The Airport was very quiet and still very few travellers. The beautiful Toronto landscape behind as viewed from Billy Bishop Airport.

We had no bags to claim as we only have our backpacks. I had emailed the hotel ahead and they had sent me the public transportation route. It was off to locate the Blue Line airport shuttle. The shuttle dropped us at the train station and we bought our tickets and boarded the subway into downtown Boston. Everything was very clearly marked and easy to navigate. We exited at State Station and it was an easy 3 minute walk to our hotel for the next 2 nights at Club Quarters Hotel.

We checked in using contactless self check in. By the time we got up to our room Matt had messaged that he was enroute from work and would be here shortly. Once he arrived a very long hug was definitely in order. Matt then drove us to the Back Bay Area. Boston is a very crazy city to drive in and especially when it is rush hour. I was impressed how easily Matt was able to navigate his way. I think I may have left a few nail marks in the handle on the car door!

We parked and took a stroll to explore the Esplanade along the Charles River. It was only 6:45ish but already very dark here. We strolled along the bike path which was busy with lots of runners and cyclists.

After about a 45 minute walk along the Charles River we headed to a restaurant that Matt had planned for us, The Salty Girl. Boston is known for its seafood and this place was the first of so much we would see. Ed decided to go out on a limb (or maybe I should say claw) and followed the recommendation to have lobster and waffles with maple syrup. He was not disappointed.

Matt and a photo bomber.

On the drive back to the hotel the roads were now much quieter. Matt took us for an evening stroll of the downtown to explore the area. We walked down by the Harbour and looped back around by the Quincy Market which gave us the lay of the land for tomorrow’s exploration.

You never know what you might see when you are exploring the streets!

On our way to breakfast we came across this along the Freedom Trail. It brought a Camino flashback.

We found this just in front of City Hall.

Faneuil Hall is known as “The Cradle of Liberty”. Built in 1742 this building was donated to the City by a powerful shipping merchant. It has served as a market place and meeting hall since being built.

Quincy Market is home to many vendors. Lots of fresh seafood, sweet treats and pasta dishes to name a few.

Lots of fresh seafood.

Where is his mask?

Larry Bird‘s feet are apparently just a little larger than ours.

We stopped for a morning espresso. Once again we were reminded of our Camino, stopping to buy a coffee so we can use the washroom.

Not exactly sure what this building is. The historic architecture nestled among the tall sleek modern buildings.

From the surface you would not know that a major highway runs underground below these gardens. It’s construction was known as “The Big Dig” as it was the biggest highway infrastructure project in the US.

Beautiful views along the Harbour Front walk.

The red and yellow roof marks the spot where we would have lunch today, the Barking Crab.

Didn’t look like much from the outside, but inside had a definite nautical feel.

Lunch on the water.

Home of the Boston Tea Party Museum with the City of Boston in the background.

We stopped in for a visit and a beverage and everyone knew our name.

And of course Ed saved room for a Canolli from the Quincy Market.

We then found a lovely little Irish pub that had live Celtic music.

This is only our morning and afternoon trail. After all of our walking, steps and fresh air, I know we will sleep well tonight.

We would follow the red brick markers today on our journey to see The Freedom Trail around Boston.

We were able to share the app and both listen on our ear buds. Ed was in his happy place having digital technology guiding our tour today.

Boston Common was the starting point for our tour today. A beautiful green space in the center of Boston.

Ed following the red brick marking.

Massachusetts State House is the home of the Governor’s office.

Park Street Church. This was once the first landmark travellers saw when approaching Boston.

We toured around the Granary Burial Ground. This is the resting place of some of Boston’s most famous citizens. \240The tombs of Samuel Adam’s, John Hancock, and Paul Revere to name a few. There is also a tomb for Mary Goose who some say authored the Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

Kings Chapel

Beautiful designed tiles in front of the former City Hall and what was once the Boston Latin school.

Benjamin Franklin stands proud in front of the former Boston Latin School.

The Old State House and Boston Massacre Site. Ironically this is the first building we saw when we arrived as the Subway station exit is part of this building today. It was wonderful to go back to our Boston starting point and discover the historic significance of this site.

Old State House from across the road.

Symbol to commemorate the Boston Massacre Site.

Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market

Union Oyster House is one of the oldest restaurants in America.

Enjoying our self guided, self paced tour.

Friday and Saturday are market days so we were lucky enough to catch this.

We travelled over the Rose Kennedy Greenway which was built over Hwy 93 to add beautiful gardens in the heart of the city. Hwy 93 was also “The Big Dig” highway we mentioned earlier. You can see on this map the expansive green space putting the highway below created.

The home of Paul Revere and his 16 children.

Narrow winding streets as we toured through little Italy definitely reminded us of being in Europe.

Statue of Paul Revere with the Old North Church in the background.

At the gates of the Old North Church.

We passed the TD Garden, the home of the Bruins and Celtics.

This magnificent Charlestown Bridge crosses over the Charles River.

All aboard on the USS Constitution. No war time battles today thankfully. This is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world.

Below deck.

Full view of the ship which was also known as “Old Ironside” even though it is completely made of Wood.

Bunker Hill Monument. The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, was the first major battle of the Revolutionary War and predicted the character and outcome of the rest of the war.

After all of our walking it felt good to get off our feet for a bit at the Union Oyster House.

Ed enjoying his first bowl of “clam chowdaw”.

After his work for the day, we connected with Matt and he gave us a tour of his workplace. Good to know the security guard is looking out for him as well. He was a huge hockey fan and actually knew quite a bit about the Soo and all \240hockey legends who had played here or are from here.

Waltham City Hall

Apparently years ago there were several watch factories in the city. Matt our guide was not sure if any still exist today.

Chef Matt prepared for us freshly made roasted Butternut Squash soup and grilled cheese.

With our bellies full and the sun shining, we headed off on a witch hunt to explore Salem. We had such a positive experience with our previous audio tour we decided to do one for the historic sites in Salem.

Our tour started at the Salem Visitors center. This quaint New England town hides a seriously dark history. Over 300 years ago, this was the site of the infamous Salem Witch trials which killed dozens of innocents.

This bell isn’t really related to Salem’s infamous witch trials but it’s still a cool landmark. In fact it was created by none other than American Revolutionary hero, Paul Revere.

This section of the cemetery was the home to stone monuments for the people that were sentenced to death because of their suspected association with witchcraft. It sounds like the judicial system (or lack of) was the main cause.

This is the Grimshaw House, once home to a family of famous Americans: the Peobody sisters. Many landmarks in Massachusetts were named after these 3.

The Old town hall

St Peters Episcopal Church

This former church is the site of the Salem Witch Museum. It was very busy with a long line up so we will save this for our next trip post COVID.

We worked up a thirst on our walk so we stopped in at a local brewery to quench it.

It was a beautiful day! Chilly with an air temperature around -2 this morning on our early morning drive into the city.

Sun coming up over the City. It was an early morning with a 7 am race start.

Beautiful pond in the middle of Cambridge.

Ready and waiting for the race to start.

The home stretch to the finish line at 1:59:23. He made it in just under the 2 hour mark!

Video: coming into the finish

Finished and feeling good.

Sporting his new Medal.

The Elevate Bio group of runners.

The gang was finally all here, enjoying a post game beverage from a local brewery.

The rest of the day was spent on a little bit of R & R and a wonderful family dinner.

Fresh legs and ready to go.

Navigating our way up.

There were piles of rocks along the way to mark the trail. \240Similar to our Canadian Inuksuk, they are there to mark the way.

It was quite warm on the way up, but at the summit we had to put our jackets on as there was a mighty breeze.

Stopping to enjoy a snack at the summit.

Spectacular view from the top. This is what people from the area call “Leaf Peeping”.

Yes, this was the way down!

Our last supper with Matt for this trip to Boston and our first supper in The North End at Italiana Cantina. I think we all burned enough calories today for a pasta dinner.

Matt dropped us off at our hotel for the next two nights, The Battery Wharf Hotel.

The day was so amazing weather wise (18 degrees and clear skies) we decided to alter our plan for the day to enjoy the outdoors. We downloaded the Harbour Walk tour from our now favourite tour guide app, and headed out on a guided water front tour.

Our tour started at Long Wharf. This pier is still today one of the longest dock areas on the waterfront. In its prime the pier jutted out almost .5 of a mile into the Boston Harbour.

We passed by the New England Aquarium.

Heading towards Rowe’s Wharf. In this very upscale area some rooms go for as much as $15,000 a night - yikes!

Interesting design and architecture of buildings. \240This one looks like it might topple over in a good wind.

South Station is one of the oldest and busiest stations in Boston during peak times for people travelling downtown to work. Fortunately it was early afternoon for us so we avoided being caught up in the crowds.

Unbelievable that it was November and we were able to enjoy our lunch outside. Many restaurants had already closed their patios for the season. We were able to find a patio with an available table to enjoy another bowl of “chowdaw”.

During our day we had noticed many people wearing Boston Bruins shirts. We checked and there was a game against Ottawa tonight. We decided to walk up to the North Station area and see what kind of excitement was happening.

Lots of Boston fans and Ed was able to get a photo with Bobby Orr.

TD Garden getting ready for the game to begin.

We had walked down this road several times but it was only this morning that we noticed this cross road sign. The statue of Paul Revere is directly across the road. I guess Ed was not the only Clark in the Italian North End.

Lots of penguins to watch.

The center of the aquarium is one very large coral reef filled with Marine Life. There is a ramp that spirals around this display as you make you way from the first to fourth floor. We were blessed with great timing as we were able to see feeding time. Myrtle the 9 year old sea turtle has a diet of romaine lettuce and brussel sprouts. No wonder why turtles live to be 100+ years!

Divers go in to help out at feeding time to ensure that all species get their fair share.

Daily, each one of the displays need to be scrubbed while they also use this time to check and do a roll call on the marine life.

From our hotel we were able to take a Water Taxi across to Logan Airport.

The locals had told us that Mike’s Bakery was the best place for Cannolis. We were able to get these through security and enjoyed them while we waited for our flight to board. One Security guard did joke that we would have to had over our pastry.

Travel was a bit more complicated this time with Vaccine Passports, COVID tests, ArriveCAN app, but things went very smoothly.

We really enjoyed our first visit to Boston and we will look forward to when we can go again.

Thank you Matt for the great hospitality!