Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cambridge Historical Society, to the
Cambridge Historical Commission,
831 Massa-
chusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139 (
&
617/349-4683;
www.ci.cambridge.ma.
us/~historic).
6 Parks & Gardens
Green space is an important part of Boston's appeal, and the public parks are hard to
miss. The world-famous
Emerald Necklace,
Frederick Law Olmsted's vision for a
loop of green spaces, runs through the city. See p. 174 for information on seeing part
or all of the Emerald Necklace with a Boston park ranger.
The best-known park, for good reason, is the spectacular
Public Garden
,
bordered by Arlington, Boylston, Charles, and Beacon streets. Something lovely is in
bloom at the country's first botanical garden at least half the year. The spring flowers
are particularly impressive, especially if your visit happens to coincide with the first
really warm days of the year. It's hard not to enjoy yourself when everyone around you
seems ecstatic just to be seeing the sun.
For many Bostonians, the official beginning of spring coincides with the return of
the
Swan Boats
(
&
617/522-1966;
www.swanboats.com). The pedal-powered
vessels—the attendants pedal, not the passengers—plunge into the lagoon on the Sat-
urday before Patriots Day, the third Monday of April. The surrounding greenery and
placid water help lend a 19th-century aura to the attraction, which the Paget family
has operated since 1877. Although the Swan Boats don't move fast, they'll transport
you. They operate daily from 10am to 5pm in the summer, daily from 10am to 4pm
in the spring, and weekdays noon to 4pm and weekends 10am to 4pm from Labor
Day to mid-September. The cost for the 15-minute ride is $2.75 for adults, $2 for sen-
iors, and $1.25 for children 2 to 15.
Across Charles Street is
Boston Common,
the country's first public park and the
first site on the
Freedom Trail
(p. 148). The property was purchased in 1634 and offi-
cially set aside as public land in 1640, so if it seems a bit run-down (especially com-
pared to the Public Garden), it's no wonder. A rehab project that began in 2007 may
be bearing fruit—or closing off whole sections of the park, or both—by the time you
visit. The Frog Pond, where there really were frogs at one time, makes a pleasant spot
to splash around in the summer and skate in the winter. At the Boylston Street side of
the Common is the
Central Burying Ground,
where you can see the grave of famed
portraitist Gilbert Stuart. There's also a bandstand where you might take in a free con-
cert or play, and many beautiful shade trees.
The most spectacular garden in town is the
Arnold Arboretum
, 125 Arborway,
Jamaica Plain (
&
617/524-1718;
www.arboretum.harvard.edu), which Frederick Law
Olmsted designed as the final link in the Emerald Necklace. One of the oldest parks in
the United States, founded in 1872, it is open daily from sunrise to sunset. Its 265 acres
contain more than 15,000 ornamental trees, shrubs, and vines from all over the world.
In the spring, the grounds are ablaze with blossoming dogwood, azaleas, and rhodo-
dendrons, and the air fills with the dizzying scent of hundreds of varieties of lilacs, for
which the arboretum is especially famous. This is definitely a place to take a camera—
but not food. Lilac Sunday, in May, is the only time the arboretum allows picnicking.
There is no admission fee for this National Historic Landmark, which Harvard
University administers in cooperation with the Boston Department of Parks and
Recreation. To get there, take the MBTA Orange Line to the Forest Hills stop and
follow signs to the entrance. The visitor center is open weekdays from 9am to 4pm,
