A walk through Boston – part 1

Boston is, without doubt, my favourite city (though Edinburgh is a close second). I am incredibly biased of course; the feel of the city is part of the bias, but more poignant are the memories evoked almost everywhere I go.

When I was in high school, the city was our playground (to paraphrase Madonna). Almost every weekend we would hop on the Red line into town to roam Quincy Market, Copley Plaza, Harvard Square or Downtown Crossing. My favourite spot is Faneuil Hall, and in particular the Samuel Adams statue out front, which was our standard meeting place for years. I have spent hours there, as in my teenage years there were no cell phones (gasp!); if you were meeting someone, you just had to wait until they appeared or give up and go home.

The sense of freedom, of knowing I could go anywhere in the city, was one of the things that truly gave me confidence as as teenager. I prided myself on being able to walk from Marriot Long Wharf to the Prudential Centre without looking at a map – and that walk is the one described below, passing some of my favourite spots in the city.

The first photo below, incidentally, was taken from the top of the Custom House – official title Marriott Vacation Club Pulse at Custom House – where we stayed for a recent significant birthday. We got a good deal, and it was a stunning location.

Start of the walk – Long Wharf

Below are views of the park at night in the winter, and then in the spring, as well as the view from Long Wharf back towards the Custom House.

From here, it is only a short walk across Atlantic Avenue to Quincy Market – word of advice, in Boston always use the crosswalk! Under the park area you traverse between the wharf and the market is of course the tunnel that was built during the infamous Big Dig, to take I93 from a raised highway to a sunken one. On my first few trips visiting Boston after the completion of the Big Dig in 2007, I found myself routinely discombobulated by the absence of the raised highway that had been there for as long as I could remember.

Stop 1 – Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall

While it has become more and more a tourist trap over the years – despite the closure of the famous Cheers bar – Quincy Market is always worth at least a quick stop whenever I visit; I can’t help but love the Boston memorabilia peddled out of carts, and the long corridor of food stalls boasting everything from bagels, sandwiches and seafood to Asian and Mexican cuisine. Special shout-out to the North End Bakery, which has the best chocolate-peanut butter brownie.

I love Quincy Market at Christmas in particular, when everything is done up with lights and pine garlands or wreaths.

If you are hungry, by all means detour through the food hall, but if you’d rather keep your pace up, stay outside the long covered market and continue towards Faneuil Hall, the colonial brick building with golden dome just visible at the far end of the market. Opened in 1742, the hall was also a market (and still is, there are more Boston-themed stalls inside) and the spot of several speeches by figures such as Samuel Adams, the famous patriot. To my amusement, the statue of Samuel Adams that was our frequent meeting point has now been augmented by the opening of the Sam Adams Taproom, immediately beside.

Highly recommended, it has a great brewery feel with huge vats of beer just behind the bar and long tables with benches, and of course offers Sam Adams Brick Red, my favourite beer and only available in Boston.

From here, you can either start up the steps immediately across the street, or if you are in for a more historical tour, turn left and detour up past the Old State House.

Stop 2 -The Old State House or Government Centre

Which ever route you chose, your goal is Tremont Street; take a left to head towards Boston Common (roughly south-west).

Stop 3 – King’s Chapel Burying Ground and Granary Burying Ground

Half a block along Tremont Street, you will find one of those Boston sights that reminds you the city is several hundred years’ old: a graveyard, nestled between the high-rise buildings. King’s Chapel Burying Ground is not particularly large but is the oldest graveyard in the city, founded 1630, and boasts some beautiful old gravestones. Burials include William Dawes, the second rider to Paul Revere on the infamous night in April 1775; Mary Chilton, a passenger on the Mayflower; and Elizabeth Pain, who may have been an inspiration for the character of Hester Prynne.

Ahead of you, you will start to notice the trees and open area of Boston Common, and the covered entrance to Park Street station, one of the two oldest subway stations in Boston, and the intersection of the Red and Green lines. Before you reach the Common, you will pass Granary Burying Ground, the burial place of numerous patriots of the Revolutionary War including Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Paine and Crispus Attucks. Frustratingly it has been closed on my last two visits, for maintenance.

Stop 3 – Boston Common at Park Street

Really, there two routes are available again at this point. The first is to head immediately across the Common, following the numerous pathways until you reach the far side, where Charles Street separates the Common from the Public Garden.

The second option is to turn right and head up the gentle hill towards the gleaming gold roof of the Massachusetts State House, home of the State Legislature. Anyone who has watched the recent hit TV series The Last of Us may recognise this building.

Immediately across from the State House is the Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Regiment Memorial, commemorating one of the country’s first all-Black regiments during the Civil War (memorialised also in the movie Glory (1989), for better or worse).

I realised as I was writing that at this point I have really bitten off too much to fit into one post, and so if I have caught your interest, I will continue the walk in A walk through Boston – part 2! Coming soon…