Boston By T: 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.

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