Aloha to New England - Freedom Trail, North End, Christ Church, and the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

The Freedom Trail took us to Boston's Historic North End.  From its website (link),

Boston and its North End offer a veritable surfeit of historical sites and stories: from the days of the American Revolution through the China trade period of the early 1800s, to the extraordinary tsunami of Irish, Portuguese, Jewish and Italian immigrants who flooded Boston over the last century-and-a-half. Each epoch has left an indelible impact on commerce, customs, religious traditions, politics and institutions – in sum – upon the very city and neighborhoods that we know today.

I spotted a costumed tour guide waiting for his group to finish shopping for souvenirs ...

... across from the Old North Church.  From its website (link),

Founded in 1722, Christ Church in the City of Boston, known to all as the Old North Church, is Boston’s oldest surviving church building and most visited historical site. In 1775, on the eve of Revolution, the majority of the congregation were loyal to the British King and many held official positions in the royal government, including the Royal Governor of Massachusetts, making Robert Newman’s loyalty to the Patriot cause even more extraordinary. The King gave the Old North’s its silver that was used at services and a bible.

The enduring fame of the Old North began on the evening of April 18, 1775, when the church sexton, Robert Newman, and Vestryman Capt. John Pulling, Jr. climbed the steeple and held high two lanterns as a signal from Paul Revere that the British were marching to Lexington and Concord by sea across the Charles River and not by land. This fateful event ignited the American Revolution.

Upon entering the church, I was taken back by the "pew boxes".  The guide explained the Old North Church was a closed congregation - parishioners purchased the pew boxes to join the church.    The boxes could hold an entire family.

The boxes are labeled with the original owner and year of purchase.  The guide noted that most historic churches in both England and US removed the boxes for longer pews.

Behind the church is the Memorial Garden ...

... the dog tags were heartbreaking.

Do you remember  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, THE MIDNIGHT RIDE OF PAUL REVERE?  One randomly selected commenter from this week's blogs wins a book choice from my convention stash.   Comments are open through Saturday, September 27, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, September 28, on SOS Aloha.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

A tee shirt from the North End