The oldest of…read morethe old King Philip's War was a nasty affair with atrocities and lots of horrible things occurring on both the Native American and English sides. Towns were burned and people murdered. No quarter was asked and none was given. One particularly brutal incident was called Nine Men's Misery. It started on March 20, 1676, when Capt Piece of the colonists let a group of troops after what was left of the Narragansett Tribe. The troops got a bit too over confident and walked right into an ambush and were slaughtered by the Narragansetts. Virtually all of the troops were killed but nine managed to survive the battle and were captured, tortured and then killed. Not exactly unexpected considering what the English were doing to the Narragansetts. Most of their villages were burned and the women and children executed . When other English troops found the bodies of the dead captives. they immediately buried the bodies and put up a monument site of rocks over the graves so the memory of the incident would never be forgotten. The pile of rocks have been tended to ever since and is now considered the oldest veterans memorial in the country. It's not exactly an exciting or aesthetically stunning memorial but it an extremely spooky and fascinating place to hike out and actually find. The area has lots of cool hiking trails besides the one leading to the memorial but the bugs are incredibly bad in these woods. Lovely stone walls and beautiful trees, this would probably be a great place for a winter or fall hike. A thoughtful place to reflect and remember what it was like back then during these horrible wars. Right and wrong, good and evil are just words. Pain, death and suffering was the reality.

This place holds a special place in my heart. My father and I used to walk here when I was young.read more

The annual Jamaica Pond Lantern Parade with its Dutch cultural roots, started in Jamaica Plain in…read more1984, is a great community event and loads of fun!!! Open to everyone and anyone, as the sun starts to set on two evenings each year, hundreds if not thousands of people gather near the boat house at Jamaica Pond around 5:30pm for live music, hot freshly pressed cider, pastries, and empanadas. Some adults and many children arrive in their Halloween costumes. At 6:30pm the parade begins and continues around the pond with many people carrying lanterns. Lanterns were on sale for $5.00, $10.00, and $15.00 at the event. The lantern I purchased for $5.00 was a decorated two litter soda bottle with a candle glued to the bottom. Apparently there are lantern-making workshops occurring before the event in which you can make your own.

Chances are, if you've driven through the suburbs of Boston, you've likely driven through Dover,…read moreprobably without even noticing it. Among one of the smallest towns in eastern MA by land area and population size, it's not hard to miss. Outside of the center of town, you'll find no sidewalks, street lights, traffic signals, or business of any kind. Like most towns in the area, many of the houses and properties are historical in nature, some dating back to the early 1600's. It's a perfect location to go for a run or ride, with lots of great scenery and above average quality roads for the area - I recommend a road map however, as it's easy to become lost if you aren't familiar with the roads. People are generally friendly, some more so then others. Everyone knows everyone else, which, while usually bringing together the community, can easily become problematic (can you say gossip). The school system (having went through it myself as a resident) is one of the best around, and combined with Sherborn for junior and high-school due to class sizes.

Named after Isaac... Hayes, that is…read more Cute little suburb far west of Boston which is kind of fancy and has some good stuff here including some Asian restaurants and one of my favorite tanning salons. I like it out here but traffic in the evening gets gross and pukeworthy. Luckily the toll road runs right through here so you can jump on it and get away.

Winthrop Lane connects Otis and Arch Streets in downtown Boston. It's little more than a narrow,…read morebrick-paved passageway between two old buildings. Look up and you'll see fire escapes; look down and you'll see bricks. Nothing special unless you happen to like nineteenth century alleys. Now slow up for a moment and take another look at those bricks. I don't think many people do. I, however, frequently look down when I walk (I once found eighty bucks that way and it keeps me from having to make eye contact with my fellow citizens) and two Saturdays ago, I found, placed among the "real" bricks, a number of bronze brick-shaped "sculptures" depicting sundry events in Boston history. You'll find the usual stuff (the Boston Tea Party, the Underground Railroad, Paul Revere) but you'll also find bricks commemorating more esoteric historical moments, such as the Great Molasses Flood of 1919. Sadly, I don't recall seeing bricks for Sacco and Vanzetti or the good people of Charlestown who threw rocks (and maybe a brick or two) at the black kids who came to integrate their schools in the 1970s. But I could have missed them. Maybe it's not the Public Garden's memorial to the first use of ether but Boston Bricks is worth ten minutes of your time, especially if you just happen across it as I did. For a moment, I wondered why I never noticed Boston Bricks but upon reflection, I believe that the only time I ever passed through Winthrop Lane was in an alcoholic haze after the bars closed. Chalk one up for sobriety and public art.

One of the hidden gems of Boston, these stones depict many of the important or pivotal events that…read morehappened here. The ones that I love are: the depiction of what drivers in Boston look like (Monsters), the Boston Massacre, and the gravestones. The stones are raised up a little so that when people walk on them, they get polished by your soles. A very cool spot in Boston.

Every year, more than 8,000 revelers head to North Quincy High School for one of the biggest Lunar…read moreNew Year festivals in the region. 2013 was the 25th anniversary of the Quincy Lunar New Year Festival. Admission to the event is free. As you can imagine, the event is crowded. Personally, it made me feel a little claustrophobic, because there was no organized flow of traffic to walk through the event & look at the vendor tables. (People would pass you by in all directions.) The poster advertises free parking, but when we arrived at 12:15 PM, the lot was already full. Had we known parking would be a problem, we would have taken the T or walked. The lion dance was fun to watch, and I was amused when one of the performers threw candy at the crowd of children gathered in front, making it look like the lion was giving them gifts. This would be a fun event to bring kids to, with a large children's area with lots of games and other fun activities. The food court had about 10 south shore restaurants including Lime Leaf from Weymouth (delicious thai!) & Beni Cafe (sushi). The festival is presented by Quincy Asian Resources and sponsored by South Cove Community Health Center and many other local businesses.

College Hill is a historic neighborhood of Providence, and one of six neighborhoods comprising the…read morecity's East Side. It is roughly bounded by South and North Main Street to the west, Power Street to the south, Governor Street and Arlington Avenue to the east and Olney Street to the north. The neighborhood's primary commercial area extends along Thayer Street, a strip frequented by students in the Providence area. We enjoy walking around this area during our morning or afternoon strolls and enjoy the beautiful colonial architecture throughout. The buildings are very well kept and renovated and many of them are part of the Brown University or the Rhode Island School of Design college. College Hill is the most affluent neighborhood in Providence, with a median family income of nearly three times that of the whole city. Portions of College Hill are designated local and national historic districts for their historical residential architecture. In 2011, the American Planning Association designated the neighborhood one of the "Great Places in America". The toponym "College Hill" has been in use since at least 1788. The name refers to the neighborhood's topography and numerous higher educational institutions: Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, Pembroke College, and the since-relocated Bryant University. Prior to Brown University's 1770 relocation to Providence, the area was known as Prospect Hill. College Hill boasts architectural styles from the 18th century onward, including residences and institutional structures. As Providence's colonial core, the neighborhood contains a number of the city's oldest structures. Among these are the Governor Stephen Hopkins House (1707), the Benjamin Cushing Sr House (c. 1737), the Jabez Bowen House (1739), and the John Corliss House (1746). College Hill is particularly noted for its 18th and 19th century mansions, many of which are situated on or near Benefit Street. Among these residences are the John Brown House (1786), Nightingale-Brown House (1792), Edward Dexter House (1795) and Thomas P. Ives House (1803), Corliss-Carrington House (1812), Thomas F. Hoppin House (1853), and Governor Henry Lippitt House (1865). Just a marvelous area to enjoy beautiful sidewalks and homes.

great place to come with kids…read more.. You won't miss it if you are near to Boston Harbor. Boston trolley tours leaves from here. Everything is just few yards away from here. Fountain which is sync with time, kids love it. they play with it, drench in fountain water. When i was there, there were Chinese sculpture heads (one for each Chinese year animal). i guess it keeps changing. grt place not to miss...

I hate when my phone rings and rings and rings. It's usually a girl. I've found a lot of girls who…read morewere 8s and 9s and even a 9.5 but I've never "found-ten." OK that was awful. One of the most memorable spots in Boston, this beautiful fountain (which you can run in and play in) has a ton of amazing Chinese sculpture heads (one for each Chinese year animal) which are huge and imposing and will cause you to whip out your camera (or maybe something else). If there were a race between all the great fountains of the US, I think this one would run rings around the others.