Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Market District, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Boston's Market District includes the Quincy Market - Faneuil Hall Marketplace, the Haymarket Pushcarts, and the Boston Public Market. All three are centrally located in downtown Boston. I went there recently to see the free outdoor light and sound show, "Blink!"

Living 50 miles south of Boston always creates a dilemma when I go to visit. Automobile traffic is usually heavy and slow. Alternatively, the subway is sometimes crowded and slow and the platforms are cold in winter. So picking the right time to drive becomes a fine art. The best window is usually between 10am and 2pm - the morning inbound traffic has subsided and the early afternoon outbound traffic hasn't begun. The traffic ballet is a delicate act - one minor accident or flat tire that blocks a lane (not to mention wet weather) can throw the whole system into chaos for hours.

So I got there early and wandered around before the light show began at the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. It was an incredibly warm day for mid-December.



"The Old State House is a historic building in Boston, Massachusetts, at the intersection of Washington and State Streets. Built in 1713, it was the seat of the Massachusetts General Court until 1798, and is one of the oldest public buildings in the United States. One of the landmarks on Boston's Freedom Trail, it is the oldest surviving public building in Boston, and now serves as a history museum operated by the Bostonian Society. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960." (Source: Wikipedia).



The three story brick building seems so out of place amidst the skyscrapers and fuscia-clad pedestrian with white go-go boots. (Is "go-go boots" still a useful contemporary term or, am I showing my age?) The balcony in the center of the brick façade is where the Declaration of Independence was first read to the Boston citizenry in 1776.



A street performer demonstrates his art for an appreciative crowd near Faneuil Hall.



When did the statement, "Exit Only," become, "Not An Entrance." And more importantly, why?  Park Street station on the Boston Common.



This squirrel is not sure if I am friend, foe, or food source. On the Boston Common.



Tourists mug for the camera in front of the Massachusetts State House. Judging by all the shopping bags from nearby stores, I think someone was out Christmas shopping today.



As the daylight fades, I walk back toward the marketplace.......



....to observe the darkening sky and brightening decorative lights.











































Across the street in Christopher Columbus Park, the arches are appropriately bedecked for the holiday season.

Boston - never a disappointment to visit in any season.