The Markeroni Blog
The blog of Markeroni, the Gentle Art of Landmark-Snarfing

Day 2 of our trip saw us visit some of the most important symbols in American history.

Wandering Raleighite and I spent most of the day on a 11K walk of the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 3-mile route, marked by a red line painted on the ground, that takes tourists past 16 national historic sites in Boston that played a pivotal role in shaping the country.

We did the trek because we’re members of the American Volkssport Association, a walking club that has chapters all across the nation. Over the past few years, we’ve done walks in places such as Oklahoma City, Washington D.C., Las Vegas and St. Louis.

Today’s walk took us off the Freedom Trail at points, allowing us to see things such as the New England Holocaust Memorial. While on the trail, stops included Paul Revere’s home and the Old North Church, the spot where Revere made his famous dash from to warn the Continentals that the British were coming.

But two snarfs stood out above the rest.

We joined the throng at the Bunker Hill Monument, the 221-ft. high granite obelisk erected to mark the first major battle of the American Revolution.

At this battle, which actually took place on Breed’s Hill, the Continentals showed the British that they were going to have a hard fight on their hands. What’s especially impressive is that they completed the monument in 1843, when the equipment wasn’t nearly as advanced. There are 294 steps to the top, which we exhaustingly finally completed. But the view from the top is worth the work to get there.

We also won’t soon forget our visit to the U.S.S. Constitution, the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. Completed in 1797, “Old Ironsides” bested the British time and again during the War of 1812. It helped cause the Brits to come to accept that it made more sense to be friendly with America as opposed to fighting its former colonies. Saved from the scrap heap and neglect time and time again, the Constitution represents America’s will to fight. It’s a sweet-looking ship as well.

We spent so long at Bunker Hill and the Constitution that we ran out of time to complete the walk during daylight hours. We’ll finish the walk in the morning before heading to Maine to officially begin the U.S. 1 trip.

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