Between visiting Boston from Brown, visiting friends in Boston from Michigan, and living here for three months, I've more or less seen it all. This last weekend, I went to see one of the few major historical sites I hadn't yet toured--the USS Constitution.
"Old Ironsides" (who is made of wood) is 214 years old this month, and still makes 6-8 voyages a year. (The rest of us can only dream of being that active at that age.) Mostly, though, she docks in Charlestown at the north end of the Freedom Trail. (The Freedom Trail, for those of you who haven't seen it, is like the yellow brick road to Oz, except it's red and leads to each of the oldest, most important historical sites in downtown Boston.) Of all the impressive things about this sailing ship, I was most interested to see that the ceiling height below deck was just barely tall enough for me not to bump my head. Clearly, if environmental consulting does not work out, I should be a tourguide. I also found the idea of sleeping in a hammock fascinating, and the myriad rope ladders climbing the masts made me nervous. I really wanted to see the Constitution crew climb one.
I'll share a few of my photos, but be warned that it was really sunny and I was snapping these on my phone, which is impossible to see in direct sunlight. So the pictures do not always capture the view I intended; whoops! :) Regardless, this is one beautiful ship, and although it's certainly worth paying for, the tours are always free.
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| I wonder if you would get more or less seasick sleeping in a hammock. |
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| Cannons on the gun deck. |
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| So many ropes! They actually used to manufacture the ropes at the Charlestown Navy Yard, since typical rope quality wasn't good enough for battleships. |
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