Boston By T

Sunday, January 27, 2013

KENMORE - GREEN LINE B,C,D

Kenmore Square is sort of the student hub of Boston. It's been gentrified pretty heavily in the last few years losing great old spots like The Rat, being replaced by some good new spots like Island Creek Oyster Bar.
While I'll never forgive the forces behind the new revamped Kenmore Sq. I do enjoy some good oysters.

But time marches on and while I'd like to regale you with stories of the old Kenmore Sq. that won't help you today. It's certainly not "gritty" old Kenmore Sq anymore.

Ok--one story- This was probably about 1990- I was working at Montana's in Copley Sq. closing up the kitchen for the night listening to the radio, when they announced Robyn Hitchcock was going to be at The Rat that night in an unscheduled solo acoustic show. I hurriedly finished up and made my way there. There couldn't have been more than 30 people there ( I believe it was a wintry week night) and we were treated to a very intimate show- as word spread the crowd got bigger, but I don't think it was ever very crowded. The highlight was Robyn doing a cover of the Psychedelic Furs "The Ghost in You".

Here's a promo for an upcoming movie about the Garage Punk Scene in Boston in the late 70's early 80's. I moved here right at the tail end of this era, but the wake they left was still felt through the 80's.

Featured Photo:

Fenway Park-Dusk

Kenmore will always be best known as a the stop you get off to go to Fenway park. There are also the Landsdowne street clubs- most notably the House of Blues. It's also the gateway to Boston's huge student population- Boston University starts to dominate here and there many other colleges within a short walk.

If you head down Brookline Street past Fenway Park, Boylston Street is a great little commercial District with some great restaurants and not far past that is the heart of the Fenway neighborhood. Walk along Peterborough Street and check out the neighborhood feel beyond the throngs of Sox fans and clubbers.

Just head a little east from there and the Back bay Fens (which gave the Park its name) comes into view-- part of the Emerald Necklace Parks and home of the Fenway Victory Gardens, the oldest continuously operated WWII Victory garden in the nation.

Something To Think About:

Check Out:

Citizen's Public House and Oyster bar- Great little neighborhood Pub.

Tasty Burger - Same owners and across the street- no frills burgers and loud music (pool tables too)

El Pelon - Really good Mexican-- no alcohol though.

Hunts Photo - Gotta give a shout out to these guys--great customer service.

Nuggets - Used records and CD's!!- not many of these places left.

Fenway Victory Gardens - Mentioned above, but can't stress it enough--take a walk through here, especially in the spring or summer- a really city oasis- you may even see a hawk.

Citgo Sign- look up almost anywhere in Kenmore and you will see the famous Citgo sign.

Bleacher Bar - So, yeah Fenway Park is here- you can do the tour or go see a game or just walk around and see some of the statues. Check out the Bleacher Bar on non-games days you can look right out at the field from field level behind the centerfield wall.

Song: The Neighborhoods- Monday Morning

Great video from where else-- The Rat.

Photos:

497 Comm Ave

497

Citgo Sign

Marlborough St.

Leif Erikson Statue

Charles Gate

Marlborough Street- Fall Day

Kenmore Sq

Comm Ave Mural

Back Bay Fens

Muddy River

Morning Doves

Chairs- Fenway Victory Gardens

Shadow and Machine

House of Blues Mural

Will Call

Shadows- Jersey St.

Peace

Weekend flea market Jersey St

Shoot the Pru

Goose and Gosling

Statue in Rose Garden

Snail

Working the garden

Fenway Park

Rain Delay

Victory gardens

Reeds in the Fens

Rainbow-Pru

After the game

Monday, January 21, 2013

Welcome to Boston By T- Visiting Boston's Neighborhoods by T through Photos

Old Trolley Car-Hynes Station

Here's my idea. This is a place where I will explore Boston by way of the MBTA- better known as the T. I will go stop by stop and explore the environs of each train stop, using my photos as a jumping off point. Boston is a city defined by its neighborhoods and what better way to get to know these neighborhoods than by getting off at the local T stop and looking around. We'll pass along stories about the area, see what restaurants, bars and shops are nearby and any other interesting things to do or see. If you are looking for a place to give you directions to Quincy Market or reviews of Legal Seafood- there are a million places on the web for that. But if you are a tourist interested in seeing the real Boston, or a local who would like to expand their environment -- grab a Charlie Card and let's explore!

Many of the stops are near famous tourist places. I'll mention them briefly and even drop some links here and there, but we won't dwell on them-- I will, however, mention any interesting secrets I find out about a spot, no matter how famous. I'll post a Song for each stop and Something To Think About (which could be anything from an antecdote to a poem to piece of found art) along with my Photos. How far afield will we go from the T stop? No hard and fast rules here, but I'd say within reasonable walking distance. We'll see how that works out. Some stops will overlap with things too (especially downtown) so we'll work that out as we go along. Some of the areas I'm very familiar with and some I'll be exploring for the first time in a long time.

The main idea behind this was to get myself out - taking photos and re-exploring some areas I haven't been to in awhile. So join in and follow my adventures. And of course leave comments, especially if you have info to add about a particular stop.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Hynes Convention Center- Green Line B,C,D

So- let's start with my home base. The Hynes Convention Center stop on the Green Line was opened in 1914. It was originally called Massachusetts, presumably for the fact that it's on Mass Ave, one of Boston's main thoroughfares. In 1965 it was changed to Auditorium and then in 1990 was changed again to Hynes Convention Center/ICA (for Institute of Contemporary Art); when the ICA moved to the waterfront the ICA was removed and is currently named Hynes Convention Center. Here's a fascinating Animated History of MBTA

Lots of music around here- three famous music schools (Berklee, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory) and Symphony Hall are all close by. Impromptu concerts in front of Berklee, students carrying instruments instead of backpacks and that older guy might just be a famous jazz musician.

Featured Photo :


A woman cleans out the recently closed Other Side Cafe

You can head down Mass Ave toward the Charles River and detour along Newbury Street for shops, galleries and trendy restaurants, Comm Ave for its stately pedestrian mall, and Marlborough St one of the Back Bay's most beautiful residential streets. Or walk all the way down to the River and hit the Esplanade. If you are feeling really motivated and it's a nice day walk across the bridge to Cambridge and M.I.T.

Head away from the river and you will be on Berklee's campus. Boylston Street is the commercial center of this area- a very busy place before a Red Sox game. The corner of Mass Ave and Boylston has a dynamic energy and may be one of the busiest intersections in Boston. Cars and bikes, pedicabs and pedestrians hustle back and forth- nearby hospitals and fire stations add to the clamor and you can find yourself lost in the flow pretty easily.

Something to think about-

STREET CORNER COLLEGE by Kenneth Patchen

Next year the grave grass will cover us.

We stand now, and laugh;

Watching the girls go by;

Betting on slow horses; drinking cheap gin.

We have nothing to do; nowhere to go; nobody.

Last year was a year ago; nothing more.

We weren't younger then; nor older now.

We manage to have the look that young men have;

We feel nothing behind our faces, one way or other.

We shall probably not be quite dead when we die.

We were never anything all the way; not even soliders.

We are the insulted, brother, the desolate boys.

Sleepwalkers in a dark and terrible land,

Where solitude is a dirty knife at our throats.

Cold stars watch us chum

Cold stars and the whores.

Check out-

Pavement Coffee House - good coffee, local vibe

Pho Basil - good cheap Vietnamese/Thai food

Trident Booksellers Cafe - small but interesting bookstore/cafe - more cafe than bookstore but recently expanded. And a dying breed, so support them.

The Comomwealth Ave Mall- Running down the middle of Comm Ave this is a tree lined narrow park that runs from Mass Ave to the Public Garden- each block has a little area with statues- from the bizarre ( a former President of Argentina to the sublime ( A firefighter's Memorial across from the Vendome Hotel site of one of the worst fires in Boston history- 9 firefighters died.)

Hidden gems-

Bodega
Just a bit past Berklee's main building you'll see a small side street called Clearway St. Right on the corner is a small junky looking corner store. Enter and looks like a somewhat neglegted corner store-- but stand in front of the Snapple vending machine and you will be for a quite a surprise. The vending machine is a door and inside is a high end sneaker store- specializing in vintage and limited edition sneakers. They also have some other street wear-- mostly for males. It's a mecca for "sneakerheads"-- yeah, that's a thing.

Graffiti Alley - Before Clearway St there is a small alley behind St Germaine street that has some great graffiti. Worth a stroll down the alley to see what's there. The photos in the gallery were taken there in the summer of 2012.

Song-

Willie"Loco" Alexander and the Boom Boom Band- Mass Ave

Photos- Click on the photo to get a larger image