Boston Things to Do Tips by smschley

Boston is home to two State houses. The "new" State House was designed by Charles Bulfinch, the leading architect of the day, with building starting in 1795 and completed in 1798. On July 4, 1795, two surviving fathers of the Revolution were on hand to break ground on the site that would house the ideals of their new Commonwealth in a graceful seat of government. Both Governor Samuel Adams and Paul Revere attended and jointly laid the cornerstone.

The dome was originally made out of wood shingles and sheathed in copper installed by Paul Revere In was gilded in 1874 and again in 1997 with 23 karat gold. During World War II, the dome was painted gray so that it would not reflect moonlight during blackouts and thereby offer a target to anticipated German bombers. On the tops stands a pinecone, a symbol of the importance of pine wood, which was integral to the construction of Boston's early houses and churches, as well as the State House itself.

Inside the State House are Doric Hall, with its statuary and portraits; the Hall of Flags, with an exhibit of the battle flags from all the wars in which Massachusetts regiments have participated; the Great Hall, an open space used for state functions that houses 351 flags from the cities and towns of Massachusetts; the governor's office; and the chambers of the House and Senate. The Great hall holds many pieces of art with the best-known being the carved wooden Sacred Cod, mounted in the Old State House in 1784 as a symbol of the commonwealth's maritime wealth.

In the front lawn are two statues of note. One is of Anne Hutchinson, who challenged the religious hierarchy of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was excommunicated in 1638 and sentenced to banishment. Later she became one of the founders of Rhode Island. Her supporter, Mary Dyer, was also excommunicated; she later converted to the Quaker faith and was finally hanged for defending her beliefs

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Directions: The State House is located on Beacon Hill, on land originally owned by John Hancock. The building teems with historic facts. Free tours offered weekdays, Monday through Friday, 10:00am to 4:00pm
Website: http://www.cityofboston.gov/

Built in 1713, it was called the Town House, the court of the provisional governor, City Hall, and in time became the statehouse of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This is also the site where you will find the landmark for the Boston Massacre, which took place March 5, 1770 and where five Patriots were killed. A circle of cobblestone depicts the original site. Check out my Travelogue for a picture of this monument.

Prominent are the lion and unicorn statues, symbols of royal authority, positioned on the gables. These figures were torn down during the celebration of America's independence, and restored in 1882.

Today the Old State House has become a museum and historic study; it also provides an entrance to the State Street subway stop. The Old State House's shallow foundation provided an area for the subway stops to be stacked beneath it, without having to dig beneath the far deeper foundations of the surrounding buildings

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Directions: Washington and State Streets.

The Boston Common is the oldest public park in the United States and undoubtedly the largest and most famous of the town commons around which New England settlements were traditionally arranged. It started originally in 1634 as a 50 acre training ground for militia and where the freemen of Boston could graze their cattle. It also housed the gallows, stocks, jail and poorhouse of the city. The British evacuated after the Revolution and the cows were kicked out in 1830. Among the more notable events on the Common was a speech by Martin Luther King Jr. and a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II.

In the winter you can ice skate on the Frog Pond., in spring and summer you can enjoy the flowers in the public garden, The Common is an oasis for people in the city to relax, picnic and put the rush out of mind for a bit. The swan boat tours are a lot of fun, especially for the little ones, it follows a circular route that takes about 20 minutes to complete. Take a look at some of the trees and you will find Latin names affixed to many of them. Boston schoolchildren were once taken around the park and expected to translate the signs. My one year of Latin didn’t help me much.

Check out the Tremont Street side for the visitors’ center. There you can find information, maps and tours. The Freedom Trail starts in its southeast corner and winds its way through the downtown and market districts.

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Directions: Bound by Tremont, Beacon, Charles and Boylston Streets.
Website: http://www.cityofboston.gov/freedomtrail/bostoncom

Better known as "Old Ironsides," the USS Constitution can be found at anchor in her berth at the Charlestown Navy Yard. It is the oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. fleet along with being the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. Its a vestige of the days of "wooden ships and iron men", when she and her crew of 200 succeeded at the perilous task of asserting the sovereignty of an improbable new nation. Every July 4 and on certain other occasions she's towed out for a turnabout in Boston Harbor, the very place her keel was laid on October 21, 1797.

It is a beautiful sailing ship that had its brass bell; many of its copper fittings; and it’s bottom sheathed in copper, all supplied by .Paul Revere. Her hull was made of white oak from the sea islands of Georgia. the toughest wood grown in North America. Her principal service was during Thomas Jefferson's campaign against the Barbary pirates, off the coast of North Africa, and in the War of 1812. In 42 engagements, her record was 42-0 with 20 vessels captured. The nickname "Old Ironsides" was acquired during the War of 1812, when shots from the British warship Guerrière appeared to bounce off her tough oaken hull.

Today she only has about 8%-10% of her original wood remaining in place, though her heart, the “keel” is original. The ship was retired from combat in 1815, and was rescued from destruction when Oliver Wendell Holmes's poem Old Ironsides launched a preservation movement in 1830. She underwent a major restoration in the early 1990s, and only about 8%-10% of her original wood remained in place (the keel, the heart of the ship, is original). This was in preparation for its bicentennial in 1997, when it sailed under its own power for the first time since 1881.

Men and women of the regular navy maintain a 24-hour watch. Free tours have sailors showing visitors around the ship, guiding them to her top, or spar, deck, and the gun deck below

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Address: Charlestown Navy Yard
Directions: Expect to have your bags searched, and you'll probably have to pass through a metal detector. Call ahead if the national terror alert is high; the navy yard closes to civilians at the first sign of a serious threat.

If you bring your kids or just have any interest in science be sure to stop at the Museum of Science that occupies a compound of buildings that stands north of Mass General on the banks of the Charles River Dam. The demonstrations, experiments, and interactive displays introduce facts and concepts so effortlessly that everyone winds up learning something. Among the 500-plus exhibits, you can see an iguana or a dinosaur, find out how much you'd weigh on the moon, battle urban traffic in a computer model, and climb into a space module.

Some activities and exhibits focus on specific fields of interest, natural history with live animals, computers, the human body, while others take an interdisciplinary approaches. There you can find a 15-foot lightning bolts in the Theater of Electricity and a 20-foot-long Tyrannosaurus rex mode. You can experience activities such as strapping on a skin sensor to measure reactions to stimuli, or sifting through an archaeological site. The emphasis is on hands-on education. For instance, at the "Investigate!" exhibit children explore such scientific principles as gravity by balancing objects. Children can learn the physics behind everyday play activities such as swinging and bumping up and down on a teeter-totter in the "Science in the Park" exhibit. Other displays include "Light House," where you can experiment with color and light, and the perennial favorite, "Dinosaurs: Modeling the Mesozoic," which lets kids become paleontologists and examine dinosaur bones, fossils, and tracks.


The Museum of Science includes the IMAX Mugar Omni Theater (PHONE: 617/723-2500), a five-story dome screen. The theater's state-of-the-art sound system provides outstanding acoustics Try to get tickets in advance online or over the phone.

You can also visit the Charles Hayden Planetarium (PHONE: 617/723-2500) for programs on astronomical discoveries; Laser light shows with laser graphics and computer animation. Activates are scheduled Thursday through Sunday evenings.

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Phone: 617/723-2500
Directions: Science Park, off O'Brien Hwy. on bridge between Boston and Cambridge. You can get there by "T" on the green line Science Park and walk over the traffic circle on the sky ramp, and then walk about two blocks past the police station.
Website: www.mos.org

It’s hard to see how anyone would not love Quincy Market (Faneuil Hall Marketplace) with it’s quaint cafés and numerous boutiques. It has been a major victory for the city of Boston in changing a rundown section of the city containing old warehouses from the days of the shipping trade into a new tourist attraction. The market had double corridors of glass-canopied restaurants; boutiques; specialty shops featuring an extensive food court as well as a number of touristy Irish pubs. Vendors with carts offer souvenirs and other wares stand side by side with major chain outlets. At dusk the twinkling lights in the trees along the pedestrian walkways, made of some of the original cobblestone, transform Quincy Market into an amazing night scene.

The market consists of three block-long annexes: Quincy market, North market, and South market, each 535 feet long and across a plaza from Faneuil Hall. The structures were designed in 1826 as part of a public-works project, to alleviate the cramped conditions of Faneuil Hall and clean up the refuse that collected in Town Dock, the pond behind it. The central structure, made of granite, with a Doric colonnade at either end and topped by a classical dome and rotunda, has kept its traditional market-stall layout,

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Directions: From Park Street, take the Green Line (any car marked "Lechmere," "North Station," or "Government Center") one stop to Government Center. Take the escalator upstairs and walk across City Hall Plaza, down the steps and across the street to Faneuil

We were at the ballpark before the 2004 Redsocks ended "The Curse of the Bambino. The curse supposedly stems from when Babe Ruth ("The Bambino") was sold as a rookie by the Sox to the New York Yankees in 1920, and couldn’t repeat its 1918 World Series win afterwards. The park was built in 1912, the same year that the Titanic sunk Fenway is one of the smallest parks in the major leagues, but it's one of the most loved, despite its oddball dimensions and the looming left-field wall, otherwise known as the Green Monster . The 37-foot-tall wall in left field is as much a symbol of this city as the Boston Marathon or 'Cheers.' And like Yankee Stadium's bleachers, Wrigley Field's ivy-covered brick wall and Toronto's skyboxes, the hovering mass of green is a Major League icon as well. The dimensions of the park are also small by today's standards -- just 302 feet down the right field line -- and the wall is full of angles and curves, including the only ladder in play in the majors.

Its’ been a long time since I thought of myself as a baseball fan, but being in this old park with their rabid fans was a special treat. The seats are much smaller than the newer parks but it adds to the feeling of comradelier during the game. You can almost close your eyes and picture Ruth on the mound (yes Ruth started off as a pitcher and not an outfielder) and true Boston greats like Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Carlton Fisk.

Due to increased security, the following items are not allowed into Fenway Park: backpacks, coolers, computers, briefcases or containers. Small purses, bags that fit under the seats and diaper bags are allowed, but are subject to inspection (diaper bags must be accompanied by a child of "appropriate age"). Fans are allowed to bring one plastic bottle of water.

While plump, juicy Fenway Franks remain a must-have, popular local restaurants like Legal Seafood’s and Bob the Chef's also sell their chow in Fenway's concourse

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Phone: 617/267-1700
Address: 4 Yawkey Way, between Van Ness and Lansdowne Sts.,
Directions: Take the Green Line to Kenmore, which leaves you just around the corner from Fenway Park and Lansdowne Street. The city also offers a shuttle bus, which leaves from the MBTA's Ruggles Station on game days.

One of stops on the Freedom Trail is that of the oldest house standing in downtown Boston. This 2 1/2-story wood structure was the home of Paul Revere when he set out for Lexington on April 18, 1775 to announce the British route.

Revere had 16 children, eight with each of his two wives, and he supported the family with a thriving silversmith's trade. Revere owned it from 1770 until 1800, although he lived there for only 10 years, and rented it out from 1780 to 1800.

It was then put to a number of uses before being was saved from demolition in 1902 and restored to an approximation of its original 17th-century appearance. The clapboard sheathing is a replacement, but 90% of the framework is original. It is furnished with 17th- and 18th-century furnishings and artifacts, including famous Revere silver.

The tour is self-guided, with staff members around in case you have questions, allowing you to soak in whatever is of interest.

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Address: 19 North Sq
Directions: OPEN: Jan.-Mar., Tues.-Sun. 9:30-4:15; Nov. and Dec., and 1st 2 wks of Apr., daily 9:30-4:15; mid-Apr.-Oct., daily 9:30-5:15. T stop: Haymarket, Aquarium, Government Center.
Website: www.paulreverehouse.org.

While many people refer to all five buildings in the shopping complex as Faneuil Hall (pronounced as "Fan-yoo'uhl" or "Fan-yuhl."), the single building facing Congress Street is the real Hall. Built in 1742 and enlarged in 1805, this building was a gift to the town from prosperous merchant Peter Faneuil, who wanted the hall to serve as both a place for town meetings and a public market. He succeeded well as this Hall has rung with speeches by the like of Samuel Adams (whose statue stands outside the Congress Street entrance) in the years leading to the Revolution; Abolitionist; Temperance advocates, and suffragists. The upstairs is still a public meeting and concert hall, while the downstairs holds retail space.

The 8-pound, 52-inch-long gold-plated grasshopper weather vane atop the cupola is the sole remaining detail from the original building, and is modeled after the weather vane on London's Royal Exchange.

National Park Service rangers give free 20-minute talks every half-hour from 9am to 5pm in the second-floor auditorium and operate a visitor center on the first floor. The rangers are a good resource, as interpretive plaques are few.

On the top floor is a small museum that houses the weapons collection and historical exhibits of the “Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts”. Founded in 1638, it's the oldest militia in the Western Hemisphere, and the third oldest in the world, after the Swiss Guard and the Honorable Artillery Company of London, though its’ status is now strictly ceremonial.

COST: Free. OPEN: Great Hall daily 9-5; informational talks on the hr and ½ hr. Shops June-mid-Sept., Mon.-Sat. 10-8, Sun. 10-6; mid-Sept.-May, daily 10-6.

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Phone: 617/242-5675
Address: Dock Sq. (Congress St. and North St.)
Directions: Transportation: T: Green or Blue Line to Government Center, or Orange Line to Haymarket

I don’t really like cemeteries, but it seems like I’m visiting one in every city I go to. We were walking out of the Boston Common past the Park Street church on our way to the Faneuil when we saw the old headstones so decided to pop in. It was set aside in 1660 and named the Old Granary Burying Ground because the town granary was close by at the time.

There are a lot of headstones with some over 300 years old, but they are not an accurate count of those buried here. Even during colonial days, space was limited in the downtown Boston area, and old graves were often dug up to make room for new ones. It is said that at least 1600 people were buried at Old Granary Burying Ground. Buried at Old Granary are many 18th Century notables including Paul Revere, the parents of Ben Franklin, the wife of Isaac Vergoose, who is believed to be "Mother Goose" of nursery rhyme fame (Elizabeth "Mother" Goose - buried in 1690), victims of the Boston Massacre, John Hancock (1737-1793), Sam Adams (1722-1803), Robert Treat Paine, and U.S. Senator Christopher Gore (1758-1827).

Note the winged hourglasses carved into the stone gateway of the burial ground; they are a 19th-century addition, made more than 150 years after this small plot began receiving the earthly remains of colonial Bostonians.

OPEN: Dec.-Mar. daily 8:30-dusk; Apr.-Nov., daily 8:30-5.

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Address: Entrance on Tremont St
Directions: T stop: Park St.