bostonzest

Tag: schedule

  • Our Favorite May 2015 Activities and Events

    May is one of those months when we like to get out and enjoy our city and perhaps schedule a few day trips or short getaways to places around the area. After this winter, we have worked to get our assignments ahead and will now take some time off to enjoy spring. 

    CHE_8136 - Version 22013-06-21-back-bay-garden--© 2014 Penny Cherubino

    We already gave you the lowdown on What's happening around Boston in May 2015. That post puts the month into a planning perspective for you. This one is about our faves.

    When if comes to events, we tend to enjoy the quieter side of the happenings roster. Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum on May 10th is more our style. It is the only day you are allowed to picnic on the grounds and they now have a small fleet of food trucks available for the event. 

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    Food Truck Season

    Speaking of food trucks, by May it's normally warm enough to dine al fresco and that means we can do more food truck sampling. The city seems to have lost interest in supporting this great aspect of Boston. So rather than recommend you use the city's site, we suggest you depend on Steve Leibowitz's site, Hub Food Trucks.

    One of our favorite food truck spots is near the fountain at the Christian Science Plaza. It's listed as Belvidere on the schedules. In addition to more trucks and more choices, it has great seating for eating and fun people watching. Here's a link to the Hub Food Trucks schedule.

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    Community Gardens

    It's planting and sprucing up season at community gardens throughout the area. We always plan a walk and photo shoot in the Fenway Victory Gardens in May. Here are some scenes from a past walk. From the Boston Natural Areas Network, here's a community garden locator.

    For Other Tastes

    Over on TripAdvisor's Boston Forum, Penny starts a monthly conversation on what's happening in Boston. The local volunteers who answer questions for visitors and share information among themselves add their favorites to that discussion. If you prefer big organized events, sports, and celebrity events to our quieter tastes, you may find great ideas at this link.

    What's your favorite pastime or event in May? 

    Add your thoughts in the comments below. Tweet them to @BostonZest or send us an email and we'll add your suggestions to this post as an update.

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2012-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Related articles
    Edible Boston's Spring 2015 Issue Is Available
    Spring Cleaning, Ho! Ho! Ho!
    Where to Dine on Mother's Day, May 10th 2015 Around Boston

  • North End Waterfront: Our Friday Link

    When we want to know what's happening in the North End or Waterfront area, we click over to NorthEndWaterfront.com. 

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    For Locals

     If you live in or near the neighborhood, it is essential reading. Or, if you are simply devoted fans of the area and want to know all the details of new restaurants, festivals, people and places, it's a perfect daily visit. For example, here's a link to the 2012 Feast Schedule.

    If you live in a different neighborhood, it's good to see the issues that these neighbors face and how they are dealing with them. Sharing information between Boston's distinct communities can be powerful. 

    For Visitors to Boston

    When we visit a new place, Penny will read the local papers and community websites. This gives us a sense of what's going on around us as we walk the streets and sit in the cafes.

    For anyone who wants to make the North End an important part of their Boston visit, this is one site to research before you arrive. You'll find listings of Attractions and Tours plus maps showing WiFi hot spots, parking, and restaruants.

    We admit to being a bit addicted to the site. We subscribe to the site's RSS feed, follow it on Twitter, and Facebook. We are great admirers of the dedication and skill that Matt Conti puts into this site and hope you will click over, explore, and find that you enjoy it too.

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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 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.

  • 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!

    IMG_2515 - Version 32011-03-07-Boston-street-sweeper-massachusetts© 2011 Penny Cherubino

    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.

     

    Details:
    Words: Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

  • New Food Truck Schedule: Food Truck Tracking April 2012 Update

    Our Friday link is to the new schedule and new locations for food trucks approved by the City of Boston and set to begin on April 1, 2012. On Sunday, it won't be an April fools joke if you can't find your favorite food truck in its usual place. Here are links to the city's information, including a schedule and map of approved locations.

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    And, don't forget the food truck sites in our neighboring cities like Cambridge and Brookline. 

    The folks at Roaming Hunger aggregate the tweets from Boston area food trucks so you can see who is out and about and what they're tweeting.

    If you know of other maps and schedule locators, let us know and we'll add them to this collection.

    And, remember, if you're going out of your way to find a certain truck, you should check their twitter feed, facebook, and web pages. These guys are always dancing, trying to make a living, so they may have a catering gig or they may have run out of food. Lots of them give out phone numbers so you can call ahead to check on their status.

    What are your favorite food trucks, and where do you find them?

    If you know of other maps and schedule locators, let us know and we'll add them to this collection.

    How do you find great food when you travel? We highly recommend the book from our pals over at Serious Eats. Here are some references for great Road Food.

     

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

  • Free Open House at Washington HQ in Cambridge on the 22nd

     DSC_1167 - Version 22012-02-03-george washinton-public-garden-statue© 2011 Penny Cherubino

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

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    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

    What's on your historic tours shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     


    Details:
    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.