Small Strokes Big Oaks

I know you all are dying to hear about my recent Great American Train Adventure and vacation to the great city of Boston, and I don’t like to disappoint my readers, so here is a roundup of the best Boston had to offer!

First, we took a short trip on the suburban Metra into Chicago Union Station. This was our first clue as to how much less stressful it is to travel by train than it is to travel by air. We dropped Penny off with my mom in the suburbs, and she drove us the 15 minutes to the train station. That was it! There was no hour-long ride to the airport, no looping around the airport because we couldn’t find our terminal, and no three-hour line to get through security. It was great. We showed up early at Union Station, so we put our bags in a locker and grabbed some dinner. By the time we were done with that, we boarded the Amtrak train to Boston and were on our way. SO EASY.

The question I get most often, though, is whether or not I’d take the train again. My answer would have to be: It depends. The ride to Boston was literally 24 hours. The ride back was the same length. On the way there, it was great because we left at 9:30 PM and, by the time we got into Boston, it was too late to do anything anyway, so it was OK that we were exhausted and just wanted to sleep. We woke up the next day refreshed and ready to go. On the way back, we left at noon and got in around 11:00 AM, so we slept through the night, woke up and had some coffee, and we were practically in Chicago. We didn’t have a sleeper car, and the train was packed, but it was relaxing and a great buffer between vacation and home. Plus, I finished a book and got to spend some great quality time with Tim, just talking. We also met some really interesting people. Furthermore, according to the Amtrak coffee cups, the train uses less energy than air or car travel, so I felt pretty good about that. That said, 24 hours on a train is my absolute limit. I looked up how long it would take to take the train to San Francisco (since it is my dream to go back to Napa Valley sometime in my life). 48 hours. Two full days without being able to shower? No thanks. But I’d gladly take the train to the East Coast again!

I do, also, think it was fitting that, on a vacation to see so much of our nation’s history, I was also able to see a great deal of our nation from the window of the train. Our country is really beautiful and inspiring, and I was able to take all of that in while we traveled to Boston.

While we were in Boston, we were able to do all sorts of great things. Our first day there, we decided to do the Duck Tours. I had been on these World War II-era land and water vehicles in the Wisconsin Dells when I was a kid, but Tim had never had the experience, so I insisted we do that instead of a bike tour, which would have been his choice. Good thing, too, because our tour guide was hilarious and it was a great way to get oriented with the city on our first day. That night, we saw the Red Sox lose ridiculously to the Blue Jays, but it was really cool to be at Fenway Park – the oldest ballpark in our nation. Did you know the WHOLE PARK is green? I had no idea. Then again, I know almost nothing about baseball now-a-days (I can name any player from the White Sox in the 1990’s, though, thanks to my brother). Anyway, it was really cool, and definitely one of the only places I could act like a total tourist and not be embarrassed.

Over the next few days, we toured the Harpoon Brewery, walked on the Freedom Trail with the best guide ever (He was a former teacher. Teachers make the best tour guides!), saw the bells of the Old North Church – the start of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride – as well as the tombs beneath the church, saw the burial places of some of our nation’s founding fathers, and went on a haunted tour of Boston which was totally cheesy but still scared the crap out of me. We stayed in the oldest continuously operating hotel in the nation, the Omni Parker House, and every single tour guide we had – and we had quite a few – told us stories about how haunted it is. Apparently, they also keep a book of all of the strange things that happen in the hotel at the front desk. We didn’t look at it.

We were also able to take the ferry into Salem. As a huge English major nerd, this was really exciting for me. I have taught The Crucible more times than I’d like to count, and the Salem Witch Trials really interest me. Unfortunately, Salem was a disappointing tourist trap. I expected most of the original buildings to be intact and the museums to be really awesome, but apparently most of the town burned down in a huge fire in 1914, so most of the buildings look really new. Also, Salem didn’t have a historical society until after the 1950’s, so lots of things related to the history of the town were demolished because no one was there to protect it. Even now, the historical society is underfunded, as evidenced by the small museums and relatively short reenactments of the trials. On top of that, most of the shops and restaurants look like Halloween threw up in them. I found this particularly offensive because the 19 women and men (and two dogs) that were hanged for witchcraft in 1692 were not, in fact, witches. Too many people ignore this part of our history, or don’t bother to learn enough about it, and that makes me really sad.

That said, seeing all of the history Boston and Salem had to offer and hearing stories of people who weren’t afraid to write and speak their minds for the good of the people in this country was inspiring. It is reflective of what I try to do on a daily basis, and seeing first-hand the effects a few outspoken people can have was truly wonderful.

Featured Image Credit: My Train Pix. All other images are mine.