I spent six days wandering around Boston. There’s hundreds of years of history packed on the narrow, cobble-stoned streets, and tons of lobster to consume around this place. It can be overwhelming, but here is what I did.
After throwing our suitcases in our hotel room at Hyatt in Seaport, my mom and I went to eat at Legal Seafood at Harborside. The location was conveniently close to our hotel and the deck looks over the harbor.
Day 1 Wandering:
Wednesday, we set out for the Freedom Trail. I was a tad worried that it would be inauthentic and touristy (think: overpriced three corner hats made of construction paper and sold at a gift shop). It was not like that at all! The history is there and they are proud of it, but it is just a part of the people who are currently living and breathing there. It is how history should be authentically and correctly understood. It is a part of us and can be remembered for the role that the past played in getting us here, but we are the modern actors in the world today. We are different from the past, but still thankful that they forged a path for us to continue forward.
A local told us The Union Oyster House had the best clam chowder in town. The clam chowder was delicious and it was the first time I had New England corn bread that is a little sweet like they put a fair amount of sugar in it. John F. Kennedy ate in this restaurant and you can see the booth he famously ate at. Unfortunately I couldn’t get to it because it was upstairs, but I did not mind because all the employees were kind, helpful, and they rolled out the temporary ramp in order for me to enter and leave the restaurant. Those things are engineering marvels and highlight how simple accessible features can progress disability inclusion.
We took a short roll to Boston Commons. It’s a nice park that played a large role in community organizing and inclusion going back to the days of the US Revolution. Regardless of what exactly you do here, coffee is always a good idea. I went to George Howell Coffee next to the Godfrey Hotel. The shop did not have any accessible seating open, but we were able to sit at a table in the hotel lobby.
Day 2 Wandering:
“Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.” -Henry David Thoreau
A few years ago, I was in the bookstore next to my hotel at UPenn (University of Pennsylvania) in Philadelphia and I saw a copy of Walden Pond. It was just waiting there for me to read. That is fate and I followed the path of destiny to the woods of Massachusetts. The Walden Pond park reminds me of home because I was raised in the middle of the Mark Twain National Forest. I didn’t have neighbors except woodland creatures nor did I wear shoes until I was eight (that’s a joke; you have to wear shoes to keep the snakes from biting).
I went to Walden Pond to see where Henry David Thoreau built a cabin and journaled about the inner workings of ant colonies. At the park they call Thoreau one of most notable conservationists, but actually he is one of the most notable rebels against corrupt authorities. He (as many of the famous American writers from Concord, Massachusetts) knew those making laws at the time were not doing so on behalf of people like Thoreau or in accordance with his principles of liberty. So he went to the woods instead of living in a society that clearly despised his deeply held beliefs.
Thoreau was jailed in Concord for refusing to pay the government’s poll tax as a protest against the U.S. Mexico war and the expansion of slavery that the federal government oversaw. Unfortunately I did not see the site of where that jail once stood, but I did eat at an inn in Concord. The grey clouds were hanging low as we traversed Walden Pond, but it didn’t rain until we got inside the restaurant to order clam chowder. Mom and I had to brave the downpour to get back to our car, but the restaurant’s host held the umbrella as I maneuvered through the flood. He also told me that he had followed his wife to Concord and had been here for 25 years. I replied with, “Oh wow, so you must like it here!” He informed me that that amount of time is considered nothing there because, ”most families here have been in Concord for hundreds of years.”
I’m a girl with “rambler” tattooed on my arm so the idea of never moving from where you’re born because your family has been there for generations seems a little stifling. However, their little town is beautiful and charming.
Day 3 Wandering:
Everyone told me to eat in Boston’s Little Italy. I was slightly concerned that I did not have a specific restaurant to go to in Little Italy. Don’t be worried about this. Little Italy is full of restaurants and they are all delicious. We randomly chose one and I had possibly the best gnocchi of my life.
Note: Don’t drive yourself down to Little Italy! We were planning to drive our own car, but a couple people warned us that the streets are narrow and parking is limited. They were right! We took an Uber and it was worth it.
Mike’s Pastry is a must. I was told this by multiple different people and it is true. I am a cannoli connoisseur and I have tried different places all over the Eastern Seaboard and this one is one of the bests.
Coffee is like a special love language of mine and Caffe Vittoria hit. I highly recommend trying their cappuccino and soak in the retro vibe of the place that reminds you it is the first Italian cafe in Boston.
Of course Fenway Park was visited. Fenway is the oldest baseball park in the MLB. I went to the second oldest park (Wrigley Field) last year. I followed the Braves to Boston this year.
Leave a Reply