Stretch Your Sea Legs in Boston
March 31, 2009
2 min readWe’d like to welcome Traveler Intern Giovanna Palatucci, who is getting her sea legs on the blog with this, her first post.
Picture this: cows grazing on Beacon Hill, burlesque theaters in Government Center, and waves crashing at the Old State House doorstep. Certainly this is not what Boston looks like today. As modern architecture and planning quickly propel the design of our cities into the future, one group pauses to map out Boston’s beginnings and transformation into a major urban center.
The Walk to the Sea, entering its first spring and summer seasons, is the latest walking tour to hit Boston. The route highlights the evolution of the city over four centuries, focusing on Boston’s ties to the sea and covering ground that was once part of an active harbor.
The trail follows a one-mile route, descending 100 feet from Beacon Hill to the Long Wharf, passing historic landmarks and modern skyscrapers. Ten glass and stainless steel informational panels mark the path and explain Boston and American history through images and maps. Beginning in May, visitors can log on to the website to download an audio tour for the walk right to their iPods. And we like this eco-friendly feature: a small wind turbine on the top of the last panel keeps the signs illuminated for nighttime tours.
Walk to the Sea intersects two of Boston’s famous walking trails: The Freedom Trail and the Black Heritage Trail. For those who can’t get enough of walking tours through historic Boston, check out the Fairmont Copley Plaza’s Freedom Trail Discovery Package, available this year from April 1 through December 31 for $349. The package includes a one-night stay in one of the Fairmont’s elegant guestrooms, two tickets to the Walk Into History tour with 18th-century costumed guides, two tickets to the three Freedom Trail historic museums, and a copy of The Freedom Trail: An Artist’s View.
Photo: Courtesy of The Walk to the Sea
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