Boston By T: 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