From: rnewman@bbn.com (Ron Newman)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: Sightseeing in Boston?
Date: 24 Jul 92 22:32:39 GMT
Organization: Bolt, Beranek & Newman, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: spcsun25.bbn.com

In article <1992Jul24.175751.28905@porthos.cc.bellcore.com>, gfl@hera.uucp (22402-lenahan) writes:
|> In article <y8s7NB1w164w@netlink.cts.com>, gregb@netlink.cts.com (Greg Beron) writes:
|> > My girlfriend is traveling to Boston on business in a couple of weekteks
|> > and she would like advice from anyone who knows the city on what to visit,
|> > see, do, etc.  Also any tips on nice little restaurants, cafes (inexpens-
|> > sive ones) would be appreciated.  She will be staying at Government Center
|> > and wonders what modes of transportation would be easiest to take, and
|> > what neighborhoods are safe at night on the weekends.
|> 
|> Boston is generally safe and easy to get around.  Government center is
|> well downtown, and walking distance to most of the city, save the 
|> "back bay".  The back bay runs down the south side of the Charles, and is
|> the trendy residential, dining, clubing area of Boston. 

There aren't any hotels or other residences in Government Center
as such.  I'm going to guess that she's actually staying at the
so-called "Holiday Inn at Government Center", which is really on
the north edge of Beacon Hill, on Cambridge Street.

It's actually a very short and picturesque walk from this hotel to
Back Bay.   You'll walk over historic Beacon Hill (the city's richest
neighborhood) and then through the Public Garden (a formal garden 
park which is well-lit and full of pedestrian traffic at most hours 
of the day and night).

|> Beware however, that the back bay is not far from Boston's infamous ghetto:
|> Roxbury. Roxbury is accessed by the "orange" subway line, thus the orange line
|> might best be avoided late at night.

I'll say several things to this.  One, Roxbury is just another residential
neighborhood.  Although it has crime problems, it doesn't deserve to
be called an "infamous ghetto", and its residents would not appreciate
that description.  There are a number of historic sites in Roxbury
(although they're well off the tourists' beaten path), and the
Franklin Park Zoo's gorilla exhibit is also there and possibly worth
a visit.

Second, Roxbury doesn't border Back Bay.  The South End and Fenway
neighborhoods lie between Back Bay and Roxbury.

Third, the Orange Line doesn't really go through Roxbury, it sort
of skirts around it.  The Orange Line is just as safe as any other subway
line.   Once you're in the subway system, most of it is the same:
well-lit and friendly, although not necessarily fast or efficient.

One reason to ride the Orange Line is to reach the Arnold Arboretum,
a beatiful park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and jointly administered
by Harvard University and the City of Boston.   The Arboretum has an
amazing collection of flowering trees and shrubs from all over the world.

|> Downtown Boston has lots to do:
|> 	-fanuel hall and quincy market place
|> 	-North end (historic) (great itialian food)
|> 	-wharf area, "old ironsides" (USS Constitution)

It's spelled Faneuil Hall (yes, I had to look it up too), and it's 
well worth visiting, as are the adjoining Quincy Market and
North End.  A tourist path known as the "Freedom Trail" connects
most of the historic sights of downtown and the North End; you 
might consider taking a National Park Service Ranger tour of the area.

|> Back bay has restaurants / shops / clubs; get there via green line
|> from a downtown station (eg: park)

Back Bay also has some wonderful late-19th-century residential architecture.
Take a stroll down the tree-lined center of Commonwealth Avenue.
Then jog one block over to Newbury Street, where many old houses have
been converted into fancy and not-so-fancy shops.


|> North of the city by train is Cape Anne; Rockport and Glouchester. 

it's Cape Ann, and Gloucester (pronounced GLOS-tuh, never GLOU-ches-ter)
 
|> PS: Government center is virtually on top of the Garden, Boston's
|> sporting ledgend and cesspool.  Located at North Station.

The Garden is also not air-conditioned, which is why you won't find
anything going on there during the summer.  (And why hockey playoff games
have sometimes been called off due to melting ice.)  Supposedly it's to
be replaced with a new arena in a couple of years, but I'll believe that
when I see it.

-- 
Ron Newman		rnewman@bbn.com
Newsgroups: rec.travel