Boston, Massachusetts: A City I’ve Always Admired
I’ve never been that far East in the USA but it’s on my bucket list
I had a poster for many years of my childhood on my wall. It wasn’t a boy band poster. It wasn’t a superhero poster. It certainly wasn’t a movie poster. It was a framed hand-drawn and painted portrait of the Boston skyline.
Huge geography nerd with a large portrait of Boston
I’ve always been a huge geography and travel nerd even though I rarely left my hometown as a child. I admired the history of the city. I loved the muddled and older grid of the central part of the town. I had tried to replicate cities like Boston in my imaginary city maps that I’d spent days and days drawing in my room as a hobby.
As a child, I would never imagine I’d get to go to all of the cities I admired. I loved American cities like Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, and New York City. The only cities on this list that I actually have ended up going to at this point in my adult life are Chicago and San Francisco.
Not likely to be in my near future travel plans
My partner has been spending a lot of energy detracting me from visiting New York City and Philadelphia at this point. He cites high crime and a high-density population during the time of COVID. With this comes high traffic so I imagine that’s another major reason he won’t want to visit these cities with me. I also imagine that he’ll come up with those same reasons for Boston as Boston is certainly in the same league in those categories as well.
I’ve always admired the history of education there. There are dozens of colleges and universities in the Boston area that have a high reputation. I know that I would’ve never dreamed of going to Harvard, despite being highly intelligent, but I always dreamed of that scenario in an alternate universe where my parents had money.
The rich sports culture has always been one of my favorite things
I’ve also always been a fan of sports. There is a rich history of sports in the city. I’ve always enjoyed watching the Boston Celtics over the years. They’re not necessarily my favorite team in the NBA but I did always take their side over the dreaded Miami Heat in the famous rivalry.
Additionally, I’m a Toronto Blue Jays fan but the Boston Red Sox are probably the only other American League East team that I don’t dislike. I would also side with Bostonians in the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry because of my deep dislike of the New York Yankees baseball franchise. They’re probably my least favorite team in all of the sports world, right down there with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Cowboys.
Speaking of football, I don’t absolutely hate the New England Patriots. I just wasn’t a huge fan of Tom Brady. The year after Brady left for Tampa Bay, the quarterback that was drafted by my favorite NFL team, Cam Newton, came over for a year to play for the team. I could see myself rooting for the Patriots over many other teams in the NFL now that they have a new, young quarterback in Mac Jones.
Titletown, in fact
I know Boston takes their sports legacies seriously. They hold the record for most Super Bowl wins, are tied for most NBA championships, and are tied for third-most in World Series wins with 9 despite going from 1918 to 2004 between titles. Not to mention the NHL team, Boston Bruins, have won six times, and tied for fourth-most Stanley Cups.
I don’t think about Boston hockey that often since the only two teams I’ve ever really followed is the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the San Jose Sharks. Sports isn’t the only thing I love about Boston but I could go on forever about it.
History and landmarks I’d love to visit and the northern point of the corridor
I love the rich history in the city. There are places I want to see like Bunker Hill, Boston Public Garden, Boston Tea Party Museum, Old North Church, Old State House, Paul Revere’s House, USS Constitution Museum, and Fenway Park, among many more historical sites.
Boston is also the northernmost metropolitan area on the great Northeast Corridor where 17% of the US population lives on 2% of the land area. You would think that I’d be claustrophobic to go up there, and you’d be right in a way.
But since Boston is at the northernmost point of the entire region, I’d have an easier time getting to more sparsely populated areas and states I’d prefer to actually settle in. My partner and I have been looking at Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine as possible long-term settlements for us eventually when we want to buy land.
All of those states are within a reasonable driving distance from the beautiful and historic city of Boston so I definitely think that if I could convince him to come with me to visit any of the cities remaining on my United States city list, it would be Boston.
I hope my dream becomes a reality someday
I looked so often at that poster in my room that I swear that I probably have the central part of Boston and the skyline memorized, at least from what it looked like when I had the poster as a child and young adult.
It would be a lifelong dream to accomplish getting to Boston and that would be the ultimate travel dream and travel story. What do you personally think of the city of Boston? What experiences and stories do you have from the historic New England city?
