I just returned from a trip to Boston with my wife and one of my kids. Boston has always held a natural appeal for me as a city heavily steeped in history. I never get tired visiting the city and I wanted to share a few travel blog entries and pictures. I could not recommend a visit to the city more highly, but give yourself a few days to take in everything that Beantown has to offer.
I spent much of our time around Harvard and stayed in Harvard Square. On our first day, we were surprised by two wild turkeys outside of one of the dorms near
Harvard Law School.
They were gorgeous and seemed quite at home on campus.
The campus is always a fun visit since buildings dating to the colonial period, including some used to house revolutionary troops.
I got my history fix by returning to the the Granary Burial Ground. It is hard to believe that as many as 5,000 Bostonians may be buried in the relatively small space. That includes such notables as John Hancock and Paul Revere as well as Samuel Adams.
One of my favorites is James Otis. He is little recognized as a Founder but the lawyer may have coined the expression of “taxation without representation.” He was opposed to the writs of assistance, allowing authorities to search homes without cause as well as British tax policy. He was also in favor of true equality, writing that “the colonists are by the law of nature freeborn, as indeed all men are, white or black.”He may have been bipolar, though many attribute his growing mental instability to a blow that he received to his head from a British tax collector in a pub. He would literally depart with a bang. He has the distinction of being killed by a lightning bolts while stand outside the front door of his lodging on May 23, 1783.
We had the pleasure of visiting the Harvard Art Museum, which is still free to the public. It is a wonderful collection that I strongly recommend. It has an assortment of art and historic exhibits. It also may have the single most creepy depiction of the Christ child and my favorite portrait of St. Peter with the cleaver embedded in his head and knife in the chest. (The martyr seemed perfectly fine with the objects).
I also like the emancipation pottery from before the Civil War that were popular in Boston:
Here are a few additional pictures:
Lunch was a particular treat on the second day. I had heard that Harvard had what some claimed to be the best burger in the country. The Wall Street Journal had given Bartley’s that distinction as well as citing it for its onion rings. I must admit that I was skeptical. Frankly, I felt that some elite university was a poor location for a great burger joint. However, my visit to Bartley’s shattered any prejudices. If it was not the best burger I have ever had, it is tied for first place. The onion rings were also remarkably good, though I would not necessarily say that they were the best I had ever tasted. The restaurant itself, founded in 1960s, is a hole-in-the-wall space that has a long list of visiting luminaries. We sat at the table used by Johnny Cash. I loved everything about the place.
Given my family roots, I always make my way to the North End for Little Italy. I often go to Mike’s for the cannolis, but we decided to go to its main competitor (and local favorite) Bova’s. We tried two cannolis: the pistachio and Florentine. I loved the taste of the Florentine (but it shatters upon the first bite leaving you with a hand full of cream filing. The pistachio frankly was awful. The shell was fine but the filling was too sweet and tasted artificial. I remain a greater fan of Mike’s between these two favorite stops, but you should judge for yourself.
We also visited the Revere home in the North End. A ticket is only around $6. It is quite small but worth the visit. I love the space. The staff is very friendly and very, very knowledgeable. It feels cozy and authentic. It is amazing that Revere raised sixteen kids (eight with each of his two wives) in such a small space. While starting as a solidly middle class silversmith, Revere became quite wealthy later in life due to contracts to supply the early American military (including his mortar) with cannon and other enterprises. He later moved to a large home, which was not preserved. Unfortunately, they do not allow photos inside the house, but here are a couple pictures from the outside.
We also visited the spectacular Old State House building with its lovely mural and stain glass windows.
Just walking through Boston and taking in the architecture and natural beauty of this city is a treat. It is a city with great food, culture, and sights. It literally never gets old, which is pretty impressive for a city that is approaching its 400th anniversary.
Bruh. Screw Mike’s for SURE. Awful tourist trap. Bova’s is better, but not that great. And yes, the Florentine cannolo is very tasty, but best eaten with a fork off a plate. If you want an great cannolo, go to Modern Pastry. They’re the best of what’s available. They’re filled-to-order so always properly crisp and fresh. I still metaphorically weep for the retirement of Maira Merola and the resulting closure of Maria’s Pastry Shop. Truly, the best cannoli and, indeed, Italian pastries in the city! My husband and I once did a 5 shop cannoli flight tasting them blind and Maria’s, followed by Modern, was the standout.
I’m not from Boston, or even the Northeast, but after 20 years here, I’ve adopted it as my own. I’m glad to see how much you enjoy the city!
It’s cannoli.
No, it isn’t. Before you “correct” someone, educate yourself. Cannoli is the plural of the singular cannolo. I properly used each term in my reply to Professor Turley.
“Steeped in history”. I see what you did there. Tea is steeped.
Where I live, tea is so good you won’t want to throw it in the harbor.
That’s because there are no harbors here. In the rust belt, we have merely duck ponds. (Ducks are people, too.)
Thanks to the good professor for making a Sunday-afternoon stroll through the photos so enjoyable/enriching. Two questions to anyone who might know:
(1) Re: the Revere Mortar (appreciate the good focus so I could read the description): “Brass?” I thought brass was a malleable metal like gold. How could you use it for cannons?
(2) Re: burger. That looks like great great medium-rare lean, why in the world do people mute the taste with bacon? ha ha
lin, brass made fine cannons for the explosives, used to propel the cannon balls, of the time.
Not that malleable.
Pretty simplistic explanation, but i would expect that from benson. Not sure what he means by the “explosives of the time” lol.
Quite frankly, until the late 18th century it was simply the metal that was best for the job. That didn’t change because of explosives, it changed because of improvements in iron.
While iron was available when cannon came to be in common use on European battlefields and in naval battles, it was unreliable for containing the the explosive force of the gunpowder and resisting the stresses caused in the barrel by the projectile passing through at high speed.
Whatever material was to be used, it needed three main characteristics: be hard enough to resist the stresses of the projectile passing through the barrel; be able to resist the explosive power of the gunpowder so as not to burst when fired’ and, at the same time, be flexible enough that it could return to its original shape after the vibrations of the violent discharge caused it to deform slightly when fired. Bronze and iron were the only two metals that had the required characteristics for predictable use of gunpowder and projectile at the time.
Interestingly, up until the latter part of the 16th century, iron was the most commonly-used metal for cannons largely because it was much less expensive to cast than bronze. However, the iron of that era was wrought-iron so it was of a decidedly inferior quality. The main disadvantage of bronze guns at that time was their price, which was generally three to four times higher than iron guns. As an example to put this in perspective: according to financial records the French ship La Belle carried four small bronze cannons. Those four cannons reportedly cost more to manufacture than did the entire vessel!
Even though in the first half of the 17th century, rulers began to subsidize experimentation in making better iron guns—especially for their sailing vessels—other than expense, bronze guns were still superior to iron ones in almost every way. Bronze was stronger, withstood the shock of discharge better, and lasted longer at sea. Bronze was also easier to cast and could be re-cast easily.
Despite the fact that bronze is 20% heavier than iron, bronze guns were actually lighter than iron because since they were stronger meant that the barrels could be thinner than their iron counterparts. This reduction in weight was especially important for field artillery.
One especially critical advantage of bronze over iron was that bronze guns were less likely to burst catastrophically while firing. And when they did burst, the barrel usually split open lengthwise along the battle rather than explode. When an iron cannon burst, they tended to shatter and fly into shrapnel-like pieces potentially causing catastrophic damage and loss of life.
Improved iron casting techniques and gun design would eventually help solve this problem by using reinforced guns with thicker metal at the breech. But that increased their weight even more. However, while iron guns were never considered as safe as bronze guns, by the 1630s both England and Sweden were exporting iron guns of acceptable quality.
The sole disadvantage of bronze over iron was its tendency to heat up quickly, which meant that if a great number of shots were fired continuously, a barrel was prone to become soft and susceptible to sagging. However, due to the nature of 16th and 17th century naval battle tactics, the guns never had a chance to heat up to that degree so this defect was not detected until the 19th century. By the time of the great broadside-to-broadside naval slugfests of the 18th century, ships had already exchanged their bronze guns for iron ones, so it was not an issue. NOTE: the weight of the guns was of much less importance when used aboard warships than when used for field artillery, so iron replaced bronze on the ships much more quickly.
So, what eventually caused bronze to finally lose its preeminent position for artillery? Basically, by the time of the American Revolution, centuries of technological improvements had given iron the precedence.
Waters, graduate of the United States Naval War College
Waters: Read through it all. THanks.
The fact that Prof Turley has an affection for American history, and America itself, sets him apart from the great majority of American academics of our age.
My late wife grew up in Boston and took me to the North Bridge, line of March, Faneuil Hall (the acoustics are startling. You can stand on stage and speak in a normal voice and be heard at the back of the hall). As for Beantown I can’t hear that without recalling Mash’s Charles Emerson Winchester’s disdain for the term.
Is Boston restaurant Jimmy’s Harborside Home of the Chowder King still there? I experienced a totally hideous meal there years ago. A waiter once dropped a lobster on the way to table but served it anyway at that dive.
I rewrote a line of poetry (with apologies to James Russell Lowell) from the grave of the British soldiers at Old North Bridge in Concord for my own amusement. Much improves that stanza carved in the rock. My secret.
Ah, “BOSTON.”
Genuine Americans, Tall Ships, Tea Parties, and Revolutions!
It just doesn’t have the same meaning, does it?
Michelle Wu isn’t exactly Ben Franklin, is she?
Michelle Wu, her ilk et al. shouldn’t even be in Boston according to the legislation and intent of the American Founders.
Imagine:
Naturalization Acts of 1790, 1795, 1798, and 1802
United States Congress, “An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,” March 26, 1790
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That any Alien being a free white person,…
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When was that law legislatively abrogated, incidentally, or was it removed extralegally at gunpoint?
“Michelle Wu isn’t exactly Ben Franklin, is she?”
Not entirely sure what you were going for there, but Franklin was a Philadelphian.
Brilliant! Simply brilliant!
So no American Founders were to be found in Boston?
American history is not part of the fabric of Boston?
Perhaps, Chinese history is more relevant here, right, Einstein?
I’ll wager that Tampon Tim and Kamala “The Ineligible,” the child of two foreign-citizen parents, would agree with you.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A MAN OF BOSTON
Benjamin Franklin
Early life and education
Boston
Franklin was born on Milk Street in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay on January 17, 1706,[Note 1] and baptized at the Old South Meeting House in Boston. As a child growing up along the Charles River, Franklin recalled that he was “generally the leader among the boys.”[17]
– Wikipedia
Born in Boston, ran away to Philly.
Where is anyone from from?
Such a wonderful post. Thank you, Professor!
Thank you for sharing this lovely travel log. I shall keep it as a sightseeing reference source.
Good Morning Richard,
I am so glad you enjoyed your visit to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum.
Your lunch would have been brought in by Putterham Grille https://www.putterhamgrille.com/.
They do make wonderful sandwiches!
I hope you are able to visit us again sometime.
I discovered Boston in the early 1980’s when I went to an American Group Practice Assoc meeting and then rediscovered it in the 1990’s at a lung health meeting. Lovely place and easy to walk around and reach multiple places. Visited the USS Constitution twice and Faneuil Hall Marketplace multiple times, Copley Place and the Prudential Center and Conference center. Great places to eat and especially liked the Legal Sea Foods Test Kitchen out on the Wharf. Always fun and over the 1990’s to the early 2010’s Harvard easily had the best CME. Enjoyed Fenway park during a game between the Red Sox and the St Louis Cardinals while Pedro Martinez was pitching. Even took a DUKW tours around the harbor. An enjoyable and historic city.
We left Boston on a cruise in July and will be returning this Saturday. It is such a walkable city and so clean. Can’t wait to go back
Wait, clean city? Then you must live in a real dump anoin. How far did you walk, a minute – 3 minutes? Go back? You’re joking right.
No you know why she/he/it/they/them are anonymous.
I was there few months ago and loved it. USS Constitution, Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Yankee Lobster, little dinner cruise, espresso and a dessert at Little Italy,-loved it. And I’m going back because it takes few weeks to see all the interesting things at this fairly small city.
Hop on hop off trolley was awesome. We were fortunate to get two great drivers.
Boston is awesome.
Boston Massachusetts you mean? The place is a cesspool of corruption. Nuc it!
Next time visit the oldest ship still in commission in the USNavy, the USS Constitution.
Surprising that Benson would recommend visiting anywhere that requires someone to show a photo ID.
Seems like visitor suppression to me.
Professor Turley, did anyone recognize you?
In the past, my name would appear on my posts, but a few months ago, that stopped being the case. How do I fix that?
When you post on this blog, you will see a series of icons or pictographs below the text box, giving you a choice of sign-ins. If you pick the envelope you will be able to present your chosen ID or “handle” which will appear with your message. Then, don’t forget to hit Reply further down. Hope this helps!
Good of you to explain to him. I had been using a consistent screen name at one time (the way my browser had been set up, I originally didn’t even need to click the envelope icon, the email and name fields were already available for input). Then I changed computers, OS, and browser, and it changed to the way you describe it. I couldn’t figure it out initially, so I was posting anonymously. When some other regular posters here complained about my anonymous posting, I asked (on at least two occasions) what I needed to do to resume use of my screen name, and received no answers at all. On a later occasion, one of those posters as much as called me a liar for explaining the difference in presentation when I changed computers. I since figured out what was required, but as a result of the abuse I took for no good reason, I don’t really give a damn now whether or not I use a screen name.
Blame someone else. That is always convenient.
Do you have an account, or did you previously type your email and screen name in manually for each post? If the latter, after you begin typing, you will see the legend “leave a reply” followed by three icons below the typing area. Choose the “envelope” icon, and you will be afforded the opportunity to type in an email address and screen name.
And the Granary Burial Ground may have an ancestor of mine resting there. Boston is quite a walkable city. I hope you also took a photo of the civil war mural across from the state house. I love the sculptures and murals around any city or town and Boston has quite a few.
Nice place to visit, but not to live. I speak from experience.
Grateful you love our city! While the attractions are still nice, as a lifelong New Englander, this will be what I miss the most about leaving when we ultimately move to a more freedom-friendly state in the near future.
Next time you go to Boston, for cannolis go to the Modern Pastry on Hanover Street. You will not go back to Mike’s after that. Guaranteed 🙂
Our ASU can compete for the best burger at the Chuck Box in the middle of campus (202 E University)
Thank you for a wonderful tour of “Beantown”. Haven’t been there in 70 some years.