UT ECOVORE Pedals Boston Greenways
Clover chickpea fritter 'wich
Greatness is a ballsy city that’s boosting its green cred. I’m talking about Boston. Expanded greenways for walking, jogging and biking. Sustainable-local food trucks revving up the cartisanal culture. The just-launched Hubway bikeshare, with 600 bicycles at 61 stations in such ‘hoods as Roxbury, the South End, and Back Bay.
Sponsored by New Balance, the Hubway requires a membership fee. After that, trips under 30 minutes are free. Visiting cyclists may prefer to rent bikes at places such as Urban AdvenTours, a recently expanded tour/cycle shop that’s a 5-minute walk from the “T” subway stop near Faneuil Hall and waterside Christopher Columbus Park. Fliers, that “T” stop is easily reached from Boston Logan Airport.
Urban AdvenTours guide Tim Ennis showed me new bike lanes on Commonwealth Avenue and other central streets and scenic landmark-studded routes while providing a quick-start history lesson. At a Charles River overlook, Ennis recounts the Boston Molassacre of 1919, when a ruptured tank released tidal waves of molasses, killing at least 20 people.
The city was famously unfriendly for cyclists before completion of the 20-year Big Dig urban transpo overhaul project. Cool results range from the asymmetrical Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge (you can’t miss the white trussed suspension structure echoing a tall ship) and new greenways wending along waterways. No need for taxis to get to the constant festivals and cultural events invigorating the cityscape.Considering how many of the colonial city’s roads were paved-over cow paths, I tip my helmet to the planners who added 20 miles of bike lanes and 700 bike parking spaces in 2010 alone.
Urban planning in the 1800s involving filling in swamps to support now-classic venues such as Copley Square. Named for artist John Singleton Copley, it’s rimmed by eclectic buildings. The 60-story John Hancock Tower was sited diagonally, allowing sunlight to reach beautiful Trinity Church’s stained glass windows. Some of Hancock skyscraper’s original 10,344 panes popped out due to heat expansion (no injuries).
Another Copley neighbor: the marvelous Boston Public Library is not only a place to read 6.1 million books and your email, but a venue known among locals for superb, free guided Art and Architecture tours. Can’t make a tour? Use the free self-guided map.You’ll get the scoop on those Siena marble lions, gilded domes, grand staircases, barrel-vaulted ceilings, terrazzo floors, and the library’s amazing art on view, from the “Goose Girl” frieze tiled from Paul Revere pottery to John Singer Sargent’s epic mural “Triumph of Religion” dramatizing subjects from Judgment Day to the pagan deity of material things. Obviously he has weathered the centuries well.
Another library secret: Wiggin Gallery’s back room displays exquisite dioramas depicting artists at work: Whistler at Luxembourg Gardens, George Bellows sketching a boxing match, and Rembrandt etching a copperplate. After that, zen out in the library courtyard modeled after Rome’s Cancelleria Palace.
At the Fairmont Copley Plaza, Catie, the resident black Labrador, greets guests from her post in the lobby. Built in 1912 as the first home of the Museum of Fine Arts, this stately Back Bay hotel has evolved with the times. Ornately uniformed doormen usher in guests with dogs and bicycles, and point locavorious diners to its luxe Oak Room — which recently introduced vegan, gluten-free, and other health-and eco-minded “Lifestyle” menus.
Bicycles are allowed on public transportation, including the MBTA Inner Harbor Ferry from Long Wharf (near downtown) to Charlestown Navy Yard. Just $1.70 each way, no extra charge for bikes. Free things to do range from outdoor astronomy nights at Boston University’s Colt Observatory to nature-spotting at Boston Common. Established 1634, America’s oldest park hosted grazing sheep, military encampments, and witch- and pirate-hangings. These days, it’s the start of the Freedom Trail and anchor of Boston’s 125-year-old “Emerald Necklace” of parks. The necklace now links Charles River Greenway, the mile-long “Walk To The Sea,” the Rose Kennedy Greenway spanning North End to Chinatown, and HarborWalk.
New parks opening on the Kennedy Greenway this November will feature a labyrinth, sculpture garden, inscribed Chinese chessboards and a Tiananmen Square memorial.
What about the food? Plenty of eco-fare to report. Boston Veg Guide turned me onto Red Lentil , which recently debuted a Vegan Shepherd’s Pie. At Equal Exchange Café, enjoy organic fair-trade locally roasted coffee and fine fast food amidst decor cobbled from salvaged wood. Hare Krishna Temple, located in a townhouse on Commonwealth near Copley Square, welcomes visitors to its free Wednesday evenings and Sunday late afternoon/evening get-togethers featuring discussion, meditation and vegetarian Prasadam (sanctified) communal dinners.
Biking along the Greenway turned up super food trucks and carts, three at Dewey Square Park alone. Lefty’s Silver Cart on the Greenway (Dewey Square Park at Congress and Atlantic), which serves bicycle-blended smoothies, dishes featuring organic just-picked veggies and farm-fresh goat cheese artisanal, vegan selections such as sesame black beans, and hibiscus ice tea. They’ll even lend you a red-checked picnic blanket. Come before 4 pm.
Also at Dewey Square Park, Clover Food Lab serves fantastic local-seasonal vegetarian fare. I met the chef at Clover’s new storefront cafe nearby in Cambridge – he worked at superstar restaurants in New York City before deciding to pursue a dream of bringing inventive whole-ingredient cuisine to the streets. Clover trucks are fueled by recycled cooking oil.
The newest is Momogoose, whose nearby MIT outpost has, for two decades, served fresh, relatively low-cal Southeast Asian dishes developed by a scientist-chef.
Boston nourishes the eyes, too. September 10 kicks off the Boston Arts (“AHTS”) Festival and the Boston’s 12-weekend Open Artists Studios season, the nation’s biggest open-studio event. Here are links to a free bike map and Boston festivities. Happy feasting.
Catie, mascot of the Fairmont Copley
Paramount Center's LED wall
Felix Buhot diorama at Boston Public Library
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