A Trip to Boston and Bar Harbor

 By Mary McClung

For those of you wishing this dratted virus would go away so you could get out of the house and have some fun, travel vicariously here.  Let’s make this an entertaining part of our Creekside blog.  I’ll start off with the first couple of stops on Norwegian Line’s “Fall Foliage Cruise” I took from Boston in October, 2019, before the virus struck.

Boston is a history-lovers dream.  I arrived a day early so I could immerse myself in all things historical.  I stayed at the Comfort Inn in Revere, across the river from Boston but close to the airport.  The hotel has free transport from the airport and into Boston, plus a hearty free hot breakfast.  Bright and early the next morning after breakfast, I took the MTA into Boston to join the not-to-be-missed 4-hour “Revolutionary Story” walking tour with 11 others, hosted by energetic young historian Mike.  We walked along  the Freedom Trail, which includes 16 key spots associated with America’s fight for independence.  To the right is the Freedom Trail signpost at Bunker Hill, where one of the first battles of the war was waged.  “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes” was the rallying cry.  Perhaps the revolutionaries should have fired sooner because they lost the battle.  We stopped at Paul Revere’s house and monument, where Mike told us that Longfellow’s “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” wasn’t exactly accurate.  Paul did indeed ride off to Lexington and Concord to let “every Middlesex village and farm” know that the British were arriving by sea (2 lights were burning in the old North Church), but he was captured early on outside Lexington.

Four hours later, and my head was spinning.  Stopped for a tasty bowl of Boston clam chowder near where the tour ended.  We then boarded the little ferry to the USS Constitution, the only site on the Freedom Trail not associated with the Revolutionary War.  It was built after the war as part of the small naval fleet of 6 to protect the young nation.  The world’s oldest warship afloat, the Constitution was dubbed “Old Ironsides” due to its dense and thick oak sides constructed over copper sheathing.    It repelled point-blank British cannon fire off the Massachusetts coast during the War of 1812.  On board today were active-duty sailors, in 1800-era attire, to explain the various features of the ship.  My cell phone app showed 10 miles of walking today!

Next morning I was off to the Tea Party Museum for an entertaining “interactive theater experience.”  I was given the name tag of a south end gang captain and proceeded to the town hall meeting room, where Samuel Adams, in period costume, was at the podium.  He was urging us rebels to object to the recent tea tax by throwing bales of British tea into the harbor.  We proceeded down the gangplank to one of the three tea-laden ships where, disguised as Mohawks (we wore a feather), we tossed bales into the water.  They had ropes attached so they could be returned, hokey, but fun.  And then off to board the cruise ship.

The next morning we landed in Bar Harbor, Maine, in brilliant sunshine.  Before boarding Lulu’s Lobster Boat, I went exploring this lovely upscale town with its beautiful houses, colorful flowers, and smiles from the locals.  They seemed to be enjoying the good life in Bah Ha-buh. The lobster ride was great fun, but freezing cold out on the water.  Learned more than I ever wanted to know about lobsters.  We passed by thousands and thousands of lobster buoys before hauling up 3 lobster pots, all with lobsters too small to keep.  We learned how to attach yellow bands around their claws so they wouldn’t attack us. 

In the afternoon rode to the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park via the colorful Oli’s Trolley.  Cadillac Mt. is the first land in the U.S. to be touched by the morning sun.  Great views of the harbor and town on one side and the Cranberry Islands on the other.  I ended the day with a delicious lobster dinner before reboarding the ship.

To be continued…

Editor's Comment:  Let's make this an ongoing feature of the Creekside Village website.  Share your travels and other adventures with us.  Be sure to take lots of pictures.  Write up your stories in Word^TM or plain text format, or just make a photo essay with captions.  Whether it's an exotic trip to an Inca stronghold in the Andes, an afternoon at Deception Pass or a shopping trip to Seattle, we'd love to hear about it.  Contact the Website Administrator using the email form in the sidebar for instructions.