Adrift at Sea —Dan’s blog on dankim.com

Blogging has been a bit light over the last week as I’ve been busy playing tourist. I had a friend in visiting, on her first ever visit to Boston. She wanted to see some of the historical things that make Boston such an important part of this country’s history. She also wanted to get a taste of the regional specialties, like Boston’s famed Baked Beans, and New England Clam Chowder and Lobsters.

One day, we walked the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a historic walk through many of the Boston area Revolutionary War landmarks. It includes Boston Common, the Massachusetts State House, the Park Street Church, the Granary Burying Grounds, the original site of Boston Latin—America’s oldest public school still in existence, Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere’s house, the Old North Church, Copp’s Hill, Bunker Hill and the USS Constitution—otherwise known as “Old Ironsides”. Here are photos of the Old North Church and the rigging of the USS Constitution.

The Freedom Trail is something I think every American should visit. Not many countries have buildings and sites from their founding so openly displayed and honored. The last time I had seen the Freedom Trail was many years ago, on a school field trip. The reasons for the American Revolution are still valid today, and I think it would do the Bush regime well to remember that.

One stop on the Freedom Trail we made was Fanueil Hall’s Durgin Park restaurant. Although this is not part of the historical tour, it is an excellent place to sample authentic Boston Baked Beans and a pretty good version of New England Clam Chowder. We stopped for lunch to do just that.

We also went to Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod. This was my first trip back to Martha’s Vineyard since 2001, when Gee and I went. It was good to be back in a place that we both love so much. Here are photos of Vineyard Haven harbor and the Gay Head Lighthouse in Aquinnah.

Aquinnah is the new name for the town previously known as Gay Head, and was renamed by the local native Americans, the Wampanoag tribe. Several of the small gift shops located at the Aquinnah Cliffs are run by members of the Wampanoag tribe.

One place that is a tradition for me to visit on every trip to Martha’s Vineyard is the Black Dog Bakery and Tavern. The t-shirts and other souvenirs from the Black Dog are easily recognizable by the Black Dog logo seen to the left. The older shirts were dated as to what year they were made, but they haven’t done that since at least 2001. They’ve added a few more shops to the Black Dog complex and opened stores in a few other cities as well. We also had lunch at the Black Dog Tavern, a lobster roll and plate of New England style fish and chips—made with fresh New England cod fish. Very good lunch…and not too expensive, given that we were in a tourist trap.

Next was a trip to Fairhaven, to see the Pretty Gee. We took the Pretty Gee out and enjoyed an evening out on the waters of Buzzards Bay. Buzzards Bay was breezy and beautiful.

On Tuesday, for lunch, before leaving for the airport, we had a classic New England summer meal—bread, fresh corn-on-the-cob, and steamed New England Lobsters. Apparently, this was my friend’s first time doing battle with a lobster. A bib and claw cracker were the tools of the day. She won, the lobster lost, but did manage to draw a bit of blood—apparently it decided to go down fighting. Overall, a beautiful way to cap off her long weekend vacation.

After lunch, we left for Logan Airport, Boston’s somewhat infamous airport. Security was being paranoid, as is justified by the airport that had two planes hijacked on 9/11.