Relive 18th Century Revolutionary Boston by Walking the 3-Mile Freedom Trail

Walk Boston's renowned Freedom Trail and you and your family will never think of Independence Day as just fireworks and hotdogs. What a better time to take the tour through historic downtown Boston than now? Why not celebrate our nation's 231st birthday by walking the historic trail that takes you back to Revolutionary Boston?

That's what we did six years ago. Before we hit the road, we laced up our best walking shoes for the three-mile journey. I'm glad we didn't let the notorious Boston traffic stop us from going---We took the subway trains and let them do the driving. Staying in a motel in Quincy, Massachusetts, just south of Boston, we were only steps away from a train station. The train ride, itself, was a positive experience because I didn't expect the trains to be so clean and free of graffiti. .

As we stepped off the train and walked upstairs to the ground level, I noted people of all creeds and nationalities. The starting point, Boston Commons, is a park where you don't need a permit to express our beliefs. You see and hear just about anything. A hoarse street preacher was shouting "Repent!", but the crowds just passed him by, as if he were invisible. Sunbathers were tanning on the grass, nearby hungry pigeons grabbing leftovers from picnickers. A huge, 40-acre square, Boston Commons is the nation's oldest public park. .

We stepped onto the red brick path and continued on to the famous gold domed landmark, the New State House, known as the political seat of historic Boston. Next was Park Street Church, a high point for me. I was delighted to learn that this almost 200-year-old evangelical church is alive and still proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Interestingly, we learned William Lloyd Garrison made the first anti-slavery speech here. I loved the church so much I later stitched a cross-stitch picture from one of the pictures we took there.