Follow the River!

Take a self-guided walking tour from Boston or Cambridge through history and today’s active city. If you are in Boston for a short time, begin in front of North Station (MBTA) on Causeway Street that was once a walkway for Native Americans and then Colonists during low tide. Get a close-up view of the Zackim Bridge that connects Boston to Charlestown. The bridge columns resemble the Bunker Hill monument in Charlestown, and its stays are reminiscent of those on the sailing ships of the eighteenth century. This cable-stayed bridge near Boston’s Harbor was named in honor of Leonard P. Zackim who built bridges among the varied populations of the city, and since its opening in 2003, the Zackim has become one of Boston’s icons. Also at this vantage point is the Rose Kennedy Greenway extending to the South Station and Chinatown.

From Causeway Street you can walk or bike to another view of the bridge up close if you cross over the locks at the Gridley Dam and go into the five-acre Paul Revere Park in Charlestown.  At this point, take the ribbon-like 700-foot North Bank Bridge over to the North Point Park in Cambridge where the Lynch Family Skatepark opened on Nov. 17, 2015, available to several waiting skateboarders.

Another approach to Paul Revere Park is to walk along Causeway to the North Washington Street Bridge and over to the Charlestown entrance to the Paul Revere Park. It is worth noting here that you may also join with the Freedom Trail on the opposite side of the bridge and walk into the Mystic Harbor area where the USS Constitution “Old Ironsides” is dry docked for a three-year renovation, work that can be viewed by visitors. Also nearby is the USS Constitution Museum: Thursday and Friday, 2:30-4:00; Saturday and Sunday, 10:00-4:00.

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , ,

About the Author

Top