This post is based on my visit to Boston in May/June 2023.

For my birthday this year (2023), I went on a relaxing getaway to Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine! It was my first time in Portland, but my second time visiting Boston.

Although it’s been 25 years since my first trip to Boston, the city seemed oddly familiar to me, but new at the same time!

Boston: Then (1998)

I went to Boston for the first time in 1998 to attend a professional development conference. The schedule was packed with a balanced mix of business and pleasure, which I thoroughly enjoyed. After all, there’s so much to see and do in the historic city!

For example, I got to see the Boston skyline from the observation deck of the John Hancock Tower. (It’s now called 200 Clarendon Street and sadly, the observation deck closed after 9/11.)

One of the perks of the conference was a complimentary ticket for the Boston Duck Tour! In the amphibious tank vehicle, we drove through the city streets and then into the Charles River and then back on land.

One fancy reception was held at the Fogg Museum, the largest of three museums that make up the Harvard Art Museums. After the conference adjourned, a friendly museum guide (and Boston native) I’d met there gave me a personal tour of the Paul Revere House, Old North Church, and the New England Aquarium!

Boston: Now (2023)

No more tokens! Gone are the days of using fare tokens to ride the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) subway, or “the T” for short. The tokens have been replaced by the reloadable, contactless smart cards called the CharlieCard. In 1998, fare for one ride was $0.85. These days, a ride on “the T” costs $2.40!

New landmarks! During my first visit to Boston, I recall seeing giant mounds of dirt and cement, as well as bulldozers and forklifts all around town. Boston was in the midst of the Big Dig, a major construction project that took place from 1991 to 2006.

One new (to me) landmark is the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge. It connects Boston with Charlestown and was built as part of the Big Dig project. The 10-lane bridge over the Charles River replaced a double-deck, six-lane bridge that was demolished in 2004. Zakim Bridge is the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world!

view from North Station: Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge

Another new (to me) landmark that was also constructed during the Big Dig is the Rose Kennedy Greenway, or simply, “The Greenway.” It’s a public park that connects some of Boston’s neighborhoods and connects the city with the waterfront.

Rings Fountain at the Rose Kennedy Greenway (with One and Two International Place towers in the center of the photo)

New fees! It used to be free to enter the Old North Church, but the person in the ticket booth informed me that they had to start charging $5 after the pandemic. I must say, it’s worth every cent to experience sitting in the unusual box pews!

Old North Church sign: “The signal lanterns of Paul Revere displayed in the steeple of this church April 18, 1775 warned the country of the march of the British troops to Lexington and Concord.”
Old North Church: the plaque says President Theodore Roosevelt sat in box pew number 25 in 1912

I happened to arrive in Boston on the Memorial Day holiday (May 29, 2023) and I was lucky to catch the Garden of Flags tribute at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Boston Common. Each of the 37,000 flags planted by the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund represents every brave Massachusetts service member who gave their life defending the country since the Revolutionary War (1775-1783).

Garden of Flags at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Boston Common (2023)
A few days later, the 37,000 flags were gone (but they’ll return next Memorial Day)

New art! In 2022, a bronze sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas and MASS Design group was installed at Boston Common. “The Embrace” commemorates the love and leadership of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, who met in Boston in 1952.

“The Embrace” sculpture
“The Embrace” sculpture

Of course, so much has changed in Boston since my first visit. Change is good, but when you see something good that has stayed the same, it provides a sense of heartwarming comfort. For example:

  • Mike’s Pastry (North End location on 300 Hanover Street) still had long lines for their famous cannoli and Italian confections! Their cannoli are huge – almost like a hot dog in a bun! Each one is big enough to split with a friend, but they’re such a perfect combination of crispy shell/creamy filling that you may not want to share (and who could blame you?)
Mike’s Pastry – North End location
menu on the tiled walls of Mike’s Pastry
  • The Atlantic harbor seals in their 42,000-gallon tank outside the New England Aquarium still welcome visitors and provide a sneak peek of what’s inside the aquarium:

While planning a trip (to another place) a few years ago, a Google search suggested hotels, bed-and-breakfasts, and youth hostels.

I’ve stayed in hostels before and even volunteered at one in my hometown of San Francisco. But accommodations in hostels are spartan and community-centered and I have grown to appreciate the perks of lodgings with a few more amenities and more privacy.

Over the years, I’d learned that hostels have been modified to keep up with the changing times (USB charging ports and water bottle refill stations, anyone?)

Still, it caused me to ponder something I wrote about in a previous post: “Am I too old to stay in a youth hostel?” The only way I’d know for sure was to stay in a hostel again, so that’s exactly what I did! I booked the same hostel in Boston I stayed in all those years ago! Talk about staying the same!

More on my hostel experiences in Boston “then and now”: Visiting Boston: Staying at the HI Boston Hostel (Again)

[Updated June 22, 2023]