DIRECTIONS - SACRED HEART CHURCH TO ROYAL SONESTA

THE SCENIC ROUTE

This is a 9.8 mile trip (with no detours) and will take 45-60 minutes.  You will get to see a bit of Boson on your way to the Hotel and maybe make a stop or two along the way at one of the spots noted.

(0.0            MILES) From church parking lot, make LEFT onto CENTRE STREET

                       At first traffic light, make RIGHT onto BEACON STREET

                                                                        *1.0 MILES –Start of Boston College campus on LEFT

                                                                        *1.5 MILES – BC “Alumni Stadium” on LEFT

(2.5 MILES)  Continue on BEACON ST. through Chestnut Hill Ave/ Cleveland Circle intersection.

*2.5 MILES – “Mary Ann’s” (yellow sign) famed BC bar on RIGHT

*5.0 MILES – Boston University on LEFT

*5.1 MILES – FENWAY PARK two blocks off to RIGHT

(5.3 MILES)  Stay STRAIGHT on Beacon St. through intersection with BROOKLINE AVE; now you are on COMMONWEALTH AVENUE.

*5.3 MILES – Kenmore Square-gateway to Boston Univ. & Fenway

(5.7 MILES)  Follow COMM. Ave as it descends under over-pass

*6.0 MILES – You can take a detour  RIGHT onto GLOUCESTER ST to reach PRUDENTIAL CENTER (mall and 50^th floor observatory)

(6.7 MILES) At COMM AVE DEAD END, take RIGHT onto ARLINGTON ST with the Boston Public Gardens straight ahead.  If you can find a parking space, you can walk the gardens to see the flowers or take a swan boat ride.

(6.8 MILES) Make immediate LEFT onto BOYLSTON, “hugging” the Public Gardens on your left

(7.0 MILES) Make LEFT again, so that you are now in between the Public Gardens (on LEFT) and the Boston Common (on RIGHT)

(7.1 MILES) Proceed to far RIGHT lane.

(7.2 MILES) Make RIGHT onto BEACON STREET with Bosotn Common on the right

*7.22 MILES  John Kerry Boston Home –LEFT (for the Democrats on the trip

*7.5  MILES – State Capital building on LEFT 

                     (gold dome)

(7.7 MILES) Follow BEACON ST. through the intersection with TREMONT ST.

(7.8 MILES) Turn LEFT onto WASHINGTON STREET

       *7.8 MILES – “Downtown Crossing” on RIGHT (shopping district)

(7.9 MILES) Turn LEFT onto COURT STREET

(8.0 MILES) Make RIGHT onto CAMBRIDGE STREET at traffic light

                                                                                   *8.0 MILES – City Hall Plaza on RIGHT

                                                                               *Faneuil Hall / Quincy Market is a short walk down behind City Plaza.

(8.6 MILES) Go STRAIGHT across to bridge (stay in left lane); take BRIDGE over Charles River

*8.7 MILES – you can see the Sonesta Hotel on RIGHT as you cross the bridge.  MIT starts on the Left side of the bridge,

(9.3 MILES)  Make RIGHT onto 3^rd Street

(9.5 MILES)  Make RIGHT onto BINEY ST (?)

(9.8 MILES) Make LEFT onto EDWARD LAND BLVD; Royal Sonesta Hotel one block on RIGHT

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STATUES THAT YOU WILL SEE IN THE DOWNTON AREA OF BOSTON  ON THE SCENIC TOUR

COMM AVE STATUES

An 8-plus acre mall runs along beautiful Commonwealth Avenue   Numerous statues of well-known figures from Boston's past are framed by stately elms

Leif Eriksson
 In 1887, patent medicine maker Eben N. Horsford, the discoverer of baking powder, commissioned a statue of Viking explorer Leif Eriksson (at Charlesgate St). Horsford believed that Eriksson sailed up the Charles River to discover Vinland, a lost Viking colony in North America

Domingo F. Sarmiento
 near Gloucester Street, the statue of Domingo F. Sarmiento arrived in 1973 as a gift of the Republic of Argentina. Former Argentine president Sarmiento was so impressed by the work of education reformist Horace Mann that he based his country's school system on Boston's.

The Boston Women's Memorial
The Mall's first monument to women, erected in 2003, graces the park's block between Fairfield and Gloucester Streets. Three statues honor women who have made a local impact: former first lady Abigail Adams, newspaperwoman and suffragist Lucy Stone and poet Phillis Wheatley.

Samuel Eliot Morison
. Between Exeter and Fairfield Streets stands a monument to Samuel Eliot Morison, a sailor and maritime historian who won two Pulitzer Prizes for his literature.

William Lloyd Garrison
Seated atop a bronze chair between Dartmouth and Exeter Streets, a larger-than-life statue of William Lloyd Garrison gazes down the mall. The statue's base reproduces part of a quote from the first issue of Garrison's abolitionist publication The Liberator: "I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard."

Vendome Memorial
The memorial (at Dartmouth St) to the firefighters who died while fighting the Hotel Vendome fire. A curved black granite slab draped with a bronze firefighters' coat and hat commemorates the nine killed on June 17, 1972 when the fire-damaged hotel's floor unexpectedly collapsed.

Patrick Andrew Collins
The only bust on the mall honors Patrick Andrew Collins, who became mayor of Boston in 1902 but died suddenly in office three years later at age 61.

John Glover
The next to appear, an 1875 larger-than-life likeness of Revolutionary War soldier John Glover of Marblehead, is in the traditional bronze, the material of every other statue on the mall. Glover led a regiment largely comprised of Marblehead fishermen that braved snow and ice to help General George Washington and his army cross the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776. The heroics of Glover and his men are said to be the origin of the military term "Marine."

Alexander Hamilton
Its sculptor, Dr. William Rimmer, was known more for his medical than artistic skills. Because he did not thoroughly reinforce the figure, parts have fallen off more than once during its lifetime. It remains the only granite statue on the mall, and, according to some accounts, the first statue of that material in the country.

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDENS

Another great public spot is the Public Gardens. It is America's first public garden, a space designed by architect George Meacham in the 1850s after he won a competition. Bostonians never grow tired of the garden because it's always in transition. The old- growth willows, which droop gracefully into the pond, and the cherry trees are surrounded by an ever-changing collection of flowers and shrubbery. A bridge crosses the main pond where the famous Swan Boats provide pedal-powered transportation that takes riders once around the water.

Three interesting statues (among many) are worth noting. One celebrates the first use of ether as an anesthetic. Another is the imposing statue of George Washington -- the first statue showing him seated on a horse. But the third is the one that kids love most - and it's actually eight statues in one: the eight bronze ducklings from the famous children's book, 'Make Way for Ducklings,' which was, of course, set in the Boston Public Gardens.

As Comm Ave ends at Arlington St., you face the Public Gardens and face the statue of George Washington on his horse .

As you go around the gardens you pass the following statues:

William Ellery Channing  -A minister & founder of Harvard’s divinity school, he was a strong outspoken critic of slavery.

After turning onto Boylston Street, you will see these statues:

Charles Sumner - was a Boston lawyer and later a U.S. senator. As a lawyer, he joined Robert Morris, the nation's second black attorney, to persuasively but unsuccessfully argue before the Massachusetts chief justice for integration of Boston public schools in 1849. As a senator, Sumner was a forceful anti-slavery advocate, introducing legislation that led to both the 13th Amendment, which officially abolished slavery, and the Freedmen's Bureau

General Tadeusz Kosciuszko – This statue of this Polish Immigrant (recruited in Europe by Ben Franklin) memorializes the great accomplishments of this revolutionary war promoter of liberty and democracy, who was also a general, military strategist, engineer, and designer of the Philadelphia & West Point Military Fortifications.  He later became a Polish national hero, general and a leader of that nation's uprising (which bears his namesake) against the Russian Empire in 1794

Colonel Thomas Cass - Born in Ireland, Thomas Cass was a successful Boston businessman. When the Civil War began, Cass to formed an Irish Regiment, the 9^th Massachusetts Volunteers. Cass led the Regiment into battle, and was gravely wounded at the Battle of Malvern Hill in July 1862.

Wendell Phillips - dedicated his life to transforming American society. Phillips was Garrison's closest associate for many years. As "abolition's golden trumpet," Phillips spoke eloquently against slavery and in favor of abolition across the North. He continued to work for African American equality after the Civil War until the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which granted voting rights to African Americans.

Boston Common is a historic spot where a religious ''witch,'' Mary Dyer, was hung, where British Soldiers marched before the batlle at Lexington/Concord and later where American revolutionary soldiers practiced, cattle grazed, Vietnam War protests were held, Pope John Paul said mass, and where every year a bunch of folks show up to protest marijuana laws. In short, it's a great public spot.. One of the nation's oldest existing public parks, Boston Common encompasses nearly 50 acres and was once reserved as pasture land by Puritan settlers. In 1634, the area was also used by the military. Today, the park is a popular destination for recreational athletes, joggers, and protesters eager to dedicate themselves to a cause. During winter months, the Frog Pond is a favorite of ice skaters as well.