BAS·tun - /ˈbɑː.stən/
Named by the Massachusetts Bay Company after Boston of Lincolnshire, home town of many of their members. The English Boston was named for Saint Botolph, ( 7th century patron saint of boundaries, for both trade and travel - making him a very fitting namesake for the Port City of Boston, MA.)
(Before Boston was founded the area was known as Trimount - a reference to the regions 3 large peaks. However those mounts no longer exist as they were removed and used to fill on the bays to expand Boston’s land mass.)
MASSACHUSETTS
Why It's Worth a Visit -
Boston is one of the country's oldest and coolest college towns, with more than 50 colleges and universities.
It's chock-full of American History, unique architecture,
exciting nightlife & sports fanatics.
@ a glance essentials:
Language:
English
(with a strong distinct local accent)
Country's Visitation Limit:
90 Days
Water safety
Water is safe to drink.
Emergency #
911
.............................. Everyone knows Wicked used as a substitute for 'very,' but my person favorite is Masshole to describe those locals that are less than friendly. (Though term is more commonly used by neighboring Yanks, not Bostonians themselves.)
Best Local Expression:
Hot Tip:
Ordering a "regular" coffee will not get you plain black coffee - you'll get milk & sugar. If you what yours unadulterated, specify "Black." Similarly, ordering a "milkshake" will get a frothy flavored milk with no ice-cream. If you want what the rest of the country calls a milkshake (milk, ice-cream & flavoring) you have to order a Frappe.
The capitol & largest city of Massachusetts (by population,) Boston is the city of the Red Sox, birth place of it's own eponymous terrier and home of the Freedom Trail.
Known for it's distinctive accent, and classics like GOODWILL HUNTING, it's the site of the Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and many Revolutionary War Battles like Lexington & Concord and Bunker Hill. There is literally history here on every cobblestoned corner.
a bit of background...
CHECK OUT THE:
.........
MY FAVORITE SPOTS TO...
................Boston's subway system, the 'T,' is the first & oldest in the nation, dating back to 1897. Boston also established the first experimental Telephone Exchange in 1877.
FUN FACT:
Both my parents went to school in Boston so it' no surprise ours was a Bo-Sox household. What is surprising is how long it took me to make it to Bean-Town!
Boston has several nicknames but the Bean association has always been my favorite. There are competing theories for how it came about; from a turn of the century homecoming where bean pots were used in the advertising, to a Civil War Vet's Convention that gave out mini bean pot souvenir's, all the way back to the triangle trade which saw a switch from flavoring Boston's beloved baked beens with maple syrup, (the way Native Americans had taught them,) to using the now more accessible molasses from the Caribbean.
But whatever the origin, I find the fact that a city so steeped in history is best know for the love of a legume hysterical. It captures the city spirit; Bostonians are pretty laid back about about the more serious things in life, but the take rather trivial things like baseball and beans very seriously!
SEE
DO TRY
&
VISIT
What to Where to Why . . .
Surprising Finds:
📍 Wally's Cafe - oldest family run Jazz club, live music nightly, has hosted both Billie Holiday & Bill Murray.
📍 Skinny House - Four-story home claimed as narrowest in Boston, only 10.4 feet at its widest. Built by a Civil War vet
from spite when his brother spent their inheritance and only left a sliver of land on which to build.
📍 Granary Burial Ground 📸 - With 2 Revere graves - the older reads just “Revere Tomb,” said to mark a small
buried tomb holding multiple Revere family members. (Though the Paul Revere Heritage foundation calls it just
Paul Revere Sr’s grave) The newer was placed to honor Paul alone in the 1800’s.
The Grounds are dominated by a large Franklin obelisk, also confusing as it’s not for Benjamin (buried in
Philadelphia) but for his parents. The cemetery, which used to be next to a Granary, also holds the graves of
Samual Adams, John Hancock & the 5 men killed in Boston Massacre.
My Favorite Spots:
... to Wander & Explore:
📍 North End (pronounced "Nah-th End”) - with Little Italy & Haymarket, oldest neighborhood in the original
Boston proper. Hanover St is the central rd with great shops and (many joints are cash only)
📍 SoWo Arts & Design District, (South Washington St) - renovated warehouse district with Sunday farmers markets
📍 Historic Southend - largest intact Victorian row-house district in the country.
📍 Bunker Hill 📸 - oldest town in current Boston, (across the river, in Charleston which wasn’t annexed until 1874.)
📍 Not to be confused with Beacon Hill - the historic neighborhood where the state capitol building is located.
... to Visit:
📍 Boston Light - the oldest continuously used lighthouse in the U.S. dating from 1716
....
The Many Historic Churches & Burial Grounds like:
📍 Kings Chapel - founded 1686, the oldest continuously used religious building in the US
& King’s Chapel Burial Ground - Surprisingly predating & not connected to the chapel
(thus a burial ground, not a graveyard.) Est. 1630.
📍 Sacred Heart - first Catholic Church in Boston, est. 1833 for sailors. (A few blocks from
the Inner Harbor.) It's sailor-preacher, Father Taylor, is said to be the
inspiration for Father Mapple in Herman Melville's MOBY DICK.
📍 Old North Church & Graveyard- The church of the Midnight Ride, est. in 1723
more..
Amazing Boston Architecture
... to Commune w/ Nature:
📍 The Emerald Necklace - (The city's encircling greenway,) or one of many Public Parks
like Boston Common- oldest US city park, dating to 1634, Rose Kennedy Greenway and
Sommerville parks, Prospect Hill & Tower 📸 and the waterfront Paul Revere Park
📍 Walden Pond - who’s beauty is immortalized by Henry David Thoreau's 1854 work,
WALDEN. The Pond is part of a kettle hole. (30 minutes outside of Boston in Concord, MA)
Cathedral of the Holy Cross
... when feeling Bookish:
📍 Boston Athenaeum - Founded 1807, a combination library, museum, & cultural center with 7 foot-tall bronze statue;
Athena Giustiniani, Half a million+ books incl. 100,000 rare books, maps, & manuscripts & 100,000 works of art.
📍 Brattle Book Shop - one of the oldest US bookstores, est. 1825. Used books, magazines & antique rare books.
📍 I Am Books - A small bookshop specializing in Italian Books in little Italy.
... when feeling Adventurous:
📍 Swan Boats | Boston Public Garden - (24 acres with statues & fountains) offering the famous pond rides since 1877
......
Throw down with rowdy locals at a:
📍 Red Sox Game @ Fenway Park, tied for second oldest extant park in the country.
📍 Bruin’s Ice Hockey game @ Warrior Ice Arena.
📍 A Pub Crawl or the Samuel Adams Tap Room & Brewery (they offer a small free tasting in addition to tours.)
... to have a Cuppa or Nightcap:
📍 Cicada - cozy Cambridge coffee house with books, a garden & specials like sea salt coffee with sweet condensed milk.
📍 Caffe Vittoria - 1st Italian cafe in Boston, old world charm with marble floors & antique espresso machines
📍 Phinista - tiny French-Vietnamese Cafe all vintage & floral charm
📍 Jonquil’s Cafe - ultra modern geometric creations and 2 story plant wall
📍 Find Sip Cafe - is practically a glass greenhouse
📍 Thinking Cup - Stumptown Coffee, & French hot chocolate (made with Valrhona’s 64 % Tainori drinking chocolate)
📍 Cheers | Beacon Hill - touristy, but worth it for CHEERS fans. (The TV bar's fictional, the real bar was built to emulate it)
...
... when I'm Peckish:
📍 Union Oyster House - America’s oldest continuous restaurant (stand alone), establish 1826.
📍 S&S Restaurant (DELI) - nearly a -century-old. Piled-high sandwiches, matzo ball soup & classic Boston cream pie
📍 Mamma Maria’s 📸 - a Little Italy institution. (Reservations recommended)
📍 Beantown Pub - for classic Boston Fare.
📍 Vinal Bakery & sister General Store
... for something Sweet:
📍 Earnest Drinks/ Gracie's Ice Cream - they'll spike your hot chocolate with whiskey, rye, rum, brandy, or amaro.
📍 Sofra Bakery & Café - Middle Eastern-inspired flavors like tahini & halvah.
📍 Bova’s Bakery - nearly 100-year-old (Bova’s is open 24 hours, every day!)
📍 Honeycomb Creamery - small batch craft ice cream & ice cream 'tacos'
Most Known For:
♦️ The Freedom Trail - 2.5-mile through historic sites. (Obviously touristy, but if you go on
your own it’s free & hits lots of architecture sites like Old North Church, Paul Revere’s
House & MA State House)
🔸 Boston Harbor (site of the Tea Party) & Navy Yard with the USS Constitution Museum
ship- oldest commissioned warship still afloat in the world, launch in 1797.
♦️ Historic battle fields like Lexington, Concord & Bunker Hill
🔸 Universities like Harvard, Cambridge & MIT
♦️ John F. Kennedy Presidential Library
🔸 Skywalk Observatory - panoramic from the 50th floor of the Prudential Tower
Freedom Trail Manhole Cover
M
..................One if by land, Two if by Sea. - Immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Boston’s most famous son and local legend may be Paul Revere and his clandestine midnight ride. Every school child now knows the story of Paul riding through town calling out "The British are coming...."
But how much of the poem actually happened? And how did ladies underwear save the day (er night)....
Local Lore:
🌀 Boston Pops, 4th of July & new years? symphony
🌀 Boston Marathon - annual race held on Patriots’ Day
🌀 St. Patrick’s Day Parade - rivals Chicago's for the liveliest (subtext; drunkest, lol) St. Paddy's day in the country.
Close Enough to Visit:
🪧 Plymouth | MA - site of the Plymouth Rock landing, (about an hour south)
🪧 Salem | MA, - of the notorious Witch Trials, they host a Halloween Festival featuring the “Witch house” - home of a
judge from the 1692 trials. 45 minutes north
🪧 Cape Cod, Nantucket Island & Martha’s Vineyard | MA - upper-crust coastal get-aways.
🪧 Providence | RI - one of the highest concentrations of US Colonial architecture (Benefit St.) & a gorgeous State
House Dome, world's fourth largest self-supported, (the largest being St. Peter's Basilica in Rome)
Going to visit
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