Boston is two things to me: the Freedom Trail and Fenway.  This quick stop to one of my favorite cities was a first time for my friend/traveling buddy, so we hit the red painted/brick line, dubbed the Freedom Trail, for all but two of the stops during the afternoon and then enjoyed an evening with the "Green Mon-stah" of Fenway Park and the resident "Red Sawx."

The Freedom Trail is a great example of how to show off a city's best attractions to visitors. Starting in Boston Common, it's easily accessible by the Boston "T" underground rail system and the thick red line is very simple to spot on the ground.

We opted to download a free tour app on our phone to guide us through the 2.5 mile walk (of which we probably did just shy of 2 miles). Here's a stop by stop view of our tour... (Apologies for the quality of the photos since I forgot to put the SD card back in my camera from the night before, so I had to use my phone.)

1. State House - built in 1798 on Beacon Hill on land once owned by Massachusetts' first Governor, John Hancock
2. Park Street Church (1809) - located on the site of the former Boston town granary storage building
3. Granary Burying Ground (1660) - find the graves of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Boston Massacre victims, and many other notable Bostonians
4. King's Chapel and Burial Ground (1688) - Church of England church ordered by King James II, first burial ground in Boston
5. Benjamin Franklin Statue (1856) - former site of the first public school in America
6. Old Corner Book Store (1712) - one of Boston's oldest surviving structures, home to the nation's leading publisher from 1833-1864 where they published works from Stowe, Longfellow, Emerson, Hawthorne, Whittier, Dickens, and Alcott.  Obviously the Chipotle sign is NOT original to the structure.
7. Old South Meeting House (1729) - where tea tax protest meetings were held prior to the Boston Tea Party
8. Old State House (1713) - seat of the British Government prior to the American Revolution
9. Site of the Boston Massacre - just behind the Old State House, where five colonists were killed by British soldiers on March 5, 1770. 
10. Faneuil Hall (1763, rebuilt) - known as the Cradle of Liberty, this shopping area and meeting hall hosted inspirational speeches by prominent Bostonians and protests against the Sugar Act and Stamp Act.  
Mike's Pastry in the North End - not an official Freedom Trail stop but should not be missed for authentic Italian desserts (Hanover Street a block from Paul Revere's House)
11. Paul Revere's House (1680) - Boston's oldest building, purchased by a 35 year old Paul Revere who lived in the home from 1770-1800.
12. Old North Church (1723) - the oldest church building in Boston and the site where the famous "one if by land, two if by sea" lantern warning was hung in the steeple to send a message to Paul Revere across the Charles River in Charlestown that he was to deliver to American soldiers in Lexington and Concord about British troop movements.

Other stops on the Freedom Trail are Copp's Burial Ground (the photo I took was "meh" composition-wise), then across the bridge in Charlestown are the Bunker Hill Monument and the U.S.S. Constitution (final stop).  I've done these last two in past Boston visits, so they were skipped for time reasons this round.

And now, some photos from Fenway Park!  If the Red Sox are in town when you're visiting, there is no excuse for not taking the Green Line - which is my favorite and the "cutest" T line, by the way - to the ballpark!  Fenway is one of the few original ballparks and can't be missed, even if you don't like baseball!! Or are a Yankees fan!!  They still keep track of the scoreboard by hand, people!









And if you're looking for some good beer, try Boston Beerworks across from Fenway (and in other parts of town).  How can you resist beers so cleverly named after Boston landmarks?