Jim from Boston

I have a routine walking tour of Boston, especially for first time visitors:This Saturday I had the pleasure of taking a first time visitor on a cycling tour of the Olde Towne. In decades here, I had done a much shorter limited ride only once before with a visitor, but then that evening, after the organized ride out in the country we did that day, we did go for a sight-seeing walk and out to dinner that night.

So to record and reminisce about that day, and if anyone else has the opportunity to cycle tour the City:

My visitor and I hit it off immediately as soon as I found him at Long Wharf, at about 9:15 AM. He was nicely attired in cycling clothes, and I knew he would be a strong rider, and indeed throughout the visit we shared many cycling stories. He had written me that it didn’t mind him riding in traffic. He had also made comment noting Boston's Irish heritage.

So we went down Summer Street to D Street and into South Boston down Broadway up to Day Boulevard by the Farragut statue. I realized you could never identify that as an Irish neighborhood, it’s so gentrified. I admitted that we were really off the tourist track, but it was a sample of a more “real” Boston neighborhood.

We then went back to downtown and I pointed out the Seaport District and the face of 21st-century Boston as commented in the description of my walking tour of Boston, that area is the “City of Towers and Cars.”

We meandered downtown for the usual sites, Boston Common, and Washington Street for the historic buildings there, where to his delight, we encountered a boisterous and noisy Chinese celebratory parade, complete with dragons.



Then back to the Rose Kennedy Greenway where there was a Food Truck Festival, and we had lunch. We then walked our bikes through Quincy market as “Ground Zero” for tourism in Boston. Faneuil Hall was barely visible through a nearly totally opaque blue shielding.

Then to the North End, Old North Church, and Copps Burying Ground with a nice view of Charlestown and the USS Constitution. I did explain from my limited knowledge of the history (mostly gained on trolley tours) about the American Revolution.

In the North End, the Italian heritage was quite evident in contrast to South Boston’s Irish roots.

We then passed the Holocaust monument, City Hall and Plaza and up Beacon Street past the Statehouse, where he was amused to watch a political demonstration. I said now we're going to pass from plebian to patrician Boston.We then turned right on Joy Street. We rode Mount Vernon Street past Louisburg Square down Charles Street to the Public Garden. Before entering it, of course I showed him the Cheers Bar.

He enjoys flower gardening, so we did walk a good part of the Public Garden though the floral displays were more muted than in the summertime.

Then I explained the history and grid system of Back Bay and we rode segments of each of the lengthwise streets, Comm Ave, Marlborough, Boylston, etc. In particular he had inquired about the site of the Boston Marathon bombing, so we rode past the Public Library.

Then back on Comm Ave, for fun, I brought him to my bike shop at Mass Ave, Back Bay Bikes, where they expeditiously fixed a minor problem he was having. Then on to Kenmore Square pointing out our building, the Citgo sign, and Fenway Park.

We stopped at our condo for brief time, and then rode Mass Ave, stopping at Memorial Drive for the beautiful view of the Boston skyline, and up to Harvard Square and University.

Originally, not knowing what his cycling expectations were for the day, I had thought about riding up Mass Ave to the Minuteman Bike Path at least to Lexington. But it was already 4:30 PM. So we then went back to Kenmore Square via the Charles River bikepath on the Cambridge side, to pick up my wife, drive to a nice restaurant, and bring him to Hingham where he was staying. He had taken the ferry with his bike to Long wharf that morning.

It was a beautiful day with pleasant temperatures, a clear blue sky, and he took a lot of pictures. I rode first in our single file on the roads, and he would shout out when he wanted to stop for a photo. In Back Bay, I didn’t hear the shout, and after I had made a turn and he didn’t show up for a few minutes he called me. Fortunately I had explained the alphabetical order of the cross streets, so when he told me he was near Berkeley, I said then turn left on Clarendon.

Boston was bustling and festive that Saturday, and I’m sure left him with a pleasant image of the city. In contrast, an unguided subscriber who drove into Boston once posted: