and Newport, Rhode Island.
Last Monday my wife and I flew from Medford to Denver and then on to Boston to meet up with our daughter who was flying in from Washington DC to attend her graduation from the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. As a civilian employee of the United States House of Representatives she has been taking night classes in DC for the last three years to earn her Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies. Since my wife and I have never been to Boston we took the opportunity to stay there a few days before we traveled on to Newport for her graduation.
From Logan airport we took a taxi to a hotel near Beacon Hill in Boston. We then spent the next two days traveling the "Freedom Trail"
"Why is it always Boston that breaks the King’s peace?”
Those lines spoken by the John Dickinson character in the musical movie "1776" have always stirred my imagination about the history of Boston and the American Revolution.
For two days we explored the "Freedom Trail" that twists through the streets of Boston that takes you to many historical spots significant in the history of the founding of the country. The "Freedom Trial" is marked by a red line painted on the pavement or red brick embedded in the pavement. We saw the location of the "Boston Massacre"; the graves of John Hancock and Sam Adams two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Paul Revere's home, old North Church (one if by sea and two if by land);the USS Constitution ( "Old Ironsides") and Bunker Hill (Breeds Hill). From Bunker Hill we found a old tavern and had lunch at a place frequented by Paul Revere and where President George Washington had a few drinks during his Presidency. The Tavern was named to honor the commander of American forces who gave his life at Bunker Hill.
We also took the MTA out to Harvard for a tour of campus.Overall we loved Boston and enjoyed our long walks through the city.
Boston and Massachusetts are very "blue" areas of the United States. Therefore,I thought it was very funny when we were crossing a crowded street in Boston a fellow tourist was almost hit by a car making a turn through a crosswalk and the tourist said "I almost got hit by a Democrat!"
“Oh Good God! Why can’t you acknowledge what already exists? It’s been more than a year since Concord and Lexington! Damn it man, we’re at war! Right now!”
John Adams to the Continental Congress debating independence from Great Britain in the movie 1776.
Upon leaving Boston for Newport, RI, we in our rental car, headed northwest through a town called "Medford", Massachusetts, to Lexington where the British army met up with the Minutemen at Lexington Green. We drove through a number of quaint towns till we saw the statue of the Minutemen and toured the site of "the shot heard round the world." We saw the house, across the street from the Green, where a wounded Minuteman crawled to die in his wife's arms on his front porch. I am not making this up. From Lexington we headed South to Newport, RI.
On July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan "went electric" when he performed with a rock band at the Newport Folk Festival. Some sections of the audience booed Dylan's performance. Newport is also famous for "The America's Cub" yacht racing, huge mansions of the rich and famous dating from the "Gilded Age" and home to the United States Navy including the U.S. Naval War Collage.
Ain't gonna study, study war no more
Ain't gonna think, think war no more
Lyrics from a popular 1960's song guaranteed to lead to war and slavery in an unsafe world.
Fortunately there are still Americans willing to learn the art of war or as Ronald Reagan said at Normandy:
We will always remember.
We will always be proud.
We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.
At her graduation I have never seen so many high ranking naval officers in dress whites. It was like a movie.The night before, at a dinner, I sat beside a former British Naval Officer who had served during The Falkland War in 1982. He is now a professor at the college. They gave the graduation speaker, the Chief of Naval Operations, a 21 gun salute. The U.S. Naval War College is located at a picturesque location on an island in Newport's harbor. The graduation was under a large tent with open sides so we could see the the harbor. The Navy Band even played "Victory at Sea" from the 1950's NBC documentary on World War II. Because she graduated with honors we were all invited to a party at the Rear Admiral's home,(College President) in his back yard. Not bad for this former Army E-5.
We are very proud parents !
On Saturday we drove back to Boston stopping for a two hour tour of John Adams homes in Quincy. When we entered the Visitors Center the movie "1776" was playing on the big screen TV. On Sunday we said goodby to our daugter and flew home via San Francisco.
After being on the East Coast, Medford, Oregon seems so quiet, calm and uncrowded !
