Blueberries in Beantown
Upon our arrival in Boston, the Team BBMT set out on our first mission: the Boston Freedom Trail. Is there a better way to commemorate an American Original like Blueberry Muffin Tops Cereal than by walking the same streets as America’s founding Fathers? We thought not.
Our trip started on the subway. I wish we could say we started on the red line (you’ll know why in a minute), but we didn’t. We were on the green one.
Some celebrities balk at public transportation. But not Blueberry Muffin Tops Cereal!
On the Boston Subway with Team BBMT
We emerged from the subway at Boston Common, and faced an actual red line painted on the ground, which when followed on foot, takes you to some of Boston’s most famous historical landmarks. (Now do you see why it would have been much tidier for our narrative to have taken the red line on the subway? Yeah.) We started down the red line, and for a moment thought it went up some stairs and disappeared after the gates to the Massachusetts State House, but soon figured out that we had just started about a quarter-mile from the beginning. Or the end, depending on from which direction one approaches the Freedom Trail.
After Boston Common there were about a million churches and graveyards (actually three), which were mind-blowing both scenery-wise and also pretty great history-wise. One headstone at the Granary Burying Ground (where Paul Revere is interred, yo) was for a fellow named Increase Crosby, which might be the coolest name the BBMT Street Team has ever heard. The grave markers are so eroded, we thought that perhaps some of the detail to the letters on Increase’s headstone were worn off and we were reading it wrong. But a few seconds of googley research yielded the authentication of the Puritan word name, Increase. We are abnormally pleased to confirm this astonishing discovery.
Smack in the middle of this Granary cemetery there is a huge granite obelisk with “Franklin” carved in it. It is by far the most imposing memorial in the cemetery, so you may think is where B Franklin is buried, but it is not. This commemorates Benjamin’s parents. Still cool, but not as cool as if it were the cuteness contest we made it out to be:
Easing on down the trail, we stopped at the former site of the Boston Latin School, where Benjamin Franklin attended for a few months before dropping out. In the front yard there is a huge statue of him, with noted scenes from his life in bas relief all around the pedestal. There is also a curious little bronze statue of a Donkey, representing the Democratic Party, with a plaque in the ground, stating, “Stand in Opposition.” You can’t oppose an American Original that’s on everybody’s mind!
Just down and around the corner from there is the Old South Meeting House, and upon wandering around this, we found Milk Street. Oh, Milk Street. We have so very many reasons to be fond of you…
- You are the street on which Benjamin Franklin was born
- You are where the Old South Meeting House is, which is where the Boston Tea Party organized on December 16, 1773.
- Of all the streets, you are the street that is most delicious when poured over Blueberry Muffin Tops Cereal
Milk Street is delicious with Blueberry Muffin Tops Cereal!
So, the Team BBMT got a little turned around at this point. The Under-Thirties tried to use the GPS on their fancy computer-phones to point us the way toward Faneuil Hall, but there was too much interference from other signals or something, so the Over-Thirties just relied on old-fashioned map skills. The one-two combo of technology and cartography finally got us where we needed to go.
In front of Faneuil Hall, some street performers were putting on the most incredible acrobatic display ever! These guys were nuts! They were all wearing red, white and blue jumpsuits and huge fake moustaches, and they had the sound track to Footloose pumping on a boom-box. If there were ever a team more likely to be the human representation of Blueberry Muffin Tops Cereal, we’d like to see it. They were like cartoons! Their demonstration consisted mainly of twirling inside giant hoops (which made them look strangely like this guy, only dressed), extreme pogo-sticking, contortions, and funny jokes. We were way into it. Talk about an American Original…
At first, we were calling Faneuil Hall “Faneuil Mall” just to be funny, but then we got there and it was actually full of tiny shops and kiosks, so the joke was on us.
Outside of Faneuil Hall we found a Benjamin Franklin look-alike who absolutely refused to break character. He had a Scottish accent, though, so he was busted.
Not the real Benjamin Franklin.
By this time, the BBMT Street Team had worked up a mighty thirst. Even though we had only followed the first half of the Freedom Trail, and even though some of the more renowned sites were left (Paul Revere’s crib, Old Ironsides, Bunker Hill), we had to take a break.
Does ANYBODY know this guy's name?
So, the last stop of the day was Cheers, where everybody knows your name. Look, we were happy to be surrounded by so much awesome history and everything, but we really came to Boston to play video games!
We wanna go where everybody plays video games…
Come back to read more on the first day of PAX East 2010. We’re so excited! Our day begins with a Keynote Address from the very famous and unbelievably handsome Wil Wheaton. Check back soon, BBMT-fans! We’ll post again tomorrow!
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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