Busy, Honking, Clean Boston

In October, I had a chance to visit Boston, Massachusetts, for a work conference. Hubby and I had never been to Boston, so he tagged along and we took a couple extra days to see the city.

What a marvelous place!

It was fairly easy for us to catch a bus from the airport to get to our hotel in the Back Bay area, not too far from Boston Common and the Charles River.

In giving me advice on what to see in Boston, my brother said, “Just walk around, there’s lots to see.” He was correct. There was so much to see and do within easy walking distance that we never needed a bus or Uber. We hoofed it everywhere.

And we were not alone. There were so many people walking we were continually dodging folks on the sidewalks. This occurred at all hours, whether early morning or late at night. Boston is suffused with a constant busyness.

Along with the throngs of pedestrians, we noticed something different about Boston drivers in comparison to those in the Twin Cities metro. They are always honking at other drivers. It seemed to take very little to set them off, and not with a short warning toot. They leaned on their horns in a long, impatient “Get the hell out of my way” blast. To be fair, I have seen some drivers in the Twin Cities metro lean on their horns, too, but not as often as this occurred in Boston.

Over the 5 days we spent in Boston, here are the other things we experienced.

Our first meal after arriving was at the Dirty Water Dough Company. Don’t be put off by the name. This small restaurant serves excellent pizza by-the-slice at a reasonable price. Erik is a pizza aficionado and ate there again while I was at the conference. He said they also serve a great, regional IPA.

Here is his photo of his pizza slices and can of beer.

While I was busy conferencing for two days, Erik got his steps in by walking the full length of Newbury Street one day, then spent another day walking the length of Boylston Street.

On Friday evening, we went to the MGM Music Hall to catch a concert by the Psychedelic Furs, with Gary Numan opening. Gary Numan and his band are such outstanding performers that we have gone to several of his concerts now. The Psychedelic Furs were initially popular in the 1980s, when we were growing up, and the audience seemed to be made up of people our age, early Gen Xers. While there were plenty of people standing on the floor in front of the stage, we and the folks around us were thankful to have seats.

We also appreciated the time of the concert. Gary Numan started at 8 p.m. on the dot and was finished by 9. There was a half-hour for the set changeover, then the Furs came on at 9:30 and were done by 10:45, including the encore. We were back at the hotel by 11 p.m. Gary Numan has said he no longer wants to do super late concerts. He wants to be in bed at a decent hour. Even aging rockstars need work-life balance.

Richard Butler, lead singer for the Furs, still has a strong, recognizable voice, just as I remembered it from the 1980s and ’90s, and the band was tight. I didn’t follow the Furs closely when I was younger, but I was amazed at how many of their songs I knew. Butler almost sounded surprised when we cheered after every song and said at one point, “It’s good to be back,” which suggests they haven’t toured in a while. It was a satisfying concert all the way around.

The day after the concert, October 18, 2025, was No Kings Day, with over 2,500 protests planned across the nation. Knowing we were going to be in Boston that day, in the weeks ahead I watched for whether a protest would be taking place in Boston and its location. I was determined to be there. I was relieved when the No Kings map finally showed a protest in Boston Common, only a 20-minute walk from the hotel.

Prior to heading to No Kings, Erik suggested we take a tour at American Ancestors, a “National Center for Family History, Heritage & Culture”. When we arrived and I read the sign on the building – “New England Historic Genealogical Society” – I realized I knew someone who worked there, a museum colleague I have known for many years. I was so excited, I scribbled a note to them on a business card and left it at the front desk.

Then, Erik and I were given a tour of the lower level of the center. Because we were the only ones on the tour, we were able to have a great discussion with our guide. The tour first involved selecting places where our ancestors are from on a giant digital wall map. Then we picked circular cards from a wall that had questions we might have about our ancestors. Normally, each person in the tour picks one question, but because there were only two of us, I was allowed to pick two questions. The guide brought us to a computer kiosk and, based on our questions, showed us possible research resources that might help answer those questions. I loved the interactivity and tactility of this part of the tour.

We then went into an exhibit room that showcased various personal items that might reveal family history, things like quilts, family trees, Bibles, school year books, and photos. There was a stunningly complex and beautiful family tree on display in this room, but I didn’t want to interrupt the tour to take a photo. (Also, I forgot to ask if photos were allowed.)

We ended the tour with the guide discussing the story behind a musket ball and its authenticity, which was fascinating.

After the tour, we went up to the archives, just to take a peek. We didn’t have time to do any major research, but American Ancestors has a wealth of information and is worth checking out if you are doing family research.

From there, we headed to Boston Common and the No Kings rally. We didn’t have any signs because we were traveling, but we wanted to be there to show our support for American democracy. Holy cow, the park was packed with people! People with lots of creative signs, people in costume (yes, there were frog costumes), and vendors selling No Kings and pro-democracy merchandise. We listened to a speech by the mayor and inched our way through the crowds.

I had no sense of how many people were there and guessed maybe 10,000. Man, was I wrong. Reports of the event said there were 100,000 to 125,000 in attendance. Wowza! It was energizing to be part of the crowd and to know how many people are fighting to save our democracy.

Erik thought it would be fitting to walk to Old North Church, where Paul Revere hung signal lanterns to warn of the approach of British soldiers, kicking off the start of the Revolutionary War, the original war to shrug off rule by kings in the United States.

Bostonians take this history seriously, with images of Paul Revere and other figures from early American history displayed in restaurants, hotels, and as statues. (So many statues around Boston!)

Old North Church is in a section of town with loads of Italian restaurants, so we stopped for a lunch of pasta on our way back to Boston Common. We made it back to Boston Common around 3:30 p.m., a half hour after the No Kings rally was finished.

Erik was absolutely amazed. The park was clean. Thousands of people had been in the park and left no litter.

Instead, some chose to carefully place their signs around the Boston Common Garage – Public Garden building or along the fences in the park.

 

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Boston Public Library so I could look around. As a book lover, I could easily make public libraries a tourist destination.

While Erik hung out at a table in the large lobby, I wandered upstairs to see the stacks. Everything is very red upstairs in the library, including a grand staircase that reads “The Plot Thickens” on the risers.

 

I saw a bust of Mark Twain on one of the stacks upstairs.

There was also an installation of a large, fanciful house of fictional characters in a hall between stairways.

We had entered the library through a side door, completely missing the dramatic front of the library until the following day. The front has a symmetrical, classical look, with a row of arched windows on the upper level. It looks onto a large plaza. While I took a photo of the front, there are so many people on the plaza who could be identified that I won’t post it here to respect their privacy. There is a photo on the library’s website, if you want to see it.

However, I did have Erik take a photo of me with one of the two large statues on either side of the shallow staircase. Naturally, I chose the statue of the artist.

Erik and I were on our way to walk along the Charles River Esplanades when traversed the library plaza. The Esplanades are walking paths along the river. To get there, we first walked most of the length of Commonwealth Avenue Mall. I mentioned the many statues around Boston above. Well, this Mall had multiple statues along its length, including this statue of Phyllis Wheatley that was part of a trio of bronze statues of women.

When we got to the Charles River Esplanades, we couldn’t resist taking pictures of the river. This was another busy area of Boston and, thinking back, it was also very clean.

The Esplanades led us back to Boston Common, where we had more room to maneuver in comparison to the No Kings rally, though it was still a hive of busyness.

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by the George Washington statue once again. (So many statues!) We had seen it on our way back from No Kings and snapped pics then. He’s quite dramatic on his horse as he surveils the distance.

Boston is a fascinating city with plenty of history and culture to explore. We were thrilled to be there for the No Kings rally and to visit the Old North Church and enjoyed being able to walk everywhere.

While there are many other words that could be used in reference to Boston – historic, revolutionary, wicked, progressive, statuesque – our initial impression was busy, honking, clean Boston.