Freedom Trail Pub Crawl and The Original Cheers...sorta

On this Memorial Day weekend Nick and I got together with another couple (K and R) and did a bit of a DIY Freedom Trail Pub Crawl.  I have lived around the area all my life and have taken many field trips into Boston to see loads of sights, but I have never been to the Bunker Hill Monument or walked the trail (other than those portions I see daily).  So when the weather on Sunday seemed to cooperate, we decided what could be better on a nice day than culture, exercise and beer?

mmmm, BEER!

Nick and I took the orange line over to the Monument and met our friends to begin our expedition.  While I originally wanted to walk up the Monument, it turns out that it's currently closed for renovation.  For me, this was a bit of a bummer, but for the others it just meant we were on our way to the pubs faster!


We really went into this with absolutely no plan other than to follow the red line of the Freedom Trail until we got home to Beacon Hill, but it actually turned out to be a great way to do it.  We stopped, drank and ate where we liked and where there were no lines.  I think we made nine stops in all:

1. Warren Tavern
2. Ironside Grill
3. Ducali's
4. Fiore
5. Durty Nelly's
6. Green Dragon
7. Scholars
8. Emmet's; and
9. Cheers

So, yes, we covered a lot of ground but had such a fun time doing it!  Most of the places we went one person in our group had not been to, and it was a great way to explore some fun spots.  Even better was that since we started at 2:00 on a weekend when lots of people head out of town, none of the stops were too busy to accommodate our group.  While we got some good photos at the beginning of the walk, the more we started to crawl, the less photos we actually took.  Still, it was the best way I could think of to walk the Freedom Trail and get others to do it with you!  A true Sunday Funday ;).

Our last stop was actually at the original Bulfinch Pub - or as it is known, Cheers.  I had only been in the bar once for a beer ages ago, but Nick had never stopped by.  Really though, how better to end a day of touring than a meal at the tourist mecca of Cheers?!  Living on the Hill, I can give directions to this place from just about anywhere without batting an eye.

I believe it takes a special person to work at Cheers because I am sure you get a lot of different people walking in and out.  The number of Boston or Cheers trivia questions asked in one day must be mind blowing.  We walked down the stairs without taking a picture by the sign (we were just too hungry!) and were greeted by two nice guys ready to seat us.  Turns out there are a couple of dining rooms and bars in the restaurant, so rather than seating us directly they gave us a laminated card with directions on how to get to the dining room we would be eating at.  This actually was a bit tricky (we got a bit held up in the gift shop!) but made it to the upstairs "replica bar" dining room where we were sat immediately. 

To top off our pub crawl we ordered a couple of beers that are served in nice big pint glasses with sturdy handles - no dropping these!  The menu is made up of your basic pub food along with the token Clam Chowder and Boston Baked Beans.  We, of course, went straight for the burgers - a salad or something light was not going to cut it.  Nick ordered the Burger Meister with mushrooms, Munster cheese and onions.

Burger Meister

I ordered a plain old Cheeseburger.

Cheeseburger

While my expectations were not very high, I was a bit optimistic because the same people who own Cheers also own 75 Chestnut, which has a pretty good burger and food in general.  However, this burger did not blow me away at all.  Really, it tasted like it was a frozen patty or something along those lines.  While the toppings on Nick's made his a bit nicer to look at, mine looked somewhat sad.  The kitchen did cook the burgers a nice medium rare, which did make things a lot tastier. 

While the food was not great, the location was the perfect way to cap off our Freedom Trail pub crawl!  If you have not been to Cheers, I would recommend stopping in for a drink because it really is a trip to see it all.