We came to the last day of our cruise and disembarked in Boston. Tom and I were in Boston in 2015 with our friends Sandy and Eric Shaw. We camped at Salisbury State Beach Reservation and took the train in to Boston to walk the Freedom Trail. We did every stop along the trail and it took us all day. Although we were hot and tired by the end, we enjoyed seeing those places very much.
This visit to Boston had two purposes. First, get off the ship. Second, get the stamps that I somehow didn’t get on any of my previous trips to Boston. Yes, that’s right. I didn’t get a single stamp along the Boston Historical Park Freedom Trail in 2015 when we went to every site. Once I realized I was missing these stamps, and that we were heading back to this place, I wrote to the Freedom Trail people and asked them to send me the stamps. Normally I would just go back and get them again, but Tom and I had limited time and I wanted those eleven stamps.
Fortunately the 11 stamps came just before we left on our trip. I taped them in my Passport book and was thankful that I wouldn’t have to go all those places again on this trip. We had reserved a hotel room for two nights, but Boston is a really expensive place to stay. That left seven places to visit to get the Passport Stamps.
Once Tom and I got off the ship, we took a cab to Enterprise Rental Car. The Enterprise people were great about getting us on our way quickly. We were on the road by 9:15 with Google Maps helping us find our first National Park Site, Boston Harbor Islands.
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area and State Park has 34 islands managed by a partnership between private organizations, Massachusetts State Parks, and the National Park Service. The islands offer breathtaking views, dozens of trails, glimpses of local wildlife, and the history of Boston Harbor. Whether it’s for a few hours of relaxation or a day spent adventuring, the islands offer an escape from the bustle of Boston.
Although there were several parking garages nearby, Tom and I had no intention of actually going to the islands. We had just sailed past all of them on the cruise ship and felt we had seen enough islands for a while. The Visitor Center, with its Passport Stamp, opened at 9:30. At 9:28, Tom dropped me off on a corner and I dashed across to the Visitors Center. They were just putting out information so I got a brochure and the stamp and ran back to the car. Meanwhile, Tom had circled the block. He picked me up and away we went to our next stop.
Our next stop was Faneuil Hall to get the stamp for the Boston African American National Historic Site. The site actually consists of nine sites along a trail in Beacon Hill that highlight the lives of the free black community which inhabited the North Slope of Beacon Hill from the late 1700s through the 1800s. We had actually walked part of this trail in 2015 and seen a few of the places. I felt okay about getting the stamp which was available at Faneuil Hall. While I was there, I also got the Faneuil Hall stamp again.
I do not recommend either of these methods for getting Passport stamps. Normally Tom and I would ride the ferry and visit at least one of the islands. Our standard for getting a stamp is taking a tour or a hike and spending time in the Visitors Center. But we had already seen these places, so I didn’t feel like it was cheating. Besides, I make up the rules for which stamps I can get and which I cannot.
Two stamps done in Boston and it was only 10:15 a.m. Again, Tom had circled the block while I got the stamps. He was just coming around for a second time when I spotted him. Time to head out of downtown and start slowing down a little.