This is a picture of the old North Church. It is surrounded by other buildings, so I couldn't get a good photo. Hmm, I wonder if I should slip in photos taken by other people in my family, and pretend that I got the same shot?? Nah, they would recognize their pictures when they visit this website.
After Old North Church and the Copp's Hill Burial Grounds, we walked the bridge across the Charles River. The Freedom trail splits on the far shore, one branch goes to the USS Constitution (which was closed) & a Visitor Center, the other branch takes you to Bunker Hill. Bunker Hill is significant in that the US forces inflicted such heavy causalties on the British troops that they were inspired to continue their resistance. The British won the battlefield (US troops ran out of ammo, and British set up cannon across Charles River that could reach Bunker Hill). The British commander had some quote along the lines: "A few more victories such as this, and we will surely lose the war."
There is a large monument on Bunker hill commemorating the battle. You can climb to the top on a spiraling stairway - was it 250 steps? It was a long climb, but worth doing.
I tried to take a panoramic view of the city of Boston from the top of the monument. There are 4 windows at the top, each facing a different quadrant. In the first picture you can see a fancy suspension bridge (just completed as part of the Big Dig) across the Charles River. The huge white building behind it is the Fleet Center, home of the Celtics. Downtown Boston is further back.
After a stop at the Visitor Center, we took the subway back out of town. The subway is a cool way to travel. I wish out here in the Bay Area that they would extend the BART system up to Santa Rosa.
