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During your Boston vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
USS Constitution Museum
Just inland from the vessel, the museum features participatory exhibits that allow visitors to hoist a flag, fire a cannon, swing in a hammock, and learn more about the ship. The interactive computer displays and naval artifacts appeal to visitors of all ages. A new exhibit about the Barbary War (the only such exhibit in the United States) allows you to decide whether to risk a ship in the Mediterranean. The museum's collections include more than 3,000 items, arranged and interpreted in ways that put them in context.At the navy yard here, National Park Service rangers (tel. 617/242-5601) staff an information booth and give free 1-hour guided tours of the base.To continue on the Freedom Trail: Follow the trail up Constitution Road, crossing Chelsea Street, and continue to the Bunker Hill Monument. A more interesting, slightly longer route runs from Chelsea Street and Rutherford Avenue (back at the bridge) across City Square Park.
Boston Public Library
The central branch of the city's library system is an architectural and intellectual monument. The original 1895 building, a National Historic Landmark designed by Charles F. McKim, is an Italian Renaissance-style masterpiece that fairly drips with art. The lobby doors are the work of Daniel Chester French (who also designed the Abraham Lincoln statue in the memorial in Washington, the Minute Man statue in Concord, and the John Harvard statue in Cambridge). The murals are by John Singer Sargent and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, among others. Visit the lovely courtyard or peek at it from a window on the stairs. The adjoining addition, of the same height and material (pink granite), was designed by Philip Johnson and opened in 1972. The lobby holds changing exhibits. Novel serves lunch and afternoon tea Monday through Friday, and Sebastian's Map Room Café is open for snacks 9am to 5pm Monday through Saturday.Free Art & Architecture Tours (www.bpl.org/guides/tours.htm) begin Monday at 2:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm, Friday and Saturday at 11am, with an additional tour October through May on Sunday at 2pm. Call tel. 617/536-5400, ext. 2216, to arrange group tours.
Old Corner Bookstore Building
Built in 1718, this building is on a plot of land that was once home to the religious reformer Anne Hutchinson, who was excommunicated and expelled from Boston in 1638 for heresy. In the middle of the 19th century, the little brick building held the publishing house of Ticknor & Fields, which effectively made this the literary center of America. Publisher James Fields, known as "Jamie," counted among his friends Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. For many years this was the Globe Corner Bookstore (the bookstore is now in Harvard Square). Today the building houses the Boston Globe Store (tel. 617/367-4000), which sells souvenirs and newspaper-related merchandise.To continue on the Freedom Trail: Turn right and walk 1 block.
The Ritz-Carlton Boston Common
The Ritz-Carlton hotels in the United States and Canada are smoke-free. To accomodate the needs of guests who smoke, we offer special smoking areas outside of the hotel. Please contact the hotel directly to inquire about the location of the designated smoking areas. * A commanding presence on the Boston skyline, The Ritz-Carlton Boston Common displays an exciting sense of innovation and reflects the modern-day core of New England's most forward looking city. Although it overlooks the ...
The Eliot Hotel
In fashionable Back Bay, steps away from the boutiques and restaurants of Newbury Street near Copley Square shopping and within easy reach of Boston's prestigious cultural centers and Universities, The Eliot Hotel's guests bask in the luxury and service experienced in the finest European boutique hotels. The exquisite pleasure of dining in award winning Clio Restaurant and the sleek Uni Sashimi Bar completes guest's enjoyment of this graceful property overlooking tree-lined Commonwealth ...
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