Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hey There, You with the Stars in Your Eyes
Two local colleges have on-campus observatories that allow the public a look
at the skies above Boston—through a telescope. This is a good activity for high
school students as well as adults. The Judson B. Coit Observatory at Boston Uni-
versity, 725 Commonwealth Ave. ( & 617/353-2630; www.bu.edu/astronomy/
opennight.html), throws open its doors on most Wednesdays, year-round. The
Harvard College Observatory, 60 Garden St. ( & 617/495-9059; http://cfa-www.
harvard.edu/events) schedules a lecture and quality time with a telescope on
the third Thursday of each month.
Moments
opened on Vassar Street off Main Street in 2004. Visit the information desk on the
ground floor to pick up a pamphlet describing a self-guided tour.
Engaging holography displays and robots are the hallmarks of the MIT Museum,
265 Massachusetts Ave. ( & 617/253-4444; http://web.mit.edu/museum), where
you'll also find works in more conventional media, such as kinetic sculpture. This is a
good place to participate in activities and programs that explore the role of science and
technology in society. The museum and its entertaining gift shop are open Tuesday
through Friday (plus Mon July-Aug) from 10am to 5pm, weekends from noon to
5pm (closed on major holidays). Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for seniors, and $1 for
students and children 5 to 17. The school's contemporary art repository, the List
Visual Arts Center, in the atrium of the Wiesner Building, 20 Ames St. ( & 617/253-
4680; http://web.mit.edu/lvac), is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon to 6pm,
until 8pm on Friday. Admission and gallery tours are free.
To get to MIT, take the MBTA Red Line to Kendall/MIT. The scenic walk from
the Back Bay takes you along Mass. Ave. over the river straight to the campus. By car
from Boston, cross the river at the Museum of Science, Cambridge Street, or Mass.
Ave. and follow signs to Memorial Drive, where you can usually find parking during
the day.
8 Boston Neighborhoods to Explore
Boston is a city of neighborhoods, some of which I've described in talking about the
Freedom Trail (see “The Freedom Trail,” earlier in this chapter) and in the walking
tours in chapter 8. Here are several other areas that are fun to explore. Bear in mind
that many of the buildings you will see are private homes, not tourist attractions. See
chapter 6 for dining suggestions and chapter 9 for shopping tips.
BEACON HILL
The original Boston settlers, clustered around what are now the Old State House and
the North End, considered Beacon Hill far distant. Today the distance is a matter of
atmosphere; climbing “the Hill” is like traveling back in time. Lace up your walking
shoes (the brick sidewalks gnaw at anything fancier, and driving is next to impossible),
wander the narrow streets, and admire the brick and brownstone architecture.
At Beacon and Park streets is a figurative high point (literally, it's the high point):
Charles Bulfinch's magnificent State House. The 60-foot monument at the rear illus-
trates the hill's original height, before the top was shorn off to use in 19th-century
landfill projects. Beacon and Mount Vernon streets run downhill to commercially
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