Tag: Boston

Clear Plastic Bags for Big Events Like July 4th

In this age of heightened security people attending large events, like July 4th on the Esplanade, are asked to bring personal belongings in approved clear, plastic bags. While this original post is from a few years ago we have updated it in July 2017 for what's available from Amazon that should work.

Naturally, we can't speak for the authorities but as long as they can clearly see what's inside and it fits all the other requirements, (for example: no backpacks) these items might work. We're just using common sense and hoping the people at the checkpoints will do the same.

The EastSport Large, Clear Tote Bag (pictured at the top) looks ideal. It gets good reviews on Amazon and the shoulder strap and pocket make it perfect for walking into an event. It zips shut to help keep your stuff dry if it rains, and it looks like it would stand up next to you easily.

This Large, Clear Lunch Bag would work if you're going to bring just a couple of things with you.

Skip the ones with any design, other than handles or trim, and tuck a clear, plastic garbage bag inside in case things get really wet.

And, as we discovered as we explored this option, there are other places that require clear plastic for security checks before you enter restricted areas but do allow transparent backpacks like the one above.

Amazon has other choices and if you order quickly, you might be able to get one in time for July 4th. Or, order it now and be ready for future events.

If you know where neighbors could buy a clear tote like this locally, please add a comment. Some readers may not find this in time to get one for the 4th.

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

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: Courtesy of Amazon

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June 26, 2013
Wednesday Lunch, Food Trucks at Belvidere Street

We love great choices and right now, on Wednesdays from 11 am to 3 pm, you can line up for Bon Me, Boston's Baddest Burger & Sandwich Co., or Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese on Belvidere Street near the intersection of Huntington Avenue. (map)

Here are a set of recent menus with Bon Me at the top, Roxy on the right, and Boston's Baddest Burger on the left. (Click on the collage for a larger view.)

Belvidere Street has become one of our favorite food truck locations. First, there's a regular roster of great rolling kitchens moving in and out of the three parking spaces near the Christian Science fountain. With three trucks on hand, you have lots of choices and it's easy to gather a group of friends and make a lot of them happy.

And, this setting also offers lots of seating for diners and is a prime spot for people watching. You can choose shade or sun and the wind may bring a cooling mist from the Christian Science fountain. The big bonus is that the entire area is signed as "No Smoking!"

Choice is a wonderful thing! What are you doing for lunch tomorrow?

Click here for all our Food Truck/Street Food coverage.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Birthday or Wedding 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.

Related articles

Recent Food Truck Deliciousness

Greenway Open Market 2013

June 25, 2013
Wednesday Lunch, Food Trucks at Belvidere Street

We love great choices and right now, on Wednesdays from 11 am to 3 pm, you can line up for Bon Me, Boston's Baddest Burger & Sandwich Co., or Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese on Belvidere Street near the intersection of Huntington Avenue. (map)

Here are a set of recent menus with Bon Me at the top, Roxy on the right, and Boston's Baddest Burger on the left. (Click on the collage for a larger view.)

Belvidere Street has become one of our favorite food truck locations. First, there's a regular roster of great rolling kitchens moving in and out of the three parking spaces near the Christian Science fountain. With three trucks on hand, you have lots of choices and it's easy to gather a group of friends and make a lot of them happy.

And, this setting also offers lots of seating for diners and is a prime spot for people watching. You can choose shade or sun and the wind may bring a cooling mist from the Christian Science fountain. The big bonus is that the entire area is signed as "No Smoking!"

Choice is a wonderful thing! What are you doing for lunch tomorrow?

Click here for all our Food Truck/Street Food coverage.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Birthday or Wedding 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.

Related articles

Recent Food Truck Deliciousness

Greenway Open Market 2013

June 25, 2013
Wednesday Lunch, Food Trucks at Belvidere Street

We love great choices and right now, on Wednesdays from 11 am to 3 pm, you can line up for Bon Me, Boston's Baddest Burger & Sandwich Co., or Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese on Belvidere Street near the intersection of Huntington Avenue. (map)

Here are a set of recent menus with Bon Me at the top, Roxy on the right, and Boston's Baddest Burger on the left. (Click on the collage for a larger view.)

Belvidere Street has become one of our favorite food truck locations. First, there's a regular roster of great rolling kitchens moving in and out of the three parking spaces near the Christian Science fountain. With three trucks on hand, you have lots of choices and it's easy to gather a group of friends and make a lot of them happy.

And, this setting also offers lots of seating for diners and is a prime spot for people watching. You can choose shade or sun and the wind may bring a cooling mist from the Christian Science fountain. The big bonus is that the entire area is signed as "No Smoking!"

Choice is a wonderful thing! What are you doing for lunch tomorrow?

Click here for all our Food Truck/Street Food coverage.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Birthday or Wedding 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.

Related articles

Recent Food Truck Deliciousness

Greenway Open Market 2013

June 25, 2013
Close Your Windows & Hold Your Nose, Boston’s Stink Trees Are in Bloom

That rotting, herbal scent in the Boston air is coming from the many, many Ailanthus altissima that have self seeded and invaded the yards and alleys around the city. When I put the search term stink tree into Google, my top hit is for Wikipedia's Ailanthus altissima entry so I'm not the only one with a nose that is sensitive to this summer bloomer.

It's appropriate that the seed droppings have outlined the manholes for Boston Sewer – these trees deliver the kind of smell that seems to belong with those words. Back Bay alleyways are wearing a coat of chartreuse and overhead the female trees are in full bloom.

If your allergies act up for the next couple of weeks, you may be sensitive to this pollen. Make sure you give your hands, face, and hair a wipe down after a walk through the yellow-green snow. And, if your pup is carrying some green dust home, give him or her a dip in some cool water to make sure the pollen clinging to a furry coat is not spread all over the house.

Back in 2008, I wrote a newspaper feature story on these trees and adapted it for BostonZest, here's a link.

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

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 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.

Related articles

He's Testing Groundwater Levels

Boston Harbor Beacon, Our Friday Link Takes You Boating

Fenway Victory Gardens Spring Scenes

June 24, 2013
Close Your Windows & Hold Your Nose, Boston’s Stink Trees Are in Bloom

That rotting, herbal scent in the Boston air is coming from the many, many Ailanthus altissima that have self seeded and invaded the yards and alleys around the city. When I put the search term stink tree into Google, my top hit is for Wikipedia's Ailanthus altissima entry so I'm not the only one with a nose that is sensitive to this summer bloomer.

It's appropriate that the seed droppings have outlined the manholes for Boston Sewer – these trees deliver the kind of smell that seems to belong with those words. Back Bay alleyways are wearing a coat of chartreuse and overhead the female trees are in full bloom.

If your allergies act up for the next couple of weeks, you may be sensitive to this pollen. Make sure you give your hands, face, and hair a wipe down after a walk through the yellow-green snow. And, if your pup is carrying some green dust home, give him or her a dip in some cool water to make sure the pollen clinging to a furry coat is not spread all over the house.

Back in 2008, I wrote a newspaper feature story on these trees and adapted it for BostonZest, here's a link.

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

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 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.

Related articles

He's Testing Groundwater Levels

Boston Harbor Beacon, Our Friday Link Takes You Boating

Fenway Victory Gardens Spring Scenes

June 24, 2013
Close Your Windows & Hold Your Nose, Boston’s Stink Trees Are in Bloom

That rotting, herbal scent in the Boston air is coming from the many, many Ailanthus altissima that have self seeded and invaded the yards and alleys around the city. When I put the search term stink tree into Google, my top hit is for Wikipedia's Ailanthus altissima entry so I'm not the only one with a nose that is sensitive to this summer bloomer.

It's appropriate that the seed droppings have outlined the manholes for Boston Sewer – these trees deliver the kind of smell that seems to belong with those words. Back Bay alleyways are wearing a coat of chartreuse and overhead the female trees are in full bloom.

If your allergies act up for the next couple of weeks, you may be sensitive to this pollen. Make sure you give your hands, face, and hair a wipe down after a walk through the yellow-green snow. And, if your pup is carrying some green dust home, give him or her a dip in some cool water to make sure the pollen clinging to a furry coat is not spread all over the house.

Back in 2008, I wrote a newspaper feature story on these trees and adapted it for BostonZest, here's a link.

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

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 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.

Related articles

He's Testing Groundwater Levels

Boston Harbor Beacon, Our Friday Link Takes You Boating

Fenway Victory Gardens Spring Scenes

June 24, 2013
Generous Gardeners Share the Wealth – Photo of the Week

This Cranesbill Geranium creates a beautiful ground cover that flowers in spring. You see the plant popping up in more than a few Back Bay gardens. This is, in part, because generous local gardeners share plants with others as they thin or redesign their own gardens.

Sometimes, on our walks along Marlborough Street, we'll see plants sitting outside a front yard with a sign that says, "free plants." Other times, a veteran gardener like Susan Juretschke will move plants from one garden to another as she tries to find the spot where they will thrive.

Gardeners are genererous people. We once lived next door to a gentleman we called the "Phantom Farmer" because we could arrive home from work to find a bag of garden fresh produce hanging on our doorknob.

This photo was selected for the covershot in this week's Back Bay Sun.

You can read some of the stories at the newspaper's website www.backbaysun.com and download a copy of the paper by clicking on the "Full Print Edition" icon in the left hand column. The new issue is usually on the website by Wednesday of each week.

Disclosure: The Independent Newspaper Group, owner of 12 local papers: Back Bay Sun, Beacon Hill Times, Charlestown Patriot-Bridge, Chelsea Record, East Boston Times Free Press, Everett Independent, Jamaica Plain Gazette, Lynn Journal, Mission Hill Gazette, North End Regional Review, Revere Journal, The Logan Times, and Winthrop Sun Transcript. This company is one of our freelance clients and you'll see our photographs, columns, and articles in their publications.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Birthday or Wedding 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.

June 22, 2013
Generous Gardeners Share the Wealth – Photo of the Week

This Cranesbill Geranium creates a beautiful ground cover that flowers in spring. You see the plant popping up in more than a few Back Bay gardens. This is, in part, because generous local gardeners share plants with others as they thin or redesign their own gardens.

Sometimes, on our walks along Marlborough Street, we'll see plants sitting outside a front yard with a sign that says, "free plants." Other times, a veteran gardener like Susan Juretschke will move plants from one garden to another as she tries to find the spot where they will thrive.

Gardeners are genererous people. We once lived next door to a gentleman we called the "Phantom Farmer" because we could arrive home from work to find a bag of garden fresh produce hanging on our doorknob.

This photo was selected for the covershot in this week's Back Bay Sun.

You can read some of the stories at the newspaper's website www.backbaysun.com and download a copy of the paper by clicking on the "Full Print Edition" icon in the left hand column. The new issue is usually on the website by Wednesday of each week.

Disclosure: The Independent Newspaper Group, owner of 12 local papers: Back Bay Sun, Beacon Hill Times, Charlestown Patriot-Bridge, Chelsea Record, East Boston Times Free Press, Everett Independent, Jamaica Plain Gazette, Lynn Journal, Mission Hill Gazette, North End Regional Review, Revere Journal, The Logan Times, and Winthrop Sun Transcript. This company is one of our freelance clients and you'll see our photographs, columns, and articles in their publications.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Birthday or Wedding 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.

June 22, 2013
Generous Gardeners Share the Wealth – Photo of the Week

This Cranesbill Geranium creates a beautiful ground cover that flowers in spring. You see the plant popping up in more than a few Back Bay gardens. This is, in part, because generous local gardeners share plants with others as they thin or redesign their own gardens.

Sometimes, on our walks along Marlborough Street, we'll see plants sitting outside a front yard with a sign that says, "free plants." Other times, a veteran gardener like Susan Juretschke will move plants from one garden to another as she tries to find the spot where they will thrive.

Gardeners are genererous people. We once lived next door to a gentleman we called the "Phantom Farmer" because we could arrive home from work to find a bag of garden fresh produce hanging on our doorknob.

This photo was selected for the covershot in this week's Back Bay Sun.

You can read some of the stories at the newspaper's website www.backbaysun.com and download a copy of the paper by clicking on the "Full Print Edition" icon in the left hand column. The new issue is usually on the website by Wednesday of each week.

Disclosure: The Independent Newspaper Group, owner of 12 local papers: Back Bay Sun, Beacon Hill Times, Charlestown Patriot-Bridge, Chelsea Record, East Boston Times Free Press, Everett Independent, Jamaica Plain Gazette, Lynn Journal, Mission Hill Gazette, North End Regional Review, Revere Journal, The Logan Times, and Winthrop Sun Transcript. This company is one of our freelance clients and you'll see our photographs, columns, and articles in their publications.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a Birthday or Wedding 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.

June 22, 2013