MARITIMES CRUISE 2025
We didn't plan on doing a big ship cruise, but when friends we had made in Europe (that lived 3 blocks from us) invited us to join them on a 10-Day Classic Canada & New England cruise, we had to consider it. The itinerary included three Canadian provinces in the maritimes that we haven't been to before, and that's usually my criteria for planning trips... somewhere new.
Boston
Things are a little strange and awkward in the United States right now, but that is where we would have to fly to in order to board the ship. It sails out of Boston, so we decided to make the most of it, and after a flight change due to less scheduled American flights, we arrived a few days early. We wanted to make the most out of our time in Boston, somewhere that I had only seen the airport terminal as I passed through on the way to Maine.
MONDAY
We flew out of Vancouver early Monday morning for our direct flight to Boston. With the time change we arrived in Boston around dinner time, but after checking in and wandering the area it was a little challenging to find a place that was still serving food. We ended up at a place called The White Bull Tavern and I had a Pasta Pizza for the first time in my life, pizza crust, macaroni topping.
The view from our hotel room was nice during the day and night.
TUESDAY
Our first full day in Boston, and we decided to just wander the city, our hotel was in a prime central location making it easy to wander past some historical buildings and explore from there. Based on advice from our waitress the night before, our first stop was Mike's Pastries in the North End, a short walk from our hotel, and well worth every step!
One of the unique aspects of Boston is the historical Boston Freedom Trail. The Boston Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile (4 km) red-brick path through the city that connects 16 significant historical sites from the American Revolution. We started part way along the trail at Faneuil Hall, and followed the brick path towards Bunker Hill.
Paul Revere Statue
Faneuil Hall hosted America's first Town Meeting. The Hall's vital role in revolutionary politics had not been part of its original plans, Built as a center of commerce in 1741, Faneuil Hall is where the Sons of Liberty proclaimed their dissent against Royal oppression.
The Old North Church was built in 1723, Boston’s oldest church is best known for the midnight ride of Paul Revere and “One if by land, two if by sea”. There were two routes that the British soldiers could take; by land through the Boston Neck, and by sea across the Charles River. Paul Revere arranged to have a signal lit in the Old North Church – one lantern if the British were coming by land and two lanterns if they were coming by sea – and began to make preparations for his ride to alert the local militias and citizens about the impending attack.The unique aspect of the church being it's paid for pews, which determined where you sat, and whether you could have a vote in the church decisions.
Copp's Hill Burying Ground was Boston's largest colonial burying ground, dating from 1659. Some notables buried in Copp's Hill are fire-and-brimstone preachers Cotton and Increase Mather, two Puritan ministers closely associated with the Salem witch trials, and Old North Church sexton Robert Newman, the man who hung the lanterns on the night of Paul Revere's midnight ride.
The Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, was the first major battle of the Revolutionary War and predicted the character and outcome of the rest of the war. "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" is the order believed to have been given to American soldiers, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, because of their low supplies of ammunition.
Bunker Hill Monument, Charlestown, built 1824-43
Launched in Boston in 1797, USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat and earned her nickname "Old Ironsides" during the War of 1812 when she fought the British frigate HMS Guerriere.
From the Boston Naval Yards we started back down the Boston Freedom Trail towards Boston Common.
The next stop on the Freedom Trail was the Paul Revere House, built around 1680, owned by the legendary patriot from 1770-1800. It is the oldest remaining structure in downtown Boston and also the only official Freedom Trail historic site that is a home.
Running through the center of Boston is a series of connected parks known as the Rose Kennedy Greenway. In 1991, after almost a decade of planning, construction began in Boston on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, more widely known as the “Big Dig”. The project, would remove the elevated highway and create a tunnel system below the city. With the elevated highway relocated underground, community and political leaders seized the opportunity to enhance the city by creating The Greenway, a public park that re-connected some of Boston’s oldest and most vibrant neighborhoods, and the city itself with the waterfront.
We had to stop and watch the infamous unicorn unicyclist juggler.
Through Massacre, Revolution, and fire, the Old State House stands as the oldest surviving public building in Boston. Built in 1713, the building served as the center of civic, political, and business life. This is also the site of the Boston Massacre. On March 5, 1770, after months of tensions due to occupation and taxation, Bostonians and Redcoats clashed in the streets of Boston. What ended with five civilians killed by gunfire, led to the rallying of Bostonians against the Crown and the evacuation of troops in Boston. They would not return until 1774.
Built as a Puritan meeting house in 1729, Old South Meeting House is one of the country’s first public historic conservation efforts, and one of the earliest museums of American history. On December 16, 1773, over 5,000 men crowded into the meeting house to hotly debate the controversial tea tax. When the final attempt at compromise failed, Samuel Adams gave the signal that started the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty led the way to Griffin’s Wharf, where they dumped 342 chests of tea into the frigid harbor.
Boston Latin School, founded on April 23, 1635, is the oldest public school in America. It offered free education to boys - rich or poor - while girls attended private schools at home. Until the completion of the schoolhouse in 1645, classes were held in the home of the first headmaster, Philemon Pormont. A mosaic and a statue of former student Benjamin Franklin currently marks the location of the original schoolhouse.
Founded in 1686 as Boston’s first Anglican church, King’s Chapel is home to over 330 years of history. The 1754 granite building still stands on the church's original site: the corner of Boston's oldest English burying ground. The Granary Burying Ground is the burial location of Revolutionary War-era patriots, including Paul Revere, the five victims of the Boston Massacre, and three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine. The cemetery has 2,345 grave-markers. Historians estimate that as many as 5,000 people are buried there.
Hidden among the historic graves is what appears to be Mother Goose's final resting place.
The ‘new’ and current State House has served as the seat of Massachusetts government since its opening in 1798.
Established in 1634, Boston Common is America’s oldest public park. Puritan colonists purchased the land rights to the Common’s 44 acres from the first European settler of the area
With the Freedom Trail complete, we had one more historic stop to make... the place where everybody knows your name... The Cheers Pub. Founded in 1969 as the Bull & Finch Pub, Cheers Beacon Hill became the original inspiration for the setting of the TV show Cheers. In fact, the year that the Cheers show premiered on television (1982) Boston Magazine chose the Bull & Finch Pub as the “Best Neighborhood Bar” in Boston. We had to step inside for a beer and some chowda
Full of Beer and Chowder, we wandered around other cool looking buildings and made our way back to the hotel.
WEDNESDAY
Today was a catchup day, we left some laundry at Lans Laundry so we could see other things, and did a Boston Harbour Cruise.
We learned all about the history of the city and the harbour areas... all about the difference between a Pier and a Wharf, all about how most of the area was manmade land, and some great stories about garbage.
The stunning waste processing plant that we learned all about on our harbour cruise
The tour took us back past the Boston Naval Yards, and we learned more about the USS Constitution and the destroyer the USS Cassin Young.
Back on dry manmade land, we wandered to the Chinatown area for some snacks.
We worked our way back through the Boston Common and took the long walk to Fenway Park.
No trip to Boston would be complete without visiting Fenway Park, and what better way to see it than a behind the scenes tour of Boston's famous baseball park, which was built in 1912.
First we were taken up into the stands and given a lot of history of the Red Sox, famous players, and some interesting facts like Ted Williams and John Glenn (first American astronaut to orbit the moon) who met as Marine Corps pilots during the Korean War, where Williams flew as Glenn's wingman on many missions.
Next we were taken down on to the field to watch batting practice, and our guide pointed out to the Canadians to make sure and take a picture of Toronto being on top of the leader board. Some Sox fan scoffed at that, but I guess we showed them didn't we?
From the field we were taken up on to the infamous Green Monster to watch more of the batting practice... where I came within 5 feet of being hit by a ball... err, I mean catching a home run ball. These little metal baseball shaped seats can run you between 4-800 dollars, but wow that view is something else, as long as you pay attention and don't get concussed by a home run.
After our tour we met up with the two other couples we are doing the cruise with. Now that they had all arrived in Boston, I suggested the North End Little Italy area which had lots of Italian restaurants. We ended up at Artu Rosticceria & Trattoria, where I had maybe the second best Lasagna I have eaten in my life. Norine's is always first.
THURSDAY
Today was gameday, we had tickets for the Red Sox vs A’s game. it was a great experience to watch a game in this park amongst the very disappointed Red Sox fans. Although cloudy at first, it ended up being a very nice day, and the A’s won 5-3.
After the game we Uber'ed back to Lans Laundry to pickup our fresh clothes, and one last wander back through the North End.
We met up with the gang again at Margaritaville which luckily for us was just across the street.
The Boston tour guides wrap up their day as we finish dinner.
FRIDAY
On Friday morning we packed up, and headed to the Cruise Ship Terminal to board our ship, The Majestic Princess.
