Boston, MA: Freedom Trail!!!

Boston holds a ton of history within in city, and loves to share it with visitors... so much so, that they created the "Freedom Trail" which is essentially a red line that leads you to all the major historical portions of Boston.

                                           

Someone's video log of the trail.

Here is the link to the map: http://www.thefreedomtrail.org/maps/pdfs/boston-nps-map.pdf

  The starting point

  

You can take the trail to the USS Constitution...

Across the Charlestown Bridge...

To the North End and the Old North Church...

Down to Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market

To the Old State House and the Site of the Boston Massacre...

To the Old South Meeting House....

To the Old City Hall....

State House and Cemetery where Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere are buried...

To the Park Street Church, and ending at Boston Common....

There is so much more to the trail, of course, but this is what I have room for :)

And our randomness...

Woodstock, VT

Day off August 3, 2013 part 1

Woodstock, VT- established in 1761

Beautiful, small town, with a lot of history.  

Creepy display.

The Woodstock public library

New Orleans, LA: Plantations

Visiting the plantations was an awesome and memorable trip, not only because of the sheer beauty of the houses, but because of the history, the pain, and the struggles that took place within the grounds of the plantations.

The first we visited was the Laura Plantation.  The family that had owned it was a Creole family, and yet they owned slaves. Creole is a term used in reference to someone from French or Spanish descent.  Its application was very widespread though, and could be used in reference to someone of full descent, or racially mixed.  In this case, European, Native American, and West African were in the mix.  

Slave Quarters. 

Some of the few remaining. We were able to go inside, and see the conditions of the house. 

The second house we only got to see the outside of, but that was certainly enough.  It is called the Oak Alley Plantation, because of the Oaks that line the pathway to the house, and surround the house.