Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Peace Field

Yesterday my wife and I returned from a weekend trip to Boston.  We had tickets for the University of Miami-Boston College football game on Saturday.  This was my second visit to Boston; the first time I visited was forty years ago when I was a senior in high school and my parents took me to visit a couple of colleges.
After this visit Boston has become one of my favorite cities, and you can be sure I will be coming back.  I am not a big fan of metropolitan areas, but this city is full of youth. It has so much energy, and if you are an American history buff like me, there is no better city.

We visited several historical sites including Peace Field, the home of two presidents, John and Abigail Adams’s and his son John Quincy Adams.  John Adams has always been my favorite founding father.  Without him we all might be singing “God save the Queen” at the start of football games (my personal opinion).
Peace Field is the name John Adams gave his farm after he went back home at the end of his presidential term.  The house was donated to the people of the United States by descendants of  the Adams family in 1946 and today is run by the National Park Service.  The most amazing thing about this house is the contents inside: original furniture, paintings, China, and rugs all owned by John Adams or his son John Quincy Adams.  No pictures were allowed inside the house. 
 
The English garden was originally a vegetable garden and later converted to a flower garden by Charles Frances Adams, son of John Quincy Adams.
The stone library holds all of John Quincy Adams’s books.  A scene from the movie Amistad was filmed here.  John Quincy Adams defended the slaves onboard the ship “Amistad” before the US Supreme Court (He was played by Anthony Hopkins) .

 
These roses were brought by Abigail Adams from York England in 1788.
This is the original home where John Adams was born and where he lived when he married Abigail.  This house and the one next door, where John Quincy Adams was born, are located in another area in the town Quincy.

2 comments:

Susan said...

Looks like a wonderful place to visit. I'll bet the weather was nice, too.

Floridagirl said...

Oh, dare I say it? John Adams should have been our first President, don't you agree? You are right. He is the reason. Enjoyed your photos. I love visiting colonial-era homes and gardens!