Category: Boston:101

The Case for Year-Round Street Sweeping

Yesterday, we walked by gutters filled with leaves and trash. The City of Boston forgot to tell Mother Nature that we only clean the leaves until November 30th, so she'd better make sure they all fall by then.

Even if our fall leaf season doesn't extend into December, the litter season in Boston is year-round. We also have a natural phenomenon called snow that makes its appearance from December 1st to March 31st.

Now, imagine what the city could look like and how easy it would be for everyone to get around and park cars to the curb, if the streets could be cleared to the curb on the next street cleaning day after a storm.

With the city's excellent notification system, it would be very easy to cancel street sweeping any time the conditions would not allow it. It's far more difficult to get cars to move with less warning in order to remove snow or give the streets a sweep when weather permits.

What's your take on year-round street sweeping?

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Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 4, 2013
The Case for Year-Round Street Sweeping

Yesterday, we walked by gutters filled with leaves and trash. The City of Boston forgot to tell Mother Nature that we only clean the leaves until November 30th, so she'd better make sure they all fall by then.

Even if our fall leaf season doesn't extend into December, the litter season in Boston is year-round. We also have a natural phenomenon called snow that makes its appearance from December 1st to March 31st.

Now, imagine what the city could look like and how easy it would be for everyone to get around and park cars to the curb, if the streets could be cleared to the curb on the next street cleaning day after a storm.

With the city's excellent notification system, it would be very easy to cancel street sweeping any time the conditions would not allow it. It's far more difficult to get cars to move with less warning in order to remove snow or give the streets a sweep when weather permits.

What's your take on year-round street sweeping?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 4, 2013
Thank You to All the Wreath Week Volunteers!

Volunteers from the Garden Club of the Back Bay are in the middle of their annual Wreath Week. In a few, intensive, long days, they create distinctive holiday wreaths that will soon be appearing on doors around the city. Each wreath sold contributes to the organization's ability to fund important projects that keep the city green.

We stopped by to thank them yesterday and took some photos of the very talented designers working on their creations. But, we also wanted to take this opportunity to remind our readers of the exceptional work done by this key group of volunteers who take days out of their busy lives each December to do this good deed.

And, how do they make those beautiful bows? They shared the secret, HERE …

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 3, 2013
Thank You to All the Wreath Week Volunteers!

Volunteers from the Garden Club of the Back Bay are in the middle of their annual Wreath Week. In a few, intensive, long days, they create distinctive holiday wreaths that will soon be appearing on doors around the city. Each wreath sold contributes to the organization's ability to fund important projects that keep the city green.

We stopped by to thank them yesterday and took some photos of the very talented designers working on their creations. But, we also wanted to take this opportunity to remind our readers of the exceptional work done by this key group of volunteers who take days out of their busy lives each December to do this good deed.

And, how do they make those beautiful bows? They shared the secret, HERE …

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 3, 2013
Thank You to All the Wreath Week Volunteers!

Volunteers from the Garden Club of the Back Bay are in the middle of their annual Wreath Week. In a few, intensive, long days, they create distinctive holiday wreaths that will soon be appearing on doors around the city. Each wreath sold contributes to the organization's ability to fund important projects that keep the city green.

We stopped by to thank them yesterday and took some photos of the very talented designers working on their creations. But, we also wanted to take this opportunity to remind our readers of the exceptional work done by this key group of volunteers who take days out of their busy lives each December to do this good deed.

And, how do they make those beautiful bows? They shared the secret, HERE …

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

December 3, 2013
Hotel Fensgate: It Was a Steak, Lobster, and Jazz House
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, 534 Beacon Street was the Hotel Fensgate. This post card was created before the dreadful Storrow Drive took away the Fenway and Back Bay connections to the Charles River.

On this 1928 atlas page, the arrow points to the Hotel Fensgate. You can see links to both the Charles River and the Back Bay Fens before Storrow Drive and the Bowker Overpass. (There is a group, Friends of the Charlesgate, working to restore Charlesgate.)

Today, this address is the Charlesview Condominiums. Here's a photo of the building today. It was built in 1923 and E.B. Stratton was the architect. And, here's a map showing the overlay of the highway ramps.

This is an illustration of the same Beacon Street view from the hotel's stationery.

The Fensgate's menu proclaimed it was,"Boston's Famous Steak and Lobster House." (Click on the menu for a larger view.)

Menu items included:
- Large Broiled Live Lobster for $2.75
- Lobster Salad for $2.00
- Famous One Pound Sirloin Steak-Club Style for $2.95
- Planked Steak for two for $6.00
And, while those prices look very inexpensive today, it was known as an expensive place to dine.

And, Jazz Too!

In his book, The Boston Jazz Chronicles, author Richard Vacca wrote,

"The Fensgate already had a club, the Satire Room, once advertised as 'Boston’s most expensive and intimate rendezvous.' Liberace made his Boston debut at the Satire, as did Irwin Corey. George Frazier, in his Herald review of singer Elsie Houston in August 1942, noted the cost of an evening at the Satire Room: 'She is so good that you forget for the moment that the check will be a sum only slightly smaller than the national debt. That’s being pretty good.'"

In his book, Myself Among Others: A Life In Music, jazz impresario George Wein talks about his days at the Hotel Fensgate. He tells of finding this as a spot for his own group for a few weeks and that he eventually took the advice of the attorney for the hotel which was, "You know George, I think you should open your own club." Wein did, and the rest is jazz history.

In Boston, there are stories on every corner. Let us know if you find an interesting tidbit on some Boston corner that we should explore and share!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.
December 2, 2013
Hotel Fensgate: It Was a Steak, Lobster, and Jazz House
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, 534 Beacon Street was the Hotel Fensgate. This post card was created before the dreadful Storrow Drive took away the Fenway and Back Bay connections to the Charles River.

On this 1928 atlas page, the arrow points to the Hotel Fensgate. You can see links to both the Charles River and the Back Bay Fens before Storrow Drive and the Bowker Overpass. (There is a group, Friends of the Charlesgate, working to restore Charlesgate.)

Today, this address is the Charlesview Condominiums. Here's a photo of the building today. It was built in 1923 and E.B. Stratton was the architect. And, here's a map showing the overlay of the highway ramps.

This is an illustration of the same Beacon Street view from the hotel's stationery.

The Fensgate's menu proclaimed it was,"Boston's Famous Steak and Lobster House." (Click on the menu for a larger view.)

Menu items included:
- Large Broiled Live Lobster for $2.75
- Lobster Salad for $2.00
- Famous One Pound Sirloin Steak-Club Style for $2.95
- Planked Steak for two for $6.00
And, while those prices look very inexpensive today, it was known as an expensive place to dine.

And, Jazz Too!

In his book, The Boston Jazz Chronicles, author Richard Vacca wrote,

"The Fensgate already had a club, the Satire Room, once advertised as 'Boston’s most expensive and intimate rendezvous.' Liberace made his Boston debut at the Satire, as did Irwin Corey. George Frazier, in his Herald review of singer Elsie Houston in August 1942, noted the cost of an evening at the Satire Room: 'She is so good that you forget for the moment that the check will be a sum only slightly smaller than the national debt. That’s being pretty good.'"

In his book, Myself Among Others: A Life In Music, jazz impresario George Wein talks about his days at the Hotel Fensgate. He tells of finding this as a spot for his own group for a few weeks and that he eventually took the advice of the attorney for the hotel which was, "You know George, I think you should open your own club." Wein did, and the rest is jazz history.

In Boston, there are stories on every corner. Let us know if you find an interesting tidbit on some Boston corner that we should explore and share!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.
December 2, 2013
Hotel Fensgate: It Was a Steak, Lobster, and Jazz House
Back in the 1930s and 1940s, 534 Beacon Street was the Hotel Fensgate. This post card was created before the dreadful Storrow Drive took away the Fenway and Back Bay connections to the Charles River.

On this 1928 atlas page, the arrow points to the Hotel Fensgate. You can see links to both the Charles River and the Back Bay Fens before Storrow Drive and the Bowker Overpass. (There is a group, Friends of the Charlesgate, working to restore Charlesgate.)

Today, this address is the Charlesview Condominiums. Here's a photo of the building today. It was built in 1923 and E.B. Stratton was the architect. And, here's a map showing the overlay of the highway ramps.

This is an illustration of the same Beacon Street view from the hotel's stationery.

The Fensgate's menu proclaimed it was,"Boston's Famous Steak and Lobster House." (Click on the menu for a larger view.)

Menu items included:
- Large Broiled Live Lobster for $2.75
- Lobster Salad for $2.00
- Famous One Pound Sirloin Steak-Club Style for $2.95
- Planked Steak for two for $6.00
And, while those prices look very inexpensive today, it was known as an expensive place to dine.

And, Jazz Too!

In his book, The Boston Jazz Chronicles, author Richard Vacca wrote,

"The Fensgate already had a club, the Satire Room, once advertised as 'Boston’s most expensive and intimate rendezvous.' Liberace made his Boston debut at the Satire, as did Irwin Corey. George Frazier, in his Herald review of singer Elsie Houston in August 1942, noted the cost of an evening at the Satire Room: 'She is so good that you forget for the moment that the check will be a sum only slightly smaller than the national debt. That’s being pretty good.'"

In his book, Myself Among Others: A Life In Music, jazz impresario George Wein talks about his days at the Hotel Fensgate. He tells of finding this as a spot for his own group for a few weeks and that he eventually took the advice of the attorney for the hotel which was, "You know George, I think you should open your own club." Wein did, and the rest is jazz history.

In Boston, there are stories on every corner. Let us know if you find an interesting tidbit on some Boston corner that we should explore and share!

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Holiday Gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.
December 2, 2013
The North End Two Ways from Matt Conti

Earlier this year, Matt Conti took over the site North End Boston. It is the perfect companion for his original site, North End Waterfront. Between the two sites, you can keep up with the latest news about this important Boston neighborhood and find the resources, places, and sites you want.

Matt, I'm thankful for all the hard work you do for your community!

North End Boston offers a set of resources for those interested in the North End as a place to visit or live. It can be a great site to send to anyone who is coming to Boston as a visitor or to find new places to go, things to see, and dining options in the North End.

North End Waterfront is the site for news, information, and community conversation about the neighborhood. As large, mainstream media covers less and less local news, sites like this become more and more valuable to me.

Keep up the good work Matt! And, please keep dropping in those great North End Waterfront puzzles from time to time. I appreciate a few minutes of fun every now and them.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once a year for free 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and TV shows and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

November 29, 2013
The North End Two Ways from Matt Conti

Earlier this year, Matt Conti took over the site North End Boston. It is the perfect companion for his original site, North End Waterfront. Between the two sites, you can keep up with the latest news about this important Boston neighborhood and find the resources, places, and sites you want.

Matt, I'm thankful for all the hard work you do for your community!

North End Boston offers a set of resources for those interested in the North End as a place to visit or live. It can be a great site to send to anyone who is coming to Boston as a visitor or to find new places to go, things to see, and dining options in the North End.

North End Waterfront is the site for news, information, and community conversation about the neighborhood. As large, mainstream media covers less and less local news, sites like this become more and more valuable to me.

Keep up the good work Matt! And, please keep dropping in those great North End Waterfront puzzles from time to time. I appreciate a few minutes of fun every now and them.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once a year for free 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and TV shows and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

November 29, 2013