Full grain leather Concepts x New Balance 1500. On sale this Friday.

Concepts, in Cambridge, MA got together with New Balance to create the “Freedon Trail” Collection. It features two silhouettes: the classic 1500 sneaker and the first-ever 875 boot (pictured here).

The 875 is a brand new style launched to the public for the first time via the Concepts Collection. The boot was designed for comfort and durability. The sole unit includes New Balance Rollbar™ technology for maximum support and stability. Additionally, NB designers used a PU Wedge in the heel (similar to the wedge that offers superior support in the NB 993) and compression molded EVA in the forefoot. The 875 features a full grain leather upper, pigskin leather lining, and embossed tongue tag.

Its always nice to see new styles being introduced with store colabs. The 875 came out really nice and are perfect for the season. These are only going to a select few shops in the U.S. On sale this Friday, November 27th at 12 noon. If there’s anything left, phone orders will be accepted Saturday. 212-979-9514

This is the New Balance 875 boot designed by Concepts of Boston. The 875 is a brand new style launched for the first time here in this collection.

The sole unit includes New Balance Rollbar™ technology for maximum support and stability. Additionally, NB designers used a PU Wedge in the heel (similar to the wedge that offers superior support in the NB 993) and compression molded EVA in the forefoot. The 875 features a full grain leather upper, pigskin leather lining, and embossed tongue tag.

Always good to see a new style coming into the mix with the store colabs. These are a nice pair of boots for the season and will be tough to find. We will be selling them this Friday, November 27th at 12 noon. Phone orders will be accepted on Saturday. 212-979-9514.

While I was in NYC, I decided to take a day trip to Boston. You would need more time than a day to explore this city but the trip included most of the main attractions.

Massachusetts State House

The Freedom Trail was once of the best tours I have taken part in.  Although, due to the shortage of time, we only covered a few of the Freedom Trail hotspots rather than the full 16.  The Trail is a 2.5 mile long path, which passes through downtown Boston that passes 16 of the city’s historic landmarks.  We covered off the Massachusetts State House (this building still serves as the seat of the government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), Park Street Church (known for its involvement in political and humanitarian issues), the Old Granary Burial Ground (located next to Park Street Church.  Some of Boston’s most famous revolutionaries are buried here, including John Hancock, Samuel Adams and Robert Treat Paine (all three signed the Declaration of Independence)), the Old State House, Boston Massacre Site (the square in front of the Old State House is the site of the Boston Massacre) and the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground (Boston’s second oldest burying ground).  The Trail starts at Boston Common – the oldest public park in the history of the USA, which I believe its history goes back to 1634.  The common now just serves as a public park.  The park itself is a very peaceful place, the grass, flowers, trees, benches, etc all kept clean and tidy – the park was quite packed when we walked through but eerily quiet…maybe because part of this park was used for public hangings way back when :-/… 

Harvard

Next stop, Harvard University – the oldest private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Now, there is some debate about the founder of Harvard University.  My tour guide told me that John Harvard was not the founder, nor was this name John Harvard (?) and that all dates relating to the foundation and becoming of this university are all wrong.  In fact, the tour guide said that John Harvard (if that’s his name) only donated money toward the establishment of the building and that was all, so everything is undecided.  However, he did say that if you touch the left foot of his statue, you will have good luck.  Being superstitious myself, I had to give this a go…so far so good! 

There are many a building withing Harvard, majority of them look the same but nonetheless is was a pleasure just being in the grounds taking in all the history and warmth of the place.  Again, a very peaceful vicinity (which I found uncanny as these universities seem to have all the hussle and bussle in the films!).  Cambridge University was next.  Again, much the same kind of layout as Harvard, Cambridge is a magnificant place –  John Harvard being one of Cambridge University’s alumni.  The MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) was the last of the universities to visit - although we didn’t actually stop here.  This institute concentrates solely on scientific and technological research, MIT researchers were involved in computer and radar development as far back as WWII – so many a story could be told here about the history of this place and what it all stands for, but I won’t bore you all with that now – all I will say that the MIT is located next to Harvard Bridge, and runs approx a mile north of the Charles River which was our next stop.

Charles River by night...

Breath-taking.  Great view of the city. High rise buildings and the view by night was amazing.  We were told that the river is approx 80 miles long and it has it’s own Charles River Bike path (approx 23 miles long) popular with runner and bikers, who time themselves by keeping track of their mileage\distance between the bridges along the route of the bike path, http://web.mit.edu/track/indoor/bridges.html

Quincy Market next stop.  For us Brits, some similarities to Covent Garden some might say.  Thanks to restoration efforts that were undertaken in the 1970s, Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall have both become tourist must-sees. While Faneuil Hall is home to a tourist information office, a post office and plenty of souvenir shops, Quincy Market offers a wide variety of boutiques (Victoria’s Secret, Urban Outfitters, Nine West – so unlike me to shop in these kinds of establishments :-0)) as well as many pubs and restaurants, including the new and bigger “Cheers!”. If you’re traveling on a budget, you’ll be happy to know that there are plenty a food court inside the Quincy Market where you can get a decent meal for just a few bucks.  Fast food-ready-to-go-meals. Plenty of choices. This is a three story building. First floor is all food court, Second floor is a bar.  Outside, plenty of street performers, tourists and locals around, there’s always a fun atmosphere so it’s definitely worth checking out if you ever have the desire to go one day.  For lunch I opted for the fresh prawns and tomato dip, I was very happy.  Having aimlessly walked around all the stalls, shops, street shows, I was shocked to see a Christmas Shop in all its glory open and ready for business in mid July, and it was busy!..I just don’t get it.

Quincy Market

That’s right, we fly out in just a few hours! Ryan and I are heading back east to Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. We planned this trip a few weeks after we found out we were pregnant as our “babymoon.” When we found out that we were going to lose the baby, we were not sure if we were going to be able to go, but God orchestrated everything so perfectly. This trip could not have come at a better time. We are doing much better this week and emotionally stable and healing and just ready to get outta town! My mom’s extended family lives back there so we will be staying with them. I haven’t seen them in AGES, and Ryan has never met them, so I’m excited to get to spend time with them.

Here are a few of the things we are planning on doing:

The Freedom Trail

A night on the town in New York for my birthday…dinner & a play!

Shopping & touring around New York

Enjoying the parks and glorious fall weather!

Posting may be sparse on our trip as I am not sure what our internet connection will be like and let’s be honest, I’d rather be out! I’ll be sure to post some pictures though. See ya in October!

I ‘guest blogged’ for John Lyle – one of my co-tourers on the USA trip – along the lines of:

“The Freedom Trail”, Boston is a historic walk which runs for 2 ½ miles and takes in 16 sites.

It starts at a Visitor Center on the edge of Boston Common (a sort of Central Park thing) – and then weaves through the old part of the town.

You have a choice of DIY or escorted. Both follow a red brick or painted line in the pavement and eat each interest point there is a brass plaque set in the pavement where you stop and take in the sight.

We picked up a $3 map and guide – which is badly laid out and reminds you of the old paper origami maps – easy to take apart but impossible to put back together! Fortunately it wasn’t raining – we would have had a soggy mush to help us along.

The first stop was very impressive Massachusetts State House – complete with real 23ct gold topped roof. Not sure Nottingham is ready for this! It cost $133,000 in 1798 – five times over budget.

We then meandered through the ancient streets until we happened upon the Kings Chapel – built originally in 1749. Inside it houses the oldest pulpit in the USA, but the best feature were the individual pew boxes – which were sold to wealthy families! Washington came here in 1789.

Back on the Street we continued towards the USS Constitution and stopped by the site of the Boston Massacre in 1770. The site is marked by a stone circle – we were somewhat underwhelmed by the monument. It’s a traffic island!

Out of time we opted out of the tour at this point and headed back into town. So our impression. It’s a great idea – and the pathway is something that can transfer. But the destinations are mixed and we walked past a few. At the Kings Chapel we were invited to part with cash; so if you do this at each tour stop it can be quite expensive. The guide was expensive and rubbish – it would have been a liability in rain. It also very clearly marked us a tourists and I couldn’t help but wonder about being targets as we concentrated on finding things. If I am really honest we got bored. I (as a surveyor) found interest in the buildings but the story seemed a bit disjointed. Perhaps we would have been better with the uniformed guide tour.

It seems that this was not the thing to say, and has much of Boston up in arms! This was not my intention!

boston blog

The one thing that made me smile though was that one person agreed and said that the tour was known amongst school-kids as “The Boredom Trail”. I rest my case!

For what was supposed to be a really relaxed morning, it turned into another early start and manic morning. We separated into three groups.

Stephen Barker and the Sheriff went over to Essex County to meet Sheriff Cousins and his team. Tim Garratt and Nick Hammond took the walking tour and myself and the Sheriff’s Lady, Adela took a walk to the world famous Cheers Bar (which was closed as it was too early in the morning) and then onto the Museum of Science, based on the waterfront. Tim will write a guest blog that I’ll add below, but first I need to finish up on yesterday’s visits, with our tour of the USS Constitution.

It was built in 1795 and could carry up to 55 huge guns. It’s currently in the process of a very major restoration, which is being part navy funded and part public funded. It still sails four times a year.

Old ironsides - The USS Constitution - Officially the oldest warship afloat and still an operational US Navy ship

The word authenticity is everything and we were give the opportunity to climb right down into the gunpowder store. In its heyday, this would have been the workplace for 20 hours a day for up to three young boys who worked as gunpowder runners, delivering the powder to all of the cannons on the higher decks. It was horrifically small, amazingly claustrophobic and stiflingly hot – and that is when its sitting in a dock. I can’t imagine what it must have been like in the height of battle in the early 1800’s

The gunpowder store at the bottom of the boat and the workplace for 20 hours a day of three boys - in this photo, the resting place for two boys

A nice small fact that came out from our bright young tour guide was that if you are in the US Navy and brave enough to win a Medal of Honour, it will have been made from some of the copper rivets on the USS Constitution that are replaced in rotation to prevent fatigue.

The learning from this is probably less so than some of the others places we have visited, other than the quality and knowledge of the guide. He is a serving Navy junior and has a two year rotation on this ship before transferring over to Florida to start his training in Avionics, in order to become a aircraft mechanic, working on the aircraft carriers. Whether it’s just the American way or just the Navy way, but he seemed genuinely proud to be serving (even if his role was mainly as a tour guide) on such an important part of American Naval history.

So, Cheers Bar. About a mile from our hotel, so we walked it. Boston like most US cities isn’t exactly geared up for walking, but it was worth doing, to see the beautifully clean streets which look like the most grand merchant areas of Manchester and Liverpool. They were mostly flats now, but they were all immaculate. No peeling paint, no scruffy steps and no litter anywhere. Funnily enough, there were no ‘for sale’ signs either. This may be a local byelaw, but it could also be that people never sell them.

Cheers Bar is in the Beacon Hill district and is actually a bar called the Bull and Finch Pub. In truth it looks slightly tired, but we didn’t get to see inside as we arrived a good while before they open at 11am.

Er, the closed Cheers Pub - or as it's real name is, the Bull and Finch pub

It’s interesting though that whilst I was never a particular fan of Cheers and haven’t seen sight nor sound of it on TV in years, I was still pleased to be able to see it.

Cheers, The Pub from the TV series in the lovely Beacon Hill District of Town

With our own Trip to Jerusalem pub, we have one of the (if not the) oldest pubs in the world and I wonder whether we actually make enough of it as a tourist attraction. I know when we did some research about what people knew about the City, what it stood for and what made it stand out, it was rarely if every mentioned in the 768 responses we got back from the extremely broad sample we poled. I understand it’s a commercial venture and a licensed commercial venture at that, but this place needs to be used far more centrally in the marketing of the city.

As we have seen with the USS Constitution being the oldest boat afloat and the Pilgrim hall being the oldest museum being the oldest museum that’s operated continually as a museum, we have to find its angle even if it is a little contrived. If we can mark it out as clear and demonstrably different, then people will come, just to be seen at the oldest inn in Britain.

After Cheers, Adela and I kept walking towards the Museum of Science, which is huge, has its own IMAX cinema and began life in 1830 as the Boston Society of Natural History.

Museum of Science, Boston

The walk there was quite a tough one for quite a few reasons. Firstly there is no signage at all for a pedestrian. Considering this place has been around for such a long time and it is quite so huge, it would seem logical to me, that they include even a few signs for how to get there.

Secondly, even without the signs, there is no logical way to walk. You are constantly crossing, recrossing and doubling back in order to get to an area that is anything other than along the side of a freeway. And that water. You can see it from certain places, but you can’t walk along the side of it to get there. In the two l=miles we walked from Cheers to MOS, there could not have been more than 100 metres of waterside walk. It makes me appreciate what a great job they’ve done on the side of the Thames and how little we make of our riverside.

And thirdly, there are too many commercial ventures to protect. At the side of the Museum is a huge queue of ducks dragging people in for $30 a time for tours around the city. They are a hop on, hop off event and there are loads of them. Boston had more walkers than other US cities, but there still weren’t many of them, so between the duck companies and the controlling authorities they seem to have ‘tied’ the market up.

Maybe you can't really walk there because the city tourism is run by the 'ducks'

Inside the museum, there were a few brilliant things. The Foucault clock was slow, and mesmerising and could be watched for hours (if you weren’t rushing)

The Foucault Pendulum at the Museum of Science, Boston

But my favourite bit and sorry for the quality of the pic, but it was all behind glass and not brilliantly lt for photography, was at the back of the IMAX, where the projection room was part of the display. For a geek like me, who loves this type of machinery, to get to see the working projection room was priceless.

The IMAX projection equipment is part of the display

Anyway, its off to the hotel, via the most tortured Subway system I have ever seen and then off to New York.

Firstly though, Tim Garratt and Nick Hammond did the Freedom Trail around Boston, a sort of walking trail through some of its historical regions and Tim has kindly written me a guest blog, which is here below.

Guest blog - Tim Garratt - 15 September 2009

Billed as “The Freedom Trail”, Boston has a historic walk which runs for 2 ½ miles and takes in 16 sites.

It starts at a Visitor Center on the edge of Boston Common (a sort of Central Park thing) – and then weaves through the old part of the town.

You have a choice of DIY or escorted. Both follow a red brick or painted line in the pavement and eat each interest point there is a brass plaque set in the pavement where you stop and take in the sight.

The brass plaque of the freedom Trail

We picked up a $3 map and guide – which is badly laid out and reminds you of the old paper origami maps – easy to take apart but impossible to put back together! Fortunately it wasn’t raining – we would have had a soggy mush to help us along.

The first stop was very impressive Massachusetts State House – complete with real 23ct gold topped roof. Not sure Nottingham is ready for this! It cost $133,000 in 1798 – five times over budget.

The Statehouse with it's 23 Carat Gold roof - is Nottingham ready for this?

We then meandered through the ancient streets until we happened upon the Kings Chapel – built originally in 1749. Inside it houses the oldest pulpit in the USA, but the best feature were the individual pew boxes – which were sold to wealthy families! Washington came here in 1789.

Back on the Street we continued towards the USS Constitution and stopped by the site of the Boston Massacre in 1770. The site is marked by a stone circle – we were somewhat underwhelmed by the monument. It’s a traffic island!

The stone circle to mark the site of the Boston Massacre in 1770

Out of time we opted out of the tour at this point and headed back into town. So our impression. It’s a great idea – and the pathway is something that can transfer. But the destinations are mixed and we walked past a few. At the Kings Chapel we were invited to part with cash; so if you do this at each tour stop it can be quite expensive. The guide was expensive and rubbish – it would have been a liability in rain. It also very clearly marked us a tourists and I couldn’t help but wonder about being targets as we concentrated on finding things. If I am really honest we got bored. I (as a surveyor) found interest in the buildings but the story seemed a bit disjointed. Perhaps we would have been better with the uniformed tour guide.

TG

Photos from my first day of a week-long trip in Boston:

Arrived in Boston last Saturday with 2 large duffel bags, a backpack, a messenger bag, and a scooter. My parents drove me up, which was fun, and I stayed the weekend with some acquaintances. During the course of that weekend, I walked over a good half of Boston, saw the movie “Food, Inc.” and went to church. Monday morning, I moved into my dorm room, met my roommate, and walked the Freedom Trail with a friend and got completely soaked in the rain. This week will be spent in late nights and early mornings Discovering Product Design.

(To the curious: More will follow on at least two of these topics.)

So we’ve covered quite a lot of ground since our last post. Those of you who are up on your American history might guess that we have left New York and are now in Boston, the home of revolutionary agitation in the colonial period.

Before I get on to Boston, our last day in New York was great. We went out to Staten island and made it to historic Richmond town. which was very pretty in the sunshine and massive change from the sweltering and steel city. However the bloody place was closed, so no people in period dress, much to Hollie’s disappointment! Anyway, not to be too bummed out we decided to high foot it across to Brooklyn and over to Coney Island Beach.

Coney Island boardwalk is quite the spectacle, and unfortunately quite the dump as well. My hopes of quirky “see the amazing bearded lady” didn’t materialise, instead we were greeted by thousands of fat, unhealthy looking types munching on their corn dogs, supping on their two gallons of soda and generally sweating! Coney Island could be a brilliant place, if they clean it up a little. As it stands, the South Brooklyn projects just behind the boardwalk are probably a good indication of the levels of poverty in the area.

Our final night was spent in the company of the lovely Carlos and Sam. We ate classy hot dogs in a cocktail bar called Please Don’t Tell and had to enter through a secret door in a pone booth. Despite a natural aversion to such pretentious malarky, I have to say the quirkiness of it all and cracking cocktails probably made up for the fact that it was frequented by skinny jeans wearing type people (and if you’re reading this wearing skinny jeans, I hope you had an accident tumble drying them, otherwise shame on you!)

We caught the train up to Boston, which I highly recommend. There are great views of the Atlantic coastline as you weep up through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

We’ve spent a great couple of days in Boston, staying with my Auntie who lives here. Boston is a much more relaxed city, compared to New York. It also stays closer to it’s colonial heritage and you can definitely feel the European influence. At times it feels as if you’re walking around well to do parts of London.

We’ve walked the sickeningly named, “Freedom Trail” which snakes its way through old Boston taking you past the important sites. You do get a great sense for the revolutionary fervor that must have gripped the town in the build up to the war. Although I must say the information given at the old senate house was, unsurprisingly, heavily biased towards the patriots. There was no understanding of the reasons why the British government was instigating new taxes upon  the colonists (as a backdoor way of raising money to pay for the upkeep of the British army which was protecting the colonists frontiers from Natives and the Spanish – which the colonials refused to pay). But anyway it was really interesting nonetheless and got my inner History geek well excited! We also went to the Sam Adams brewery for some free beers. It’s ace, I recommend it!

We pick up our car tomorrow, so the road trip officially begins! I guess from here on in the updates might be a bit more infrequent, but we’ll try to hit an internet cafe regularly to upload picture etc. Speaking of which, pics from NYC and Boston will be up the next time I get a chance.

Vie the rights of men, down with tyranny!

Dan and Hols

x

Boston’s diversity hit me in the face within 15 minutes outside the airport. History, culture and entertainment blend naturally. You hear at least five different languages walking a block or two. And it’s hard to not find a building without a marker honoring the past – be it in the last 30 years or 300 years. 

Boston is very pedestrian friendly, and a friend told me before I left during my trip last week that you could walk across the city in 3 hours. I believe it. But during my weeklong visit I felt like I was walking longer – and stopping every couple blocks to take everything in. The architecture of apartment buildings, museums, churches, colleges and random other structures…

…the memorials to the Revolutionary War, science, fallen firefighters, literature, medicine and women’s history…

…and more memorials, many of which are along the Freedom Trail. The trail is a definite must-do on a first leisure trip to Boston. This historic path is marked by a red line for 2.5 to 3 miles (although it felt longer) passing by every site representing a major turning point toward our independence – from the Boston Common to Paul Revere’s Home to Bunker Hill. Along the way or a train ride (or two) away are numerous other places worth checking out, including the MIT Museum across the Charles River, Long Wharf, the JFK Library & Museum, and Georges Island - one of a handful of soaking-it-all-in-and-ponder-your-life stops in Boston Harbor.  

And then there is historic Faneuil Hall, a place of shopping, eating and a magnet for street performers:

The photos here represent a fraction of everything I saw, and if I wrote more I’d be writing all week. But much thanks to Boston to preserving history and turning it into a great adventure!!

Lastly, one thing I couldn’t take photos of but is worth mentioning is Blue Man Group (part theatre, part rock concert, part comedy … AMAZING, SUPER ENTERTAINING, so much FUN!!!!) If you’re into a unique interactive theatre experience, go see them! They also play in Chicago if you want to check them out closer to home.

We got a lot done in Boston yesterday. We took a bus tour all over the city, and saw different sections like Chinatown and the North End (even though my boyfriend Jim and I have seen both these sections on Sunday night). We also took a walking tour on the Freedom Trail. This trail is a 2 1/2 mile walk from Boston Common to the USS Constitution boat just across the water from the North End section. The trail features landmarks of the Revolutionary War, which won ”Freedom” for this country.

Last night was just as fun as the day activities. We saw Blue Man Group at the Charles Theater, in the theater district of town (next to Chinatown). Jim said I’d love the show, and I do. The show is a great fusion of art, music, lighting and comedy. Blue Man Group is proof that you don’t need to communicate with words to express wonder and be funny.

We just had breakfast, and we’re getting ready for another exciting day in Boston!

I absolutely LOVED Boston. The history, the buildings & the atmosphere. There are also some very attractive men who live in the city!

I took a walking tour of Harvard University in Cambridge, it is a beautiful campus with a very long & interesting history. The tour was given by a couple of students currently studying there so we got some behind the scenes information & stories.

Boston is well known for the television program Cheers, I visited the pub that inspired the program, The Bull & Finch Pub. I enjoyed some very nice pub grub washed down with pink lemonade.

The Freedom Trail is a 4km tour of 16 historical sites in Boston. I paid a small amount to get a guided tour & the tour guide wore a very fetching period outfit! I know I am a bit of a history buff, but this place is crammed full of it. You really get to learn about the birth of the USA staying in the north east of the country.

For more photos of my time in Boston, & other places in the USA, go to photo albums USA 2009 1 & USA 2009 2

Two weeks of running done, 16 left. This is gonna be difficult.

Here’s the promised update from last week.

During my visit to Boston this past weekend, I was able to jump on a treadmil at the hotel I was staying at. Seeing that a week ago I was able to run 2 miles at a Boston qualifying pace, I tried to double it this time. So I did, and was amazingly able to finish. Needless to say, the Freedom Trail walk was a little more rough than expected.

Next week I’ll try for 6 miles. No idea yet what my final pace time will be after all of this, but I can only hope.

Longfellow Bridge

Freedom Trail (redline goes all over town)

Washington Statue @ Boston Common

Holocaust memorial

After last week’s day off the grid, I was pleased to have another opportunity to explore my city come up. A friend of mine is headed to San Francisco for the summer for a cool internship, and she wanted to do one last Boston thing before she left. What’s more Boston than the Freedom Trail?

This is the second time I’ve done the Freedom Trail, but the third time I’ve made my way to the Bunker Hill Monument. The first time I did the Freedom Trail was on a cold, rainy February afternoon, and though it was not the most pleasant experience, I took pride in showing my out-of-town friends the history of my city. (The other time I saw the monument and some snatches of the Trail was during a Charlestown/North End walkabout that another friend of mine and I took during that freakishly warm day late last December.)

One of the best things about living in the Boston area, I find, is being surrounded by history. I am often inured to it, as I am simply walking downtown to H&M or taking the 93 bus past the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill. But occasionally, it hits me, and I realize that, holy crap, the stretch of Broadway in Somerville near my house that is littered with banks and hair salons is where Paul Revere rode to Lexington and Concord (video from this year’s reenactment), around the corner from that H&M is where the Boston Massacre took place, and so on. It is a nice thing to remember every now and then, especially for someone like me who comes from a place lacking in significant history (hooray for South Florida).

This most recent tour of the Freedom Trail took place on Memorial Day, which weather-wise was perhaps the most beautiful day we’ve had all year. We had a great time following the red line with occasional sidetrips down interesting alleyways, stopping for pizza in the North End and ice cream in City Square, taking in the many beautiful views the walk afforded and analyzing the poses of various statues. (Did you know the statue of Ben Franklin at Old City Hall has his gaze cast downward — right at you?!) I was particularly pleased to see how many people had come out to the new Rose Kennedy Greenway to get some sun or cool off in the fountains there — it made me feel optimistic about the future of the newest greenspace in the city.

I think my first time walking on the Freedom Trail was more focused on reading the historical placards and getting a sense of what happened where. This latest walk was more about drinking in the flavor of Boston and savoring it before bidding the city farewell for the summer. Each is a great way to spend a day — particularly when you’re sharing the walk with friends.

Here’s TripAdvisor’s list of the best free attractions in the U.S. released last spring, but it’s still relevant. Let’s see what TravelPod bloggers thought about it:

1. Bellagio Fountains, Las Vegas, Nevada

Jaskate at the Bellagio fountains

We also checked out the Bellagio fountains, which are truly spectacular. – Jaskate

2. Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

Jackies-world at Arlington National Cemetery

3. Waimea Canyon, Waimea, Hawaii

Oceanevelyn in Waimea Canyon

There are ocean views where the blue water goes on forever. I couldn’t tell where the ocean ended and the sky began. - Oceanevelyn

4. Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California

Bpippert and the Golden Gate Bridge

Next we headed out to get an amazing view of the Golden Gate from the view of an old gun battery used up into WW2. – Bpippert

5. Angel’s Landing, Zion National Park, Utah

Npacadia at Angel's Landing

Angel’s Landing is one of the iconic trails in Zion that feature numerous steep switchbacks, a very narrow and steep ridge line, and a magnificent perch overlooking the Zion canyon below. – Npacadia

6. U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii

Trippinwithleis at the USS Arizona memorial in Oahu

What an incredible sight. I can’t believe it is still leaking oil 60-some years later. - Trippinwithleis

7. Pacific Coast Highway, Route 1, California

California's Pacific Coast Highway

The scenery was beautiful - burnt orange heather covered the hills beside the road.  As we approached Monterey we could see the ocean – the sun was beaming on the water. – Sistersontour

8. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.

Cestlavie at the Holocaust Memorial Museum

That time period has always fascinated me and I’ve read tons of books from all different perspectives, but I loved putting it all together by walking through the stages, from Hitler’s insidious rise to power all the way through the Nuremberg trials. – Cestlavie

9. Freedom Trail, Boston, Massachusetts

Elrigster in Boston

We decide to follow the Freedom Trail (although the name nearly puts me off) which takes us from the main state house all the way over to the bunker hill monument on the other side of the river passing by a pletora of points of interest on the way. – Elrigster

10. Central Park, New York, New York

Leanneruss in Central Park

Checked out Strawberry Fields and the memorial to John Lennon. Lots of people were there laying flowers and paying respects. I sat relaxed and people watched while listening to some John Lennon classics on my iPod. – Leanneruss

Follow this Red Line to Boston's past

By Kevin Collins

It may not be 26.2 miles, but the 2.5-mile Freedom Trail opened to tourists on Marathon Monday, linking 16 historic sites throughout Boston. As tens of thousands of runners converged on Copley Square for the Boston Marathon, friends and family were stretching their own legs while exploring Boston’s colonial history.

“We’re exercising with our daughter who is running today,” said William Geoffrey, who traveled from West Virginia with his wife to support their daughter in the marathon. “Except we’re older and wiser so we’re exploring the city instead of running, trailing these freedom tours for free.”

The guided tours are overseen by The Freedom Trail Foundation and last for up to 90 minutes, accommodating up to 30 paying customers alongside those like Geoffrey who follow the tours at a distance for free. Individuals may walk the trail without a tour guide, following the red painted stripe and brick path that winds through Boston and Charlestown.

Beacon Hill will surely challenge the knees and hamstrings. And the long span over the Charles River to the Charlestown Navy Yard may seem like a long haul. You go at your own pace since there are no stopwatches in tourism. And the return of spring – even if it was overcast and chilly the third Monday in April – meant the tourists were back celebrating Patriots’ Day outdoors.

“The city is going crazy this morning,” said local graduate student Matt O’Connor. “Everyone has a map in their hands trying to follow the Freedom Trail around while the runners finish up. I’ve actually been asked where Paul Revere lives twice today, like I would know!”

For the record, The Paul Revere House is at 19 North Square in the North End (just follow the Freedom Trail). Guided tours continue through November 30. Tours are first come-first served, departing from the Boston Common and ending at Faneuil Hall every day of the week. For more information on The Freedom Trail or guided tours, contact the Boston office of the National Park Service at (617) 242-5642.

Tomorrow is the actual Patriot’s Day here in Massachusetts, we just celebrate on the third Monday of April each year. However, tomorrow is also the first day of tours for us and I have the afternoon tour.

I have spent the last hour or so, looking over my notes and books from last year to refresh my memory and hoping that the jerk from Concord who interrupted my talk the other day does not have a cousin who will be walking with me for an hour.

I mean, really, do you think that the tourists care what famous people came from my hometown? I can only name 2 anyways, most of the rest were imported for the private high school and left soon after.

Paul Revere Gets His Horse

Anyways, I have printed up a copy of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere…generally, you have someone on your tour who is about 58-65 who was made to memorize the poem as a younger child. The last paragraph makes a nice ending for our long walk together, though…

“So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere”
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If you are in the area tomorrow night, the annual Lantern Ceremony is taking place at Old North Church. It is an interesting event to go to as you get to see the Church completely full, including a fife corps, and hear from a variety of people. There is also an event at the Charlestown Navy Yard after the ceremony.

After this weekend, work ramps up, school ramps up, my family situation ramps up, and parties galore are happening. Looks like I won’t get too much sleep till November.

PS GO BRUINS!!!

Saturday Morning

I was in Boston a couple weekends ago with my wife and son.  Saturday morning we decided to take a walk along the Freedom Trail and enjoy Boston by foot.  As we entered Paul Revere park, I noticed this fellow feeding the pigeons.  He’d tear a piece of bread from the loaf, and then slowly, deliberately tear it into smaller pieces and toss it to the birds.  I watched him for a while and took several photos.  He glance up at me once or twice and didn’t seem to mind that I was there, as long as I didn’t disturb his small charges.  So I kept a respectful distance and smiled, and he fed the pigeons.