September 8 - 9: Auburn to Boston

September 8 - Already pleasantly warm at 8:00 when we started out. This is the oldest town we've seen so far.


These little ponds are scattered throughout this part of the state.


The shadiness of the road definitely moderated the gathering heat of the day. We had a few hills but it was generally downhill as we headed for the coast.


We are getting sooooo close. Highway 20 is called the Boston Post Road here. It was used in the Revolutionary War to bring cannons to Washington during the siege of Boston according to Michael, owner of Dunkin Donuts in Palmer, MA.


The Charles River with Harvard in the background.


Almost to the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge. It is right next door to MIT.


We took off all our "luggage" at the motel, then headed into Boston proper. We will be crossing that bridge to get there.


Saw this group several times over the next hour.


Back Bay with its block upon block of brownstones. It is a very desirable place to live for Bostonians.


It was 95 F as we made our way along the streets of Boston, a record for the day.


The official end of Highway 20 at the Boston Commons. These Duck Tour vehicles were everywhere.


Inside the Public Garden. That is a Swan Boat just to the right of Donna's head, one of the icons of Boston.

There really is a full blown bike shop down those steps behind our bicycles.


The view from our 14th floor balcony, a very generous congratulatory gift from friends Bob and Timmi O'Brien. They met us here when we returned from downtown Boston.


We all took a taxi to the North End for dinner at Lucia's, a very good Italian restaurant on Hanover St. It was such a warm evening that we walked about for several hours along with thousands of other people. One thing we did was go through this Holocaust Memorial. It was especially moving going through it for the first time in the dark with the steam rising through these towers meant to evoke the chimneys of the ovens used in the death camps. They are etched with the 6 million numbers.


September 9 - Watching the sun rise. Where did all those clouds come from?


It is quite a bit cooler this morning. We had breakfast and checked out. We rode our bikes to the Comfort Inn in Dorchester section of Boston. Bob and Timmi met us there, then we all took the van shuttle and subway back into downtown Boston.

The red line is the Freedom Trail which we planned to follow today. That is Bob and Timmi with Doug.




The tombstone on the right is Paul Revere's original headstone. The larger one on the left was added when he became more famous because of Longfellow's poem.


This fellow was doing a guided walk (Tony - think Heritage Hike with a Revolutionay War theme!). He was very knowledgeable and entertaining as we listened in for a bit.

The State House was the site of the Boston Massacre.


It was the tallest thing around in its heyday.


Paul Revere's house built about 1680. Don't think it had a pickup in front in those days!


It has been very well preserved and had many of his original furnishing inside but they didn't allow photography. He was quite the silversmith.




The Old North Church built in 1723 - one if by land, two if by sea.


Inside the Old North Church which is still an active Episcopal Church.




The death's head at the top was a very traditional part of tombstone during the 1700's.


Boston is full of character and characters. That is the Freedom Trail in brick in the middle of the sidewalk.

This was our sound of the day. For over an hour we could hear the brass band that followed behind the statue as they paraded through streets close to the Freedom Trail.


That is Bunker Hill monument on the skyline. Bob and Timmi had a ferry to catch to get back to New York so we didn't walk all the way to it.


This new bridge carries the freeway and is part of the Big Dig. It is meant to remind you of sailing ships. The Big Dig has made Boston even more walkable than it already was. We didn't get rained on all day but it sure looked like it wanted to.


WE REALLY MADE IT! The second "endpoint" of our journey: The Atlantic Ocean. The bumps in the background are the Boston Harbor Islands.


Doug's thinking that the pedaling gets quite a bit tougher east of here! On a cool, breezy late afternoon, there was no one else on this beach to take a picture of us together.