View Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, and Part V of this travelogue series
Boston is a big city in its own right, but most of the people who live in the area are outside the city. Indeed, while there are many terrific sights to see in Boston itself, you won’t run out of things to do in the surrounding towns and cities, either. Part 6 will take you to several.
The Boston area is surrounded by a roadway known to some as a beltway, but is called by locals “Route 128.” Most of this highway runs simultaneous with Interstate 95, but it’s 128 almost all the way around as well. We’ll start at 128/the “beltway’s” northern terminus in Gloucester, about 45 minutes north of Boston. This city, the largest on Cape Ann, made its name as a popular seaport in much older times and today plays host to a number of tourists during the summer months. As a matter of fact, the city considers itself the oldest seaport in America. While here, one can discover historical attractions, like the 18th century Sargent House Museum, any number of art galleries, and beaches. Up to the north in Rockport, I have had the pleasure of visiting Good Harbor Beach (the site of this article’s featured image).
Moving south on 128, you’ll enter the towns of Peabody, Salem, and Danvers. Some very important historical stuff happened here, and you may be familiar with it: the Salem witch trials. Salem is considered the epicenter of the late 17th-century hysteria, but in reality, many towns in what we know today as eastern Massachusetts got in on the act. Arthur Miller’s famous play, The Crucible, is a historically-fictional account of what took place back in those days, but if you want to learn more about it, you can always visit The Salem Witch Museum.
Going southward once more, after passing Reading, Wakefield, and Woburn (pronounced Woo-burn), you’ll notice that the highway cuts in between the towns of Lexington and Concord. These too have great significance in American history, as this was the general location where the Revolutionary War began. In April 1775, a skirmish broke out between British troops and colonial rebels which led to the war’s first battle. Today, the area is host to Minute Man National Historical Park, conveniently located off of Exit 30.
Eventually, you will continue on the road and pass Waltham, Weston, and Newton, some of the more prominent western suburbs of Boston; to the west of those are Framingham and Natick. The latter is the home of famous former college quarterback Doug Flutie, who has a street in Natick named for his famous Boston College play: “Flutie Pass.”
As Route 128 comes to an end in the southern suburb of Dedham, you may continue onto Route 1 (the roadway remains I-95 for a little while longer). By now, you’re near part of the Neponset River Reservation, an area open for recreational activities such as camping, hiking, and kayaking.
(More on Page 2)
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