Boston Day 3: Beacon Hill & Harvard

Already halfway through my visit to Boston and also halfway through my entire trip by now, and again I went out on the town and did some sightseeing. This morning I cooked some breakfast and set out for Park Street to get some information about going to Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard. Unfortunately both places are only accessible by car and the only way to get to the Cape from Boston by boat costs nearly 80 dollars and includes an day long cruise. Since that is not what I am looking for I will have to skip those plans.

I walked into the downtown shopping area and found a TJ Maxx and a Marshalls. Now I have heard of these brands before but I had never been inside a store so I decided to check it out. I found a really cool pair of shoes, but I am still contemplating on buying them. I figured I have three more days so plenty of time to make a decision.

My plans for today included walking Beacon Hill and going to Harvard, but since the weather was so humid and hot I took my time to get around. From the downtown crossing I walked past King Charles Chapel. Next to the Chapel is the oldest burying ground of Boston so I checked that out as well as there was a lot of shade and some information about some people who have been important for Boston’s history.

Massachussets State House

My first stop on Beacon Hill was the State House. The State House is the place where the House of Representatives and the Senate of the state come together and where the governor works. The State House is a public building and they give out free tours of the building which ended up more impressive and interesting than I imagined. The dome at the top of the building is covered in a layer of 23 carat gold and the inside is adorned with marble and mosaic floors.

Nurse’s Hall

Stain glass ceiling in Memorial Hall

House of Representatives

Senate

I now know everything about the Sacred Cod and the Holy Mackerel. Don’t ask… but it has to do with the house of representatives and Senate moving rooms and they both wanted a fish as their mascot.

The State House lies at the beginning of Beacon Hill. This is quite possibly the quaintest neigborhood of Boston. It’s a hill (duh) with narrow streets, nice houses and gaslights for lampposts. At the other end of Beacon Hill lies a subway entrance for the red line which takes you to Harvard Square. Here I went on a tour of Harvard Yard narrated by a current sophomore. The tour was pretty cool, entertaining and informative. After the tour I went into the COOP book store. This store houses 4 levels of books so it took some time until I got out. Around 6 PM I went back to my hotel, picked up some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory (Red Velvet this time) and watched Avatar on TV.

Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill – lane

Harvard Yard

Harvard Hall

Memorial Hall & freshmen dining hall

Lampoon headquarters

Tomorrow I’m trying to go on a whale watching tour and check out the harbourfront for real this time.