The 4th of July seems like a good time to tell you (remind you, in some cases) that if I could travel through time to any point in history, it would be Boston, circa 1775. Sure, there would be less of the creature comforts I've grown so used to.

I'd have to adjust to the food.

And boy, would it be smelly.

But I just think, knowing what I know about that time period, it would just be so exciting.

Time machines, as you may or may not know, do not exist.

But I might have come across something just as good.

The Boston 1775 blog was cited often in Nathaniel Philbrick's Bunker Hill. It appeared so often in the Notes section of the book that I couldn't ignore it - and then every time it was mentioned it was about the most interesting topics.

So I made a mental note to check it out when I finished the book.

There is a ton of information on this blog. It's written by J.L. Bell, a Massachusetts writer who, says his bio on the site, specializes in the start of the American Revolution in and around Boston. (My kind of guy!)

The blog was started in May, 2006, and Bell has posted almost every day since then.

I wouldn't exactly say I'm overwhelmed by the content on the blog...it's more that I'm pacing myself. I've only read a few of the entries at this point, but I plan on making my way through the entire thing. (I'm starting in May 2006 and working my way forward, but there doesn't seem to be a need for chronological reading. Probably like my blog - you can essentially pick it up anywhere and go in either direction. But I like chronology.)

I kind of feel the way I do when I have a bunch of shows I want to watch on the DVR (or podcasts in my queue) - at any moment of down time I can just pop onto the Boston 1775 blog and read a few entries. And I'll probably feel a big sense of accomplishment and a small bit of sadness after I make my way through...although the good news here is that there will be a new post almost every day...so long as Bell doesn't decide to quit blogging now that I've decided to start reading.

The entries seem to include everything from short bios and informative texts to primary sources or links to related articles to events taking place today related to the study of the American Revolution. There's also an extensive list of tags on the right hand side of the page so you can click a topic of interest - almost anything or anyone imaginable connected with the Revolution.

If you're interested you can find the blog at Boston1775.blogspot.com.