The Idiot, who has an east coast basecamp on the Atlantic Ocean south of Boston, frequently takes meandering urban hikes in Beantown to stay in shape for his MedTrek in Tunisia in two weeks.
The Idiot enjoys Boston, which Oliver Wendell Holmes called “The Hub of the Solar System,” because the town, also known as America’s Walking City, is a step back into American history with scents of a unique accent, Aerosmith, a Black Heritage Trail, boating, clam chowda, culture, a Freedom Trail, a vibrant harbor, an Irish Riviera, JFK, lovely libraries, patriots, pops, puritans, the country’s oldest restaurant, seafaring, tea parties and wharves.
The Idiot avoids traffic by taking a public ferry or a private boat into Boston and then walks everywhere until he meets friends for lunch and/or high tea.
A view of Boston from the South Shore.
The Idiot often parks his aptly named Odyssey yacht, when he doesn’t take a public ferry, at Rowe Wharf.
The Idiot recently stepped back in history by following the Freedom Trail and visiting the Boston Athenæum, one of the oldest independent libraries in the country, to get a view of the Granary Burying Ground which dates to the 1660s.
The Idiot and pals on the Freedom Trail.
Another walker that The Idiot noticed as he headed towards the Boston Athenæum, Beacon Hill and the Boston Common was a jaywalker in colonial clothing.
The Granary Burying Ground seen from a reading room at the Boston Athenæum Library at 10½ Beacon Street.
The Idiot frequently leaves a penny at Paul Revere’s tombstone in the Granary Burying Ground.
Revere was a coppersmith/silversmith and local lore says that wealth will come to anyone leaving a penny.
The Idiot also often pays his respect to Benjamin Franklin at the Old State House and General Joseph Hooker outside the Massachusetts State House.
Benjamin Franklin at the Old State House in Boston.
The statue of General Joseph Hooker, a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, at the Massachusetts State House.
The Idiot follows the Black Heritage Trail before arriving at the Boston Common to see ducklings and frogs.
The Black Heritage Trail takes The Idiot through Boston’s nineteenth-century African-American community on Beacon Hill.
The Idiot’s next stop is the Boston Common where he sees ducklings and frogs.
The Idiot heads to the “Make Way For Ducklings” statue to learn more about Boston Common.
Nancy Schön’s bronze “Make Way For Ducklings” statue displays Mrs. Mallard leading her ducklings.
The Idiot rides a frog at the Boston Common Frog Pond.
When The Idiot visits the Boston Public Library, he slips a photo of himself at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum into the Kennedy file in the library archives.
The courtyard at the Boston Public Library.
The Idiot at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
(Photo: Liz Chapin)
It’s dark when he finally takes the ferry back to his South Shore basecamp.
A look back at Boston from the ferry at 9:30 p.m.
Next week: The Idiot trains for his Tunisia MedTrek on Northern California beaches.
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