Vacation Transportation
In this day of theme parks with rides like the Tower of Terror and Disney mouse and duck characters posing for photo-ops, I’m relieved there are still parks where real ducks can be fed and where you can ride around a weeping willow lined lagoon on a peddle boat with a giant swan on it.
Boston is just a train, bus, or boat ride away from my hometown of Hull, Massachusetts. I spent a lot of time in the Boston Commons when I worked in a boutique on Tremont Street in the 70’s, but not as much time at the adjacent twenty-four acre Public Gardens, home of the Swan Boats. I had only been on a Swan Boat once before and my mother never had. So during my visit home, we traveled into Boston to the enchanted emerald park, where ducks splashed playfully, a pair of swans preened and posed like ballerinas, and Swan Boats full of tourists glided under the Public Garden’s ornate suspension bridge.
The Swan Boat website reads: The Swan Boats are as much a part of Boston as the bean and the cod. They are the harbinger of Spring to native Bostonians. Famed in the stories Make Way For Ducklings and The Trumpet of the Swan, the Swan Boats are the only boats of their kind in the world! To the delight of the young and old each April for over 120 years, the Swan Boats have appeared in the Public Garden Lagoon with preenly grace.
Governors, Presidents, movie stars, and royalty have ridden on the Swan Boats, including Matt Damon, Bill Murray, President John F. Kennedy and many others. Now, at the age of 83, we can happily add my mother to the list.
After a Swan Boat ride, a picnic lunch, and a short tour of the park’s flower gardens, we laid out a blanket on the way to Park Street station and joined city workers on break for a rest on the Boston Common lawn. Now it was children splashing playfully. Their screams of delight from the Frog Pond and the fountains in the nearby playground drew me over to watch. My mother and I ended our day with cookies and afternoon tea at South Station before catching the 4:00 Greenbush train back to Hingham where our car was waiting.
Post notes: See the Swan Boat ride HERE. Don’t forget to click “watch in high quality” for a better viewing experience. I call THIS second video of kids in the Frog Pond Playground “Screamfest.”
August 8th, 2008 3:31 pm
Rode the Swan boats this past trip to Boston – which I still need to post about … it was so fun!!!!
August 9th, 2008 7:50 am
Oh, When I lived in Hingham, my favorite part about going to Boston was the Swan Boats. Went again several years ago. They are truly magical. Thanks for that post, Colleen!
August 9th, 2008 12:03 pm
Makes me want to re-read Make Way for Ducklings.
August 9th, 2008 6:27 pm
I’ve never been on a swan boat ride…or any other (except my dad’s fishing boat, and that doesn’t count.) I think I’m missing something.
Here via Michele’s today!
August 9th, 2008 6:39 pm
Wow. That makes life complete, doesn’t it?
August 9th, 2008 7:30 pm
That’s a beautiful place!
August 9th, 2008 9:05 pm
looks so relaxing – poem??
August 9th, 2008 9:12 pm
I haven’t had any time to write poetry here, but I am experiencing it and taking photos of it.
August 10th, 2008 12:31 am
The Swan Boats always remind me of my Grandmother 🙂
August 10th, 2008 2:23 pm
I was hoping I’d get time to ride the swan boats but I had to be at the airport to early the day after our Red Sox game so I only got to see them passing by! I thought of you when I saw them on a map in our hotel room. Boston certainly has a lot going on. I loved the historic look of the place.
August 10th, 2008 4:17 pm
I’m finally emerging from that nightmare of a writing contest and trying to catch up in the blog world.
Ahhh…..you’re up in my hometown area. Really enjoyed the Swan Boat photos….brings back so many memories of taking my kids there in the 60’s.
Looks like you had a great reunion and a great trip back home. Your mom looks fabulous for 83! Love her smile!
August 11th, 2008 12:41 pm
beans I heard of, but hadn’t heard of the swan boats. nice tradition. glad your mom could partake.
August 14th, 2008 8:37 pm
I visited Boston once, and I so wanted to ride those boats! Ever since I read (a million years ago) “Make Way for Ducklings,” I’ve wanted to ride those boats. I cannot believe I was sooo close (I could see them) and didn’t take the time to park the car and take a ride. Maybe sometime …
Great photos of your trip, by the way!