Solo Boston - Day 1

I padded this trip with a couple extra days to do some solo exploring and that is what I did today. I started with an early trip out to Brookline to visit the John F. Kennedy Birthplace. The Kennedy's lived in this house from 1914-1920 when they were expecting their fifth child. Jack was three at the time. The house tour was very interesting, and really gave some insight into the family dynamics.

From Brookline I took the T back into Boston and walked through Boston Common before it got too warm. Then I wandered back to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market for a slice of pizza. Then I caught the water shuttle near the aquarium out to the Charlestown Navy Yard.

The Navy Yard is the home of the USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides"). Since the ship is still an active military vessel, you have to present photo identification and walk through a metal detector. When I got there in the early afternoon, it was a fairly quick process. When I left, there was a rather long line.

The ship is pretty cool. She's the oldest ship in the Navy, having been commissioned in 1797. Her service in the War of 1812 is being commemorated until 2015.

After touring the ship I visited the USS Constitution Museum. It's really good, and has some great hands on activities for kids.

Then I took a ranger led tour to the Bunker Hill Monument. It was really interesting, but I declined to climb the 292 steps inside the obialisk. It was just not going to happen in today's heat and humidity. Instead I booked back down to the harbor to catch the boat back to downtown Boston.

I then spent some time wandering the shops to haul stuff home for the family, and had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.