Our whirlwind East Coast trip took us to Boston for the final leg of our trip, and while we were only in the city for a few days, we packed a lot of action into a little bit of time.
Sarah’s dedication to visiting every Presidential Library kicked off our day at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, which was easily my favorite of the libraries we’ve visited together.
It was also the saddest.
You couldn’t help but imagine, as you walked through the library, what our country might look like now if JFK were still alive and had served his full term.
As JFK was an avid sailer and loved the ocean, his library sat right at the edge of the water. It was a lovely location.
We started off by learning about how much of an adventurer JFK was, which immediately won me over. Here he is climbing the side of a French castle, something we can all aspire to do.
They also had a copy of his first published book, “Why England Slept,” which began as a thesis.
They also had the infamous coconut!
When JFK was serving in the navy, his boat was destroyed by an enemy ship, and he and his crew swam three miles to an island. While stranded, Kennedy carved a message into the coconut, which was delivered to Allied forces by a pair of Solomon Islanders. Shortly after, Kennedy and his crew were rescued. He kept the coconut on his desk during his presidency.
After the initial exhibit on JFK’s early life, you moved on to a theatre, where they gave you more information about him, leading up to his decision to run for presidency. The video included clips of JFK talking, and it was a really well-done piece.
After leaving the theatre, you’re brought to the next portion of the museum, an exhibit about his campaign.
These dresses were really cool. And absolutely tiny.
Seriously how cool is this dress?? Suddenly I’m feeling patriotic.
They also had a staged campaign office, which was neat to look into.
The next step of the visit was into a replica of the White House.
Well-played, JFK Library and Museum, well-played.
They had the original copy of the “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country” speech.
The White House portion was divided into rooms detailing out Kennedy’s accomplishments.
The exhibit on space was particularly interesting.
They had a display about how space-crazy society became, with different toys geared toward children, who for the first time began listing “astronaut” as what they wanted to be when they grew up. It was interested to read about how national interest flourished around travel to space.
There was also a great exhibit on the Peace Corps, which JFK signed into existence.
I’m actually not really sure what in the world I’m doing, but I did like the layout of this advertisement.
There was also a replica of the Oval Office.
They included this adorable picture of JFK with his kiddos.
Next was a great exhibit on Jackie – I’ll admit that I didn’t know a ton about either of them before visiting the museum, and this really solidified how cool they were.
For starters, Jackie worked as a journalist for awhile, and they had some of her photos and equipment in her display.
In addition to writing for newspapers, she also wrote poems and painted. Look at this cute painting she made of the White House for JFK!
It’s so cute!
She also rode horses, and this picture is pretty badass.
They also had her wedding photos in the display, which was really cool to see, since I’d just walked by the church they were married in when I was in Newport!
Jackie was really passionate that the White House was the peoples’ house, and she wanted there to be a thorough tour available to the American people. She’s essentially the reason why tours of the White House are what they are today, which was so neat to read about since I’d visited D.C.in the last few years. The visitor’s center was her doing, which I didn’t realize when I visited it myself.
She also started the White House Guide, which was sold to visitors or could be ordered through the mail. The profits of the guidebook were put toward the restoration of the White House.
They included drawings of some of Jackie’s restoration efforts, which again, was interesting to see after having been there! I hadn’t known the hand she had in making my experience possible when I toured the White House.
Touring the space was bittersweet – it was so fun to read about their accomplishments, but I couldn’t help but imagine how much better our country and world might be had JFK lived to fulfill his term and continued to lead this country.
After I finished these exhibits, I was brought to a long, dark hallway with several screens. While there had been a lot of activity in the White House portion of the exhibit, this space was suddenly quiet, and there was only one person ahead of me, who was very quietly watching the screens. She had very somber energy that made me feel a bit uncomfortable, so with equal parts social anxiety and equal parts wanting to give her space, I moved on without really looking at the wall. I told my friend later that I was surprised that they didn’t talk about the assassination itself, and that was when I discovered they did indeed have an exhibit on it, I just walked through it due to my awkward inability to absorb that woman’s somber energy.
Beyond the hall was a really great exhibit to end the museum on – JFK’s legacy.
They highlighted his accomplishments, and included some speculation on what could have been. Again, it was incredibly bittersweet.
Feeling sad, I returned to the main area of the museum, which was surrounded by windows overlooking the ocean.
There were two special exhibits that I decided to check out beyond the main exhibit area.
The first is a standing exhibit on Hemingway’s works.
There wasn’t a great explanation on why this was here, but as a literary nerd, I highly enjoyed it. Apparently this library is also the premiere location for Hemingway researchers, as much of his papers and photographs are stored in the library. JFK helped Hemingway’s widow, Mary, retrieve their belongings from Cuba, after Hemingway passed. When Jackie was developing JFK’s library, Mary offered to donate some of Hemingway’s things to it, and Jackie accepted. So here we are.
The next exhibit was also pretty sad, as it was an exhibit on JFK and Jackie’s kids, Caroline and John Jr.
It starts off strong with a wall of drawings that American kids sent to Caroline and John Jr. after JFK was assassinated. Kind of a tear-jerker.
There were some non-depressing pieces in the exhibit though, too.
Including this super awesome, retro dollhouse made for Caroline Kennedy.
And this Kennedy-themed board game.
And how about these Kennedy-themed paper dolls?
Or this super cute picture of JFK with Caroline?
I really liked this photo, and appreciated how they wove it into the design of the exhibit.
It was another sad moment – thinking about how changed that family would be after the loss of JFK.
And that was the museum – 10/10 would recommend visiting if you have the chance to. I can’t let you leave without showing you this super rad photo of JFK, though.
That’s a great photo!
After completing our tour and Sarah’s mission to purchase a JFK mug, we were ready for the next stop of our day.
Now you might be thinking, “Ana, you’ve already put on the miles today, how much more could there be?”
The answer is: a lot.
Next up: The Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum. Highly recommend. How can you not go if you’re going to Boston?
You start off by gathering in a replica of the Old South Meeting House.
Here, you reenact the meeting in which they decided to throw their tea party, and you’re also assigned an identity.
I was a distiller!
Next, you head to the ship, where you have the opportunity to throw over some “boxes” of tea.
You also get to explore the ship, a full-scale replica.
Following the tour of the ship, they bring you back inside, where they show you a vial of tea-colored water taken from the harbor that evening, and the only remaining crate that was retrieved from the water after being thrown in.
After a hard afternoon of rebellion and revolution, we were pretty hungry, so we headed to Quincy Market in search of lobster rolls.
The market was really cool – there were a lot of different vendors to choose from.
I’m a big believer that a long line is an indicator of something worth waiting for, so I made my selection based on the lobster roll connoisseur with the lengthiest line, which was “Boston Chowda.”
And let me tell you, I’m glad I did.
I ordered their combo meal so I could have the hot buttered lobster roll and their award-wining chowder, and that was the absolute right move.
The chowder was good – it wasn’t better than the chowder I enjoyed in Newport, but it was good.
The lobster roll on the other hand.
The lobster roll was made by the hands of angels. Angels with Boston accents. This was literally the perfect lobster roll. The bread was chewy on the inside but crunchy and crisp on the outside, slathered in butter. The lobster mixture was hot, garlicky, and tender. It could not have been better. I wish I was eating this lobster roll right now as I type.
We had great views from our seats on the second level of Quincy Market, where we sat and listened to a musician play violin as we ate.
We surprised ourselves by having a lot of free time left in the day, and what else is one to do with free time other than hit the Freedom Trail?
We decided to visit a few sites along the Freedom Trail, mixed in with a few other cool sites on the way. Let’s go.
For starters, we were right next to Faneuil Hall. Home of the first Town Hall meeting in the United States!
Inside were shops and opportunities to stamp my National Park Passport, which I did.
The Boston Public Library isn’t on the trail, but it was along our route to our next site, so we stopped to look around.
It had a really lovely courtyard, with seating all around the interior columns.
Definitely a place I would love to sit and work if I lived in Boston.
The interior had some gorgeous ceiling tiles.
And all of this was leading into a stunning entryway!
This is my kind of library!
We walked around the building a bit before hitting the Freedom Trail again. Our next stop was Boston Common, America’s oldest park.
This was one of my favorite places in Boston, purely because as we were walking along the path, I stopped to point out how chunky and adorable the squirrels were. As I giggled at the squirrels, I heard a voice behind me.
“Do you want some peanuts?”
Typically my answer to this question, when asked by strangers, is a firm no, but when I turned around, some random Bostonian man was standing there, and he began telling me that the squirrels in the park will come right up to you if you feed them peanuts. He told us there was a squirrel clique, and only the Boston Common squirrels will come right up to you.
“It’s the best thing you’ll do in Boston,” he said.
“The best thing I’ll do in Boston?” I clarified with a skeptical laugh.
“One of the best things,” he replied. Then he bent down, pretended to hold out a peanut, and a squirrel ran right up to him. I was immediately delighted. The Squirrel Man then told us he had peanuts in his car, and offered to get them for us. I was trained by my mother to not follow strangers to their vehicles, and technically he offered to run back to his car for us and not with us, but I still declined his offer. He told us he was just meeting his daughter in the park and would be happy to run back really quickly. Part of me wondered if he really had a daughter or if that was just a way to lull us into a false sense of security, so I thanked him but said no again.
After he left, I knelt down on the sidewalk and held out my hand toward a squirrel, pretending I had a peanut. He waddled right up to me on two little legs, his tiny hands held together as if he was praying that I had a handful of peanuts. He sniffed my hand before running away, and I thought it was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. My friend told me I was going to be bitten and get rabies.
I stood up, and when I turned around, Squirrel Man was back! He held out his hand and told us that he went back to his car to get us peanuts. I started laughing hysterically, because he truly appeared out of nowhere for the second time in a row. I thanked the Squirrel Fairy and he gave me a whole handful of peanuts before disappearing into the park.
I was absolutely giddy and overflowing with hysterical laughter. The whole situation was so absurd – this man coming out of nowhere to tell us we should feed the squirrels, and then magically reappearing in no time with a handful of peanuts. The squirrels were also extremely adorable, and each time I fed one a peanut, I started laughing even harder.
I mean look how absolutely adorable this little man is!! They were so cute. It was truly one of the best things I did in Boston.
I laughed my way to the George Washington statue in the park, feeding squirrels along the way, absolutely filled with child-like joy.
I felt like the Oprah of squirrels, tossing peanuts at each cute little guy I passed.
And as luck would have it, when we finally were ready to exit the park, we ran into our Squirrel Fairy again. This time he actually was with his daughter!
“Did you feed the squirrels?” he shouted across the street to us.
“Yes! And it was the best thing I’ve done in Boston!” I shouted back. “Thank you!”
And that was the last time we ever saw the Squirrel Fairy. Insert sad face here.
We weren’t done with our Boston shenanigans yet, though. We made our way to the Brattle Book Shop, one of America’s oldest bookstores.
It was actually one of my favorite bookstores I’ve ever visited, for a few reasons.
One, tiny books.
They had a collection of absolutely adorable miniature books. Expensive miniature books.
Two, the antique books.
They had a crazy collection of antique books, just sitting out in the open. They had rare books behind cases, but they had an additional rare book floor, which was like wonderland!
Three, the sheer variety.
This place is three stories packed full of books. I’d learned my lesson in Paris after buying too many books, so I restricted myself while shopping, but I could have gone crazy here.
We were losing daylight, so we hustled out onto the Freedom Trail again. We came across a cool plaque in the sidewalk, which alerted us to a view of the North Church Tower.
We had tickets to tour the Old North Church the next day, so we instead walked to the Old South Meeting House.
Immediately next to it is the site of the Boston Massacre, marked with a plaque.
The Old Corner Bookstore is supposed to be nearby, as well, however we were very sad to discover that it is now a Chipotle. Looks like I’ll never be eating at a Chipotle again, since they gave one of America’s oldest bookstore the boot.
One of our last stops for the day was the Green Dragon Tavern, a popular tavern for Paul Revere and John Hancock. It is supposedly also the location where Paul Revere’s ride began, after the plans to invade Lexington and Concorde were overheard at the bar.
It wasn’t much to see, but it was fun imaging it’s historic clientele.
We walked to our hotel from there, and as we did, we past the Old North Church and Paul Revere’s statue, where we’d start our adventures the very next day.
That’s all an adventure for tomorrow. Stay tuned.
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