Category Archives: Boston

Please come to Boston

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Please come to Boston for the Springtime

That’s the first line of a Dave Loggins song. I can’t help but think that its a fitting intro to today post. I want to tell you about Boston in the springtime. My visit to Boston last Saturday  was to celebrate the opening day of the Swan Boats. We’ve had such horrible weather lately but  Saturday shook it off  and was a perfect spring day.

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Swan Boats in the Public Gardens

After taking my time wandering down from the Park St T station I arrived at the Public Garden Lagoon. The Swan Boats were doing a brisk business. I sat down near the loading dock to watch the activity and for the first time I noticed a sign that read Swan Boats since 1877. That’s a pretty extraordinary track record. But that wasn’t the only big achievement.

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It’s a Man’s World

One year after the Boston Swan Boats are founded by Robert Paget in 1877, he passes away.  Robert was only 42 at the time of his death and he left his young widow, Julia, and four children. Julia must have been a very determined woman because business women were  very rare in those days. So rare in fact that for many years she had to collect signatures from local business men attesting to her ability to run her business.

Two Swan Boats 2017

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In 1914 Julia’s youngest son John assumed the helm of the business.

The Paget Legacy

John introduced the larger boats that cruise the lagoon today. Each boat has 5 benches allowing more passengers than the smaller 3 bench boats. The current fleet consists of six boats, the oldest of which was built under John in 1910. In 1952 John  passed the reins to his son Paul.

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Paul ran the company through the 50’s – 90’s. Today a 4th generation of Pagets  preserve this beloved Boston Tradition.

Through the Years

There have been many events to mark the storied history of the Swan Boats.

  •  1977 marked the 100th anniversary.
  • 2002 First ever Swan Boat crew reunion hosted for employees from the 1950’s through 2002.
  • 2008 Paul Paget drives a Swan Boat at age 86
  • 2011 Designated Boston landmark

Today the future looks bright if the crowds lining up is any indication. Somehow I can’t imagine the Public Garden Lagoon without the Swan Boats circling duck island on a beautiful, spring day.

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2017 Season
Saturday, April 15 to Sunday, September 17, 2017

 

 

 

Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack

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What was that Name again? Jack?

What do Jack, Kack, Lack. Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack and Quack have in common? They are the names of the eight little ducklings following Mrs. Mallard cross the Public Gardens in Boston.

Non-Bostonians can find its location confusing. Boston Common, Boston Public Gardens, Boston Garden…what’s the difference?

Commons, Gardens and Garden

The Boston Commons is the oldest city park in the United States. It was established in 1634. Originally a pasture it became known as “Common Land”. It was used to graze local livestock until 1830. A town shepherd was paid “two shillings and sixpence per head of cowe” to tend townspeople’s livestock.  In 1775 over 1000 Redcoats were camped here until they marched off to Lexington & Concord for the skirmish that became the “Shot heard ’round the World”.

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The Public Garden, also known as Boston Public Garden, is a large park adjacent to the Boston Commons. Part of the Emerald Necklace system of parks, it was established in 1837 as the first public botanical garden in America. Part of the confusion between the Commons and the Gardens is that they are only separated by a street. Its easy to think of the whole area as one huge park.

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The Boston Garden was a much loved venue for local sports, especially the Boston Celtics and The Boston Bruins. Famous for it’s parquet floor that favored the home team because of it’s many “dead spots”, it was eventually torn down and replaced by the big, modern T.D. Garden in 1995.

Make Way for Ducklings, Jack, Kack, Lack…

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The famous duckling statue is located in the Public Gardens. It’s based on the children’s book “Make Way for Ducklings”. Mrs. Mallard has as much trouble keeping her little bronze ducklings together as a real life mother duck. The statue was first installed in 1987 but almost immediately the duckling named Quack was pilfered. In 1988 Mack was stolen but at the same time Quack was returned after an anonymous tip.

 Quack was taken again in 1992, and the theft created such an outcry that buttons reading “Bring Quack Back” were sold to raise money for a replacement.

In 1999 Jack was taken! Pack flew the coop in 2009. But Boston loves its ducklings and the statue is always repaired or replaced.

Decorating the Ducks

You can often find the little duck family decked out in holiday attire, Easter Bonnets for an Easter Parade, Christmas hats and Halloween costumes. During playoffs you may find tiny ball caps and sweaters boasting team logos.

In May you can join over 1000 people on Mother’s Day for the Duckling Day Parade. The only requirement, you must be dressed as a character from the book.

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Yes, Boston loves Mrs. Mallard and her 8 little ducklings, Jack, Kack, Lack. Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack and Quack!

 

 

On the Road to D.C.

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And I don’t mean the comic books. (DC Comics) There’s nothing funny going on in Washington right now!

But my quick trip has begun. I was up at 6:30 am. I slept on the areo bed last night so that Joe, who is kitty sitting, could have my bed. As I unplugged the seal to let out the air Rocky took a flying leap onto the bed and sunk! Pretty funny. He was quite a confused kitty cat but he got over it. Other than it being cold it was very comfortable. Next time I’ll put a blanket under the sheet or maybe use flannel sheets.

Made it to Braintree by about 8:30 am. The Logan express is a bus to the airport and has a station in Braintree. Parking is $7.00/ day which is much cheaper than parking at the airport. Plus its nice to leave the driving to someone else when navigating Boston. The bus runs on the hour and true to its schedule we were on our way by 9:01. The web site says to allow 45 minutes to get from Braintree to Logan but as it was a Saturday with no traffic. I think we made better time than that.

To my surprise the airport was a ghost town. I was through security in less than 5 minutes and there was no one in the terminal! So after all that rushing around I was seated at table with a muffin by 9:30 am waiting for a flight that didn’t leave until 12 noon. Good thing I brought a book.

In spite of the empty terminal they announced that our flight was a full flight. That could be because we were on a teeny , tiny commuter plane. I upgraded my seat to be sure I got an aisle although it really didn’t matter. The plane was so small that there was no middle seat, just window and aisle on both sides. First class had one seat on each side of the aisle!

At least I got a look at the new paint jobs American Airlines has put on their planes. Pretty nifty!

 

Happy St Patrick’s Day

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‘Tis great to be Irish (even if your not)because this is the one day of the year when everyone is a little bit Irish.

Saint Patrick’s Day is an official Christian feast day observed since the 17th century. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. He is also credited with chasing the snakes out of Ireland. A bit of a stretch because there is no evidence that there were ever any snakes in Ireland in the first place. Still, as any good Irishman will say, “It makes for a fine tale” especially after a Guinness or two.

Celebrations include public parades and festivals, green attire and ceilidhs. I didn’t know what that last word was so I had to look it up. According to Wikipedia a ceilidh (there should be an accent mark over the e) is a traditional Scottish or Irish gathering. It can mean, in its simplest form, a social visit but in today’s usage it usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing.

If you live in Boston Saint Patrick’s Day is a BIG DEAL. People of Irish ancestry are the largest single ethnic group in Boston. The Irish boom came in the 19th century following the Great Irish Famine.  At first there was a real separation of the Puritan Bostonians and the newly immigrated Irish but with the increasing Irish population, political organization and strong group loyalty the Irish took political control of the city.

The Irish left their mark on the region in a number of ways: in still heavily Irish neighborhoods such as Charlestown and South Boston; in the name of the local basketball team, the Boston Celtics; in the iconic Irish-American political family, the Kennedys.

The annual dispute these days is whether OUTVETS, a gay veteran’s  group can march in the annual St Patrick Day Parade. I’m happy so say that the organizers of the parade finally gave in and said yes and have promised to change their by-laws so this annual dispute will not raise it’s ugly, prejudicial head again.

So raise a pint! Here’s another toast to the feisty Irish with their rich heritage. They bring color and life to a stodgy old city at least one day a year!

May the leprechauns be near you,
To spread luck along your way.
And may all the Irish angels,
Smile upon you St. Patrick’s Day.

Brrrr Its Cold!

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I’m not sure where all of you are from. I’m sure I’ve got some followers from  warm, sunny locations but here in New England winter has returned with a vengeance. Last week we had record high temps, beautiful spring weather. (Take that Punxsutawney Phil!) but the groundhog was right after all! This weekend brought an Arctic Blast that left us all shivering in our boots. High winds added to the cold temps by driving new record lows with the wind chill added in. Its been the coldest weekend of this winter.

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To go along with the miserable cold, I caught a cold. I’ve done so well this year too! This development left me with a dilemma. I wanted to get out in the area to find some new things to tell you about but I was sneezing and felt miserable so I didn’t want to be out in the cold.

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I considered (very seriously) driving to Essex Junction, Vermont for the Vermont Flower show. It would be inside so I’d be warm and I thought we could all use some flowers to offset this cold blast.

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My hesitation came from the fact that it would be a 4 hour drive and this cold was kicking my butt. It had drained so much energy that every time I sat down for 5 minutes I fell asleep. So after much internal debate I took a pass. I spent the weekend bundled in a fluffy throw in my recliner watching travel programs. Or maybe I should say sleeping through travel programs.

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(Sorry I can’t use a picture of me because my arm isn’t long enough for the selfie but this one pretty much sums it up)

I fell asleep watching a program about Hawaii only to wake up to Andrew Zimmern swallowing some horrible looking thing he consider food on an episode of “Bizarre Foods”. Sorry Andrew, I find your show extremely cringe-worthy.

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To make sure the weekend wasn’t a total loss I signed up for a webinar at 3 pm on Sunday about Travel Writing. At 2 pm I set up my laptop, got a pad and pen and a bottle of water. I was ready. I sat back to wait and promptly fell asleep! I woke up at 3:15 having missed the first 15 minutes. Luckily it will be posted online until Tuesday so I can watch it again to see what I missed.

Since this blog pretends to be a travel blog (most of the time) I thought I might get some good tips to improve my content. At the least it got me thinking. I got some good ideas about finding local things to share. So cold or not, the weekend wasn’t a total loss.