Cool it

Time to get knee-deep in Boston's water attractions

June 14, 2007|Ami Albernaz, Globe Correspondent

One of the best things about Boston in the summer is how easy it is to escape. Magnificent beaches are just a short ride away, and many are accessible without a car. Or you can stay in the city, where beaches, public pools, and neighborhood parks offer uniquely Boston ways to cool down. Many of these places are free, and best of all, you're less likely to hit traffic getting to them.

For the beach bums

Nantasket or Manchester-by-the-Sea they are not, but the setting of Boston's beaches renders them a unique charm. A prime example: Constitution Beach, tucked away near Orient Heights in East Boston. The walkway to the beach is quite literally -- as the man who gave me directions said -- "just past Burger King." At the end of the walkway lies a small but beautifully maintained stretch of sand that yields to blue, windswept open water. A facelift by the Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Boston Harbor Association has given the beach amenities including a picnic area, a children's playground, and tennis courts.

On a quiet weekday afternoon, a bicyclist and a couple of power-walkers made use of a short paved path, while a handful of people and far more seagulls sunbathed peacefully. Lest you lose all sense of where you are, Logan Airport's nearby landing strip brings you right back. The incoming 747s on one side and the rumbling Blue Line on the other make for as surreal a beach scene as you'll find, yet somehow, the sounds manage to blend in with the wind and the surf.

Finding the beach by car is not for the weak of will (I couldn't even find it myself on first attempt); indeed, locating a reliable address requires a bit of sleuthing (a man who works at the adjoining Porrazzo Memorial Rink said he had heard 165 Coleridge St. works in MapQuest). But the elusiveness of the beach is one of the spot's appeals. Your best bet might be to take the Blue Line to Orient Heights and look for Bennington Street. Once there, walk past the Burger King and look for the blue pedestrian overpass on the left.

Not so hidden are the beaches of South Boston, which, in the course of a short drive down William J. Day Boulevard, reveal themselves in quick succession. On a recent hazy Saturday, Carson Beach, the first in the row, was quiet and still, with just a smattering of blankets spread out on the sand and a few intrepid waders who had ventured out to their waists.

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