A-Z April Challenge - Q is for Quincy

Another day another place in my A-Z April Challenge Travel theme.  Today we are dealing with the letter Q.  My daughter and I took a trip to P.E.I when she was fifteen.  We went up U.S. 1 and in our travels we actually went through Quincy, MA.  Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nickname is "City of Presidents." As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). Its population in 2010 was 92,271, making it the 8th largest city in the state.  Quincy is the birthplace of former U.S. Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, as well as statesman John Hancock, fourth and longest serving President of the Continental Congress. It was named after Colonel John Quincy, maternal grandfather of Abigail Adams and after whom John Quincy Adams was also named.  Out time was short but we did manage to do a drive by of several important sites.  I would love to go back sometime and really tour the city.  I guess I could put that on my bucket list.  If you find yourself in Quincy you must see the Blue Hills Reservation.  It is a 6,000-acre state park in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, south of Boston. Managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, it extends into Milton, Quincy, Braintree, Canton, Randolph, and Dedham.  There you will find some of the most beautiful countryside and amazing walking trails. 

I am a huge ship buff.  My father and husband were both Navy men and the big ships fascinate me.  So in Quincy go and see the the third USS Salem (CA-139).  It is a Des Moines-class heavy cruiser, formerly commissioned in the United States Navy.

My poor children did not grow up being taken to amusement parks.  We WENT to them but vacations tended to be lessons in history.  Kat and I both loved touring the museums and old homes in the area. The John Adams Birthplace, in Quincy, Massachusetts, is the home in which United States President John Adams was born on October 30, 1735. This saltbox house is now part of the Adams National Historical Park operated by the National Park Service.

I love old churches and one of my favorite stops was the United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts, is a Unitarian Universalist congregation, established as the parish church of Quincy in 1639.  If you are a cemetery buff then you need to stop at Mount Wollaston Cemetery is a historic cemetery at 20 Sea Street in the Merrymount neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1855 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. There is so much history in this part of the country and so if you ever have a chance to head up north Quincy is in an area where you can take in some amazing things.