July 8, 2009 Meet the commander of the USS Constitution Play video

(NECN: Mike Nikitas, Boston, Mass.) - The USS Constitution Museum has so much living history of Constitution, this nation and New England.

Both museum and ship visits are free.

The museum is located just across from the ship itself at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.

There is a brand new interactive exhibit "All Hands on Deck -- A Sailor's Life in 1812."

It is great, especially if you are looking for something to do with your kids this rainy summer.

A place that many locals never see, they are missing a local treasure.

For more information, visit USSConstitutionMuseum.org.

In the video player above, NECN's Mike Nikitas discusses what the USS Constitution has to offer with Cmdr. William A. Bullard, who gave Mike a quick tour of the Captain's Quarters.

The ship Old Ironsides is also open, despite the current restoration.

Most are used to seeing the masts of the Constitution at the shipyard and using them as a landmark. But the masts are mostly down now.

The ship, however, is still open daily for tours, and you can watch the restoration in progress. Tours are free.

The renovation is being done to keep the oldest commissioned warship still afloat and healthy in advance of the upcoming 200th anniversary of its battle with HMS Gerriere in the War of 1812 -- when it got its famous nickname -- Old Ironsides.

For more info, visit

All of this is going on as Boston wraps up Navy Week, and welcomes the Tall Ships once again.

The ships have already begun to arrive.

The Coast Guard Bark Eagle is docked here at the Charlestown Navy Yard, and is open for tours as are more than forty other ships from 17 countries.

They will be here until Sunday.

Many of the ships will be open for tours where you go on board -- that is mostly happening Thursday and Friday evenings and then Saturday and Sunday during the day.

Visit SailBoston.com for more information.