More Boston Views

As noted in a previous Boston post, we've been away since early May on a series of getaways. The first one started in Boston, MA, where we celebrated a pre-anniversary of our 1st date (doesn't everyone?). Thanks for all the best wishes too.

That post featured some of the older architecture, but there's also so much modern architecture in the city. We spent quite a lot of time traveling around in our 3-day stay.

We travelled around using the Boston Subway system called the "T" and operated by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It's the nation's oldest underground streetcar system founded in 1897 and the fourth largest subway system in the U.S. (New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. are larger in that order.)

Until 1964, Boston's subway system was called the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA). The lyrics of the The MTA Song best known as Charlie on the MTA, tells the sad tale of a man named Charlie trapped on Boston's subway system. The song was a 1959 hit for The Kingston Trio, an American folk singing group.The lyrics tell abut Charlie, who boards an MTA subway, and can't exit since he doesn't have the 5-cent exit fare. The song's best known chorus is:

Did he ever return?
No he never returned
And his fate is still unlearn'd
He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston
He's the man who never returned

The tune was composed in 1949 by Jacqueline Steiner and Bess Lomax Hawes as part of an election campaign for Walter O'Brien, a Progressive Party candidate for Boston mayor who couldn't afford radio ads and hired local singers to write and sing the songs from a truck with a loudspeaker. One of his major campaign planks was to lower the price of subway rides by removing a complicated fare structure involving exiting. (In the 1959 version,  Walter O'Brien became George O'Brien possibly to avoid risking protests as happened to an earlier recording, when the song was seen as celebrating a socialist politician.)

The tune is so entrenched in Boston lore that the MBTA named its electronic card-fare collection system the "CharlieCard" and the 2004 card system dedication featured a performance by the Kingston Trio.

Unlike Charlie, we were able board and exit the Boston "T" by getting a pre-paid CharlieCard which allows unlimited travel for a set period of time. If only Charlie could have had one of these years ago.

We travelled around the city this way. There was a lot to see, even if I don't know the names of all the buildings we viewed once we were above ground. Boston is a very walkable city with architectural gems on just about every block.

There's a lot of new architecture throughout Boston. All of these newer skyscrapers are impressive and blend in well with the older architecture.blend in with the older buildings.

The most spectacular views we had were from the 50th floor observation deck, the Skywalk Observatory, which is currently the highest observation deck in New England, It's  in the Prudential Tower, which is the second tallest building in Boston. The tallest is 200 Clarendon Street, formerly called the John Hancock Tower and not the Hancock Tower after the signer of the Declaration of Independence and later insurance company name.

The Prudential Tower is 749 feet tall with 52 floors. The Top of the Hub restaurant occupies the 52nd and highest floor. The Prudential and Hancock towers (the tall black building below) dominate the Back Bay skyline.

The views from the skywalk observatory were spectacular on the Saturday we visited. We had perfect views from every window. Below are a couple of the Charles River.

If it seems like the central towers of The Longfellow Bridge below look like condiment holders on your table, you're right. The bridge is called the "salt & pepper" bridge because of the tower shapes. It's is a steel-rib arch bridge that spans the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, MA. The bridge carries auto, the MBTA Red Line, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic.

There is an admission cost to see the views at the top, but we figured it was worth the expense for this experience. Besides, there was a senior discount.

On our next visit, we're planning to go even higher up and dine in the restaurant, and we may not wait for a "special" celebration. Every day is special for us.

And hopefully for you as well