Updated 2007-08-21 04:23
| Boston Common/The Boston Public Garden You can fit a lot into 50 acres in the middle of the city: boats that look like swans, Shakespeare performances in the summer, Revolutionary War statues and good-looking doods and chicks sunbathing. MBTA: Red or Green Line to Park Street |
| The Esplanade Sure, it’s cramped on the Fourth of July, but that’s quite a ways away. The rest of the year, the Esplanade is the hub of biking, rollerblading, and jogging. (For those activities you should also check out Memorial Drive on Sundays through the second Sunday of November.) On the Esplanade, you can find a game of Ultimate or just space out and stare at kayakers. MBTA: Red Line to Charles/MGH |
| The Fens OK, so no one knows quite what’s growing in it, and we wouldn’t recommend hanging there at all hours of the night, but it’s smack dab in the middle of the Fenway and chances are you’ll find a pickup game or at least some people out with their dogs. Just beware of poop. MBTA: Green Line D to Fenway |
| Rogers Park Named after Hiram Rogers, who was apparently some famous outdoorsman from Allston in the 1890’s, Rogers Park is 8.2 acres of lush green fields for baseball and hard courts for tennis and street ball. Take out your b-ball frustrations and school some yuppies at hoops. MBTA: Green Line B to Boston College |
| Magazine Beach In the summer, there’s more Ultimate here than at a Doobie Brothers concert in the early 80s. Actually, there’s only one game more than at the aforementioned Doobies’ show. We checked our records. Anyway, Magazine Beach is a former Army boat docking station, and it’s a great area for croquet and cricket, if you can find a British exchange student who will teach you how to play. MBTA: Red Line to Kendall Square |
| Franklin Park Just past the outstretches of the Orange Line is Franklin Park, a 500-acre urban jungle filled with tennis courts, bike paths and Sasquatch. Well, maybe Sasquatch isn’t really here, but if he chose to visit he’d find plenty of places to hang out. There’s also a zoo here where he could try to blend in if he were spotted. If you go to the zoo though, we must remind you again: beware of the poop. MBTA: Orange Line to Forest Hills. |
| Arnold Arboretum Go here. Get lost. Love it. It’s 265 acres of lush greenery and peace. That’s like 978 billion times bigger than your dorm room. MBTA: Orange Line to Forest Hills |