The final journey of Senator Kennedy

4:25 p.m.-- Boston --

At Park Street near the State House, police officers and park rangers stood and saluted. Spectators held signs.

"The cause endures."

"Our hearts are at half mast."

Near Bowdoin Street, the motorcade passed the building where the senator worked nearly a half century ago as an assistant district attorney for Suffolk County. On Sudbury Street, it passed his current Boston Senate office, on the top floor of the JFK Federal Building, named for his brother.

4:18 p.m. -- Boston --

The crowds at Faneuil Hall broke into applause as the motorcade approached. It was here on Nov. 7, 1979, that Kennedy stood beneath a portrait of Daniel Webster and announced his candidacy for president.

The bell in the red brick landmark tolled 47 times, one for each year of the Kennedy's service in the US Senate. The applause persisted and people shouted, "Thank you."

4:15 p.m. -- Boston --

Bells clanged in Old North Church and onlookers leaned out of upstairs windows as the motorcade passed through the North End.

The procession rolled past St. Stephen's Church on Hanover Street where the senator's mother, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was baptized in 1890 and eulogized at her funeral Mass in 1995. She was born around the corner from the church on Garden Court Street.

4:01 p.m. -- Boston --

Near the Massachusetts Avenue exit, a flashing highway sign blinked: "Thanks."

A billboard along the Southeast Expressway showed a photo of the senator and "The dream lives on. 1932-2009."

Drivers stopped and emerged from their vehicles to wave goodbye.

3:54 -- Braintree --

Two chimney-sweeps in black uniforms stood outside their van in the breakdown lane of Route 3 and paid their respects as the motorcade passed. Crowds packed highway overpasses at Elm and Washington streets.

The motorcade zoomed onto the Southeast Expressway. Onlookers perched on reddish rock outcroppings between patches of tall grass just before. Some waved Irish flags.

3:32 p.m. -- Norwell --

People parked and dropped flowers onto the pavement as the motorcade passed on Route 3 near Exit 13. One held a sign that said, "I thank you for what you did for all of us."

A young woman stood on a metal barrier and furiously waved an American flag in each hand, straining her arms to lift them as high as she could.

3:24 p.m. -- Duxbury --

Mourners from all walks of life lined the motorcade route.

Teenagers in sunglasses. Frail-looking elderly women. Businessmen wearing ties. Men in New England Patriots T-shirts. A woman in a bikini top holding up a video camera.

Near the Route 3A overpass, a sign read: "Godspeed, Ted."

3:15 p.m. -- Plymouth --

Children sat on Jersey barriers along Route 3. Thick crowds lined every overpass. Hundreds more people gathered at the rest stop at Exit 5.

At one point, traffic came to a halt on the opposite side of Route 3. Southbound cars pulled off the road at awkward angles. Some passengers in stopped cars stood up and watched the procession through sunroofs.

The motorcade raced into Kingston and approached Exit 10.

3 p.m. -- Bourne --

A bagpiper played a sorrowful dirge at the foot of the Sagamore Bridge as the motorcade left Cape Cod. Hundreds of mourners gathered, clutching flags and holding signs.

"My hero, Uncle Teddy."

"Forever ours, Senator Kennedy."

At the pinnacle of the bridge, a man in a T-shirt stood with two young girls, one tucked under each arm, with each holding her hand over her heart.

On Route 3 on the other side of the bridge, a family sat watching and waiting in the back of a black pick up truck.

2:46 p.m. -- Sandwich --

On Route 6 near Exit 4, a handwritten sign read: "Fair winds and calm seas."

At Exit 3, a small girl standing with her parents held a small sign that said, "We Love You."

2:37 p.m. -- West Barnstable --

People stood three-deep in the median of Route 149, applauding and shouting thank you as the procession of cars looped around the on-ramp to Route 6. Two signs hoisted in the crowd read, "Thank you Teddy," and "Goodbye Ted, God Bless."

On the highway, crowds lined up behind metal barriers, waving and cheering at the Oak Street overpass. Dozens of people looked down from the cement bridge, where a half-dozen American flags waved gently.

Traffic stood still on the opposite side of the highway.

On the overpass near Exit 5, a sign read: "The dream will never die."

2:28 p.m. -- Hyannis --

The procession drove on Route 132, heading towards Route 6. Cars parked alongside the road and families gathered, some with lawn chairs.

Along Route 132, members of the Hyannis Fire Department stood at attention in the grassy median strip, saluting the motorcade as it passed under a huge American flag hoisted high on a crane.

2:20 p.m. -- Hyannis Port

At the intersection of Erin Lane and Scudder Avenue, a man stood beside his pickup truck, holding his baseball cap over his heart. Others along the road snapped photographs, some took video, others waved, and broke into applause.

Two children watched from front row seats atop an old station wagon.

2:13 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

Hundreds of people in shorts and T-shirts lined Scudder Avenue, the road leading away from the compound as the motorcade passed.

Toddlers waved tiny American flags. Mothers held children in their arms. Several onlookers hoisted signs.

"Thank you Senator Kennedy"

"We Love You Teddy."

And simply, "Thank You."

Two women stood watching with tears streaming down their cheeks, holding their hands over their hearts. Two men hoisted a large American flag aloft.

2:04 -- Hyannis Port --

The hearse began to roll slowly down the driveway toward Boston. Several other vehicles followed in the motorcade, including a green and white Peter Pan bus.

1:52 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

The two members of the honor guard stopped onto the driveway. The serviceman at the foot of the casket offered a stiff salute. More members of the honor guard filled in along the side of the coffin and lifted it. They carried it a short distance down the driveway to the back door of the waiting hearse. They paused and then placed the casket slowly, inches at a time, into the hearse.

Kara Kennedy, briefly wiped away tears, but most family members were stoic, with their hands clasped in front of them.

The senator's two granddaughters briefly embraced before the family dispersed into waiting limousines.

1:47 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

Senator Kennedy left his beloved Cape Cod home for the last time.

Two members of the honor guard rolled the casket, draped in an American flag, out the front door of the storied Hyannis Port compound. The two members of the honor guard -- one at the head, one at the foot -- guided the casket off of the white front porch.

Family members dressed in black filed out behind it and stood waiting and watching in the circular driveway. Vicki Kennedy stood at the head of the gathered family, Jean Kennedy beside her, the Senator's four young grandchildren immediately behind them.

On the driveway, the full honor guard lifted the casket stepped slowly in formation down the driveway.

1:45 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

Members of the Kennedy family stood on the porch and prepared to leave in the motorcade to Boston. The group included Doug Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy; Kara Kennedy; and Joe Kennedy and his wife, Beth. Anthony Shriver checked in with his father, Sargent Shriver, who sat in a waiting car.

1:37 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

The senator's stepson, Curran Raclin, sat on the back porch of the family home with William Kennedy Smith, who spoke on a cellphone. Max Kennedy bounded energetically back onto the driveway, where he waved at waiting press and aides.

1:13 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

The young Ted Kennedy III emerged from the house and tossed his long blond hair out of his eyes. He walked to the driveway, where waiting cars assembled.

1:09 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

The family members gathered on the porch included Anthony Shriver, who was talking to the senator's son, US Representative Patrick Kennedy. The senator's grandson, Max, sat barefoot on the porch railing. Max's mother is Kara Kennedy, the senator's daughter.

12:50 p.m. -- Hyannis Port --

Clapping could be heard inside the main house at the Kennedy compound. Four members of the honor guard processed around the side of the home and into the residence. Shortly afterward, family began to emerge onto the porch where they gathered, some holding hands, others talking and laughing.

12:49 p.m. -- Hyannis Port

The Mass is being held in the sun room inside the family home at the Kennedy compound. The room overlooks Nantucket Sound and is where the Kennedys have traditionally celebrated Mass. The officiant is the Rev. Donald McMillan from Boston College.

The nine-member armed forces honor guard includes representatives from all the branches of the military.

12:38 p.m. -- Hyannis Port

The Mass is underway inside the Kennedy compound. A woman in a black dress was visible through the front window, a child in her arms with the child's arms around her neck.

A flag flew at half-staff in the center of the circular driveway on the compound surrounded by clusters of fading brown hydrangeas. A handful of neighbors are watching quietly behind a white picket fence.

Uniformed members of an honor guard gathered at the side of the white-shingled, green-shuttered house, then moved to the front porch.

From the porch, a seagull flew around and landed on the driveway, and a calico cat crept around the home. Crickets chirped in the silence.

11:58 a.m. -- Hyannis Port

About two dozen motorcycle police from Barnstable, Brockton, and the Massachusetts State Police lined up outside the Kennedy compound. A half dozen empty black limousines and several black Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicles rolled into the compound, preparing to pick up family members for the procession to Boston.

Inside the home, family members gathered for a private Mass as the senator lay in repose.

Dozens of members of the media tested microphones and watched closely of any sign of activity. Children in bathing suits with towels around their necks watched from the porches of neighboring houses.

--By Jenna Russell, Globe Staff