The week after Thanksgiving, which Lisa and I spent in Idaho visiting our families, I went to Boston for the Materials Research Society’s Fall Meeting. I was a co-organizer of a symposium on novel nuclear materials, which I think turned out very successfully.

In any case, I’m a history buff, particularly on early American history (Revolutionary War and Civil War periods, in particular). I was in Boston for the MRS meeting 3 years ago or so. That time, it was horribly cold, so cold I didn’t really want to be outside. However, I did want to visit some of the sites of this historic city, so I did wander from the convention center towards the heart of the city, following the so-called Freedom Trail. I saw a couple of graveyards, and some other sites, but nothing too much. And then I reached that god-aweful City Hall building. I looked at hideous building, shivering in the cold, and thought “What the hell am I doing out here? There isn’t anything to see!” And so, I wandered back to the hotel.

Well, this time, it wasn’t so cold. And, when I got to the City Hall, and looked at it with a mixture of both disgust and awe — awe that such an ugly building could be built — I decided to see what was on the other side. And THAT is where historic Boston is. I wandered a bit around the true heart of the city and saw some pretty cool sites. There was the oldest Mall in America, which probably, considering our consumer culture, should be one of the most important sites in the country! I saw a pretty impressive cemetery, overlooking the harbor. And, I visited Paul Revere’s house.  Which was very cool. The house itself isn’t overly impressive, but just the sense of history associated with the house, and the description of how the family lived (a couple of tid bits:  many early Americans didn’t celebrate Christmas, as they felt that was against the spirit of Christianity to ritualize such holidays (though it isn’t clear if Revere’s family did or did not celebrate Christmas); the master bedroom doubled as a parlor for entertaining and many rooms had dual uses like this; and Revere had a total of 9 kids and while they didn’t all live in the house at the same time, the ones who did shared one room).

I also visited the Green Dragon tavern, which is the place that Revere and other revolutionaries met to get a pint and talk.  I don’t know if they maybe planned some of the revolutionary activities there or not, but many of them often gathered there.  I asked if they had a souvenir glass, but, alas, they did not.  Seems like a pretty cool marketing opportunity to me:  “The Green Dragon, where freedom was discussed over Boston’s best beer.”  Ok, maybe they could do better than that, but something.

Anyways, it was a much better visit than the first time.  I appreciated much better the city and what it means to American history.  There is still a lot to see, but seeing as how the MRS is always in Boston, I’m sure I will be there more than a few more times.  Maybe it will be warm enough for one of those visits to really spend a good day getting to know the city.