This feels like I am giving up a long-held secret, or the combination to a safe of untold treasure. When you experience something this incredible, the natural instinct is to run in two directions. One is to secrecy and keeping it all to oneself. The other is to share it with everyone you know. Fortunately, this is something too good not to share.
To say our experience was extraordinary is to say nothing much about it. From the moment we met our guide, we were whisked away in time, feeling as though we were seeing New York as it was during the founding of our country. We stood in exact places, walked exact streets, and touched exact things that were crucial parts of the American story. In the two hours of our walk, I learned more, felt more, and understood more than I had from all the history classes of my youth.
The giants of our history are often mythologized and deified, made to be untouchable by us mere mortals. Our guide humanized them all, giving us a sense of which would be good for a beer, good for a meal, good for a conversation, or good for a fight. Alexander Hamilton, especially, was rendered as an ambitious family man, someone capable of both the great and small. By the end of the tour, one could not help but have sympathy for he and his family.
Should you be considering a tour, I would look no where else. I cannot help myself from asking questions, about nearly everything, and our guide was quick to answer every one of them, from historical curiosities to architects of nearby contemporary buildings. It was like walking with a living Wikipedia.
If you are lucky enough to get tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway, then I would doubly recommend their Revolutionary War and Alexander Hamilton tour the morning before showtime. It gives great context to the performances on stage, and allows your mind to wander even further into the characters and their emotions as America unfolds.
If you have two free hours, you will not find a better value or better experience in town. I am forever grateful to New York Historical Tours, and when we return to town in coming weeks, I anticipate we'll be spending another two hours exploring the history of New York with them again. What a marvelous experience.