The North End
Published August 7, 2022
After having breakfast at Tatte Bakery & Cafe we continued up Boylston Street to visit the Boston Common.
Boston Common
I love flowers and trees so I was excited to visit the Boston Common.
We started near the Tadeusz Kosciuszko Statue and followed the walking paths alongside the pond, stopping at different benches to look out on the water.
Small dogs ran free off leash. A few folks rested on benches with their morning coffee. Some businessmen followed the walking paths as they cut through on their route to work. Tourist couples followed us throughout the area as we stopped at the statues and gardens.
We passed by the swan boats as we crossed the suspension bridge toward the George Washington statue. The boats were being cleaned and not yet in service for puttering around the pond. I thought that would be a nice activity to do if we had time.
The scale of the George Washington statue was amazing and detailed. Colorful flowers and manicured bushes decorated the background around the statue and flowed along the path toward the Ether Monument.
I was most excited to see the Make Way for Ducklings sculptures. Since it was just after the 4th of July, the ducklings donned red, white, and blue bandanas.
We crossed Charles Street and walked toward the Boston Common Carousel. Every time I see a carousel, I think of The Catcher in the Rye. This carousel was in great shape but was fenced off at this time of the morning. I wondered if it would be open later in the day for rides.
Down the hill from the carousel was the Boston Common Frog Pond and the Tommy and Angela frog sculptures. It was fun to see these statues and monuments throughout the Common.
We hadn’t done any research previously about the Boston Common, so each area we walked through had something new for us to discover.
After exploring the Boston Common, we grabbed a bench in front of the Massachusetts State House. Our goal for the day was to explore The North End of Boston. We planned the best route on the map so we could explore the area in full without retracing our steps.
We decided to walk up to the start of the Freedom Trail, through the North End, and down to Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
The North End of Boston
I loved the North End as soon as we crossed the Rose Kennedy Greenway and started on Salem Street. The sidewalks were narrow and bordered with outdoor dining. Some businesses had the front of their building rolled up to display the restaurant’s interior to the street. We saw coffeeshops, Italian restaurants, delis, and a tattoo shop as we walked deeper into the North End.
We wandered the street in the direction of the Freedom Trail when we stumbled upon a bookstore called I am Books. I was thrilled to find another bookstore to explore.
The front of I am Books opened up to the sidewalk, letting customers browse the books from the street. We stepped inside the store and were greeted with spinning displays of digitally designed postcards. The tables closest to the front of the store had stacks of mainstream titles.
Even though we were in the Italian-American neighborhood of Boston, I was surprised to find many shelves filled with books in Italian. The back of the store even had a children’s section of books in Italian, including children’s books with Italian themes, like “Goodnight Italy.”
The bookstore was quiet. Two teenage girls browsed the books in Italian. A middle-aged woman followed by a young boy rang us up. She was friendly and asked where we were from. She suggested we stop by the Old North Church, which wasn’t too far from I am Books.
We paid for a book and a postcard and continued on our route. After diverging up to Steriti Memorial Rink and past Langone Park, we arrived at the Paul Revere Mall.
The Paul Revere Mall and Statue
A gated, brick-paved area greeted us, where mobs of private school children gathered in groups. They followed tour guides who shared the history of the area and discussed the Paul Revere statue.
We walked under the shade of the tall trees to the end of the courtyard closest to the Paul Revere statue.
This led to Hanover Street, which reminded me of Little Italy in New York City, with its signs and Italian decorations hung over the street.
We turned back and crossed Unity Street to visit the Old North Church. A small courtyard of gardens led past a memorial of military dog tags which chimed in the breeze. Up the back steps and around the side was the entrance to the church.
The Old North Church
We bought tickets for a self-guided tour of the Old North Church instead of waiting an hour for a guided tour.
We entered the church and were greeted by a guide. He challenged us to a trivia-style scavenger hunt and if we could answer all of the questions on the one-page sheet, then we would win a prize. We accepted the challenge.
We followed the aisles and stopped at each pew. Most contained a plastic-mounted plaque with 2-4 paragraphs of information. This could be information about the churchgoers, donations to the church, and famous figures who visited the church.
I loved the church’s architecture and the organ the best. My boyfriend answered most of the questions on the sheet, and I was confident we would win the challenge.
It was a nice connection to start our trip in Concord and eventually make our way to the Old North Church, which was where Paul Revere signaled that the British were coming.
We eventually submitted our sheet, and since we missed one question, we didn’t win a prize. But, I enjoyed our time learning more about the history of the church prior to its famous moment with Paul Revere.
Paul Revere House
We followed Moon Street down to the intersection at North Square to see the exterior of the Paul Revere House. We passed the Sacred Heart Catholic Church and stopped in the square.
The nearby buildings were beautiful. I loved their architecture and character.
Sandwiched to the left of these buildings was the Paul Revere house. One could easily miss this home with its small plaque and tiny gate for purchasing tour tickets. I had googled the Paul Revere house in advance, so I knew what to look for.
We weren’t interested in spending time on a long tour. Our goal was to find a lunch spot and take a break from our afternoon of walking.
Our First Lunch in Boston
Click here to read about our first lunch in Boston and where we went for dessert.
