Karen McCullough

I’m no stranger to the city of Boston. My family lived in the town of West Acton, on the outskirts of the city for several years while I was in high school, and several members of my family have settled there, so I’ve visited often. Still, it’s been quite a while since the last time, and there have been significant changes.

My husband and I, along with my daughter and son-in-law, visited the city last weekend for my grandson’s wedding. I know it’s ultimately touristy, but a hop-on, hop-off bus tour is a great way to get an overview of a city, with the driving handled by people who know the city’s streets and often provide an entertaining commentary on the history and sites. And, of course, historical sites abound in Boston.

The most obvious change I noted during the tour, both in size and affect, is the replacement of the elevated Central Expressway with the underground highway created by the infamous Big Dig. It’s hard to overstate how much this has improved the aesthetics of the city. The expressway had carved up the area and obscured views of the harbor and skyline. The route of the dismantled expressway has been replaced by the miles-long Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy park.

Aside: I don’t know how much it has improved traffic flow. When we were on the underground highway going into the city for the first time, traffic was bumper to bumper, though it was also a Friday afternoon. It did move, however, which wasn’t always the case for traffic on the expressway.

That aside, the hop-on, hop-off trolley also offered a convenient way to access some of the more interesting places in Boston. We hopped off at the Boston Tea Party museum and took a look at the replica ship and the gift shop, but you can only access the ship/museum itself on a guided tour and the next available time meant more than an hour’s wait. We hopped back on the trolley, instead.

We got an interesting tour of the seaport area, which includes the convention center, and picked up passengers from a couple of enormous cruise ships anchored in port. I’m not a fan of ocean cruising, myself, but it’s hard not to be awed by the sheer immensity of the ships.

From there, it was off to Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Unfortunately, the museum part of the hall was closed, but the market was thriving. We had a lunch of mixed crab and lobster rolls. It wasn’t the best lobster roll ever, but for someone who lives in central North Carolina, it was better than no lobster roll at all. I make it a point, whenever I’m in New England, to have either fried clams or lobster roll, since you can’t get really good versions of either here.

Anyway, next stop on the trolley was the Charlestown Navy Yard and the USS Constitution. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get on the ship itself, since it was closed due to the government shutdown, and had to settle for viewing it at anchor. The same was true of the enormous destroyer-class battleship also docked there. Both are managed by the Department of the Navy.

Fortunately for us, an extensive and well-designed museum relating to the Constitution was open and we spent considerable time viewing the displays.

By the time we finished, it was mid-afternoon. Our feet and brains were tired, and we still needed to get ready for dinner with the brides’ family that evening.

Due to traffic tie-ups and road closures related to the “No Kings” protest on the Boston Commons, our driver had to take a few detours and missed a few stops on the tour. However, those were actually places that were close enough to our hotel we were able to walk to the them the next day.

We ended the day with an amazing meal provided by our new grand-daughter-in-law’s family. The table was laden with an array of dishes that included Chinese broccoli, noodles with lobster, sliced steak, roasted chicken, and shrimp. They couldn’t even fit the lasagna our grandson had made on the table, but it was served from the sideboard. We ate our fill and more, and had a great time, with lots of laughter and exchanged compliments.