Friday, August 03, 2012

Cure for the heat: Boston Harbor Islands

Here's some hot weather escape advice for tourists and locals in the Boston area, the Boston Harbor Islands.  There is regular ferry service to and among the islands, starting at Long Wharf on the waterfront.  From there you might want to go to Spectacle Island, where a former landfill and horse rendering plant have been transformed into a lovely park, using the dirt from the new underground central artery highway.  You can easily walk up to the top of one or both recently heightened drumlins and if your eyes are sharp, you might find this reward on the way down:


There is a small but well-maintained and supervised, lifeguard protected swimming area.  The water is nice and cool.  Well, ok, cold.  But clean, thanks to the Boston Harbor cleanup project.


But the kids seems to find other things to do.



Meanwhile, over on George's Island, you can take a ranger-led tour of Fort Warren, built in 1850 and enhanced over the years.  It was used as a prisoner-of-war camp during the American Civil War, for both southern soldiers and northern deserters.  Here is our guide, Jerry, showing the bakery, with ovens large enough to feed hundreds of people their daily ration of bread.



The views from the islands are spectacular.  Here are some folks looking for distant landmarks.


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