Roadschool Field Trip to Boston

We had two days to get from Vermont to Pennsylvania, so we hit the major eastern seaports along the way: Boston & New York City...

We Were There at the Boston Tea Party novel study

With only one day to visit Boston, we decided to see as many sights as possible via the Trolley Tour.  It's a hop on-hop off tour, but I recommend taking the whole thing in one sitting, if you're up to it.  With a full trolley, the driver had to turn people away at every stop.  Although there are a few different tours in the city, this group's drivers double-time as comedians, making it educational and entertaining!  We drove by, and got the story behind, several historic landmarks, including : the Cheers bar, State House, a few older churches, the Old South Meeting House, Bunker / Breeds Hill, and the Granury Burying Ground (current home of Paul Revere, John Hancock, Sam Adams, and others).

The tour over, our bellies grumbled for lunch.  We were close to the North End, home of the best Italian food this side of the Atlantic.  At Bella Vista, we got oversized lunch portions for deli lunch prices, and fantastic service.  The boys even had a chance to speak with the chef and get the secret to his sauce!

Holy Cannoli!  You can't finish an Italian meal without tiramisu or cannoli, so we crossed the street to Modern Pastry.  While most tourists are directed to Mike's (and admittedly, they are good), Modern Pastry had shorter lines and more selection with the same price and quality.  Since we only get cannoli in the North End, we filled a box...and as much as I'd like to tell you that we saved some for later, the truth is that we enjoyed them all!

After a meal like that, we needed to stretch our legs, so we headed across town, through the Common, and over to the museums.  On the way, we stopped by Faneuil Hall to do a little shopping.

Next stop, the Boston Tea Party Museum.  Continuing on the Revolutionary War theme, we re-enacted the Boston Tea Party after learning about the taxes and rumblings that led up to it.  I got to be Sarah Fulton - the party's costume designer!  The boys had a chance to dump tea into the harbor and hang out with Sam Adams. 

After a hard afternoon of chucking tea into the harbor, we headed to Abigail's Tea Room for a tea-tasting.  For five bucks, you get a souvenir mug and all the tea you can drink.

Back to the Public Gardens, we visited the duck pond and found the family of ducks from Robert McCloskey's "Make Way for Ducklings."

Our fellow traveler is fascinated by parochial architecture, so we visited several churches during our afternoon stroll.  A few offered information on their historical significance.  The boys pretended to be Sons of Liberty, giving speeches on each doorstep.

As much as we wanted to stay, the sun was going down, and we still had a three-hour drive to our stop in Connecticut.  So we grabbed lobster rolls to go, headed back to the garage (thank heavens for taking a photo of the garage name & parking unit!), and headed west.  Tomorrow, we venture into the Big Apple!  It will be the first visit for all four of us...

Boston Road Trip Resources : 

• Boston Tea Party lapbook (free)
• Printable Activity Pack (free)
• Tea Party timeline
• PBS : The American Revolution (free)
• Tea Party paper craft
• Fourth of July printables (free)
• We Were There at the Boston Tea Party
• What Was the Boston Tea Party?
• The Kid's Guide to Boston
• Boston Red Sox T-Shirt
• Make Way for Ducklings & unit study (free)
• Make your own Cannoli