(upbeat music)
- [Robert] We're going to
Boston but we're still in Maine.
Not for long though.
Here we are crossing into New Hampshire.
- [GPS] Welcome to New Hampshire.
- [Robert] This will not be a long stay
because here we are now, Massachusetts.
Let's go into the welcome center,
get a map, and take a
picture with the sign.
You know I have to update my intro, right?
Speaking of intro.
♪ I'm riding, riding, riding ♪
♪ Riding in my RV, my RV ♪
♪ Wherever I want to be ♪
♪ Because I'm free in my RV, yeah ♪
Today we are visiting
the Cradle of Liberty
and possibly the United
States' most historic city,
Boston, Massachusetts.
And there it is.
We're driving over the Mystic River.
(techno music)
Of course, like every major city,
there is a lot of traffic and
I think we are about to hit
the afternoon rush hour.
Next, we go underground.
This big tunnel here is known
colloquially as the big dig.
At the time it was the most
expensive highway project
in the United States
and it was plagued by
all kinds of problems
from water leaks to
falling light fixtures.
And we emerge on the other side,
along with all the other
thousands of people
trying to leave Boston today at 3:30 p.m.
Eventually traffic begins to improve
and over an hour later
we begin to approach
our campground near Plymouth.
You didn't think we were
going to park the RV
in Boston, right?
Actually there were three main
campgrounds to choose from.
One to the northwest, in the woods,
another one to northeast by Salem
and this one, on the
south, called Ellis Haven.
It is a shame we are
basically here just to sleep
because it looks pretty nice.
Okay, here we are at
Ellis Haven campground.
Near Plymouth Rock.
And that's exactly where we're going next.
Yeah it is kind of late
to go back to Boston now.
But we'll do that tomorrow.
Instead, let's check out the Plymouth Rock
which is really close
and get something to eat.
We're famished.
There it is on the right,
the Greek looking temple.
That's where they have the Plymouth Rock.
Let's park.
Well here we are in
Plymouth, Massachusetts.
And we are now going to check out
the Plymouth Rock of course
and have something to eat.
Imbibe some adult beverages.
And I might do a live video.
And here is Big White.
Very nice anchorage here
in the Plymouth Harbor.
Very cute town overall.
And over there.
Yep, that's where we're
going: Plymouth Rock.
Landing place of the pilgrims, 1620.
This is the rock.
That's it.
You saw it here first.
Check out all these ducks here.
They are going crazy.
Anyways, this is all very
pretty, but let's go eat.
That used to be the lighthouse.
Let's walk uphill here
for about two blocks
towards Court Street.
At the Laughing Moon.
Hmm, cool looking lobster.
I think we are going to this
place called New World Tavern.
34 beers on tap and over 120 bottles.
Hmm, not bad.
So we're actually not having Cigar City.
We're having Pilgrim IPA.
Um, chowder.
It's a huge poutine.
And tiramisu.
Oh thank you.
Yep, that was good.
And now we shall see the Plymouth
Rock once again at night.
And the moon shines through the clouds.
Very pretty.
(upbeat techno music)
Well we had some leftover wood,
so we made a fire and called it a night.
(gentle music)
(bright music)
Well good morning.
We are going to Boston.
And we plan to spend
most of the day there.
By the way, we couldn't have
asked for better weather.
Why are we driving into
this city you might ask.
And we've been going back
and forth on this one,
but contrary to popular belief,
there is plenty of parking in Boston,
especially on a weekend.
By the way, we seem to be in Chinatown.
Anyways a round trip ticket
on the commuter train
would have been $23 per person.
Originally we were thinking of parking
at the Boston Commons underground parking,
which is $32 on the weekdays,
but only $18 on weekends.
By the way, today is Saturday.
But that was with Old Kia.
With this big F250 monster truck,
we are going to need something
with a little higher clearance.
Like this one: City Place Garage,
which is going to cost us $32.
Still, a lot cheaper than the train.
Plus we have more flexibility and mobility
and it'll save us time in the long run.
Hopefully we'll be okay here.
In the original plan this was the garage
that we were gonna park at.
But the clearance of the truck.
Yeah, the Boston Commons Garage
is only six feet and
three inches clearance.
But there's also plenty of
parking here on the street,
at least today on a Saturday morning.
And they are having some kind of march
here at Boston Commons.
The Boston Public Garden
here, very pretty.
Very nice place to like decompress
in the middle of the bustling city.
Also here some of the nicest
gardens I've seen in a while.
(bright violin music)
(bright music)
Here we have this equestrian
sculpture of George Washington.
Picture perfect with the
Boston skyline behind it.
The statue itself dates back to 1869.
That building looks kind
of familiar, doesn't it?
It is of course, Cheers, where
everybody knows your name.
And it is about to open,
filmed before a live
(clears throat) YouTube
audience in this case.
And they just opened up,
so let's go into the set
bar which is upstairs.
And this will be pretty
much breakfast for us.
And I'll pretend to be Norm and sit here.
It looked bigger on TV.
Yeah, that's the people going inside.
Downstairs they have another restaurant,
but it doesn't look like the
Cheers from the TV series.
The menu?
Themed after the show's characters.
And the collectible napkins.
We get a nice IPA,
although I think this
is more of a lager town
since Samuel Adams was
from here after all, right?
New England clam chowder in a mug.
And the Octoberfest special
and a club sandwich.
Well I think we sat at
Frasier's favorite spot.
But anyways, that was Cheers.
Okay and this is the lower
portion of Cheers here.
Yeah, let's just see what
the lower level looks like.
This is not at all like
the original Cheers.
Obviously there was no room
down here for the set bar.
The walls covered with
memorabilia as they should be.
At the beginning I thought I
was sitting at Norm's stool
at the upstairs bar, but
it was on the other side.
Anyways, they even have
the wooden Indian statue.
Really, really cool.
That was Cheers.
Very cool to be here.
And now we're gonna do the Freedom Trail.
By the way, the upstairs bar,
they could work on their
service a little bit.
But other than that, it was great.
Well now that we've had our fun,
let's immerse ourselves in history.
And there's plenty of that here in Boston.
(easy listening music)
This here is the Sailors
and Soldiers Monument,
dedicated to those from Massachusetts
who lost their lives during the Civil War.
And here's the World War I sea mine.
Alright, let's do the Freedom Trail,
which begins here at the
visitor information center.
Okay, let's do it.
We're supposed to follow the
red bricks on the sidewalk.
Boston, so far, great, vibrant city.
I love it.
Although I suspect most of
the people around us here
are tourists just like us.
Here we are approaching the
Massachusetts State House.
Basically the state capitol
dating back to 1798.
And here's a relief.
The State House here was built on land
once owned by John Hancock,
Massachusetts' first elected governor.
Paul Revere was also here,
you know supervising the
construction and in 1997,
the dome was reguilded in 23 karat gold.
We continue towards
the Park Street Church.
Continue following the Freedom Trail path.
Here, across the street from
Boston Common is our next stop.
(sirens wailing)
Something big is happening and this is...
It is a pretty noisy city, by the way.
Hmm, I wonder what's going on.
Our next stop here is the
Granary Burying Ground.
Here we have Paul Revere
and the five victims
of the Boston Massacre
and three signers of the
Declaration of Independence:
Samuel Adams, John Hancock
and Robert Treat Pain.
Their final resting place.
Here's John Hancock.
- That's the stone that
has the pennies on the top.
The men were profiting in some
way off of the slave trade.
- [Robert] Perhaps we should
have gotten a guided tour,
but we decided to explore on our own.
By the way, here's Paul Revere.
(woman sneezing)
- [Woman] Excuse me.
- [Robert] Bless you.
Some very interesting grave stones.
And the pyramid in the
middle that says Franklin,
that's not Ben.
If you remember, we
saw him back in Philly.
These are his parents and
relatives buried here.
It's the Tremont Temple.
We continue walking the trail.
King's Chapel.
Next stop is the King's Chapel,
a historic unitarian
church and a fine example
of colonial architecture.
Actually let's step inside.
The current church was completed in 1754
but it was actually built around
the original 1689 building,
so they wouldn't disturb services.
When they completed construction,
the original church was demolished
and removed through the windows.
Pretty cool, huh?
This is the old burial ground.
This is Boston's oldest burying ground.
Okay this was very interesting.
Let's continue.
This is the next thing.
This here is the Old City Hall.
Nowadays the Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
Okay.
Old city hall.
There's a famous Benjamin Franklin statue,
who was actually a Boston native.
- [Woman] Once they're outside the city
they are alerting dozens
of other prearranged,
prestationed groups of men.
He's not the only one.
So how did you all get brainwashed?
School, yes.
School made you read and
probably memorize something.
- [Robert] This is also the site
of the first public school in America.
The original Boston Latin School.
- [Woman] What if we left housekeeping?
(group laughing)
- [Robert] Who is that?
Boston Five Cents Savings Bank.
Something interesting
and peculiar about Boston
is that many of these
old historic buildings
have been repurposed.
The Five Cents Savings Bank Building
is now a Walgreens, just
like the old City Hall
was a Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
The Old Corner Bookstore is
now a Chipotle Mexican Grill.
This is the Irish Famine Memorial,
commemorating the Famish that took place
between 1845 and 1852.
Benjamin Franklin was baptized huh?
It's the Old South Meeting House.
Well gentrification, but
anyways this is the birth place
of Benjamin Franklin.
We'll continue down the Freedom Trail.
This old building here,
standing among all of these skyscrapers
is none other than the Old State House,
the oldest public building in Boston
and the site of the Boston Massacre,
which was one of the events
that led to the rebellion
against the British authority.
Of course.
And they have a saxophone
player somewhere around here.
Let's continue.
This is a subway entrance.
This was the site of the
Boston Massacre right here.
March 5th, 1770.
The site of the first Meeting House.
There's our saxophone player.
Actually the sound carries
really well in this corner.
Great acoustics.
Next we're going to check
out the Faneuil Hall.
Nice juxtaposition of the old and the new.
Here's the Faneuil Hall
and the modern Boston City
Hall across the street.
Talk about an eye sore.
This place has tourist
trap written all over it.
But let's check it out anyways.
There's a statue of Sam Adams.
- [Man] Holding this all the way up guys.
Nobody move.
- [Man] Nobody gets hurt.
- [Man] Once again, ladies
and gentlemen, make some noise
for our volunteers.
Everyone make some noise
for our volunteers.
(crowd cheering)
Make some noise.
- [Robert] Alright,
let's go inside the hall.
- [Man] Now volunteers, arms up.
- [Robert] Here's one of
four original cashier booths
and outside it is a circus.
There's the market.
I have nothing against street performers,
but to me, in this setting,
they don't add to the experience,
in my opinion anyways.
Except for the drummer
perhaps, but I'm biased.
I am partial to musicians,
being one myself.
And this guy's really good.
(vibrant drumming and chiming)
This is the Quincy Market.
Ooo, check it out.
There's a Cheers here too.
Alright, let's go hang
out with Norm and Cliffy
and Frasier and the rest of the gang.
Norm has aged a bit.
Something light and refreshing
so we can continue exploring.
There's still a lot to see here in Boston.
(bright music)
More street performers here.
Here we have another street performer.
This one with a Scottish
theme going on I guess.
There's so many people here.
(energetic violin music)
Ooo, he's still going at it.
This tall gentleman here
is Kevin Hagan White,
former mayor of Boston.
Pizza alone won't fill an
emptiness in your soul.
You also need beer.
Hmm, Ben Franklin would agree I think,
although his original quote
was actually about wine.
But anyways.
We are walking towards North End,
which is the city's oldest
residential community.
Continuously inhabited since the 1630s.
As we get closer, here for example,
is the oldest continually
operated restaurant
and oyster bar in the United States.
Established in 1717.
And this street also looks
kind of something out
of a Harry Potter film.
Doesn't it?
And here's the oldest tavern.
The Boston Stone here
was brought from England
and according to legend,
served as the zero milestone,
or mile marker zero of Boston.
Some kind of festival here.
Or farmer's market actually.
Yep, big farmer's market today.
Okay, we were interrupted here.
- Sweet pineapples.
- [Robert] This open area here
is the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
And this is where the central artery,
as we say in the south, expressway,
used to go through before
they built the big dig
and moved it underground and
made this nice linear park.
And we are now in North End,
which is also the Italian neighborhood,
with some of the best
Italian restaurants I hear.
Hmm, I wish we were hungry.
This is Hanover Street,
the main drag here.
But we're going to take
a quick detour first
to see Paul Revere's house,
where he began his legendary midnight ride
to alert the Colonial militia
that the British forces were approaching.
Paul Revere's house.
And this is it.
(crowd chattering)
(bright music)
The Sacred Heart Italian Church.
- Alright.
Here folks, we're gonna cross
over and then take a right
on the other side of the street.
- Should we tag along?
Hmm, maybe not.
And we are back on Hanover.
And here's Paul Revere's statue.
But the park is all under
construction, so let's continue.
And here we stumble upon
the San Gennaro Feast.
San Gennaro Comes to Boston.
Our friend Rob Nestore from Philly
told us not to miss it in New
York which we did, by the way.
And now we find it here.
Isn't this awesome?
Again, I wish we were hungry.
(speaking in foreign language)
It looks, it smells and it
sounds like it's going to be
a fun festival.
But first, we want to finish
the Freedom Trail here.
The next spot is the Old North Church.
Just like Paul Revere's House,
which was $5 to go in, the church is $8,
so we're going to admire the
architecture from outside
and keep going.
Needless to say we are getting
a little tired of walking
and we're going up hill,
because next stop is the
Copp's Hill Burying Ground.
This is the city's second
oldest cemetery, by the way.
It was from that steeple
that Paul Revere told
three Boston Patriots
to hang two lanterns to warn
the people of Charlestown
across the Charles
River about the movement
of the British Army.
(bright music)
We continue.
Now going over the Charlestown Bridge
over the Charles River
towards our last two
points of interest here.
The first one is that obelisk
called Bunker Hill Monument.
The other one would be
the U.S.S. Constitution.
Here's the City Square Park.
Fly pelican.
St. Mary Roman Catholic Church.
And there it is, Bunker Hill Monument.
Let's see if I can make
it all the way to the top.
Well, here goes nothing.
It is 294 steps and it gets
narrower the higher you get.
Ugh, only 1/3 of the way there.
As it gets narrower it
is more of a bottleneck.
Well, made it to the top.
But it is very crowded up here.
Very claustrophobic.
Everybody waiting for their
turn to look out the window,
although some people just
take possession of a window
without any consideration
for the rest of us.
You know there's only one
window per side, right?
Well I hope he got a great shot,
because none of us could.
Thanks.
It is finally my turn
to get some nice shots
of the city skyline.
(bright music)
Oh by the way, it would be
nice if they cleaned the glass
from time to time.
Just saying.
Down and down we go.
Actually going down is
almost as tiring as going up
just because you have to go so slow.
Well that wasn't the greatest experience.
And if you are claustrophobic at all,
do not do this one.
Whew, that was a pretty hardcore climb
all the way up there.
Very crowded.
They should really limit
the amount of people.
But,
great views of Boston from up there.
I went all the way up there.
(jazzy music)
Next the U.S.S. Constitution,
but I don't think we're gonna
have time for that one today.
There is something else
I want to do by sunset
and believe it or not,
it is almost 5:00 p.m.
We'll be back tomorrow and
go inside and all that.
Right now we're going to take
an Uber to the parking lot
and off we go to a different city.
And a different state as well.
A new state for us.
We're heading down to
Providence, Rhode Island,
because tonight they have this event
they do some nights in the
summer called WaterFire.
In which they literally
light up the river on fire.
It is supposed to be really cool
and our timing today would be perfect.
Besides, it is an opportunity
to add a new state
to our sticker map.
And that's just too good to resist.
It is about an hour drive and here we are.
Providence.
Parking might be an issue
since this is such a popular
event, but we'll see.
There's the capitol building to the right.
Well yeah, as I suspected,
the parking lot we had chosen is full.
Hopefully we'll find
something somewhere else.
It is a little bit congested here,
but while I was stopped
I looked on Google Maps
and I think I saw a large parking lot
by the capitol building.
Here we go.
Event parking, $15.
I'll take it at this point.
And we're parking here for the WaterFire?
- [Man] Yeah, it's $15.
- [Robert] $15?
Alright, let me get--
- Yeah I got it.
- You got it?
(jazzy music)
This is where we parked Big White.
In front of the Rhode Island Statehouse.
Let's walk down to the
river and see this thing
and then eat.
Actually we haven't had anything
since Cheers this morning.
It is quite a nice downtown.
I wish we had more time here.
But as you know our time is very limited.
We'll probably return next
year around this time.
And here we are.
I think this is going
to be as good as it gets
location wise to see the event.
This is it.
I'm claiming this spot right here.
This event, by the way,
attracts roughly 40,000 people.
The tradition began in the mid 90s.
WaterFire is, and I quote
from the Wikipedia here,
simultaneously a free
public art installation,
a performance work, an urban
festival, a civic ritual,
and a spiritual communal
ceremony, well known nationally
and internationally as
a community arts event.
WaterFire's symbolism and interpretation
is both inclusive and expansive;
reflecting the recognition
that individuals must act together
to strengthen and
preserve their community.
That's what they actually light on fire,
which is apparently aromatic wood.
After what feels like ages,
here they finally come.
It is going to be awhile 'til
they make it to where we are.
Little by little they start lighting up
all these floating torches or bonfires.
I don't know exactly what they are called.
Oh wait, I believe they
are called braziers.
Hmm.
(bright music)
- [Woman] They haven't started.
(thoughtful music)
- Here they come.
It is all very artistic,
if perhaps a little slow
for my impatient tastes.
It was certainly lucky to
find out about this event
and be here for it.
As soon as I knew we were going to be here
on this Saturday, I made
sure to try and make it.
If only to see this unique spectacle.
It's pretty much all lit up back there.
(woman singing in foreign language)
Really cool to see and smell, actually.
Yep, it is all this drawn out ritual,
lighting up the fires.
And they are finally done.
Now let's go eat.
(happy music)
It is very mesmerizing for sure.
Everybody seems to be, anyways.
I guess the combination of fire and water
have this profound calming effect.
Oh by the way, they do
offer gondola rides.
Okay Union Station Brewery.
Let's go in there.
When it is cloudy, you know
it's going to be a good IPA.
And we order the burritos as well.
Why not?
Well this was very nice.
Here at the brewery.
Now we have to drive all
the way back to Plymouth.
Oh by the way, great burrito.
(sighs) Let's find out car now,
or the monster truck
or what did I call it?
Big White.
Yeah, that certainly hit the right spot.
Although the burrito tasted
more Italian than Mexican.
And that's totally okay.
It was delicious.
And check out the moon.
(bright jazz music)
Gotta love a city with street musicians.
Um, we got some break dancing here.
It's been a while since I saw that.
(funk music)
(crowd calling out)
(gentle music)
There it is.
The Rhode Island State House,
made out of white Georgia marble.
It is the fourth largest
self supported marble dome
in the world.
The statue of the independent
man, originally called Hope.
(sighs)
It's been a long day.
We're tired.
And the monster truck
is somewhere up here.
And there's Big White.
(energetic music)
Well goodnight.
Well good morning.
We are going back to Boston.
We are going to see
the U.S.S. Constitution
and we are going to eat some Italian
and then I have to drop
Ili off at the airport,
because she has to fly back to Miami.
And then I have to drive
back to Miami, nearly nonstop
because I have to return this
big white truck by Wednesday.
A little tight at this curve, perhaps.
Hmm.
(pensive music)
We go back in the big dig;
quite the engineering marvel.
Aside from all the problems it had.
And we found parking.
It is going to be like $11
for the three hours or so
we are going to be here.
And that is a little tight for
Big White, the monster truck,
but we'll make it work.
Here we are, the U.S.S. Constitution.
Launched in 1797 and named by
President Washington himself
after the then only 10 years
old United States Constitution.
Let's go below decks.
The ship was apparently stronger
and more heavily armed than
other frigates at the time.
There's an even lower level.
I guess this is where the crew slept.
Let's walk to the aft section.
I guess this back here are
the officers' quarters.
Notice the low clearance ceiling.
Perhaps people were shorter back then.
I'm kidding of course.
Perhaps headroom wasn't a major concern
on a ship designed for war.
She's the world's oldest
commissioned naval vessel
still afloat and probably one
of our most historic ships.
By the way, I do believe all
these cannons are replicas
put here when they made
the ship into a museum.
Let's take a picture at
the helm, behind the wheel.
I was really tempted to ring the bell,
but ultimately decided against it.
That was the U.S.S. Constitution.
Now let's go eat.
And with that we bring the
Freedom Trail to a completion.
The U.S.S. Constitution.
Now lets go get some
Italian and then off we go.
(upbeat music)
For the sake of saving time,
we're gonna take an Uber to North End,
where parking would be
lot more challenging.
So we are leaving the
big truck in Charlestown.
The birthplace of Clementina.
We get some bread and
hmm, olive oil, delicious.
(Parisian music)
Olives, scallops and a
pasta plate called Rosetta.
Tiramisu for dessert and espresso.
And there seems to be some
procession happening outside.
(bright band music)
Ooo I see.
This must be part of
the San Gennaro Festival
we saw yesterday.
Okay we're back by Paul Revere's house.
By the way that restaurant
we ate, Lemoncello,
really good.
A little pricey, but it felt so authentic,
our waiter he was from Genova.
And you know, an old
timer, really cool guy.
So yeah, I fully recommend it.
Unfortunately our time
here is running out,
so yeah we're gonna go.
(bright band music)
Actually, before we go,
let's follow the music a little here.
I have a thing for marching bands
and we still have a little time to spare.
We kind of continue
walking on Hanover Street,
kind of sort of following the procession.
There are actually two bands.
The one in the front is playing now,
which is more of a waltzy downtempo style.
Very serendipitous to be here today
in the middle of this procession.
This is actually the first
year they do the San Gennaro
here in Boston.
The original celebration of course
has been taking place in Mulberry Street
in New York since 1926.
It is still great to be here
as they are bringing
this Italian tradition
to North End here in Boston.
This is an original reproduction
of the statue of San Gennaro.
Blessed by Pope Francis himself
in person at the Vatican.
Well, time's up.
We're walking back to the car.
(jazzy music)
I'm going to take Ili to
Boston Logan Airport here,
where she has a three
hour flight back to Miami.
And then I'm going back to
the campground to get ready
for my three day drive back to Miami.
Although I am going to try
and do it in two and a half.
Yeah, I'm leaving tonight.
♪ Riding, riding, my RV ♪
Before we go, we've got two more states
to add to our map here.
First of course Massachusetts.
And of course, Rhode Island.
And my rule for this
is you either have to sleep in the state
or do something significant.
And I think Rhode Island qualifies.
We saw that WaterFire in Providence.
So that's a very tiny sticker.
But gonna put it,
gonna put it right there.
Anyways, now back to Miami.
But we're running kind of long here,
so I'm gonna show you that
on the next video.
