Nine finds in New England

Where it all began

Stop saying that someday you’ll visit the famous places in American history that others travel here to see. Pretend you’re a tourist, with guidebook or map, and follow the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile, red line of bricks connecting 16 historic sites in downtown Boston and Charlestown. Most of the indoor/outdoor sites are free as part of the Boston National Historical Park (visitors centers at 15 State St., and Charlestown Navy Yard, Building 5, 617-242-5642, www.nps.gov/bost), including the new Battle of Bunker Hill Museum and the USS Constitution, where National Park Service rangers give free tours. Private properties, including Paul Revere House, charge a small admission fee. Patriots Day to Labor Day, rangers conduct free, 90-minute tours along the Freedom Trail from the Old State House to the Old North Church. Year-round, ‘‘Walk Into History’’ with an entertaining guide in Colonial costume from the nonprofit Freedom Trail Foundation (148 Tremont St., 617-357-8300, www.thefreedomtrail.org). In Lexington, ‘‘birthplace of the American Revolution,’’ a must-see is the National Heritage Museum (33 Marrett Road, 781-861-6559, www.nationalheritagemuseum.org), founded for the Bicentennial by the Masons whose members included Revere and George Washington. Among current and upcoming exhibits are American folk art, Jim Henson’s Muppets, and photographs of immigrants at Ellis Island. ‘‘Sowing the Seeds of Liberty’’ takes a fresh look at the 1776 battle at Lexington that helped shape how we think about our country.

(Text: Janet Mendelsohn/Globe Correspondent; Photo: John Tlumacki/Globe Staff)
Where it all began Stop saying that someday you’ll visit the famous places in American history that others travel here to see. Pretend you’re a tourist, with guidebook or map, and follow the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile, red line of bricks connecting 16 historic sites in downtown Boston and Charlestown. Most of the indoor/outdoor sites are free as part of the Boston National Historical Park (visitors centers at 15 State St., and Charlestown Navy Yard, Building 5, 617-242-5642, www.nps.gov/bost), including the new Battle of Bunker Hill Museum and the USS Constitution, where National Park Service rangers give free tours. Private properties, including Paul Revere House, charge a small admission fee. Patriots Day to Labor Day, rangers conduct free, 90-minute tours along the Freedom Trail from the Old State House to the Old North Church. Year-round, ‘‘Walk Into History’’ with an entertaining guide in Colonial costume from the nonprofit Freedom Trail Foundation (148 Tremont St., 617-357-8300, www.thefreedomtrail.org). In Lexington, ‘‘birthplace of the American Revolution,’’ a must-see is the National Heritage Museum (33 Marrett Road, 781-861-6559, www.nationalheritagemuseum.org), founded for the Bicentennial by the Masons whose members included Revere and George Washington. Among current and upcoming exhibits are American folk art, Jim Henson’s Muppets, and photographs of immigrants at Ellis Island. ‘‘Sowing the Seeds of Liberty’’ takes a fresh look at the 1776 battle at Lexington that helped shape how we think about our country.