After 42 years, I finally got to ride them. I don't remember why,but when I first visited Boston at age 9, my mother didn't let us.
The disappointment!
The human-powered catamarans have been in operation
since 1877. For a very modest fee, one can cruise the
"lagoon" at Boston Gardens, about a ten-minute ride.
The experience was utterly charming, as duck families
paddled past and swans glided the surface of the
four-foot-deep pond. We were even lucky enough
to see a swan atop a nest at the water's edge (and someone
had the foresight to fence off the nest from marauding
tots and tourists.)
Some of the boats are 120-years old: well-worn wood
with bright green paint, red trim. And of course,
the swan, which conceals the pedals. This was quite
possibly the best ten minutes I've spent in a long time!
|
Those are really great aesthetically.
ReplyDeleteI am totally in a "remember when" mood. I almost cried when I saw those boats in person for myself a couple of years ago. They reminded me of one of my favorite books as a kid, The Trumpet of the Swan.
ReplyDeleteScrump. if you read Trumpet then you must have read Charlotte's Web as well. Check out the book-on-taoe/CD version of CW, the one read by E. B. White himself. It's a joy from beginning to end.
ReplyDeleteThanks K - I definitely will. Both Trumpt and Charlotte's Web made me cry and I'm sure they still hold that power.
ReplyDelete