Will H's USA Trip

Quick Update - visited Middlesex Fells Reservation located about five miles north of Cambridge.  Middlesex Fells Reservation is a public recreation area covering more than 2,200 acres and includes five reservoirs, an observation tower, and over 100 miles of trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and cross country skiing.  I spent the afternoon exploring a small part of it on foot.      I found the Wright's fairly quickly.  The tower was built in the 1930's as part of the Works Progress Administration which itself was a part of the New Deal. I'm not sure if there was any actual purpose for the tower beyond becoming a little known tourist attraction.  It does offer some nice views of the city.      I saw a couple of really old No Trespassing signs the forest is in the process of absorbing.

There are a number of islands right off the coast of Boston.  Almost all of them are now parks, including Georges Island, site of Fort Warren.  Most of these islands can be reached using the Boston Harbor ferries. The trip out to the island provides for a number of good downtown views. FYI, the huge yacht on the right hand side in the first shot is called The Huntress.  If you like what you see you can lease her for between $400,000 and $450,000 per week.  See the following link for more details.  The Huntress The ferry passed by a lot of the tall ships that paraded in the previous Saturday.  It came a lot closer than from where we viewed them from downtown. Arriving at Fort Warren I joined the first guided tour of the day. We learned that the fort was constructed to protect the port of Boston following the war of 1812.  The island watches over the only deep water channel into the harbor forming a natural choke point for...

One of my roommates suggested checking out the Blue Hills Reservation south of town for some good hiking and biking trails.  Blue Hills is a 6,000 acre state park about 10 miles away from Boston.  It includes several hills, the highest of which is the Great Blue Hill (635ft) and is the site of the oldest continuously operating weather recording station, the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory. For the most part I followed the Skyline Loop in the western half of the park.  The Skyline Loop gets it's name because it mostly follows the ridges of the various hills within the reservation, which means lots of elevation changes.  Granite is a big player in the park and there are rocks on almost every trail.      I quickly learned that biking was not going to be fun on most of these trails (at least not my idea of fun).  I parked the bike near the park headquarters and spent a few hours exploring the place.  I climbed to the top of ...

Sunday was a sunny, warm day, perfect for checking out the Boston Freedom Trail, a 2.5mi path through downtown that passes several historically significant locations: Boston Commons (park), the Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burial Ground, King's Chapel and Burying Ground, Benjamin Franklin, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, the Site of the Boston Massacre, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp's Hill Burying Ground, USS Constitution, and the Bunker Hill Monument. State House - originally completed in 1798, it's been expanded several time since then and serves as the seat of the state's governing bodies.  The dome is copper, gilded with gold leaf. Granary Burial Ground - established in 1660, the site currently has about 2,300 markers but up to 5,000 people are buried there including Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and the victims of the Boston Massacre. Kings Chapel - founded in 168...