Freedom Trail – Revolutionary History

Freedom Trail – Revolutionary History

 

Boston is arguably the birthplace for the American Revolution and the driving influence of the importance of “freedom” to the American culture. The plethora of historically significant monuments in the city has drawn tourists to explore the city year-round, however, the sheer number of attractions created confusion for tourists. Before the advent of GPS, navigating these without a tour guide was not the easiest task. In 1951, local journalist William Schofield suggested building a path linking important landmarks throughout the city. Boston Mayor, John Hynes, took this idea to heart and created the Freedom Trail. For over 60 years the 2.5 mile long Freedom Trail has guided millions, starting at the Boston Common it passes by: the Old South Meeting House, the Old State House, the Paul Revere House, ground markers, graveyards, historical churches, and ends at the USS Constitution.

 

Millions of people travel the Freedom Trail every year to see the history that has played an enormous role in shaping the very being of Boston and the identity of the United States. Guided tour groups delving deeper into the history of each site are available for private groups as well as schools.

http://www.massvacation.com/business/1587/

 Spero Dimas

America's Hometown Thanksgiving - Plymouth, MA

Plimoth Plantation

If you would like to immerse yourself in a unique experience of 17^th century life in a Pilgrim village, you should visit the Plimoth Plantation. This place brings the English colonial village to life.  The people you will meet there are costumed role players portraying actual residents of Plymouth Colony. (Plimoth is the original spelling used by the settlers.  The modern town and county are spelled Plymouth.)

This is truly a fun historical experience. While learning about the colony’s difficult beginnings, you can ask actors about the Pilgrims’ religious beliefs, education and child rearing, relations with Native People, gardens, cooking, or any other topic that might interest you.

Some of the things you can see when visiting Plimoth Plantation and Plymouth are: 

Wampanoag Home site

 Unlike the people you will meet at the 17th century English Village, the staff of the Wampanoag Home are not actors; they will be wearing historically accurate clothing, mostly made of deerskin. In addition, they will proudly share information from a modern perspective about Wampanoag  native history and culture. 

Mayflower II

You might buy a ticket including a visit to a full scale replica of the Mayflower ship that brought the pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620. Costumed actors tell you about their dangerous journey across the Atlantic, while modern guides speak about the fascinating history of Mayflower and Mayflower II.

Nearby is the famous but disappointing Plymouth Rock. It isn't very impressive, and may not be the actual rock the pilgrims landed on, but it's worth a look and perhaps a selfie.

The Plimoth Grist Mill

The Plimoth Grist Mill tells the story of the grist (corn grinding) mill built by the Pilgrims in Plymouth Colony. The Plimoth Grist Mill is a functioning reproduction of the 1636 water-powered mill. 

After learning about how this mill processes the corn, you might want to finish your tour by visiting the mill museum shop, where you can buy their freshly ground, organic cornmeal and sample other culinary treats. 

Additional things to see at Plimoth Plantation and in Plymouth are:

·         Craft Center

·         Rare breed animals

·         Plimoth Cinema

·         Plymouth Farmers Market Plymouth Farmers Market 

·         You might want to check out events in December as well as a Thanksgiving celebration dinner dates. 

Tickets to visit the site are available at  Plimoth Plantation

Banana Cake Recipe 

                                                            

This recipe is perfect to eat in this cold weather, especially as Thanksgiving approaches.

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour (white or wheat flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
3 large eggs
¾ cup of brown sugar or ½ of white sugar
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil or coconut oil
2 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Instructions:
1. Mash the bananas with a fork or hand mixer, then place it in a bowl. Add the nutmeg, eggs, oil, vanilla, cinnamon.
2. Mix with manual egg beater or electric mixer on low.  Lastly you add the flour and the baking powder. (I like to add little pieces of semi-sweet chocolate chips.)
3. Pre-heat the oven to 365F.  Grease the cooking pan  with cooking spray (I use a Bundt pan) , and then use white sugar to coat it. Flip it upside down to remove excess sugar.
4. Place the cake dough in a cooking pan.
5. Bake it for 40 minutes.

The smells of the banana with the spices are delightful and the finished cake is even better.  Enjoy it with a glass of milk or a cup of tea.  You can spread cream cheese on it, or, if you’re watching calories, plain yogurt.  It gives an enjoyable tang.
Try making it and let us know.  Oh! Now I am hungry :-)

The North End - Little Italy

If you love a good pizza, pasta or pastry, Little Italy in the North End of Boston is the place to go. With over 80 restaurants, cafes and patisseries lining the narrow cobblestone streets there is plenty for you to choose from. 

As Boston’s first neighborhood, the North End evolved from an isolated village to the home of American Revolutionists to Irish haven and finally to Little Italy.

After being to Little Italy a couple of times now, I have found a few favorite places to go. The first restaurant I visited was Ristorante Fiore, here you can dine on everything from fresh, handmade breads and pastas to classic, old-world, Italian plates to inventive, locally-sourced, seafood dishes. As well as pick from three options of where you want to sit; the main dining room, the roof top deck during the cold winter months and then also outside where you can look onto the busy streets when its warm during the summer.  

This restaurant may be seen as a higher priced one as pasta dishes range from $20 to $32 but each dish is generous and always more than you think you can eat! It, however, is defiantly worth the little extra money. 

The next place I visited was Florentine Cafe further down the street from Ristorante Fiore. The Florentine Cafe is one of the oldest bars in Boston. Established just after Prohibition on the corner of Hanover and Prince Streets in Boston's historic North End, it provided a place to meet, greet and enjoy a drink in the heart of one of Boston's most famous neighborhoods. 

This restaurant is a little less pricey as dishes start from $10 and the portion size is no different to that in Ristorante Fiore. With a warm welcome from the friendly staff, this is the best place to go on a chilly day in November for some pasta or pizza to warm up. It is also perfect on a summers day as it is one of the first open air, side-walk side cafes which allows you to take in the atmosphere of the busy street while enjoying your meal. 

After you have enjoyed your dinner and drinks, the best place to go and visit to continue the Italian feeling is either the famous Mike's Pastry or The Modern Pastry shop where you can indulge in a variety of different flavored Cannoli's. 

Mike's Pastry offers a range of different flavored Cannoli's from the original fresh Ricotta cheese to Amaretto and Espresso flavored. Each Cannoli is made fresh in store that same day, the most popular flavors are; ricotta cheese, yellow and chocolate cream. Other fillings are chocolate cream, yellow cream, chocolate dipped, chocolate chip, chocolate covered, New York cheesecake and Florentine ricotta. The ultimate chocolate lovers favorite would be any of the chocolate ones with a chocolate flavored shell dipped in chocolate chips at each end. 

The Modern Pastry shop just down the street form Mike's Pastry provides similar flavors along with a selection of different cakes and cookies. The choice is yours, whatever option you choose you will not be disappointed. Both shops give you the option to sit in and eat your pastry or take them home to eat later. 

Little Italy is a couple of minutes walk away from the Haymarket T station on the orange line. 

Halloween in Salem

If you happen to be in the New England area for Halloween we highly recommend checking out the activities going on in Salem, yes, the same Salem that is famous for the "witch trials" several hundred years ago. Though be warned, thousands flock to this holiday favorite so go as early as you can! The annual Halloween festival includes everything from local history tours to classic carnival rides.



The town of Salem certainly embraces their history, with nearly the entire downtown area cut off for the carnival. As usual at carnivals, tickets for rides can be expensive, around $6 - $7.50 per ride, and if you're not careful the hosts running the prize booths may trick you into spending a bit more than you planned. It's all for fun though anyway!



Of course no festival in Salem wouldn't be complete without the usual suspects, fried dough, hot dogs and hamburgers are aplenty! While we didn't see as many fried options this year compared to previous years, there were still plenty of traditional fried dough around. Probably best to only order one item at a time though as there isn't much seating and you'll probably end up standing and eating unless you get lucky.



Heading to Salem is probably one of the most exciting activities one can do on a Halloween, especially with children. They offer almost everything that one can ask for, and you get to learn some history at the same time! We highly recommend you go check it out this year!

"USA today boasts Connors Farm as Top Ten Corn Mazes in the country!"

 CONNORS FARM CORN MAZE

Located just a few miles north of Boston in Danvers, MA is Connors Farm. The working farm offers everything from apple picking, to pumpkin bowling and everything in between. However, Connors farm has become pretty famous for their extensive Corn Maze-- It has been named a "Top Ten" by USA today. This years theme of the maze is "Wild, Wild West",and it is filled with symbolism, including a jab at the Patriot's "Deflategate" scandal. Being 7-acres it can take quite a while to get through, but it is worth it to try to make it to the end. If you can't make it to the end there are interactive game clues along the way to help you out, or if you're totally lost security officers are placed throughout to help you to an exit if need-be. Another great thing about this corn maze is that on fridays and sautrdays they have it open at night and you can use flashlights! Get down to Connors Farm soon as the maze only stays open till November 1st. I promise you won't regret it if you go!


Where:
30 Valley Road(Rte. 35)
Danvers, MA. 01923

When:
Opening Date: Saturday, September 5, 2015
Closing Date: Sunday, November 1, 2015

Operating Hours:
May to September 4th (Farm Stand)
Sunday to Saturday - 8am to 6pm
September 5th to November 1st (Farm Stand & General Admission)
Open 7 Days – 8am – 6pm

Hysteria Danvers,Zombie Paintball, Haunt Farm & Flashlight Maze
Open Every Friday & Saturday Night in October & Sunday October 11t

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A Quick Overview of the History of Boston by Spero Dimas

Boston is a wonderful, quaint, yet cosmopolitan city that acts as the central hub for New England. It is well known for its medical industry, finance, and tech start-ups as well as for its amazing seafood. Furthermore, it is an international city attracting students from across the global with one of the highest college densities in the world. After all this, the most influential reason people visit Boston is because of its vast history in European settlement of the Northern America. 

Boston was founded September 7, 1630, only 10 years after the Pilgrim’s famous venture at Plymouth rock. Located on a natural harbor, it was a perfect place to set up for what would become a booming pre-capitalist colonial economy  - a gateway for raw goods to be sent back to Europe to be manufactured into finished goods. Its subsequent betrayal and rebellion for the English Crown gave way to the American Revolution and would forever etch Boston as the birthplace of the United States of America. 

Historically minded tourists and locals alike can visit an assortment of attractions that demonstrate the historical importance and resolve of the city. The Bunker Hill Monument is a 221-foot obelisk that sits atop Breed’s Hill; commemorating the new nation’s loss to the British as they inflicted more injuries than the battle was worth. The Battle for Bunker Hill was a pyrrhic victory for the British and resulted in them losing the strategically important city early on in the conflict as their troops were battered and demoralized from the strength displayed by the untrained rabble.

Faneuil Hall may be known today for delicious food on-the-go and street performers juggling on unicycles, but in the decades predating the Revolution and the era after it was a fervent body of revolutionaries. James Otis and many patriots gave speeches here on equality with their English overlords and later on outright splitting from their Union. A stronghold of patriotic presence gave it the nickname the Cradle of Liberty.

Boston has always been and will be a naval hub for New England and as such it has always needed a naval presence. The U.S.S. Constitution is the oldest commissioned ship in the US Navy in existence. Completed and launched in 1797, it is one of the first of 6 frigates authorized in the Naval Act of 1794. Made of the toughest of timbers, cannonballs bounced off of its hull, giving it the endearing name Old Ironsides in the War of 1812.

 

 Whether its a ship, an obelisk, or a marketplace, there is something for everyone to see in Boston. 

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