Leah McCann Smith | Writer & Editor

Days one and two of Boston brought adventure, rocky beaches, smiles, witches, and baseball; day three was sure to delight any history geek with a walk along the winding Freedom Trail, 2.5 miles of churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, museums, historic markers, and even a ship—sights and scenes from the American Revolution.

On this day, I made one of the most important purchases of my life: a National Parks Passport Book. A walk along the Freedom Trail was sure to fill my book with legendary stamps such as those from Faneuil Hall (the “Cradle of Liberty”), the Old South Meeting House (a meeting house for the Puritans to worship), the Old State House (the center of events that sparked the American Revolution), the USS Constitution (the oldest commissioned warship that fought the British during the War of 1812), and the monument at Bunker Hill (the site of the first major battle of the Revolutionary War), bringing up the rear of our self-guided tour along these beautiful history-entrenched streets.

No walk along the trail is complete without a visit to one of the most wonderful Italian food joints in the United States (New York’s Little Italy has some catching up to do) and/or one of America’s oldest taverns. For us, it was lunch at Bell in Hand, founded in 1795, and one of the oldest taverns in America.

Three miles, six passport stamps, and one Uber ride later, the end of our Freedom Trail loop brought us to the Omni Parker House, a hotel that claims the founding of the original Boston Creme Pie. Surrounded by dark wood panels and stunning chandeliers, the hotel served as a safe haven for city wanderers and wary tourists alike.

Boston was an adventure. Its beauty lay in its history—untouched buildings, beautiful monuments and natural structures, a grand baseball stadium, a town from the 1600s that house “witches,” beautiful, rocky beaches, and kind, friendly folks who made a visit to the city all the more enjoyable. For first-time visitors, allow yourself more than a couple days in this place. If you let it seep in, you’ll find that there’s more to the eye here than just creme pies and large fleets of tourists.