Charlestown to Plymouth, Massachusetts

Tuesday, October 26, 2009

Charlestown is next to Boston across Charles River. In the harbour you can visit the USS Constitution - a warship built in 1797 of many different kinds of wood. It gained its fame and its nickname "Old Ironsides" (a reaction to the resiliency of the ship's wooden sides) as a result of engagements with the British during the War of 1812.

We we were thinking of paying to go on board but first we had to go through security and the guard started hollering at us unpleasantly, so we turned around. Looking at the ship from the outside was good enough. We found the Freedom Trail which was painted here and followed it up to Bunker Hill through a charming 19th century Victorian neighborhood.

The Battle of Bunker Hill is a misnomer as the battle actually occurred on Breed's Hill nearby. It was smaller and closer to the city. Colonel Prescott took up sniper positions there. The British were advancing but the colonists did not have much ammunition so they waited and used their weapons carefully. "Do not shoot until you see the whites of their eyes."

The 2,200 British won but half of their soldiers were either dead or wounded. The Colonists lost 400-600 of 2,500-4,000 soldiers. Although a technical victory for the British, the battle provided an important boost to the American patriots' morale. They proved that they could face the British in traditional field combat.

Now, why the large monument, with a statue of Prescott, stands on Bunker Hill instead of Breed's Hill is mysterious to me. Does anybody know why?

Luna now guided us through heavy traffic to the Presidential Library and Museum of John F. Kennedy on a 10 acre waterfront site. There were 25 multimedia exhibits. We both enjoyed it. This was something we could easily relate to. Jalil: "The events of my life marched in front of my eyes." There was Walter Cronkite and other newscasters we used to watch every night. You did not have 20 news channels to choose from in those days. I remember exactly where I was (getting ready for bed in Stocksund) when JFK was shot and when Robert Kennedy was shot (in our living room on Irving Street, SF, knitting a green and white outfit for Steven).

We were invited to Claire - Richard and Maria Bergmann's daughter - who lives with her husband and childen Thomas and Ellie in Chestnut Hill - not far from JFK. But if we had not had Luna, we would never have found it. We had to wiggle here and there and it took forever to find them. Claire said that even UPS has trouble finding this adress. It was so nice to see them again. Last time was at Richard's 70th birthday almost two years ago. Jalil played with the children while I chatted with Claire and then we had tea together.

We had reservations in Plymouth, Massachusetts, so we headed south. The traffic was now worse. The drivers were very aggressive. In the rotary (round-about) they just jumped in - clogging it!!! There was barely any movement going around. While we were driving on the freeway in the right lane away from the city, there was suddenly a car passing us on the right very fast! That was the breakdown lane! You do not normally expect a car where. It was a very insecure feeling for us who are not used to it. Later on there was a sign stating that driving in the breakdown lane was not allowed. But up to that point it was happening a lot.