Of course, Boston has attractions other than the Freedom Trail. There are sites and green areas both inside and outside the city to be enjoyed.
Fenway Park
For instance, right below our hotel room runs the Massachusetts Turnpike. Peering a little down the turnpike, we can see light stanchions. Can it be? Yes, it is…Fenway Park!
Completed in 1912, Fenway Park is the oldest ballpark (and one of the smallest) in Major League Baseball. It is a fan favorite because of its quirks, such as the 37-foot high “Green Monster” wall in leftfield and the “Pesky Pole” in rightfield.
I’m guessing that the Mass Turnpike has a Fenway Park exit, since the Boston Red Sox (who play in Fenway) is the only Major League baseball team in New England.
At the end of one of our bus trips, we disembark near Fenway Park to explore the neighborhood. As expected, the area is full of bars, restaurants, and other places for fans to congregate. I keep hidden the fact that I am a Baltimore Orioles fan (one of the Red Sox division rivals). Ssssh!
The Rose Kennedy Greenway
In the 90’s and early aughts, the city of Boston decided to re-route some of its main highways. This project was called the “Big Dig”. But the problem arose of what to do with those areas affected by the Big Dig, and now not covered by an elevated highway. The answer was the the “Green Way” (later nominally named after Rose Kennedy). The Green Way is narrow, roughly in a crescent shape, and runs for miles-connecting north and south Boston.
Although the Green Way is managed by a conservancy, it runs through parts of different neighborhoods and is, therefore, quite eclectic. Depending upon which part you stroll through, you may see wildflowers, fountains, or heritage parks.
Walking along the Green Way is also a great way to see some of the city of Boston; like the Harbor Hotel-which is not far from the site of the “Boston Tea Party”, when colonists dressed as Indians boarded a ship to throw tea into the harbor. Hmm. Seems like an awful waste of good tea.
The Arnold Arboretum & Forest Hills Cemetery
We are mindful that our primary mission on this trip was to see fall foliage. While Boston is interesting; the inner city is not exactly the place to do this. So, after a walk, bus ride, and interminable delays, we finally reach Arnold Arboretum.
The Arboretum is run by Harvard University and is located in the southwestern suburbs of Boston, near Jamaica Plain. Established in 1872 and purchased from a slave owner, this is the oldest public arboretum in North America. It holds that it is “a museum of trees teaching the world about plants”.
They weren’t lying about the trees-they are everywhere and gloriously painted with fall colors. There are places here that offer panoramic vistas and are the best spots to see a lot of trees. There is no greenhouse (that I know of) on the Arboretum’s 260 acres; so all the trees here have to be able to adapt to local climate conditions.
There is a visitor center (they try unsuccessfully to be helpful), but few benches in the Arboretum. So, you either have to keep walking or find a grassy spot to deploy a blanket (if you have one).
The Arnold Arboretum also has a pond (or lake); but, curiously, little wildlife. That is, if you don’t count the horses or mounted patrols.
We wander far and wide looking for Forest Hills Cemetery, and we are about to give up and turn back when we see the entrance gate in the distance. Despite being almost as big (250 acres) as the Arboretum, it is difficult to find how the hell to get in.
When you see the monumental gateway to the cemetery, you know you are in for some big-time stuff. This gateway was built in 1865 and replaced the original Egyptian Revival version.
With its park-like setting, Forest Hills has not only a lot of graves, but a lot of trees bursting with colors. The place is so big, that there are street signs to let people (or their ghosts) know where they are going.
There are many famous people buried at Forest Hills. We choose to search for the grave of the poet, ee cummings. We look all over the place for it, but are unsuccessful in our quest. If ee cummings was playing a game with us, he won.
Unlike the pond in the Arboretum, the ponds in the cemetery do have some waterfowl. We notice a heron stoically standing near a small statue of a naked boy on one corner of a pond. On another corner of the same pond, killer geese come out of the water and pursue us. We flee, sated by our fall foliage experience-for now.
The JFK Presidential Library
On a rainy day, we take off for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Opened in 1903, it displays mostly European art. However, we don’t count on the museum being “sold out”. Who ever heard of that? Anyway, we have a decision to make and decisions on empty stomachs are ill-made; so we avail ourselves of the cafeteria at Wentworth Technical University. The all-you-can-eat brunch there is particularly good. Our decision made, we head for the bus stop.
We decide to go to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. It appears to be the last stop of the bus we’re on before it turns around. The JFK Library is located on the Dorchester Bay section of Boston harbor, and we still have a long walk to get there. In fact, it is so far out that we spot a wolf prowling around on the other side of the road. We try to make ourselves as inconspicuous as possible before we see all things Kennedy before us.
Even if Kennedy wasn’t re-elected in 1964, he no doubt envisioned a long life. He probably didn’t give much, if any, thought to a Presidential Library. Tragically, JFK was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. So it is no wonder that this library and museum wasn’t opened until 1979-after a location change and innumerable delays.
My girlfriend wonders why this place seems more like a museum than a library. That’s because, like the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, casual guests are mostly interested in relics, and so are invited into a museum. In each case, archives and documents are available by appointment to serious scholars and authors.
The collection starts off with a room called “Young Jack”; and, while there may be photographs of John Kennedy as a baby and a kid, the first one that I notice is the future President posing in his dress naval uniform along with his brother, Joe Jr., who was killed in World War II.
Even the famous coconut on which then Lieutenant Kennedy carved a message which helped rescue himself and his men is on display.
Quite a bit of the JFK Library is devoted to the 1960 Presidential campaign. There are buttons and posters galore plus an element that played a big role in that election: television.
The bulk of the museum focuses on the Presidential years. There is a reproduction of the Kennedy Oval Office replete with mementos. Also, there is a red-carpeted hallway full of photos and exhibits of JFK doing his thing as President.
Being a returned Peace Corps volunteer (Benin 1979-81), I was especially interested in the Peace Corps signboard and maps.
The Kennedy family wanted to make the JFK Library a “happy” experience; so there is no mention of the assassination or the days of sadness and chaos that ensued. Instead, the library ends with a grand American flag and a view of Dorchester Bay through the grid of windows.
There is another exhibit at the JFK Library called “Service & Sacrifice” about Americans in World War II. For all we know, this may have been a fascinating display; but we only make a quick and cursory run-through of this exhibit.
The Charles River Esplanade
It’s our last day in Boston and we decide to do some walking along the Charles River. The Charles River Esplanade is perfect for that. The Esplanade is near (but not part of) the “Emerald Necklace” which circles most of Boston. Boston Common and the Arnold Arboretum are green spaces that form beads on the necklace.
The Charles River Esplanade goes on for three miles, and we start our stroll at the Harvard Bridge. It leads to Cambridge and, ultimately, to MIT (and not Harvard) University. There is a plaque affixed to the bridge honoring the 20th century magician and escape artist, Harry Houdini. In 1908, he jumped off of the bridge in chains and broke fee of them in the river below. I wonder how (or if) he made any money off of the stunt?
Even though it is a gray day, the walk along the Esplanade is pleasant. We can see part of the city over the Charles as well as several bridges-including the Longfellow Bridge. Some locals refer to this as the “salt and pepper” bridge because its towers resemble the ubiquitous shakers.
As we walk along, we spot a big bust on one of the side paths of the Esplanade. Approaching nearer, it looks a lot like Albert Einstein. Both of us ask ourselves what the hell did Einstein have to do with Boston or the Esplanade? It turns out that the bust is of Arthur Fiedler, longtime conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra.
A bit further on, the right side of the Esplanade has something resembling an artificial lake. We pass by some docks or marinas on the Charles River before arriving at a special place.
Here, there is an oval (also used for cycling) encompassing a lot of green space and facing what looks to be half an egg shell. This is the famous Hatch Memorial Concert Shell. Concerts of all kinds of music are held here from spring until fall. Best known of these are the 4th of July concerts held by the Boston Pops and conducted by the likes of Arthur Fiedler and John Williams. Erected in 1941, there has always been a bandstand here since shortly after the Esplanade was created.
There are a couple of statues around the oval. The first one is of David Mugar who, for about 40 years, was responsible for the fireworks at the Boston Pop’s 4th of July concert. He was Boston’s “fireworks guy”. The last one is of General George S. Patton. Although Patton, a famous World War II general, was born in California; his statue here commemorates a speech he gave from the shell in 1945.
The Hatch Memorial Concert Shell is as far as we go. At this point, we head back pretty much the way we came, exiting the Esplanade at the Harvard Bridge. Goodbye, Boston!
Between the trees in Rhode Island’s Roger Williams Park and those we saw in Boston’s Arnold Arboretum and Forest Hills Cemetery, I guess we fulfilled the fall foliage mandate. Rhode Island was a revelation: both Providence and Newport were underestimated gems. And, while Boston is pricy, the Freedom Trail, Fenway Park, the Greenway and the “Emerald Necklace” made it all worthwhile. In fact, as a New Englander might say, the trip was a “wicked pissah”.
Musical Finale: The Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular