FOCUS - SEPTEMBER 2017 47 ...................... Please turn to page 48 The thought of vacationing is often associated with exotic locales, ocean front playgrounds or far off adventures. Quite often though, many interesting destinations are much closer to home. I recently discovered this on a trip to Boston, Massachusetts. I have had the pleasure of visiting this great American hub of historic significance before, but have never really played the role of tour- ist, until now. Flying to Boston is as easy as it gets. A one-hour Porter flight will land you at Logan International, which is about a 20-minute cab ride to the historic heart of the city. My first destination was my hotel, the Omni Parker House, which dates back to 1855. It is the oldest of Boston’s elegant inns and the longest continuously operating hotel in the United States. This in itself makes it an intriguing place to stay, but the opulence of the place is unbelievable. Wood pan- elled walls and stately rooms, although somewhat small, have all the modern amenities one could ask for. I found the charm and service of the hotel to be ex- cellent and accommodating. The first undertaking was a ghost tour, which after the one I took in San Antonio; I swore I would never do again. Suddenly I found myself on a trolley, decked out in ghoulish appearance and commanded by a scary Grimm Reaper doppelganger. We set off and visited several graveyards where people such as Benjamin Franklin, and Paul Revere, now reside forever. I discovered an interesting fact when I asked why the grave depth (i.e. 10 feet) was carved on the headstone. Some people could not afford to be bur- ied in a plot of their own, so they made deals with the families of existing graves to be piled on top of a loved one, long passed. This accounts for cemeteries with 100 grave markers to actually have up to 2,000 people buried there. Many of the gravestones have multiple names marked on them, and a depth note to in- dicate how far you can dig. Fortunately the city fathers forbade this practice, but not until the start of the last century. The tour was actually quite interest- ing, albeit a bit hokey, but near the end, Grimm got us all to scream at the top of our lungs as we passed some unsus- pecting tourists, who nearly jumped out of their skins. Boston is filled with history, as it was after all, the origin of theAmerican Revo- lution. The old State Capital is where the likes of John Adams, John Hancock and Samuel Adams, met to discuss plans for a potential breakaway from Britain. History tells us that Britain was taxing the colonies immensely and under Brit- ish law, anyone subject to taxation must have representation in the government. King George III ignored this law and the people of the new world were taxed without any opportunity to oppose the decree. Much history is evident at the Tea Party Museum, where you can board a replica of one of the three ships that were involved in the ‘Boston Tea Party’. A guide explains what led to the famous ‘tea dumping’ and then shows you how it was actually accomplished. Again, it was all because of the tax payable on the tea shipments. The locals decided not to unload the tea, which meant no tax was due, however, the governor, a staunch loyalist, commanded otherwise. BY JONATHAN VAN BILSEN Boston as seen from the harbour. so much history in one place so much history in one place so much history in one place