pie but it really is more like a cake with creme in between layers. The Boston Creme Pie is now Massachusetts’ official state dessert and was selected over the Toll House Cookie and the Fig Newton.

It's now time to get back on board the ferry and head home so we can get some rest and do this all over again tomorrow!



WEDNESDAY

SIGHTSEEING DAY
13 MILES DRIVEN TODAY

Day 2 of our Boston visit and once again we are headed into town for the day. Yesterday we arrived at the ferry dock during rush hour and ended up standing instead of sitting for the 30 minute ride into Boston. Today we waited an extra hour and it made a world of difference, the boat was only half full.

We arrived in Boston around 10:30AM and walked a few short blocks to the Quincy Market which opened in 1826. There are all kinds of gift and souvenier shops selling everything you could possibly want. Like for Tricia, she was looking for a new pair of sunglasses and she found ones that were just perfect for her and only $15.00 to boot.

The other thing at Quincy Market is food, with 18 full sized restaurants and 35 smaller outlets like you would find in a food court at the mall, it was hard to decide what to have for lunch. Once again Tricia and I went our own separate way in search of food and met back at the table, she showed up with a huge slice of pizza and I selected an egg sandwich on a bagel.

After eating our main course we had room for dessert, not your traditional dessert, but we each had a bread bowl full of chowder. Tricia had the New England Clam Chowder and I had the Plymouth Corn Chowder, both were excellent and prepared by the Boston Chowda Company.

Now with full bellies we were ready to start walking The Freedom Trail. Right next door to the Quincy Market is Faneuil Hall where we watched a short documentary film presented by the National Park Service which detailed The Underground Railroad.

Then we were off to visit The Old State House and the site of The Boston Massacre. If you have walked the Freedom Trail you're probably thinking their doing it backwards, and you would be absolutely right, because the ferry drops you off near the middle of the trail and we are now walking towards the start of the trail at Boston Common.

Needless to say we saw all the sites and when we arrived at the Boston Common I was tired of walking. So we walked over to The Public Gardens and took a ride on The Swan Boats which started service in 1877. It a very sort loop that the pedal driven boats traverse but we did get to see many ducks and a couple of real life swans in the waterway.

It's now mid-afternoon and we either have to head home to beat the afternoon rush hour on the ferry or stay in Boston for dinner. We're only a mile and a half walk from the ferry dock but we haven't ridden the Boston Subway yet and this may be our last chance. We enter the station at the corner of Boston Common and purchase two tickets for the subway at $2.75 each and begin our return trip to the ferry dock. We rode the first train for two stops to arrive at Government Center, switch trains and rode two more stops to the Aquarium, located next to the ferry dock.

We had some time to kill before the first afternoon ferry so Tricia walked a few blocks back to the Greenway Carousel and take a few dozen pictures for you all to see, I waited in the shade of a large tree. Much to my delight Tricia arrived with a pair of Fresh Squeezed Lemonades and we waited for the ferry.

After two days in Boston I've had my fill of big city living, tommorow we head for the woods of New Hampshire.





BOSTON



Leaving the Hingham Ferry dock
Another ferry returning from Boston
Our first look at the Boston skyline
Home of the Bruins and Celtics
The statue of Bobby Orr's 1970 Stanley Cup winning goal
The Paul Revere House
Our view from the harbor cruise ship
The USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" with the Bunker Hill Monument in the background
Home of the Original Boston Creme Pie
The star of the show! It was delicious!
An Airstream in the middle of Boston?
My sister's tavern (not really, I don't have a sisiter)
The Old State House
Boston Swan Boat
A real live swan
The Greenway Carousel
Notice there's not one single horse on this carousel!

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