Boston Travel

BOSTON TRAVEL

Boston is the capital and the largest city of the state of Massachusetts as well as the most historic and one of the wealthiest and most influential cities in the entire United States. Boston was first founded in 1630 by members of the Massachusetts Bay colony who were Puritan religious rebels who fled England in search of religious freedom in the New World. Boston grew rapidly as it incorporated neighboring towns and attracted the nation’s economic and literary elite, the self-proclaimed Boston Brahmins, the aristocracy of the United States.

Bostonians have always been a very proud lot of people. And it is no wonder when famed people like John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, in a reference to Jerusalem and a utopian Christian colony called Boston a “shining city on the hill.” Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, a physician, a poet and the father of a well known American jurist by the same name, referred to Boston’s statehouse as “the hub of the solar system.” His statement was later expanded to “the hub of the universe” and is still in common usage today.

Boston may not in fact be the center of the universe but it is a vastly important city in the United States. After all, the American Revolution and modern democracy got their starts in Boston. The first few Revolutionary War scuffles were fought in or around Boston, including the Boston Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Siege of Boston. Due to the fact that Bostonian political leaders have had leading roles in the shaping and molding of the fledgling government, Boston has earned itself yet another nickname: “the Cradle of Liberty.”

Boston’s dozens of museums, sixty two (62) registered historical sights, over two thousand (2,000) top notch restaurants and lots of quality live performances attract sixteen and a half (16.5) million tourists every year, making it one of the top ten most popular tourist destination in the nation.

Boston offers its visitors opportunities to turn back their clocks to relive history, to appreciate the arts, to root at sports events, to shop and to indulge in world-class eateries. The following is a list of must-dos in Boston:

1. The Freedom Trail. This is a two and one half (2.5) mile walk through the heart of Boston that will lead you to sixteen (16) historic sites. If your time is limited in Boston and you do nothing else, do at least this.

2. Boston Public Garden. This is the nation’s oldest botanical garden and it runs along the Charles River and adjacent to the Boston Common. If you are there mid-April through mid-September, you will be able to ride the famous Swan Boats which date back to 1877.

3. Quincy Market. This is an indoor/outdoor market whose name is really the Faneuil Hall Marketplace and it offers great shopping and dining experiences.

4. Museum of Science. With over four hundred (400) interactive exhibits, this is Boston’s most visited museum.

5. Cheers Boston (previously the Bull & Finch Pub). This outfit gained famed by the television show “Cheers” and is definitely a tourist trap but worth the trouble.

6. Museum of Fine Arts. This is the largest museum in New England and is famous for holding the largest collection of works by Claude Monet (a French Impressionist) outside of France.

7. New England Aquarium. This is Boston most popular family attraction and for good reason.

8. Sam Adams Brewery. This site offers a tour of the beer making process, a sampling of the finished product and a visit to the Boston Beer Museum.

9. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Cambridge is located just on the other side of the Charles River and is technically not a part of Boston but being the home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) it is an important side track for anyone visiting Boston, Massachusetts.

I am not going to waste your time or mine by wishing you a good time in Boston because I already know that you will have a wonderful time there. My only regret is that I will not be joining you.

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