BOSTON: All it's quacked up to be

Check out my article about my hometown of Boston in the July issue of Destinations Travel Magazine.
Read the full article at: http://destinationstravelmagazine.com/July2013/#/54

Boston is all it’s quacked up to be

By Michael Hartigan

When you know a dozen alternate routes, getting stuck in Boston traffic becomes a series of brake-pumping rage control tests. Then the quacking just makes it worse.

As a local Bostonian, I do not begrudge visitors for taking a Duck Boat tour, an amphibious excursion through Boston’s streets and waterways, past some of America’s greatest historical landmarks. Many big cities have these tourism vehicles in one form or another. I’d encourage it as a fun family excursion that incorporates bits of Boston’s living history and lively culture. The Duck Boats have become a part of the city’s tourism landscape, and as the transportation of choice for championship parades in Massachusetts, they hold certain sentimentality.

But no one I know born and raised within 26.2 miles of Copley Square ever boarded one. Sitting alongside one in traffic, my long-standing resolution to never get on a Duck Boat was reaffirmed each time the kid hanging out the side screamed, “quack” in my general direction.

Most visitors to The Hub walk the Freedom Trail, shop at Faneuil Hall and take in the view from the top of the Prudential Tower. Many hop on a Duck Boat. These are all good stops, but not necessarily how I would spend my time in Beantown.

Like any big city, the capital of Massachusetts has its fair share of sites to see. Like any good city, the locals know the ones worth seeing. One last glance at the kid in the Duck Boat, and I made a last minute decision to visit some of the city’s other gems.

With the energy of Boston’s own Paul Revere, I embarked on a trek through my city, gathering and heralding valuable information to be used for the good of our nation. Unlike Paul Revere, I first had to get out of traffic.

My first stop was the Museum of Fine Arts. I have visited museums around the world, from the Louvre to the Smithsonian, but Boston’s MFA remains a favorite.

The museum’s vast array of world-renowned pieces and lesser-known treasures runs the gamut from Egyptian artifacts to unique musical instruments. The MFA has a comfortable feeling of accessibility. It is big but not insurmountable, full but not oversaturated. The Impressionist paintings collection houses some of Monet’s and Renoir’s best.

The shiny and sprawling new American Art wing, opened in the past few years, highlights the best our nation has to offer, including a very appropriate selection of history-themed pieces.

Boston-born artist John Singleton Copley did many of my favorites, including 1778’s Watson and the Shark, which depicts a moody sea-scene where a man is being pulled into a rowboat, a shark’s razor-toothed jaws snapping at his heels. Perhaps Copley’s most famous is the portrait of Paul Revere, in which the subject cradles a piece of silverwork with a face full of curiosity and hint of mischief.

The wing also houses some of Paul Revere’s actual silver pieces, which you will see scattered throughout. Further along hangs another portrait of Paul Revere, this one from later in the silversmith’s life, showing a venerable, white-haired and stately patriot. In this 1813 painting, Gilbert Stuart provides a contrast in time for one of Boston’s historical heavy-hitters, but makes sure to include that distinctly mischievous look first depicted by Copley. 

When you’ve had you’re fill of trying to differentiate between Monet and Manet, you’re in prime location to indulge in another of Boston’s great tourist spots. Take a quick walk across the Fens to Yawkey Way, to the capital of Red Sox Nation.

With some of the highest ticket prices in Major League Baseball, seeing a Red Sox game at Fenway Park requires a combination of luck and a loose wallet. But even if the Sox aren’t in town, the park itself offers an opportunity to dive headfirst into baseball, and Boston, history. Taking a tour of Fenway Park will put you up close and personal with the famed Green Monster, Pesky’s Pole and every nook and cranny that makes this venerable stadium more than just a sports venue.

Particularly enjoyable is the broadcast booth and adjoining section where baseball beat reporters sit during games. High above home plate, these are the seats where they nit-pick batting stances, comb over pitching rotations and investigate dugout drama. In a city that devours sports, this is the 5-star kitchen cooking up the meal.

For a taste of Boston a step above a Fenway Frank, I and probably every guidebook will veer toward the North End on the other side of the city. A tightly packed brick playground for Italian grandmothers, Boston’s version of Little Italy has more recently gained ground as a residential area for young professionals (and a few sports celebrities).

Nevertheless, most every restaurant will offer you nothing short of home-cooked Italian meals. I have been going to Giacomo’s on Hanover Street since my days as a food critic for my high school newspaper. The line starts forming early evening at this small, tightly packed eatery but the sidewalk wait is a very fair price to pay for the fare inside. They specialize in seafood-based pasta dishes and a Frutti di Mare with the house’s unique Giacomo sauce, will explain why it’s so special. Smooth, with just the right balance of sweet and tang, the sauce compliments the array of shellfish perfectly, dragging your mind and belly to the Italian coast in each bite.

Across Hanover Street is the popular Mike’s Pastry, which boasts its own long line. But you don’t need to wait when around the corner at 134 Salem Street is Bova’s Bakery. Bova’s offers some of the most delicious Italian pastries in the city, twenty-four hours a day.

Near the North End on the northern outskirts of the city is Charlestown, home to the Charlestown Navy Yard and the U.S.S. Constitution, also known as Old Ironsides. The ship is a living legend and the U.S. Navy officers manning her from top to bottom are a stark reminder of our country’s adherence to loyalty and duty. A free tour of the ship gives an intimate look at the lifestyle aboard during the early 1800s. Last year Old Ironsides celebrated the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the engagement that made her famous.

Outside the shipyard, at the start of the walking path opposite the venerable vessel hides a small piece of American history. There lies a rock with a plaque signifying the spot where Paul Revere came ashore to begin his famous midnight ride notifying the people that the British were coming.

Boston certainly offers an array of art, food, history and culture. There is one spot that brings it all together in one sweeping panorama.

Across the Charles River on the Cambridge side Memorial Drive runs almost parallel with the river. On most days, the green space along the water is filled with joggers, walkers and bikers. Most every person along the river is there in as much for the breathtaking panoramic city skyline as they are for the outdoor activity.

At riverside, the entire breadth of the City of Boston undulates from the harbor, over Beacon Hill and the gleaming golden-domed Statehouse, over the John Hancock tower and the Prudential before stepping down to the Citgo sign and bright lights of Fenway Park. On a good day, the white sailboats and collegiate crew teams bring the river to life, creating a moving piece of art worthy of a hall in the MFA.

This is Boston, tip to tail, past and present all in one eyeful. Sprinkled amongst those skyscrapers and brownstones are a few places, some touristy and some not, stamped and approved by the locals.

I was about to turn back to my car and shoot down Memorial Drive, which also happens to be one of those alternate routes I sometimes use to avoid Boston traffic. As fate would have it, a Duck Tour boat chugged past along the river.

Maybe that would be a nice way to see the city. And then I remembered the quacking.

It looks nice, but I knew of a few other things I’d like to do.