Fun Little Excursions

This will be really brief. In both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, I got to visit places that I didn't spend enough time in to warrant their own individual posts, but were still neat little alcoves of tourism I wanted to share.

In Rhode Island, I walked through the Roger Williams National Memorial but did not visit the actual Visitor Center. It's basically a big park (I'm sure the Visitor Center is chock full of information though) and was a very peaceful patch of green in the middle of downtown Providence. I thought it was pretty.

I also walked by the First Baptist Church in America, which I sadly was not timely enough to get a tour of. The building itself is very impressive- much bigger than I thought it would be, and is all white. Whoever is asked with keeping that building gleaming sure has their work cut out for them!

In Massachusetts, Alicia and I spent a great deal of time at the Yankee Candle Company flagship store/Christmas central. We enjoyed ourselves, walking from room to room, being fake-snowed on, eating huge certainly unhealthy snacks (don't worry, healthy treats are available), dipping our own candles (there were lots of wax activities geared towards kids, but adults could have fun too obviously), and most of all, smelling candles. And lots of them. I have SUPER sensitive allergies and asthma, so I was a bit leery going into this place, but didn't react nearly as bad as I thought I would. The two stand out scents that I LOVED (seriously, doesn't someone want to give me these for a gift??) were Meyer Lemon and Cozy Sweater. Two scents that stood out as very strange and "manly" were scented as bacon and timber. Strange, but not horrible as you may think.

Huzzah! Tasty Tea and the Hurry Home!

Well, I have come to the final site-specific entry for my trip through Rhode Island and Massachusetts (well over a month ago by this point). Remember that I was operating on one hour of sleep my last day in Boston- it will be key to what happened during my time at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum.

The Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum from a distance

I arrived at the BTPSM hot, thirsty, and tired of lugging around my suitcase across cobblestone pathways. I walked there from the Paul Revere House, which took about 30 minutes at a slower pace than I normally take. After a rather uninterested teenage girl at the ticket booth informed me I would have to carry my suitcase with me (yay! *insert sarcastic tone here*), I was ushered inside a church-ish looking room, and given a feather and a colonial identity that I was to portray throughout my visit.

Dr. Elisha Story, at your service!

After a few minutes, our tour guide "Samuel Sprague" came bursting into the room  and later "Samuel Adams" loudly proclaiming the the colonials were being mistreated by King George, and there's a secret meeting and, yadda yadda. I don't remember the exact story, but I loved that they kept me awake by teaching us to yell "Huzzah!" and other positive cheers when something good happened and to boo and hiss (literally) when something we "colonials" didn't like occurred.

"Sammy Sprague" giving us the low down on why we should be angry colonials

Our first stop was on the ship where the tea was being stored prior to the Boston Tea Party (the historical event all of this museum is actually based on if you hadn't caught on to that by now). We got to walk through the different levels of the boat, go into the "captain's quarters" and in the end some little kids got to throw some "tea" into the harbor. It was coming off the boat that Sam told us that all of the names we had been given were actual people known to have participated in the Boston Tea Party. We were also told that while photos had been allowed up to that point, no photographs were to be taken into the museum.

"Tea" that we got to see thrown into the harbor...with ropes for handy retrieval

 By this time, the sun and general fatigue were wearing down on me. The first room we entered looked like a really fancy living room. I sat along the wall (big mistake!). To my left were two portraits of King George- and someone I can't remember representing the colonists- that were actually videos. The effect told the viewpoint of each side of the conflict, in a way that would make any Hogwarts painting proud (that's a Harry Potter reference, in case you've never seen the movies or read the books). To the right was a portrait of an old lady with an audio track, and a display case with the only actual artifact in the museum- one of the few remaining tea cases from the actual Boston Tea Party. Few as in, only two or three are known to remain. So that's a pretty big deal.

So where does my mistake come in? Well. As interesting as I found the presentation (I really think it was cool!) I fell asleep, propped up against my suitcase. Seriously. When I woke up were were transitioning into a different room (a holographic meeting of two colonial wives discussing their views of the British-Colonial problem), and a few of my fellow tour members looked at me with pity and asked if I was OK! I was so embarrassed, but explained it had just been a long day and I was functioning on very little sleep.

The last room was another video presentation with a man discussing the early beginning of the actual Revolutionary War, and how the Boston Tea Party helped ignite the spark for Americans to fight for independence. We all sang 'America the Beautiful' at the end (or we were supposed to anyway- I think I was the only person who actually did). But up next was my favorite part of the experience!

The teas available for tasting in Abagail's Tea Room

Although optional, you can have a treat and sample a variety of teas in Abagail's Tea Room. I think I spent maybe a total of $8 on a chocolate chip cookie and commemorative mug (that doubled for me as another gift for my grandmother!) with unlimited tea drinking. And there were some amazing teas to try- I actually love drinking hot tea, and pity all the coffee addicts that don't "get" how complex and beautiful tea is. But anyway, I was too tired (and my phone and camera were near death and I still had to get to the airport), so I didn't write down or record the actual names of the flavors of tea in the room- but they were very tasty. One had a very smoky flavor, which I loved, another was brewed with strawberries, which I didn't love as much. The kids there enjoyed mixing the flavors up, and I enjoyed being able to sit down, get myself organized, and relax before I hustled home.

From there, you are led into the most expansive gift shop I saw in Boston. I bought some tea for my grandmother (to go with her cup of course) and rushed to the airport as I had just received a text that my flight had been delayed.

(On an aside about my flight home- major kudos to US Airways for their super friendly and helpful staff at Boston's airport. Whereas before when I went to Memphis on Delta and had a miserable experience, this flight delay actually worked out to my advantage. As soon as I finished my tea and cookie, I rushed to the airport, and went to the counter asking if there was anything I could do- getting home any later than I already was going to would mean I could possibly be stranded at Pittsburgh's airport until the next morning since the buses would stop running by the new arrival time. This blessed employee told me that if I could hurry, there was a flight leaving in 30 minutes going to Pittsburgh, and if that was full, I could try for the one leaving 45 minutes after that. With some paperwork he gave me after typing in some info, I rushed to the first gate, only to learn I missed making that flight by one stand-by customer. So I raced to the second gate, and stood there long before the staff even arrived to prep for the flight, and got my name on the stand-by list. By the grace of God I was the last stand-by person to make that flight, and I ended up getting home nearly two hours sooner than I originally intended. THAT, my friends, is how airlines should operate!)

So, I'm typing this a few days before you guys will actually see it- typing is helping me stay awake so that I can leave on time for this red eye to Seattle for the next two states in my journey: Washington and Alaska. I'm very excited about this trip, because whereas many of my states I've technically been to before but am re-visiting with fresh eyes for the blog, I sincerely have never been anywhere on the west coast before. Follow me on Twitter to keep up with my check-ins and anticipate my future blog entries, and check out and like my Facebook page for way more pictures than I could ever fit on this blog.

Thanks so much for reading, and I'll see you on the next adventure!

The Paul Revere House

Sign outside of the Paul Revere House

We all know the Longfellow rhyme: Listen my children and you will hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere...right? Well, if you don't you can read the entire poem here. In the meantime, you can read about my trip to The Paul Revere House, the third of four stops I made on my last day in Boston.

Whereas the Old South Meeting House and the Old State House were both relatively close together, the PRH was a bit further of a journey than I originally expected. Mind you, in reality it was only 15 minutes tops away from the first two stops, but I was working on one hour of sleep and lugging a suitcase along brick and cobblestone streets full of tourists.

PRH from across the street

The house doesn't look nearly as old as it is (it was built in 1680) and while it looks sort of drab and tiny from the outside, is a lot bigger and warmer inside. No photos were allowed inside the house (as always) but they do a good job of filling the home with pieces that would have been used by the Reveres. There is even a case full of silver pieces that he made. The overall visit took maybe 30-40 minutes. It was thankfully air conditioned inside the home, and for the most part, people kept moving and didn't stand too long in certain areas making it hard for others to visit.

One of the last bells made by Paul Revere

I also want to thank the very kind woman at the admissions booth. There isn't a secure place to but belongings (like my suitcase) and according to her, after the recent Boston Bombings many tourism hot spots have declined to offer a place to store bags for tourists. However, realizing that I was of course no terrorist, allowed me to put my bag against the booth so I could tour the home. She didn't have to do that- but I am very thankful she did. (Take note Newport Mansions!)

A few more entries for this latest adventure, and then I will be gone to visit Washington and Alaska. Thank you so much for reading my blog! Make sure you check out my Facebook page for more pictures and hit the "Like" button if you want to support! You can follow me on Twitter and see all the cool places I check out while I'm actually on my adventures too- in real time!

The Old State House

The Old State House view from the Boston Massacre site

The Old State House is the oldest public building in the city of Boston, and has had a myriad of uses over its 300 year history. Royal offices, lawyers, business people, post masters, and more have all had claim to the structure at one point on another. Remarkably well kept, this is the site of the infamous Boston Massacre (just below that window you see above actually) and now is home to a museum and- subway station? Yeah, you read that correctly, coming right out of the side of the building is an entry into the subway system of Boston. A...unique way to keep a historic building relevant I must say.

Site of the Boston Massacre just outside of the OSH

It was pretty much a straightforward museum- a very well stocked gift shop, with artifacts and informational maps and articles scattered about.  A Few highlights for me were:

Our time traveling friend answering our questions

1. The interactive question and answer session with a Boston resident from just before the Massacre had taken place. He explained, from his view point, what the climate was like in Boston that led up to all of the events we now learn about in US history class. I like that he didn't break character when speaking with people (for example, someone told him they were from Florida, and he looked confused and asked, "Do you mean the Spanish colonies? My we hardly ever meet any Spaniards in Boston!") Imagine how cool it must be to be a high school or college kid and your summer gig is to role play in colonial attire? I mean, probably not very cool temperature wise, but it beats burger flipping!

The Lion and Unicorn welcoming me into the galleries

2. I really liked how the museum has taken the Lion and Unicorn emblem (symbols of the British monarchy) and really used them to introduce people to early American history. Throughout there are tidbits that speak to how the symbols went from being symbols of pride, to symbols of oppression (at one point the lion and unicorn figures at the top of the building were torn down and burned in a bonfire. Yikes!), to now symbols of a strong and noteworthy past. They are literally everywhere inside and outside the building- and while I don't quite remember exactly what the represented individually, it was explained on the panel you see pictured above.

Painting depicting the Boston Massacre

3. I was especially glad to see that Crispus Attucks was not ignored or overlooked in the history of this site. As the first person (of any race) to die in the fight for American liberty, he holds an important place in society and in African-American history (and let's be fair, Native American history too). I'm always amazed at people who don't know this fact- this is something I distinctly remember learning about in 3rd or 4th grade because we did several school projects on the Revolutionary War and French and Indian War (that's the 7 Years War for all of my European readers). And this took place at a public school in an urban, 99% black neighborhood- in the late 80s. Hmph. Maybe my school district was ahead of the ball.

Anyway, I have a few more Massachusetts entries to type up (and still have to add those picture captions...I'm so behind!) I have a soft Rhode Island mention to do, but I think I'm going to make a brief wrap up post for events and things that weren't big enough to warrant their own blog entry.

And, I leave for Washington/Alaska in just a few days! I'm so excited!

As always, thank you for reading along, and see you on the next adventure!

Phyllis' Praise Place

On my last day in Massachusetts, I visited four locations in the hours before my flight home. All on foot (well, minus the Peter Pan bus from Springfield to Boston). All lugging my suitcase around. All on just over an hour of sleep (silly me thinking I could still hang with my friends until 5 in the morning and be able to function the next day!)

Needless to say I was dead tired! But how many times will I ever be in Boston again, and see so many actual sites of American history that I'd learned about in school? (Actually, I hope I have a lot more reasons to visit Boston- I felt very comfortable there and reminded me how much I missed the hustle and bustle of a large city, no offense to Pittsburgh.) Like I said, I visited four sites, but this blog will focus on the first site: The Old South Meeting House.

Old South Meeting House

I especially wanted to see the OSMH because of its connection to Phyllis Wheatley. As the first major African-American author (before the Revolutionary War no less!) she holds a distinct place in American history. She met both Benjamin Franklin and George Washington (who had invited her to his home). The OSMH was her church. Inside there is a statue of her that tells a little bit of her story. I mean, there are other figurines and people mentioned in the church (including some humorous depictions of "beef" between some of the church members right before the Revolutionary War was in full swing), but she was my personal highlight.

Phyllis Wheatley statue in the OSMH

Three things I found interesting:
1. Whereas in the African Meeting House I learned that the ceiling was curved to help project sound in a time before microphones, this place had a sounding board- sort of a heavy flat overhang right above the pulpit that was meant to serve the same purpose. Information lying about  in the pews said that the sounding board hanging in place today was original. Meaning I am looking at the same thing Phyllis would have seen.

You can see the sounding board above the pulpit.

2. Speaking of the pews, I've never seen a church set up the way this one was. The pews were more like boxes of benches, and not all of the seats faced the front. I vaguely remember reading something about the Puritan congregation that founded the church preferring the set up that way, and that people actually had to PAY to sit in certain booths. How crazy is that!

Best view of the Pews I could get-
along with a creepy ghost looking plastic cut out of another historical figure...

3. We weren't allowed upstairs into the balcony while I was there. I'm sure there could have been a ton of neat looking aerial shots of these strange pews if we had been allowed. I'm not too concerned though, the place looked like it could use some major sprucing up, so it may not have been safe to travel up there anyway.

Best view of the balcony I could get from the front of the first floor.

Thank you again for reading my blog. Feel free to comment, leave suggestions, or ask questions. I still have more Massachusetts to account for (at LEAST three more entries) and by the time you finish reading them all, I will be wrapping up my next two states: Washington and Alaska!

See you on the next adventure!

Hoop Dreams (And The Return of Alicia!)

During my four days in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, I completed a total of three sports-related excursions. The first was my trip to the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island. Then was another baseball park tour at Fenway in Boston. My final sports related outing was in Springfield, Massachusetts for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. And guess who made her second blog-related trip with me? My friend Alicia! You guys may remember her from my day trip to Annapolis, Maryland in 2011. I don't mind going places by myself, but having a friend there can be refreshing and enjoyable too.

The Basketball Hall of Fame

Again, here is where I start off by saying I'm not a big basketball fan. Pittsburgh doesn't have a basketball team, and while I enjoyed watching games while I was in college, I could really care less about the NBA and who got traded where or anything. I know more about the players because of their personal lives (and all the drama they have in them) than I do about their stats. I didn't even know the Charlotte Hornets didn't exist anymore until maybe 5 years ago (they left to become the New Orleans Pelicans *snicker* in 2002. Thank you Wikipedia!) As a kid I used to just cheer for whatever team had the cutest colors. It wasn't football, so I wasn't worried.

But, with such a cool looking building, a rich history to learn about, and a friend willing to tag along I made the trip. By far this is the most interactive non-traditional museum I've ever been to. Walk into the building and at first you think you've entered a shopping mall by mistake. It's noisy, and there are tons of kids (mostly boys sad to say) and rogue basketballs zipping around. That's because on the very first floor, just behind the admissions ticket box (that's what it looked like) there is a huge gym with swarms of kids playing basketball. 

No, I'm serious. This is just one corner of the gym.

Take an elevator up and you walk around a ring of knowledge with lots of photos above you of inductees (99% of whom I'd never heard of), and a timeline of basketball history with random artifacts built into display panels that circle the entire gym from above. 

A view of the "ring of knowledge" 

Once you go full circle, you go down to the next level which is filled with historic jerseys and information about the organization and exhibition history of the sport. You start with some pretty strange-to-us looking smock sort of uniforms (especially the lady ones!) all the way up through modern shoes and jerseys worn by players active today. I was very impressed that Grambling State University (an HBCU) had not one, but TWO jerseys on display in two different galleries. Because I wasn't alone I didn't get to take notes on the photos I was taking so I don't remember WHY those jerseys were in there, but I was proud nonetheless. 

Jersey from Grambling State University on display

Early ladies' basketball uniform

Throughout the displays (closer to the newer items) there were lots of interactives for kids. Such as testing to see if you could palm a basketball (it makes you wonder how freakishly huge these guys' hands must be in order to do so!), testing your vertical leap, and other games. It was noisy, but also really cool to see young guys no older than 12 or 13 so into the museum not even realizing they were learning something while having fun.

A little further down you get into less exciting displays that talk about media and the sport, referees, and a bit about college and high school programs that have become legendary. One part interactive there let's you record a TV news spot reading a (poorly written) script that plays back once you complete it. Proved to me that being a TV anchor isn't as easy as some would have you believe!

Once you get through all that, you have to fight your way through the gym (which SMELLED exactly like high school gym class if you can remember that) to get back out of the museum. I didn't learn a lot more about the sport than I knew coming in, but I got a deeper respect and appreciation for the sport that so many people enjoy.

More Rhode Island and Massachusetts coming up in the next few days! All of my pictures (including way more from the Hall of Fame!) are on my Facebook page. Thank you so much for reading along, and I will see you on the next adventure!

My Date With A (Green) Monster

I told you guys back in April that I was going to see Fenway this summer, and by golly, I did. I ran across South Station to make my train out there (something I haven't had to do since I moved from DC), lugged my suitcase in the rain across a gravelly parking lot, and nearly got hit by a car trying to rush and get my ticket for the last tour of the Friday I was in Boston. See, unlike Wrigley Field (the second oldest ball park in America), Fenway (THE oldest ball park in America) does not let you purchase tour tickets ahead of time. It's first come first serve, and you HAVE to buy your tickets no later than 15 minutes before the start of your specified tour. I was cutting it super close with my train not arriving to Yawkey Station (which is across the street from the park) until 4:41, four minutes shy of missing the 5:00 (and final!) tour of they day!

Fenway Park on Yawkey Way

So, to update you guys a little bit about my utter lack of baseball knowledge, I know a teeny bit more than when I went to Wrigley. Namely, as of today (8/1/2013 when I'm actually typing this up to schedule for a later publishing date) my hometown Pirates are number three in all of baseball (one slot above the Boston Red Sox) and are playing the best they have in 20 years. This means our local news media, which normally brisks past Pirates news and focuses on our more reliable Steelers and *cough* Penguins has actually been focusing on Pittsburgh baseball and it's history and what it all means for those of us (like me) who have no clue.

The tour starts off in the team store across the street. Whereas the Wrigley tour guides were friendly and enthusiastic, the Fenway guides started off a bit stand offish while getting themselves organized but cranked it up 300% once we began our journey inside the facility. They were obvious Red Sox fans (or really good actors) and had me ready to cheer for the team and they weren't even playing that day! We learned about the first ever victory in Fenway (versus the Red Sox's heated rival the New York Yankees who were then called the New York Highlanders) and about the historic significance of the teeny tiny wooden Grandstand seats, Pesky's Pole, the Lone Red Seat where some poor guy got molly whopped by a ball hit by Ted Williams in 1946, and about the Morse code in the scoreboard that spell the initials of former owner Tom Yawkey and his wife.

View of Fenway from the Grandstand seats

All of these parts had interesting stories to go with them, but the most famous piece of the park is easily The Green Monster, located on left field. A 37+ foot high wall, we were told it was erected when Tom Yawkey saw people watching his games for free from rooftops across the street and built "the biggest overreaction in sports history" to keep it from happening. They Red Sox have a mascot named Wally (who is a green monster- get it?) and the Monster has a ton of quirks that make it special to the stadium. Such as a ladder in the middle of it that no other ball park has (or can build), and again, the Morse code message in the manual scoreboard that takes up its lower interior.

View from the Green Monster. Seats weren't added until 2003

I had to leave the tour shortly after we entered the press box- moving 70-some people around can be a bit slow and I had to make sure I got back to South Station on time to catch my bus to Springfield. We didn't get to see the players lockers rooms (though we did see the visiting team's facilities), and I asked if the dugout would be a stop and was told that it would not be. You don't get to go on the field either. But that's okay, I was there for more than an hour and can say I've seen America's two oldest ball parks. Luckily Boston isn't trying to do away with their old field the way Chicago is. I think it's pretty cool that there are at least two teams playing in a traditional baseball park in this country.

The Fenway Press Box

Thank you so much for reading my blog, and for following me on my adventures across the 50 states! With this being August, I am two years into my five year goal and 25% finished as far as locations (by the time you read this I'll be packing up for Washington and Alaska, bringing my total states to 13 out of 52- don't forget DC and Puerto Rico!)

Apparently Mickey Mouse is a fan too...

Standing In The Footsteps of Legends

If you haven't noticed by now, my camera's USB decided to stop acting up and allowed me to upload the rest of my Massachusetts pictures! (This is where you cheer and applaud loudly!)

The very first stop I made in Massachusetts was in Boston at the Museum of African American History. About a 20 minute walk from South Station (probably a little less when you already know where you are going) it cost $5.00 to enter. The organization is essentially split between two buildings, the Abiel Smith School (the first school in the country dedicated to educating free blacks) and the African Meeting House across the street (It's the oldest extant African American church building in the nation constructed primarily by free black artisans).

Abiel Smith School

The school building was built to house the classes that were taught in the basement of the African Meeting House. Today, there are three levels of exhibits and information that mostly focus on notable African Americans from the area/ of the abolitionist movement, and of African American military service up through the Civil War. There is a 15 minute video that they show on the third floor that features a high school student reflecting on what life was like for African Americans in the city of Boston from the time the buildings were being actively used, and other commentary from African American history experts. It was a great way to pack a lot of information in a quick punch for people like me who had no desire to read every single label in each room.

No photos were allowed inside the school, but they were allowed inside the meeting house. Crystal was our park ranger/tour guide, and she walked us from the school, over to the Meeting House and talked to us about the history of the building architecturally and cultrually. I think she did a really great job, and she was very kind to take a photo of me standing in the pulpit of the Meeting House- the same pulpit where Fredrick Douglass, Maria Stuart (first woman in America to give a public lecture- I didn't know about her prior to coming to the museum), and others stood and gave speeches. It was very humbling. The floors are original to the building, and there is also one original pew left-- very tiny indeed!

Me in that awe-inspiring pulpit.

View of the Meeting House from the balcony

I think it was a very well executed and meticulously maintained museum/historic site. I actually think they could probably get away with charging a little bit more for admission, and I loved how they kept the focus on one area of black history. Often in smaller museums you run into the problem of trying to cover too much, and don't get anything really conveyed to your visitors. Or, the focus is so narrow that there isn't much to display or discuss outside of academic lectures. This museum had great balance and an enthusiastic, friendly staff.

I actually only had one complaint while I was there. Crystal, who I already said was doing an excellent job, was asked a question by one of the visitors- if the building was used as a church, why wasn't there more religious regalia built into the building, such as crosses, or stained glass. As soon as Crystal opened her mouth to answer, some random woman who was with two other visitors jumped in and began a 15 minute (no lie) monologue about the building and history- everything Crystal had already covered- and never really answered the poor man's question. I was extremely irritated by that, not only because this woman wasn't answering the question asked, but it seemed she just wanted to look like a know-it-all. Crystal was very polite and didn't interrupt- but I felt as if she had been disrespected and that my time was being wasted.

The kicker is when I returned to the museum store to get my suitcase, I was asked by the employee there what I thought, and when I told him about this rude woman, he grinned and said "That's our Director of Education". I'll tell you exactly what I told him- I don't care who she is, what she did was rude and unnecessary. How can you not have on any credentials letting your visitors know who you are, but proceed to butt in on a tour and THEN not even answer the question that provoked your interrupting to begin with? I'm sure Crystal (and other tour guides) were given ample training when they were hired-- let them do their jobs next time.

Well, I'll be posting blog entries for the next few weeks every couple of days. I'll try and rotate between Rhode Island and Massachusetts to keep it interesting. Most of my postcards are out, and I'm trying to type up a few entries a day.

Thank you so much for reading my blog, and I'll see you on the next adventure!