The Boston Tea Party Museum

I enjoy visiting places where history comes alive. I especially like watching the visitors, young and old, get excited about historical events while learning more about history and it is even better when they get to participate in the event. Such is the case at the Boston Tea Party Museum.   Most of us know the basic facts of the Tea Party.  On the night of December 16, 1773, colonists dressed as Indians boarded three ships in Boston Harbor and threw crates of tea overboard as a protest to the Tea Tax but for many that is the limit of their knowledge and some of the facts get skewed with the retelling. 

At the Museum, the staff dressed in period costumes summoned

visitors to a meeting by ringing a bell.  Everyone got a feather to stick in their hair to resemble the colonists who were dressed as natives because their actions were illegal and considered a source of treason.  Their identity remained secret even after American Independence for fear they could still face civil

and criminal charges; also many did not want to be associated with mob behavior and destruction of public property. Inside the museum had recreated Old South Meeting House where the protestors met before dumping the tea. Visitors were given name cards of actual participants with a short biography. I was Francis Akeley, a self-employed wheelwright, who died in 1775 so he never lived to enjoy freedom under a new American government. Some were given roles to play shouting out protests to the Tea Tax – the rowdier the more realistic. 

What a lot of people don’t realize is that the Tea Act actually

reduced the tax on tea and would have allowed colonists to purchase tea at half the price paid by those in Britain. The protest was not on the tax itself but the fact that the colonists had no say in governing the colonies.  The cry was “no taxation without representation.” The British reaction to the Tea Party caused more protests.  It wasn’t called “The Boston Tea Party” until 50 years later. As punishment the British parliament passed what the colonists called the “Intolerable Act” which closed the port of Boston until damages were paid. The port was the focal point of business at that time.  Also, more hated British troops were sent to Boston. Other tea protests took place in the other colonies.

After the protest meeting visitors converged on the ship and took turns dumping the tea in the harbor.  The young patriots especially enjoyed the “act of civil disobedience” of tossing the tea into the harbor. No one died during the 1773 Tea Party but one participant was knocked unconscious by a crate and thought to be dead only to awake hours later. 

Our tour then continued to a museum where the only known

surviving tea chest is on display.  In the Minute Man Theater we saw an excellent multi-medium, giant screen presentation “Let it Begin Here” where the sounds of the horses galloping and musket firing made the events of the American Revolution come to life. 

After our Tea Party experience, John and I went to Old South Meeting House where the actual meeting took place on that fateful day and we learned more about the revolutionary actions in Boston. I think the Boston Tea Party Museum is one of the best museums of its kind that we have visited. 

A Chocolate Walking Tour of Boston

Whenever John and I visit a new area we check to see if they havefree tours, Global Greeters, culinary experiences and/or chocolate tours.  While the culinary experience and chocolate tours are not free they add an interesting facet to our travels.  When we were in Boston we signed up for the Back Bay Chocolate tour offered by Boston Chocolate Tours, (www.bostonchocolatetours.com). It is just one of their tours.  They also offer shopping that includes chocolate stops and cupcake tours.  It is all yummy. 

The Back Bay area is a trendy area lined with unique shops, popular restaurants, and Victorian architecture.  It was once an area that had stagnant pools of tidal water and horse stables. The bay was filled in and the surrounding area developed in the late 1800s.  It is now compared to 5th Avenue in New York City. It is a great area for a walkabout even without the chocolate as the area is home to Copley Square, the Prudential Center and the Public Library. 

On Saturday morning, the only day of the week the tour is offered,

we met at Hotel Chocolat, a trendy European cocoa grower who manages the production of chocolate from bean to bar. The tour group is limited to 16 but our group was smaller. There was a group of young ladies who were just starting a long day of fun things to do with and for the soon-to-be bride.  There was also a married couple and the tour was a birthday gift for the wife – what a “sweet” idea. The others were just chocolate lovers. 

After we gathered in the private tasting area of Hotel Chocolat we learned about the production of chocolate from bean to the bar.  Inside the large cocoa pod are the chocolate beans surrounded by a white mucous substance. Chocolate only grows in the tropics and the children in that area suck on the seeds calling them “poor-people M&Ms.” Interestingly, the shells are now being marketed for making tea instead of throwing them away.  Hot water is poured over them creating a refreshing energy-boosting tea.  After the informative chat and a melt-in-your mouth dark chocolate truffle we headed out on the leisurely 2.5 hour, 1 mile walk, but first we stopped outside Hotel Chocolat for a cupcake – chocolate, of course.  A great way to promote their chocolate tour. 

One of my favorite stops was at Teuscher Chocolatier where their

signature chocolate delight is their Champagne Truffle that uses the finest chocolate ganache – of course – infused with Dom Perignon champagne. Teuschers is a Swiss company that started in 1932 and has had a presence in the United States for over 40 years. We were told the Teucher Truffles should be kept at a low room temperature, about 68 degrees, and best if consumed within 10 days which brought a chuckle from all of us because they would never last ten days! We visited several chocolatiers and stopped at Ben & Jerry’s where we learned about

Fair Trade which is an important element in Ben & Jerry’s and most chocolatiers.

Fair Trade is a social movement with the goal to pay a fair price to producers in developing countries to help them achieve better conditions and to promote sustainability. Think about it: Awesome, while we were eating chocolate and ice cream we were helping those in Third World countries. 

Following the Ride of Paul Revere

On a recent visit to Massachusetts John and I planned to stay in

Boston but there was a large convention going on so all the reasonable hotels were booked.  We ended up staying at the ES Sonesta Suites in nearby Burlington, MA. Several years ago we enjoyed our stay at the Sonesta Hotels in Peru. Sonesta Suites turned out to be a great choice.  It was near Lexington and Concord, both places we wanted to visit. 

One of the most momentous moments in American history happened on April 19, 1775 in Lexington, Massachusetts.  Today Lexington Green is quiet but early on the morning of April 19, 1775 Captain John Parker ordered his militia, the Minute Men, to move out onto the Green from Buckman’s Tavern. (We couldn’t visit the tavern because it is being restored but should open in a few weeks.) The men had gathered the night before having been warned by William Daws and Paul Revere on their “Midnight Ride” that the British troops were marching toward Lexington and Concord from Boston.

It was there on Lexington Green that the first shots of the American Revolution took place.  Who fired that first shot? No one knows for sure. In 1860 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” forever immortalizing Revere, a silversmith who was a Son of Liberty.  Many think he made the ride alone and completed his mission but his fellow “rebel,” William Daws also set out from Boston to rouse the county side.  Neither made it to Concord but a third rider, Samuel Prescott did make it to warn the militia.

A short drive down Route 2A is the Minute Man Visitor Center with an excellent multi-media presentation, “The Road to Revolution.” The militia and British fought skirmishes all the way to Concord Bridge and then back to Boston along what is now called Battle Road.  There is an historic 20-mile walking/biking trail that connects all the important stops along the way including the site where Paul Revere was captured by the British. 

There is a lot to do in the area.  We visited Walden Pond (now

Walden Pond State Reservation) where there is a replica of Henry David Thoreau’s extremely small house where he lived the “simple life” for a little more than two years. I wonder if he suffered from cabin fever but he was only a short distance from Concord and not as remote as I had always envisioned. Also nearby is Orchard House,

the home of Louisa May Alcott of “Little Women” fame. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, overshadowed by his daughter, was a leader of educational reform and the founder of one of the first adult education centers in the United States and held Chautauqua-style meetings in the building he had built next to the Alcott home. The area must have great literary vibes because the homes of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson are nearby.

It was a great day, the weather was great and when we returned to the Sonesta Suites it was one of the nights when then serve a light

dinner – chicken noodle soup and salad.  Perfect! If I was going to visit Boston again I would stay at the Sonesta Suites. There is free parking then I would drive into the city and park at the Commons Parking Garage and buy tickets on the Old Town Trolley Tour to get around.