Category: Very inexpensive or FREE!

Visit A Patriot on Patriot’s Day

Just take a walk on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to visit a few patriotic Americans on this day set aside to honor the men and women who have protected our freedoms.

This statue of John Glover stands between Berkeley and Clarendon Streets. But you'll also find Alexander Hamiltion, William Lloyd Garrison, Samuel Eliot Morison, Lucy Stone, and Abigail Adams along the walk.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

April 16, 2012
The Freedom Trail: Our Patriots’ Day Friday Link

Have you ever walked The Freedom Trail? I know that I walked parts of it years ago, but I've never walked the entire length. If you're looking for a nice, long tramp some lovely spring weekend, follow the red line and explore that route that brings visitors to Boston.

The Freedom Trail Foundation has every type of tour you might want from maps and self-guided walking tours to ticketed guided tours.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 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 a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 13, 2012
Changes to Boston Street Sweeping Schedules 2012

The Street Sweepers are back! Give ‘em room!

And, make sure you know when they will arrive at your car!

Boston’s “Daytime” Street Cleaning Program returned on April 1st, and that means paying attention to parking restrictions.

Changes to the Street Sweeping days in the South End, Allston/Brighton, Charlestown, East Boston, Roxbury, and South Boston:

"The Public Works Department will be implementing a new schedule of posted street sweeping days for many streets in the neighborhoods of Boston over the next two years beginning in the Spring of 2012. The goal of the alterations is to provide mechanical street sweeping services to more closely follow residential trash and recycling collection days. This new schedule will alleviate much of the litter generated by the weekly collection in a faster and more efficient manner. To view the new schedule, please visit our No-Tow page."

Now, let’s see, is this the first or second Tuesday of the month? And, on which side of the street did I park?

Wait! Relax. There is another way. Instead of trying to remember when to move your car for the street sweeper, let the City of Boston remind you. Sign-up for Street Sweeping Alerts now, and avoid headaches later.

Take a few minutes to check out the city’s website. You’ll find a complete series of services that’ll help you avoid a ticket, or worse. And, to make it even faster, we’ve listed links to prepare you for almost any car-related issue in Boston.

State Roads Also Have Restrictions

And, you also have to check the State Street Sweeping Schedule for Department of Conservation roads, like Day Boulevard, parts of Park Drive and Boylston Street. You'll find a complete list at that link.

Links:

Register for No-Tow™ email reminders/Street Sweeping Schedule Finder

Manage Your No-Tow Subscription

Parking Ticket Notification Service

Locate a Towed Vehicle

Street Occupancy Permit Finder & Alerts

Related Posts:

Scary Stack– Boston Parking Tickets

Parking Your Car for Boston Marathon Weekend

Begin all your Amazon shopping at BostonZest to keep information like this coming your way. How? Just click here to be transported to Amazon and then shop as you always do. They'll reward us for sending you their way. And, if you plan to be a neighborhood sweetheart who sweeps the sidewalk to the curb before the street sweepers arrive, here's a great selection of tools for that job.

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Words: Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

April 2, 2012
Emerald Necklace Conservancy, Our Friday Link

Living in Boston, you think you know all about the Emerald Necklace, the glorious string of parks created by Frederick Law Olmsted between 1878 and 1896. But, how many of these parks have you explored? This spring, we suggest you pick a section of the necklace that you haven't visited and spend some time there.

The Emerald Necklace Conservancy site has a wealth of information about the parks. Explore their site and then get out and see the parks in person.

Slowly, even these treasured places are being destroyed by special interest groups who insist on having passive areas and natural open spaces chopped up to create dedicated spaces for one type of park user.

Enjoy them while you can before every inch is filled with playgrounds, ball fields, tennis courts, statues, memorials, and special gardens. Olmsted knew the value of passive places and time spent with nature. It's sad that many who admire his work today don't understand that concept.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 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 a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

March 23, 2012
Free Open House at Washington HQ in Cambridge on the 22nd

Today may be the Federal holiday called Presidents' Day, but in Massachusetts today is officially Washington's Birthday.

And, this year, on Thursday the 22nd, you can tour the house in Cambridge that served as Washington's headquarters during the Siege of Boston. While the building is officially closed for the season, it will be open on Washington's birthday to celebrate the new designation of this National Parks Service property as the Longfellow House – Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site.

Details of the change are here.

The Parks Service Invites You to:

"Celebrate George Washington's birthday! Join NPS staff as they guide visitors through General Washington's Brattle Street headquarters. Washington used the house at 105 Brattle Street as his headquarters during the Siege of Boston in 1775-1776.

Tours given every half hour, starting at 11:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m."

Related Posts:

Did you know that anyone age 62 and over can get a lifetime Senior pass to our National Parks for $10?

And, check: What's Open On Presidents' Day in Boston 2012 and MBTA Schedules

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photo of Washington statue in the Boston Public Garden: © 2012 Ed Cherubino
Photo of the House: From the collection of the Library of Congress, taken February 1963.

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 a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

February 20, 2012
Your Special Place, Free Romance for Valentine’s Day

The best Valentine gifts are the ones that are part of your life throughout the year. It can be as simple as a special place where you feel happy together.

Ed and I were out in that little snow storm we had in January shooting some potential cover shots for The Back Bay Sun when this couple, strolling hand-in-hand, appeared.

A kiss was followed by…

…a few playful snowballs, and then they picked up sticks and drew valentines in the snow.

Naturally, we asked permission before we used these photos. Back Bay residents, Andre Sibilsky and Morgan Maglich are from down South, so snow is special to them. They ventured out to enjoy the snow in one of their favorite spots along the Muddy River. Now that is romantic!

Related Posts:

We're gathering all our Valentine posts at the bottom of this one:

Valentine's Day 2012 – Romantic Dining in Boston

Okay, if you need a more material Valentine's Day gift idea, click over to Amazon and do some planning, and if you do buy something there, they'll put a few coins in our tip cup.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny 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 comments 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 out of comments.

February 9, 2012
Black Willow Frame

All texture and tones, an Esplanade black willow frames walkers on the pedestrian path along the water.

Need some Valentine's Day gift ideas? Click over to Amazon and do some planning, and if you do buy something there, they'll put a few coins in our tip cup.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

February 4, 2012
Voter Registration Deadlines & Election Dates 2012
Here are the deadlines you need to meet to vote in elections scheduled for 2012 in Massachusetts.

From the Elections Division of the Secretary of State's Office and the City of Boston's Election Department.
- Wednesday, February 15, 2012: Last day to register to vote and change party enrollment for the Presidential Primary.
- Tuesday, March 6, 2012: Presidential Primary Election
- Friday, August 17, 2012: Last day to register to vote and change party enrollment for the State Primary.
- Thursday, September 6, 2012: Voting day for the State Primary
- Wednesday, October 17, 2012: Last day to register to vote and change party enrollment for the Presidential Election.
- Tuesday, November 6, 2012: Voting day for the Presidential Election.
How to Register to Vote

If you're reluctant to register to vote because you think it will make you more likely to be called for jury duty, we've already researched that idea and learned that it is a myth. Click here for our full report.
- You can download a voter registration form here.
- If there is time, you can mail it to:
```
City of Boston Election Department   
City Hall, Room 241   
Boston, MA 02201
```
- The safest way to do it is to stop by the Election Department at City Hall and complete the form.
- The Boston Elections Department is located in room 241 at Boston City Hall and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, except on city holidays.
- Complete information, including the identification documents you need, and other ways to register to vote can be found at The Secretary of State's Office
- Absentee Ballot applications are available here
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2009 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.
January 31, 2012
A Bunch of History Tipping & Tilting

Inside the King's Chapel Burying Ground the stones tilt and lean into, and away from, one another. Like a group of people at a gathering, they stand in clusters of two, three, or more. Perhaps, this is what those they memorialize once did in life.

Need some Valentine's Day gift ideas? Click over to Amazon and do some planning, and if you do buy something there, they'll put a few coins in our tip cup.

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King's Chapel

Tremont & Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts (map)

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We reserve the right to remove adverstising from comments.

January 28, 2012
Universal Hub for Award Winning Local Coverage

Universal Hub (UH) is our Friday link. We think you should resolve to really know what's going on in Boston in 2012. You can do that by visiting, subscribing, following, and retweeting, the award winning coverage over at Adam Gaffin's site.

People ask us how we know so many things long before the story is picked up by traditional media around town. UH is the answer. Penny visits there so many times a day that if you enter the letter u in her Chrome browser Google fills in the rest– www.universalhub.com.

The world is starting to realize (and we think envy) the hyperlocal community that Adam has created. This month 415 Heat named Adam Gaffin one of the "Top Social Media Strategists to Watch in 2012."

They said, "Adam Gaffin is the hyper-local journalism wizard behind Universal Hub, a site he founded in 2005 to bring Boston-area news to citizens through a collective online effort. He also coordinates the Boston Blog Network, which helps other local bloggers connect with online advertisers, and consults small, local media and news outlets."

They listed a very elite group including: Liz Herson from the New York Times; John Pepper, Founder and CEO of Boloco; Scott Monty, who leads social media at Ford; and social media guru Chris Brogan.

Last March, Adam was also named the winner of the first #Boston Shorty Award, Twitter says, "The Shorty Awards honor the best people and organizations producing short-form, real-time social media content."

When local TV newscasts are wasting the little air time they have on "interesting" videos from around the world (that most of us have already seen on the web) and PR vidoes being passed off as news coverage, we have to support the people who are in the trenches delivering real news that is of use in our daily lives. Go check out Universal Hub!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2011 Penny 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 comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

December 30, 2011