For information on current exhibitions visit www.icaboston.org

image originally posted by megelizabeth

If you are looking for a halloween themed Boston excursion this month, look no further than the most famous dead center of Boston town, Granary Burying Ground. This cemetary is the resting place of some very prestegiuos indivuals in US history. “Along with Massachusetts governors, mayors and clergymen, visitors will find the graves of three signers of the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine; Peter Faneuil, benefactor of the famed downtown Boston landmark; patriot and craftsman Paul Revere; James Otis, Revolutionary orator and lawyer; and five victims of the Boston Massacre. Near the center of the ground, a 25-foot-tall obelisk commemorates the tomb of Benjamin Franklin’s parents.”
The Graveyard was established in 1660 and was originally part of the Boston Common. Granary Burying Ground holds graves of approximately 5,000 people but there are only 2,345 gravestones.

The cemetary is located on Tremont Street (between Park and School Sreets)

Points of interest in Dedham include the Fairbanks House, the oldest surviving timber frame house in the United States and the new Legacy Mall.

The Fairbanks House is believed to be the oldest surviving timber frame house in North America. It was built for a family of Puritan immigrants from Yorkshire in England, Jonathan and Grace Fairebanke and their six children.  Dendrochonology (tree ring dating) has confirmed a construction date of the late 1630s-early 1640s.  The house was passed down to succeeding generations of the family until the early twentieth century. In all, eight generations of the Fairbanks family lived in the house.  Through the Fairbanks Family in America, Inc., the extended Fairbanks family still owns the property. Over the years, the original portion of the house was extended with additions as the family’s needs changed and as the fashions of the times dictated.  The current east and west wings were added in the early nineteenth century.

http://www.fairbankshouse.org

Dedham is also the only New England town where I have seen Black Squirrels. They are camera shy but one day I will capture one on camera and post a picture here.

In 1898 Isabella Stewart Gardner purchased a plot of land in the Fenway on which to build a Museum to house her growing art collection. She worked closely with the architect and builders to achieve the effect she sought for the presence of the space. Gardner disliked the cold, mausoleum-like spaces of most American museums of the period. She designed Fenway Court to have a unique warm feel, almost a home like setting, and she did in fact live in the space on the 4th floor for many years.  The museum is built around a central courtyard filled with flowers. Light enters the galleries from the courtyard and from exterior windows, creating an atmospheric setting for works of art.

“Love of art, not knowledge about the history of art, was her aim. Her friends noted that the entire museum was a work of art in itself. Individual objects became part of a rich, complex and intensely personal setting.” (gardnermuseum.org)

Isabella Stewart Gardner began collecting Dutch and Italian pictures in the 1890s. Her collection includes Botticelli’s Lucretia, Titian’s Europa, Vermeer’s The Concert and Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait.

The museum was the victim of the largest art heist in world history. In 1990 two men dressed as Boston police officers conned their way into the museum and stole a Rembrandt, Vermeer, Degas, and Manet, now valued at $500 million. Here is a recent article from the Boson Globe about the theft >

This is one of my favorite museums in the city. Highly Recommended!

One of my favorite walks in Boston is along the Charles river.
You can start at the Mass Ave bridge, where there is a ramp down to the riverbank sidewalk. On a beautiful summer day this parkway is bustling with pedestrians, rollerbladers, fisherman and ducks. Sailboats fill the river. Here is an informative website about the charles http://www.crwa.org/

Welcome to our home. Relax with your family or friends in our home set in a lovely yet convenient family neighborhood of historic Dedham, a charming and affordable alternative to the high prices of Boston Hotels.

Ideal for a family or friends traveling together. Full private use of main floor.

Full use of the kitchen. Help yourself to breakfast,  food and drink supplied,  or I will cook breakfast for you and your family.