Massachusetts with a side trip to Connecticut

Our stay in Sturbridge, Massachusetts started with a side-trip to a Southbridge tire shop to buy four more new tires for the motorhome.  Two tires had been replaced in Syracuse, New York.  Our plan was to replace two rear tires that had a wear problem and leave the other four until a much later date.  The new tires were to go on the front which meant they had to move the two existing front tires to the rear.  To make a long story short, the front tires were damaged when they were removed so now we still had two bad tires.  We never knew it could be so difficult to buy new tires.  Tire shops could get the tires but couldn't get us in for two weeks and since we weren't staying in any one place for two weeks we couldn't get them replaced until we got to Sturbridge and a shop in a nearby town could do it.  Now we have all new tires, at least we don't have to think about it for a long, long time.

The sign should say "Massachusetts Welcomes You and Your Money!"

Southbridge Town Hall, built in 1888

Southbridge Fire Department, Massachusetts, built in 1899

Church in Southbridge, Massachusetts

OLD STURBRIDGE VILLAGE, MASSACHUSETTS

An 1830's New England Village

Meetinghouse built in 1832 in Sturbridge, moved to its current location in 1947  

Pottery kiln, this is actually a reproduction

School - Kids went to school 5 1/2 days a week, there were no grades or graduation, they started school at about 4 years of age, students went to school until their parents thought they had learned enough or their help was needed at home

Quinebaug River

Dummerston Bridge over Quinebaug River, was built around 1870 in Vermont, it was dismantled and moved to Old Sturbridge Village in 1952.

The Towne House, built in 1796 in Charlton, Massachusetts

MYSTIC, CONNECTICUT

While staying at Sturbridge, Massachusetts, we drove to Mystic, Connecticut, and then to Rhode Island.  We only went a short distance into Rhode Island so we missed all the spectacular mansions in Newport, but that was okay.  We probably will not drive to the east coast again so we want to see all that we can while we're here so the miles just keep adding up!   That's one thing about the east coast, the states are small so it doesn't take much time at all to drive from one to another.  

The Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling ship in the world, was launched on July 21, 1841 and has survived Confederate raiders, fires, storms, sailing around Cape Horn and even a hurricane.

Figureheads from old ships

Anything with the name 'Denison' is worth photographing only because that's my maiden name!

Our only picture taken in Rhode Island!

BACK TO BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Boston is about 60 miles or so from Sturbridge and after talking to some locals about traffic and parking in Boston, we decided to take the commuter train from Worcester to Boston.  The train begins and ends in Worcester so we were among the first passengers on and didn't have to worry about seats.  It was a very pleasant ride and after a day of sightseeing in Boston, we were very happy to board the train back to Worcester and leave the driving to someone else.  At the train station in Boston there are a number of trolley companies offering tours so we hopped on a trolley and were off to see the sights.  

We got off the trolley at Cheers, which is in the Beacon Hill neighborhood, and while the outside looked just like it did on the 1980's TV sitcom, the interior wasn't anything like the TV show.  They did have a 'set' bar upstairs that slightly resembled the television program but it was still fun to be there.  After lunch, we ditched the trolley and walked along Beacon Hill back to the downtown area following the Freedom Trail.  

The place was packed and it was noisy but lunch was good

Humph!  They didn't know my name!  Oh, well, it was still fun to have a beer and lunch at Cheers!

Old State House, built in 1713, served as the seat of Colonial and State governments.  It is also the site of the Boston Massacre in 1770 when British soldiers fired into a crowd of Bostonians killing five people.

Fanueil Hall, built in 1742, was an old market building and meeting place where Samuel Adams and others gave speeches encouraging independence from Great Britain.  The statue of Samuel Adams is said to be as he appeared after demanding of the Governor the British troops be removed from Boston after the Boston Massacre.

Paul Revere's house (the smaller wood-sided building)

St. Stephen's Church was a Unitarian Church when Charles Bulfinch designed it in 1804 but 58 years later it was given a Catholic identity when the North End was mostly Irish.  Charles Bulfinch, 1763 to 1844,  was an early American architect who designed a number of buildings in Boston.

The Old North Church, built in 1722, is Boston's oldest church building.  The church was memorialized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere", at the beginning of the American Revolution on April  18, 1775.

Bunker Hill Monument, dedicated in 1843, is 221-feet tall.  It commemorates the American Revolution's first major battle.

Boston skyline

One of the ferry terminals

Boston skyline

Another view of Fanueil Hall

Massachusetts State House, completed in 1798, designed by Charles Bulfinch

Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge over the Charles River, opened in 2003 

We saw quite a few of these bumper protectors in Boston and New York.  When cars park on the street there may be only inches between cars.  We often wondered how people parked their cars in so little space.  I guess you back up until you hit the car behind you, that's why you need bumper pads. What they really need is side thrusters!!!

Time to continue north so it's goodbye Massachusetts, hello Maine!