In November 2022 I did something I was unsure I ever would do, I visited the USA.
A nation I’m deeply conflicted about. On one hand you have amazing media, and friendly people, on the other you have hyper-capitalism, gun violence, aggressive foreign policy, and a deeply divided nation, not only in political terms, but also in terms of economic class. But we can put that aside for the purpose of this blog post, this blog post is about my time there. And it was a jam packed few days.
When we left the airport, the first thing I noticed was this sign. And this was my first “wow, so this is America” feeling.
We got the shuttle bus from the airport to South Station, and tried to navigate our way to our hotel – but as we were both hungry, we decided to find somewhere to grab a quick bite to eat.
We ventured through Chinatown and stumbled across the cute “Corner Pub”. And given we were in Boston, I opted for some clam chowder (and it’s an “Irish city”, so I opted for an American take on an Irish classic).
After leaving the Corner Pub, we began walking to our hotel in South Boston. It took approximately 20 minutes, which was okay with our large suitcases.
We passed this political graffiti on our walk, which was ironic as we inadvertently ended up in a bar the following day with completely opposing political views from the bar owner/clientele.
I was able to capture this photograph of the Boston skyline outside our hotel.
We freshened up in our hotel room, and then ventured back into the city to meet Amy’s friend Roisín who has settled in Boston. We had a little time to kill before meeting up with Roisín, so we entered the first lively establishment we encountered (which happened to be Guy Fieri’s Flavortown).
The next morning, we rose rather early as we had plans to meet my friend Katie (who had also moved to Boston) for lunch in The Broadway, in South Boston.
We estimated the walk would take us an hour from our hotel. It took about 20 minutes, so we ventured around the side streets to kill a little time.
The effects of the night before started to kick in, so we sought a little “hair of the dog”, and ended up in the Shannon Bar. The bartender had just finished up an overnight shift and was awaiting his replacement arriving. I’m not sure if this place ever closes, but we sat up and ordered a drink to keep the hangover at bay. Here I spotted this sticker behind the bar.
Ironic from a city that considers itself Irish. I guess there’s just a type of non-local they dislike… The staff, and locals were lovely, but it was a little jarring to see. No more political talk now, I promise.
The food in The Broadway was delicious, and it’s always a pleasure seeing an old friend you haven’t seen in years, and meeting her partner was brilliant too.
After our food, we grabbed an Uber back into the city centre to explore a little and do some sightseeing.
Before heading to Boston, I had read up about a woman named Ann Glover, an Irish speaker who was sentenced to penal servitude in Barbados. Her husband died there, and she eventually ended up in Boston with her daughter. She was working as a housekeeper for a wealthy family, and was accused of theft.
Shortly after the children of the wealthy family became sick and a doctor couldn’t diagnose them with an ailment, so he said they were “bewitched” (in truth it was 1688 and people died of the simplest, treatable illnesses – and the doctor was shit at his job). She was accused of witchcraft, and sentenced to trial. As she couldn’t speak English, she tried to plead her cause in Irish, but the judge decried that Ann Glover “was speaking the devils tongue”, and she was subsequently hung. Being the last woman hung in Boston (preceding the Salem Witch trials just north 4 years later).
In 1988, Boston declared the 16th of November as “Goody Glover Day”.
There’s a church in North Boston (St. Stephen’s Catholic Church) with a plaque to Ann Glover on the wall, and I really wanted to go and pay my respects to someone whose only crime was not speaking English.
Local jobs for local people wouldn’t have helped back then either, as the locals back then spoke Algonquin, not English.
The following day, we kept in line with our witch theme, and travelled to nearby Salem via train.
We did the Witch Gaol, which opened my mind. I always thought the witches in Salem were burnt at the stake, but that was a phenomenon in Europe (Ireland was responsible for burning witches at the stake in Islandmagee 18 years after the last execution in the now-USA), and there are no documented cases of a “witch” being burnt at the stake in what’s now the USA. Most were hung.
The mass hysteria surrounding The Witch Trials was a tit for tat “he’s a witch”, “she’s a witch”, where if you testified to being a witch, and accused others, you were generally let off – were most accused those they had grudges against. But at the rate accusations were flying around, the town of Salem risked running out of people.
After the Gaol tour, we ventured into the town centre to explore before making our way to the memorial to Witch Trials.
What I found amazing about Salem was how it really buys into the Witch City gimmick.
Even the local police department badge features a witch.
After exploring for a while, we had a pit stop in a local craft brewery to catch our breathe.
Back in Boston, we had a night cap in L Street Tavern, where parts of Goodwill Hunting were filmed. How do you like them apples?
After starting the following day a little groggy, we decided to visit another famous bar from Boston: Cheers. Contrary to popular belief, everybody there did not know my name.
After a quick beer to test the theory, we ventured on to Beacon Hill to look at the picturesque streets.
We then embarked on the Freedom Trail (a 4km path that passes many historical sights through Boston).
Many of these sites pay homage to America’s founding fathers, but it also passes a memorial to the Irish Famine.
It travels further North past the Old State House, and the site of the Boston Massacre. And then passes Faneuil Hall before entering Boston’s North End (where it ultimately passes St. Stephen’s Church – where the Ann Glover plaque is).
We stopped in Quincy Market behind Faneuil Hall whilst here for a bite to eat. They have options galore. I opted for boring pizza this time, but later on our trip I grabbed Lobster Mac n Cheese.
Out front of Faneuil Hall is a statue of Samuel Adams. He’s not just known as the name on beer, he’s actually a founding father of the USA.
We ventured further Northwards along the Freedom Trail, before stopping in Mike’s Pastry’s in the North End for some cannolis. A must on most travel blogs of things to do in Boston.
The next day, we had quite a jam packed itinerary: Harvard, Fenway Park, Boston Celtics
So we arose early to ensure we would tick everything off our list.
We arrived in Cambridge, and explored the Harvard campus, and it was pretty much like you see on the movies. Exquisite red bricked building, and people who seem like they’re in a rush to class. They’re probably a little more intelligent than me too, but that’s merely a presumption.
We continued to venture around campus before stumbling across a little bar to grab lunch in, and then we checked out JFK Memorial Park.
After stupidly looking for a statue of JFK and having no luck, we walked along Massachusetts Ave to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
From MIT it was about a 20 minute walk across Harvard Bridge to Fenway Park.
When we arrived at Fenway, it started to lash rain, so we sought refuge in Cask’n’flagon, ESPN’s “best baseball bar in America” until the rain subsided. Fenway Park has such an old timey feeling about it. The rugged steel exterior, the antique style signs.
I know very little about baseball, but this stadium would be cool to watch a game in. Or at least do a tour of if I was ever back in Boston.
When it finally stopped raining, we grabbed a few photos before opting to go back to the hotel to get ready for the basketball later.
The game in question was Boston Celtics vs Miami Heat, and apart from the unimaginative chants from the fans, the spectacle is brilliant. American sports do hit the nail on the head in that regard.
There was also an interesting guest at the Basketball game.
In my eyes, the only royalty present at the game was my fiancée though. And Jayson Tatum/Marcus Smart.
Over the next few days, we squeezed in a Ghost Tour pub crawl, taking us around haunted aspects of Boston, and bars where spooky occurrences are said to have happened.
Along this tour, as we passed Omni Parker House Hotel, I learned my beloved Ho Chi Minh worked there from 1912 to 1913, whilst Malcolm X worked there in the 40s.
Though the effects of the pub crawl aspect of the tour made me forget to snap a photograph of it.
The next day, we ventured to the Mary Baker Eddy Christian Science Library, where the Mapparium is based.
A little known attraction in Boston, featuring a giant globe where you can stand inside, and see the world borders as of 1935. The venue has considered updating the map at various times, but abstained due the historical significance of an older map.
After visiting the Mapparium, I still don’t know what Christian Science is, or who Mary Baker Eddy is, but I do know the Mapparium was cool.
After the Mapparium, we visited Bukowski’s bar, named after Charles Bukowski on the recommendation of a friend, where Roisín from the start of our trip met us for a send off.
The last morning of our stay, we walked along the A Street, up to Congress Street Bridge to see the famous Tea Party Museum and Milk Bottle, which we just didn’t have time to experience in full, but didn’t want to completely omit from our trip.
And that’s a wrap. If you like history about old white guys, a friendly population, beer galore, delicious sea food, good basketball, witches, and much much more, Boston is a city for you to visit