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| Its all about ships and more |
| PORTS OF CALL |
This guide to Boston continues with information on the
cruise port, shopping getting around and hotels.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO CONTINUE WITH THE TOUR
cruise port, shopping getting around and hotels.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO CONTINUE WITH THE TOUR
CRUISING TO
BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS
(USA)
Photo Tour*
BOSTON,
MASSACHUSETTS
(USA)
Photo Tour*
OVERVIEW
Boston is both a port of call on cruises and an embarkation port
for cruises. It is a frequent stop on cruises to New England and
Canada and it is a point of origin for cruises to Bermuda as well as
New England/Canada cruises.
Cruisers will find that Boston is a large cosmopolitan city. It
has many historical and cultural attractions. Yet, Boston retains a
friendly and open atmosphere that is tourist friendly. Indeed, 12
million visitors come to Boston each year.
The City of Boston has a population of 617,000 but the Greater
Boston area includes about six million people, making it the tenth
largest metropolitan area in the USA. It is the capital of the
Commonwealth (i.e. State) of Massachusetts. However, it is also a
financial, educational and high technology center.
Bostonians are passionate about their sports teams. Because of
its intimate size, Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is an
excellent place to view a professional baseball game.
The currency is the U.S. dollar and other currencies are not
generally accepted. Major credit cards, however, are widely
accepted. Boston has one of the highest costs of living in the United
States.
Boston is made up of neighborhoods. There is the elegance of
Back Bay and the ethnic charm of the North End. There is the 21st
Century efficiency of the Financial District and the greenery of the
Boston Commons/Public Garden area. What is may be surprising is
that all of these are within walking distance of each other.
Boston is both a port of call on cruises and an embarkation port
for cruises. It is a frequent stop on cruises to New England and
Canada and it is a point of origin for cruises to Bermuda as well as
New England/Canada cruises.
Cruisers will find that Boston is a large cosmopolitan city. It
has many historical and cultural attractions. Yet, Boston retains a
friendly and open atmosphere that is tourist friendly. Indeed, 12
million visitors come to Boston each year.
The City of Boston has a population of 617,000 but the Greater
Boston area includes about six million people, making it the tenth
largest metropolitan area in the USA. It is the capital of the
Commonwealth (i.e. State) of Massachusetts. However, it is also a
financial, educational and high technology center.
Bostonians are passionate about their sports teams. Because of
its intimate size, Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, is an
excellent place to view a professional baseball game.
The currency is the U.S. dollar and other currencies are not
generally accepted. Major credit cards, however, are widely
accepted. Boston has one of the highest costs of living in the United
States.
Boston is made up of neighborhoods. There is the elegance of
Back Bay and the ethnic charm of the North End. There is the 21st
Century efficiency of the Financial District and the greenery of the
Boston Commons/Public Garden area. What is may be surprising is
that all of these are within walking distance of each other.
A contrast of old and new Boston. Above: The
Victorian Old City Hall. Below: The City Hall of today.
Victorian Old City Hall. Below: The City Hall of today.
OVERVIEW AND HISTORY..........................................................Page One
CRUISE PORT; SHOPPING; GETTING
AROUND...........................................................................................Page Two
PLACES OF INTEREST...................................................................Page Three
PLACES OF INTEREST (continued)................................................Page Four
CRUISE PORT; SHOPPING; GETTING
AROUND...........................................................................................Page Two
PLACES OF INTEREST...................................................................Page Three
PLACES OF INTEREST (continued)................................................Page Four
Boston Tour Page One
Boston Tour Page Two
Boston Tour Page Three
Boston Tour Page Four
Boston Tour Page Two
Boston Tour Page Three
Boston Tour Page Four
HISTORY
The story of Boston begins in 1830, when William
Blackstone, a hermit living on Beacon Hill, invited some 200
Puritans led by John Winthrop to settle on his land. After
trying several names, the Puritans eventually decided to name
the town Boston after a town in Lincolnshire, England where
some of them were from. Because of the town’s fine harbor it
grew quickly, outpacing nearby English settlements at Plymouth
and Salem. Until the mid-18th Century, it was the largest town
in North America.
Boston played an important role in the American War for
Independence and an understanding of that role is needed in
order to truly appreciate the city. Tensions between the
American colonists and the British government began to grow
after the French and Indian War. The government saw the war
as protecting the American colonists from the French and
believed that the cost of the war and the ongoing cost of
protecting the colonies from the Native American tribes should
be borne by the colonists. Accordingly, they imposed a series
of taxes on the colonists. The Americans saw the war as
greatly increasing the size of the British Empire and thus of
benefit to the mother country, not just the American colonies.
Furthermore, they resented having taxes imposed upon them by
a government in which they had no elected representatives.
In Boston, this resentment led to protests led by Samuel
Adams and John Hancock and the formation of groups such as
the Sons of Liberty. The British government became so
concerned about the atmosphere in Boston that it sent troops to
Boston. On March 5, 1770, a detachment of soldiers fired into
a crowd that had been taunting and throwing stones at them.
Five people were killed and depictions of the Boston
Massacre were distributed throughout the American colonies
helping to turn public opinion against the British government.
Parliament responded by repealing the taxes except for the
tax on tea in order to show that it still had the right to tax the
Americans. This in turn led to further American protests
asserting “no taxation without representation.” In Boston,
about 130 men, some disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded
three ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor in the
Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773.. Angered by the
destruction of this valuable cargo, the British government
closed the port of Boston.
Tensions continued at a high level until March 1775 when
British authorities decided to arrest Samuel Adams and John
Hancock and to confiscate gunpowder and arms that the
Americans were storing at Concord. Warned by Paul Revere
and others that British troops were coming, American militia
(the Minutemen) confronted British regulars at Lexington in the
first battle of the American War for Independence.
Following the battles of Lexington and Concord, American
militia from throughout the 13 colonies surrounded Boston.
The British attempted to lift the siege by attacking American
positions in neighboring Charlestown in the Battle of Bunker
Hill. Although the British eventually took the positions, they
suffered very heavy losses and were not able to break the siege.
Since the British were able to re-supply by sea, the siege
became a stalemate. The Americans, now under the command
of George Washington, eventually secured artillery pieces,
which rendered the British position in Boston untenable.
Consequently, the British forces and their Loyalist
sympathizers were evacuated by sea. Washington entered the
city in the first major American victory of the war.
During the 19th Century Boston continued to grow with
waves of immigrants adding diversity to the ethnic mix. At the
same time, Boston grew physically with several major land
reclamation projects creating new neighborhoods. In addition,
Boston became an intellectual center with poets and writers
such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell
Holmes senior, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others living and
working in the Greater Boston area. Prior to the American
Civil War, Boston was also a leading center of the abolitionist
movement. In the second half of the century, Oliver Wendell
Holmes Jr. and Louis D. Brandeis, two of America’s greatest
legal minds, practiced law in Boston.
The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Boston hard.
However, following World War II, Boston underwent a
sometimes painful transformation from manufacturing to a
service economy. In the last part of the century, it also
underwent a physical transformation in a project known as the
“Big Dig” that placed an elevated highway that divided the
downtown area underground creating a wide green space.
Meanwhile, numerous tall buildings were being erected giving
Boston a skyline second only to New York on the US East
Coast.
The story of Boston begins in 1830, when William
Blackstone, a hermit living on Beacon Hill, invited some 200
Puritans led by John Winthrop to settle on his land. After
trying several names, the Puritans eventually decided to name
the town Boston after a town in Lincolnshire, England where
some of them were from. Because of the town’s fine harbor it
grew quickly, outpacing nearby English settlements at Plymouth
and Salem. Until the mid-18th Century, it was the largest town
in North America.
Boston played an important role in the American War for
Independence and an understanding of that role is needed in
order to truly appreciate the city. Tensions between the
American colonists and the British government began to grow
after the French and Indian War. The government saw the war
as protecting the American colonists from the French and
believed that the cost of the war and the ongoing cost of
protecting the colonies from the Native American tribes should
be borne by the colonists. Accordingly, they imposed a series
of taxes on the colonists. The Americans saw the war as
greatly increasing the size of the British Empire and thus of
benefit to the mother country, not just the American colonies.
Furthermore, they resented having taxes imposed upon them by
a government in which they had no elected representatives.
In Boston, this resentment led to protests led by Samuel
Adams and John Hancock and the formation of groups such as
the Sons of Liberty. The British government became so
concerned about the atmosphere in Boston that it sent troops to
Boston. On March 5, 1770, a detachment of soldiers fired into
a crowd that had been taunting and throwing stones at them.
Five people were killed and depictions of the Boston
Massacre were distributed throughout the American colonies
helping to turn public opinion against the British government.
Parliament responded by repealing the taxes except for the
tax on tea in order to show that it still had the right to tax the
Americans. This in turn led to further American protests
asserting “no taxation without representation.” In Boston,
about 130 men, some disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded
three ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor in the
Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773.. Angered by the
destruction of this valuable cargo, the British government
closed the port of Boston.
Tensions continued at a high level until March 1775 when
British authorities decided to arrest Samuel Adams and John
Hancock and to confiscate gunpowder and arms that the
Americans were storing at Concord. Warned by Paul Revere
and others that British troops were coming, American militia
(the Minutemen) confronted British regulars at Lexington in the
first battle of the American War for Independence.
Following the battles of Lexington and Concord, American
militia from throughout the 13 colonies surrounded Boston.
The British attempted to lift the siege by attacking American
positions in neighboring Charlestown in the Battle of Bunker
Hill. Although the British eventually took the positions, they
suffered very heavy losses and were not able to break the siege.
Since the British were able to re-supply by sea, the siege
became a stalemate. The Americans, now under the command
of George Washington, eventually secured artillery pieces,
which rendered the British position in Boston untenable.
Consequently, the British forces and their Loyalist
sympathizers were evacuated by sea. Washington entered the
city in the first major American victory of the war.
During the 19th Century Boston continued to grow with
waves of immigrants adding diversity to the ethnic mix. At the
same time, Boston grew physically with several major land
reclamation projects creating new neighborhoods. In addition,
Boston became an intellectual center with poets and writers
such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell
Holmes senior, Ralph Waldo Emerson and others living and
working in the Greater Boston area. Prior to the American
Civil War, Boston was also a leading center of the abolitionist
movement. In the second half of the century, Oliver Wendell
Holmes Jr. and Louis D. Brandeis, two of America’s greatest
legal minds, practiced law in Boston.
The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Boston hard.
However, following World War II, Boston underwent a
sometimes painful transformation from manufacturing to a
service economy. In the last part of the century, it also
underwent a physical transformation in a project known as the
“Big Dig” that placed an elevated highway that divided the
downtown area underground creating a wide green space.
Meanwhile, numerous tall buildings were being erected giving
Boston a skyline second only to New York on the US East
Coast.
The minimalist John Hancock Tower, Boston's tallest
building, stands in contrast to the Romanesque Revival
style of neighboring Trinity Church.
building, stands in contrast to the Romanesque Revival
style of neighboring Trinity Church.
Above: The North End is known for its Italian-American restaurants. Left:
Cheers Beacon Hill (originally The Bull and Finch Pub) was used in the filming
of the television series "Cheers." Lower left: Ye Olde Union Oyster House
opened in 1826 and is said to be the oldest restaurant not just in Boston but in
the United States. Below: The TD Garden is home to the Boston Celtics
(basketball) and the Boston Bruins (hockey) as well as a venue for concerts and
other events
Cheers Beacon Hill (originally The Bull and Finch Pub) was used in the filming
of the television series "Cheers." Lower left: Ye Olde Union Oyster House
opened in 1826 and is said to be the oldest restaurant not just in Boston but in
the United States. Below: The TD Garden is home to the Boston Celtics
(basketball) and the Boston Bruins (hockey) as well as a venue for concerts and
other events
Cruise destination guide - - photo tour - - Boston, Massachusetts (USA) - - page 1
Above: By the Boston Commons is a memorial to Robert
Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. The
54th was one of the first African American regiments in
the Union Army during the Civil War and was primarily
from the Boston area. Its story was depicted in the
motion picture "Glory."
Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. The
54th was one of the first African American regiments in
the Union Army during the Civil War and was primarily
from the Boston area. Its story was depicted in the
motion picture "Glory."
Above: The statue of Paul Revere on the Revere Mall
leading to the Old North Church is a Boston landmark.
leading to the Old North Church is a Boston landmark.
* This photo tour and the accompanying commentary should only be viewed as a general guide that is based upon one writer's research
and experiences. Accordingly, readers should do their own research prior to their journey. Beyondships is not affiliated with any of the
entities depicted or mentioned herein and assumes no responsibility for their actions and for the products and/or services they provide.
Nor is inclusion in this photo tour a recommendation of the entity shown, its products, services or facilities.
and experiences. Accordingly, readers should do their own research prior to their journey. Beyondships is not affiliated with any of the
entities depicted or mentioned herein and assumes no responsibility for their actions and for the products and/or services they provide.
Nor is inclusion in this photo tour a recommendation of the entity shown, its products, services or facilities.