Boston Freedom Trail

[tmonahan]

My Troop is planning a May, 2007 trip to the Freedom Trail in Boston.

This is our annual Troop family campout so we will have parents and siblings with us.(Last year we went to Gettysburg...what a blast!)

 

Looking for any advice & guidance on the following and any other information you can provide:

 

1. Where to camp? I see that there is a BSA camp in Milton, MA(Camp Sayre) which is about 10 mintues to a T stop.

2. How long to complete the Freedom Trail in order to qualify for the Freedom Trail Patch?

 

Yis,

Tom

[scoutingagain]

I can't provide advice on the Freedom Trail. Have lived in the Boston area for close to 30 years and still havn't done it.

 

As far a Camp Sayre goes, our troop camps there once in a while. It is quite a decent BSA camp and close to the T. They just finished an indoor pool so bring your swim trunks. Camp Sayre is adjacent to the Blue Hills Reservation which offers miles of hiking and biking trails. You can hike from Camp Sayre to the top of Blue Hill and get a spectacular view of the City and harbor.

 

Other campsites near Boston include Wampatuck State Park, see http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/harbor.htm.'>http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/harbor.htm. They have a separate area for scouts and I believe there is no charge, but it is primitive camping.i.e. very limited facilities other than potable water, outhouse and a place to pitch tents.

 

There are also the Boston Harbor Islands. See http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/metroboston/harbor.htm

 

Great place to camp, but again primitive campsites.

 

Lots for Scouts to do in Beantown and nearby.

 

The USS Constitution

Boston Harbor Islands and the Fort on George's Island.

Lexington & Concord, Shot heard 'round the world and all that.

Bunker Hill(Really Breeds Hill)

Salem, MA Witch trials, clipper ships

Plymouth, MA Plymouth Plantation, Mayflower

Science Museum

Cheers(The scouts probably don't even know the show.)

 

Good luck!

 

SA

[Mooseman]

I hiked the Freedom trail as a scout in boston. I believe it takes about one day and I believe that you can earn the medal just by walking it. if you stay at Sayre, which I might add I like, the scout office is there and they will most likly have info on the freedom trail. If you guys are really into history then it would take more than one day, the trail highlights all of the importaint historic parts of boston.

[theysawyoucomin']

Two years ago we made a Pack trip to the Boston aquarium and USS Constitution. The council and the folks at Camp Sayre were very accodating. The next closest "t" stop is the better parking area. There is something bad about the closest stop. I think there were problems with leaving the cars in a not so nice parking lot.

Good Luck.

 

remember Ironsides is a National Historic site---you will be searched. Also try to see the USS Cassin Young---she is about a block away. As a Marine I wanted to man the"tops" and snipe at boarders but they said I'd be arrested if I climbed the rigging. The ship "oozes" history. She was sent to deal with the radical Muslims of her day---the Barbary Pirates--a little steel on target helped settle that little scuffle---We didn't

have CNN then. No John Carri 2 put us cervis mens down. He's is wrong I joined the Mareens 'cuz the circus wouldn't take me.

[theysawyoucomin']

The council and the folks at Camp Sayre were very accomodating.

I'm not stupid I just did not have my glasses on.

[mschwartz]

I took my Webelos I den on the Freedom Trail the day after Thanksgiving last year. We met up at the beginning, on Boston Common near the Park Street T station (Red and Green lines) and proceeded from there.

 

How long does it take? However long you want to spend! One of the first stops is the State House - if you go with a guided tour, you'll be in there for a couple of hours. If you just wander around, you might leave in 15 minutes. There are a number of other stops along the way that cost $$ to go in (for instance, we did go into the Paul Revere House, which was quite interesting, but passed on the Old South Church). There is a fairly large gap between the bulk of the trail and the USS Constitution, but it's worth the extra hike.

 

Rather than hiking back into Boston, we went from the Constitution to the Bunker Hill memorial (the boys had a great time climbing to the top) and then walked over to the Community College T station (Orange line). We were out the better part of the day! Lots of opportunities to stop for lunch along the way if you don't want to pack your own.

 

I recommend http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/ for more information - they have a virtual tour and lots of good stuff.

 

Freedom Trail patches or medals can be purchased from http://www.bsaboston.org - go to the online store and click on "Freedom Trail". We got the patches and the boys put them on their red brag vests. To qualify, you basically have to go the entire route (about 2.5 miles).

 

Enjoy!

Marietta

[yelruh]

One thing I've seen groups do is make Old Ironsides the lunch stop. If you have enough adults, let some of them bring lunch there by car, and then take the place of some of the adults who have been with the boys all morning, it's a lot of walking. Last year when I was there, there was plenty of parking, you'd just have to wait for a space.

 

I've also seen a group so organized, that they did a mid-morning break with cold drinks and snacks at Fanuel Hall Market, so the kids didn't blow $10 on junk, and get spread out all over the place too.

 

It's not that the boys can't carry their lunch, but it's a lot of walking, and you don't want them to be eating it early, and it's really nice to have cold, cold drinks.

 

With cellphones this is a piece of cake.