"Weekend in Boston" a Boston Travel Page by Callavetta

I had to make a last minute business trip to Wilmington, MA, 30 minutes outside of Boston. It was to be my second trip to the East Coast in 2 weeks and I'd been working 12 plus hour days for weeks. I was TIRED. The thought of 6 plus hours in a middle seat in one of the last rows of the plane was hard to stomach. So I extended my trip with a weekend in the City. I used miles to fly my daughter, Jill, out to meet me and we spent two days exploring a new to us City.

Just a week before Logan Airport was closed and all flights cancelled due to a snow storm. Although there were still patches of snow about, mostly black with smog and exhaust leftovers, the weather was fine and I didn't even bring a jacket (optimistic Californian that I am)! My colleagues dropped me at the airport and headed back to the west coast and I hopped in a taxi and headed to the Back Bay and the Park Plaza Hotel.

I never really feel comfortable in a town until I have a handle on the layout. It took me a little while to do this in Boston. But by the end of day one I pretty much had it figured out. We took the Old Town Trolley tour and it wound back and forth over the Charles River a couple of times; once to Charlestown and then a second time to Cambridge.

Manhattan has Central Park, San Francisco had Golden Gate Park, Denver has Washington Park. It seems every big City has it's bit of green where one can go and escape the hustle and bustle of the City. In Boston it's Boston Common. This particular weekend it was mostly brown, still not recovered from Winter. The lagoon was empty and the famous "Swan Boats" won't be out for a few more weeks. But kids played on the trees, the hillsides and the statues.

I would have loved to see Boston Commons the week before, when it was covered in snow. The rolling hills look like excellent sled runs and you can't help but think of the snow people who must have dotted the Commons.