Lesson learned from a visit to the Boston Tea Party Ship

What better way to spend a beautiful sunny summer day than near the water? A dear friend invited me to visit the newly opened Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum and we had a blast.

I always love it when I’m inspired to write a blog post about my everyday experiences and this was no exception.

The lessons I learned from this visit to the Boston Tea Party Ship:

1. Be spontaneous!

You never know what might happen. Never in a million years would I have thought to visit this landmark. Sure I love history, but I tend to take it for granted living in Boston.

2. As a marketer, think about your audience.

At the Boston Tea Party Museum, you’re very much involved in the presentation. You are encouraged to give feedback to the speeches, throw the tea into the water and really learn about what life was like during the 1700’s.

You even end up your tour in a tea shop, where you are served free tea! I loved it. Costumed staff then came around and offered tea cakes for a modest fee. Talk about good marketing. Of course, we had to order the tea cakes, it’s a shame to just drink tea!

Even the gift shop was well planned. Yes, it had the cheap souvenirs, but it also had some very nice tea selections and tea gifts.

3. For a memorable experience, use all your senses.

This museum is interactive and multi-media. I remember ‘learning’ history in school, which meant I had to sit and memorize pages and pages of boring facts. History is about people and places. There is something for everyone at this museum. You re-enact the throwing of the tea cases overboard. Or rather, I should say the kids on the tour did this. We got to hear Sam Adams give his impassioned speech about what the tea tariff would do to our country.

What experiences have you had that gave you some unexpected benefits?

The photo is one of two know surviving tea chests from the Boston Tea Party. One of these chests has been returned to Boston and is on display in the Boston Tea Party Museum.