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Visitor's Guide
We may have attended various schools in different places, but we all share the same alma mater in our hearts: Boston. This elegant, upper-crusty Ivy League Lady of New England, all red bricks and aged buildings, has enough historical nooks and charming crannies for the student in all of us. Even if you never got to run between falling leaves to class, you can still stroll Beacon Hill, consume dense, clammy clam chowder steps away from Harvard Square (just don't get a native into the whole ugly Manhattan/Boston chowder debate), and toast our feisty forefathers with a cup of steaming darjeeling at Boston Harbor. In 2001 beautiful, brainy Beantown will continue to entertain and educate, thanks to events and places like those below. You don't even have to lug around a humongous bookbag (unless of course you're into that sort of thing).
Spring
Apr. 15 -- Paul and the original British invasion <../visitorsguide/venue.dci?vid=24290>
Mid-April, 1775 was a particularly stressful time to be a colonist living around the Boston area. There was that falling fence to mend, that one field to till and then there was the pesky rumor of a full-scale British assault. Thank goodness for local silversmith Paul Revere, who hopped on a horse the night of April 18 and, with the help of signal lanterns hung in the Old North Church by sexton Robert Newman, clip-clopped across the countryside warning neighbors to put down their quills and put up a fight because those feisty, fierce Britons had arrived. Every year the Old North Church commemorates the event that changed the course of our country with a reenactment of the lantern hanging on the night of Easter Sunday. Descendants of Paul Revere and Robert Newman typically show up for the service, as does a stirring fife-and-drum band.
Autumn/Fall
October -- Witch Central <../visitorsguide/venue.dci?vid=41377>
You might have the urge to pity pretty little Salem, Massachusetts. The devastating events of 1692 -- innocents accused of witchcraft, wrongful hangings, families destroyed -- is unquestionably this community's tragic claim to fame. But in a move akin to making lemonade out of lemons -- or new brooms out of dead wood -- this charming hamlet pays tribute to its checkered past, especially come October, the cobwebbiest month of the year. Many proud, practicing witches live in Salem today, as do those who observe everything occult. Thus near Halloween -- or Samhain, if you honor Wicca -- Salem dons a celebratory cloak of Haunted Happenings, including parades, costume balls and psychic fairs, as well as a host of other events (be warned: many visiting wannabe witches make October a busy time for the burg). Before you don your black hat, however, stop one should be the Salem Witch Museum, a moving exhibit about the hysteria of 1692, and its aftermath.
Winter
January - February -- Cozy comfits in a country village <../visitorsguide/venue.dci?vid=40753>
You're hot on history, but visiting an old building and taking a snapshot or two frankly gives you the big yawns. What you like is to see a period village after hours, when the bulk of the fannypack set is back watching TV in their motels. After the throngs have gone, you'd want to really experience what life was like way back when, say in 1835 or so. Perhaps you'd eat the food of the time, like real Indian Pudding (cornmeal and molasses -- delicious), or maybe you'd actually learn to cook historical dishes, using authentic recipes of yore. Then you'd play parlor games by candlelight, or hear a story or two by the fireside. Sigh not, yesterdreamer -- this is no mere fantasy. A nighttime visit to Old Sturbridge Village in the tourist-light wintertime can feel a bit like being back in a New England gone-by. You may even find yourself using terms like "good morrow" and "forswear" by evening's end.
November - December -- Pennsylvania Avenue pinafores (and more) <../visitorsguide/venue.dci?vid=24264>
The unmovable bouffant, the creased gloves, the perfect pillbox hat. Jackie -- just Jackie -- was one of the grand dames of 20th century fashion, and her White House years crowned her Queen of the Closet. Starting in September and running through February of next year, the John F. Kennedy Library will display over 80 original costumes in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of JFK's inauguration. On display at the library will be dresses and accessories worn by lovely Jackie exclusively during the legendary Camelot years. Also included in the exhibit will be articles the first lady donned during the 1960 campaign, as well as more glitzy White House attire worn to greet heads of state.
-- Alysia Gray Painter
The Swan Boats
Slow, uneventful, but utterly delightful ride.
Average User Rating: As EB White wrote in his famous children's book, Trumpet of the Swan, "Everybody in Boston knows about the Public Garden and goes there to ride the swan boats." When the book was published in 1970, a swan boat ride cost just 25 cents, today it's a whole $2 for adults and $1 for kids 2 to 15 years old. But even though everyone may know about the Swan Boats, few natives have ever ridden them. But few visitors have failed to succumb to the charm of the Public Garden's swan pond, never mind that just about the only swans you'll see are artificial. Nonetheless, they manage to encompass the elegance and stateliness of the real thing, and, while out of water they could roll down the street in the Fourth of July parade; in the water, they manage to look perfectly in place. True, there are bigger "ducks" in the Charles River (the Duck Tours), but most visitors rank their tame paddling around the tiny pond as much of a trip highlight as Boston's quackier version of a boat ride. Through the trees you can see the bright blue Hancock Tower in the distance, and watch the pretty people walking above you over the bridge that cuts the lagoon in two. Ducks approach the boat in hopes of a treat (if you have children with you, be sure to bring bread crumbs or crackers!). Lines for the ride form just under the footbridge in the middle of the Garden. If it's a weekend day, you'll be able to amuse yourself during the wait by marking the progression of bridal parties who line the banks of the pond for that one-of-a-kind photo every Boston bride owns a set of. Once on the ride, you'll park your tail feathers on a bench seat with three others who will all be vying for a view of the shores you just stood on. Aim for an end seat, but don't worry if you can't see around your seatmate -- you won't be passing anything quickly enough to miss it. True, your grandmother probably drives faster than these boats sail, but at least you don't have to worry about making newspaper headlines when this amusement ride breaks down. There are no engines and few moving parts. A bored-looking teen with quads that rival Arnold Schwarzzeneger's will spend about 15 minutes pedaling a giant paddlewheel that "powers" the swan boat through the pond. The boat calmly hugs the edges of the figure-eight-shaped pond and returns you neatly to the boat dock, rested and ready for a hike across the Common. The boats run mid-April to mid-September.
 Chinese unique paintings--from straw, hemp, leaf.. - funlin 22:52:47 09/13/03 (190)
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