In the Charlestown Navy Yard, beside the oldest commissioned warship afloat, the USS Constitution Museum turns naval history into a game kids win. Young sailors can try steering with a ship’s wheel, sample a sailor’s hammock (and his biscuit – hard as a rock), fire a cannon in the interactive galleries and learn how ‘Old Ironsides’ earned her name in the War of 1812.
The museum is free with a suggested donation, the ship herself is free to tour with Navy sailors as guides, and the Freedom Trail leads right to the door. History, heroism and hands-on fun – a Boston family trifecta since 1976.
