ROGER WILLIAMS NATIONAL MEMORIAL

Providence, RI
NPS Website



WHAT IS IT?
A one room Visitor Center/Museum located on 4½ acres of landscaped park near the center of Providence, R.I. dedicated to Rhode Island founder Roger Williams and his legacy of religious tolerance.

BEAUTY (2/10)
Neither the narrow blink-and-you’ll-miss-it city park nor the nondescript Visitor Center is anything to write home about. The park does afford a side view of the imposing white marble Rhode Island State Capitol and some shaded patches of lawn should local college greens get too crowded.

The regal Roger Williams Memorial statue stands in Prospect Terrace Park, two blocks east of the NPS site and directly uphill (drive here). Confusingly named, the statue is not a part of the National Park Site. No matter. The statue's high perch offers wide vistas of Providence. From here, Roger Williams still looks over his city and on clear days can probably view his entire state.

HISTORICAL INTEREST (6/10)
Roger Williams was a dogged dissenter and itinerant Seeker of religious enlightenment through God's truth. Naturally, he first angered the Church of England, whom he believed was too Catholic, and later alienated his own Massachusetts Puritans whom he deemed had not done enough to separate the church from the state.

Williams peaceably, if not hurriedly, left England in 1630 and was banished from Massachusetts in 1635 because of his troublesome beliefs and stubborn opinions. Williams, after receiving land from the Narragansett Indians, soon started the colony of Rhode Island as a respite for varying religious beliefs. A place where laws would be made “only in civill things”.

Williams' legacy of religious tolerance legally mandated through the separation of church and state would become a pillar in the creation of an American consciousness and would be made National law by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

What the current Park Site location has to do with this vitally important history is anybody's guess. Park literature say it is “a common lot of the original settlement” and goes no further. Doesn't all of Providence meet this requirement?

CROWDS (5/10)
Nobody else was inside the Lilliputian Visitor Center. A good thing. The Park, wedged between two busy cross-town Providence streets, is no welcoming expanse.

The few people that we encountered at Prospect Terrace Park did not have Roger Williams and tolerance on their minds. We overheard them discussing how no one should be let in the country if they don't speak English. What would Roger have thought about such exclusionary words spoken just yards from where he founded his colony on the principle of “shelter for persons distressed of conscience?”

EASE OF USE/ACCESS (3/5)
The largely one-way Providence streets can be a little confusing, especially when they skirt the prohibitively steep College Hill. North Main Street runs one-way northward, Canal Street runs one-way southward and Roger Williams NMEM is in between. Just past the Park's northern tip, these two roads converge and diverge, spawn new names, reverse one-way course and defy explanation.

Park literature says take Interstate Exit 23 and follows with a whole bunch of quick turns. We say visually find the Rhode Island State Capitol building. Find the road that goes in front of it: Smith Street. Drive past the Capitol (it will be on your right); turn right onto Canal Street then make a quick left into the small, free parking lot in front of the Visitor Center. There is no parking lot access from North Main Street.

The Visitor Center is accessible to individuals with disabilities. It is not that large so Rangers often travel out to schools or other interested groups to make their presentations.

CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (3/5)
The bookstore offered a nice selection of pen-and-ink and photographed postcards of Providence. The book choice was appeasingly esoteric and included a number of Roger Williams' original texts including Bloudy Tenent and A Key into the Language of America. We were intrigued by the award-winning The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity and Good Wives: Image and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750. We did not buy them, but we were intrigued.

COSTS (4/5)
Free, free, free, free, free.

RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (3/5)
A very friendly Ranger gave us her undivided attention during our 2004 visit. When we returned in 2006, an aloof volunteer had taken the Ranger's place.

TOURS/CLASSES (3/10)
Indoor size constraints allow only for wall-based exhibits panels. The first details Roger Williams’ wayward and influential life: from his birth in England to religious banishment from Massachusetts to his founding of Providence. The exhibit's detail is superficial at best. Read the surprisingly in-depth Park brochure for more info. Better yet, if you stroll down Main Street, you will see a mélange of multi-denominational places of worship and understand Williams’ influence on this fair city.

The other VC exhibit showcases Williams' legacy: the idea and the actualization of religious freedom. Time lines highlight progress and setbacks in American religious tolerance. Panels examine issues like the Constitutional separation of church and state whose importance and immediacy still resonate.

It is a shame that Freedom of Religion via the legal separation of church and state, a crucial, vital and often confusing American idea, gets so little space in the National Park System. Even more troubling was the darkness in the exhibit room during our 2006 visit. The volunteer turned out all the lights “too keep it cooler in here,” thus dimming the displays to almost unreadable. Is there no more light to shed on this subject?

FUN (2/10)
There is nothing to do at Roger Williams NMEM. The Site is a city park. The Park could offer a walking tour that spanned Roger Williams-related sites or point the visitor to historic churches and early settlements. The Park brochure mentions a few sites but contains no map. As it stands, the visitor is left to their own rudderless accord in a sea of Providence confusion. And PS, modern day Rhode Islanders aren’t known for their charm with visitors.

WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (3/10)
Where does Roger Williams NMEM rank among must-see Providence tourist destinations? Not so high. Use the Site’s green space to catch your breath after a climb up to College Hill to see Gab’s alma mater Brown University or the Rhode Island School of Design. Brown’s college green is idyllic and is encircled by lecture halls and buildings designed in every major architectural style. The RISD Museum with its collection of French Impressionist paintings, Greek and Roman sculptures and popular exhibits of contemporary art is particularly noteworthy.

Brown and RISD are among several schools that find their home in tiny Providence, along with countless meeting houses and places of worship whose congregations have been using them for hundreds of years. Federal Hill hosts dozens of Italian eateries and shops. The neighborhoods of Fox Point and East Providence hold on to their Portuguese and Cape Verdean roots. Providence packs in a lot of history and diversity in a small space. Rather than exemplify and celebrate this city trait, Roger Williams NMEM gets lost in the crowd.


TOTAL 34/80

www.usa-c2c.com
© 2004--06

NEW BEDFORD WHALING NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

New Bedford, Mass.
NPS Website; Local Website; New Bedford Whaling Museum Website


WHAT IS IT?
13 block of New Bedford's cobblestone streets, restored 19th Century buildings and active port and harbor. The Site honors the town's storied whaling industry history through affiliations with private Museums, businesses and churches.

BEAUTY (4/10)
The Park's few square blocks contain quaint, sturdy New England-ish buildings, two imposing neo-classical designs, the U.S. Custom House and the Double Bank Building, and a busy stretch of working harbor. The cobblestone streets, whose bumpiness ably keeps out through traffic, are lined with floral arrangements and surprisingly large front lawns.

The Park's two most astounding sights are inside the Whaling Museum. A 66-foot long blue whale skeleton hangs in the Museum's courtyard and the world's largest ship model, a 1/3-scale replica of a whaling ship is sequestered in the Museum's second floor. If you wish to view the ship, you need to pay the Museum's entry fee; gasping at the skeleton, on the other hand, costs nothing.

HISTORICAL INTEREST (4/10)
The Park's brochure hails New Bedford as the “Whaling Capital of the World”. Nantucket Island might dispute this statement. Nonetheless, we are glad the National Park Service located its whaling history Site here and not a seasonal ferry boat ride away. New Bedford's lasting whale legacy owes equally to the 100-year old New Bedford Whaling Museum (affiliated with the Park) and Herman Melville's Moby Dick, whose opening 13 chapters are set in these very streets.


CROWDS (8/10)
New Bedford residents are so shocked to see tourists in their industrial town that they react with effusive and inquisitive kindness. In 2004, two separate strangers approached us offering suggestions on where to eat and where to go.

In 2006, an incredulous boat captain, just back from a long commercial fishing haul, wondered why we would choose to vacation here at a working waterfront. “Are you guys from the local paper,” he wondered. After we said no, he explained his job and the role of the commercial fisherman for about ten minutes. We could not have asked for a better lesson. He is the modern-day equivalent of the New Bedford whaler that the Park honors.

Regardless, he was still unsure as to why we were here. Our explanations were insufficient. We were not the only ones. His “When I'm done working, I try to get out of here as soon as possible” comment was betrayed by the two cases of beer he was carrying to his boat as well as the impatient, thirsty faces of his deck hands.

EASE OF USE/ACCESS (3/5)
Head for downtown New Bedford. Take Interstate 195 Exit 15 and head south for about one mile along Massachusetts Route 18. Turn right at Elm Street and then left into the cobblestone streets. The Park suggests the Elm Street Parking garage. We do not because the Park offers no validation. There is, however, free two-hour parking located on Bethel Street/Johnny Cake Hill next to the Whaling Museum. Park there. If spots are limited, street parking is only $0.25 per hour. Skip the garage.

The Park's accessibility is severely hampered by the fact that many of its buildings are privately run and not open to the public. Since there are so many establishments (private, fee and free) that fall under the New Bedford Whaling NHP umbrella, it is difficult to ascertain both which ones you should be looking at and what exactly you should do. The Park's multiple maps and brochures help focus your visit but also overwhelm.

Our suggestion is to begin your visit at the Park Visitor Center located at the corner of Second and William. Pick up the Herman Melville New Bedford walking tour brochure, wander the streets with that guide and then spend the remainder of your stay at the Whaling Museum.


CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (5/5)
While the Park VC may stock a manageable array of gifts (we love the Melville dolls) skip it and head straight to the Whaling Museum for your shopping needs. Don't worry about fees, you do not need to buy a Museum ticket to enter its bookstore.

Wow, what a selection. The stores sells over ten different editions of Moby Dick. We prefer the Norton Critical Edition. And that's just the start of the whale tales; the store's total nautical yarns might break four digits. If your looking for a more tangible whaling memory, there is gorgeous carved scrimshaw and other intricately adorned leviathan likenesses.

COSTS (1/5)
New Bedford Whaling NHP's marquee stop is the Whaling Museum, located on Johnny Cake Hill. It costs $10 per person, no National Parks Pass discount, although AAA will help a bit. The Museum existed for 90 years before the National Park Service arrived in 1996. We do not like paying for museums, living in Washington DC spoiled Michael, but there is no point in coming to New Bedford if you skip the Whaling Museum.

Across the street from the Museum is Seamen's Bethel Church, the town's other can't miss attraction. Moby Dick's portentous “Jonah and the whale” sermon occurred here. Non-readers will notice that the church's pulpit is the same one used by Orson Welles in the cinematic retelling of Melville's classic.

RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (1/5)
Two trips to New Bedford, zero Rangers seen. We twice waited patiently for the 10:30 am Ranger-led walking tour but no one showed up either time.

TOURS/CLASSES (4/10)
The Site does not hurt for educational options. You might need an extra bag to carry all of the Park's provided literature. There are modest exhibits at its two Visitor Centers, three themed walking trail brochures (Herman Melville's New Bedford; the Underground Railroad; and the Working Waterfront Dock Walk) and a free 20-minute movie shown in the Whaling Museum's ornate theater.

All these options are free albeit in-depth, a little dry and attention intensive. The Whaling Museum, while not free and not NPS run, is spectacular.

FUN (7/10)
Moby Dick is Michael’s favorite novel. The book starts out in New Bedford. The first few times he read it, he was eager to get through the first few chapters, out of the city, onto the sea and into adventure. After our first visit, this is how we felt about New Bedford Whaling NHP.

During Michael's last reading of Moby Dick, while we were camping in the solitude of Channel Islands NP, he paid closer attention to the book's opening chapters. Pages that had been an annoying means to an eventual end this time emitted wry humor that was part satire part ribald slapstick. The book's early pages now teemed with rewarding moments. Michael was still ready to search for the white whale but he appreciated the goofy charm of an underappreciated town.

WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (3/10)
Was Melville right when he told visitors to believe that New Bedford has more to offer than “harpooners, cannibals and bumpkins?” Yes, it has a Whaling Museum. Er...that's fits the harpooners category. On the plus side, we saw neither cannibals nor bumpkins.

If whaling history and Melville are your thing, you have probably already been to New Bedford. We cannot come up with a good reason for a neophyte whaling enthusiast or somebody without anti-transcendentalist interests to come here. The cobblestone streets and historic buildings are similar to many other New England coastal towns and no whale watching excursions leave from this port.

TOTAL 40/80

www.usa-c2c.com
© 2004-06

ADAMS NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK

Quincy, Mass.
NPS Website

WHAT IS IT?
Birthplace and final resting place of both the 2nd and 6th Presidents, John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams. The Site also includes the Old House, home of both Adamses, fully furnished with artwork, books and furniture all owned by some generation of that venerable Quincy family.

BEAUTY (6/10)
The exteriors of Presidents 2 and 6's homes lack the panache and grandeur of their Commander-in-Chief contemporaries'. The Old House is no ostentatious Southern neo-classical plantation mansion. Its gems are inside and not on public display for every horse-drawn (or horse-powered) passerby.

Inside are 78,000 original Adams artifacts arranged for display by John Quincy's grandsons. The tasteful and subdued colors, furniture and artwork speak of a quiet confidence and contained dignity. The house's mood is comfortable and liveable, seemingly unchanged for 200 years. The Old House does not feel like a museum; if John, John Quincy, Abigail, Louisa Catherine or Charles Francis were to magically appear they would not be existentially displaced.

HISTORICAL INTEREST (8/10)
The Adamses are America's most distinguished and most accomplished family. The gravity of the titles held by the Old House's residents would sink the Titanic. US President; US Vice President; US VP Candidate; US Senator; US Congressman; Secretary of State; Ambassador to Great Britain, France, Prussia and Russia; the list just goes on. Nearly every important incident in our country's first 75 years involved someone who lived here.

The home's artifacts are equally astounding. For example, tucked in an unassuming corner in the Old House's first floor is an original 1823 William Stone engraving of the Declaration of Independence. Stone's engraving is the basis for most modern reproductions because of the 1776 copies poor transfer. An 1823 Declaration is America's most treasured and valuable antique; less than forty of the 201 prints are known to be in existence.

Our Ranger assured us that the document on display was one of the prized remaining copies. And why shouldn't it be? As President, John Quincy Adams commissioned the engraving. His father and not Thomas Jefferson, some historian's argue, is the document's primary author. The desk where John Adams may have written the Declaration (and surely wrote his famed correspondences to Jefferson) is upstairs. The Old House lives and breathes the same rarefied American history air as Mount Vernon and Monticello.

CROWDS (5/10)
The narrow corridors and low ceilings of all three Adams abodes felt cramped with just us and a Ranger. A crowded tour could be oppressively claustrophobic. The space limitations and lack of parking around the homes necessitates a Park trolley bus. The mandatory shuttle further constrains your time and enjoyment. We felt rushed during our whole visit.

EASE OF USE/ACCESS (2/5)
After our miserable showing direction-wise in Quincy, we have no business giving you directions. We could blame the streets which seldom meet a right angles or connect with other. We could blame the Adams NHP map which aligns the direction coordinates wrong (North faces leftward). Or we could blame the glut of Dunkin' Donuts which skewed our landmark references (the Dunk started here). Or we could blame ourselves, meaning Gab, the navigator.

Here's what worked. We exited from Interstate 93 onto Massachusetts Route 3 and went towards Quincy Center. Look closely for Adams NHP signs, follow them with care and may the force be with you. The Visitor Center (VC) is located on Hancock Street on the first floor of a commercial complex. There is validated parking in the adjunct garage. You could also take the Boston T (the subway) red line to the Quincy Center Station.

Luckily, a Park trolley takes visitors from the VC to two different stops: the Birthplace Houses and the Old House. Unluckily, the trolly's wheelchair lift was out of service and a fellow tourist and his family were left searching for transportation options. Much of the Old House, including the entire second floor, is wheelchair inaccessible; an unfortunate but unfixable shame.

The Adams NHP is closed for house tours during the long New England winter months of November, December, January, February, March and most of April. We missed its 2004 Patriot's Day opening and had to return in 2006 to visit the Site.

CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (5/5)
The Adams NHP bookstore contains a wealth of wonderful texts, not just David McCullough's recent Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller, John Adams. An entire stack is dedicated to John-Abigail correspondences as well as the voluminous (and long out-of-print) Diary of Charles Francis Adams, on sale at amazon.com for $125 a pop. We wished we would have checked the Adams NHP prices.

The bookstore's gems don't stop with those Diaries. We arrived to the salesperson shelving the racks with two boxes of rare and out-of-print Adams sagas. “We'll go through all of these in a few days,” he assured us. We will quibble about the absence of the masterpiece, The Education of Henry Adams, the Modern Library's best non-fiction book of the 20th Century (He lived here, too) but on the whole the standards and rarities sold here are too good and too numerous.

COSTS (3/5)
Park entry and shuttle service to the Adams home costs $5 per person but it free with the National Parks Pass. If you park in the Visitors Center's adjacent parking garage be sure to validate your parking. One Ranger-administered stamp and your parking is free.

RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (5/5)
While there, we had trouble keeping track of all the Rangers. Let's try and remember. We saw two at the VC, two at the Birthplace Tour and three at the Old House. No repeaters either.

TOURS/CLASSES (8/10)
The Adams NHP Tour's order and lesson arrangement are perfect. First come the John Adams and John Quincy Adams birthplaces. Inside a Ranger offers a refresher course on the Presidents, speaks of their childhood, reintroduces day-to-day Colonial-era items and whisks you off onto the trolley for the main course, the Old House.

The Old House tour picks up where the Birthplace Tour started but continues wherever you wish to take it. The Guide gauged our level of interest and proceeded to share a wealth of in-depth Adams knowledge. There is so much to see in the Old House and what the Guide chooses to show is based on the visitors' interests. Our learning experience was overwhelming and much too short despite the two-hour length.

Like Thomas Jefferson's Monticello home, there is too much to see and too little time inside the Old House. We probably should have asked for a second tour; we are sure we would have seen completely different things.

FUN (8/10)
The Adams NHP House Tours were wonderfully engaging and full of historic surprises. The original Adams artifacts alone were worth the price of admission. We were taken aback by the value and worth of what we were seeing; perhaps it was because we had just watched an Antiques Roadshow marathon. Regardless, our highlight of the tours was the 12,000+ volume library that Quincy's grandchildren built to store their ancestors' impressive collection.

Make sure that there is enough time between your Old House tour and trolley pick-up time to ensure a look inside the Library. This can be tricky. We unnecessarily rushed ourselves because of the waiting trolley. But had we missed that ride, it would have been at least 30 minutes until the next.

WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (8/10)
The blustery talkers and historical agents from Boston and Cambridge have staked their claim as the center of Massachusetts and, dare we say, American life and accomplishments. The facts show that the rural Adamses of Quincy were the lifeblood of Massachusetts politics. John Adams' diffident nature has unfairly kept him out of the founding fathers pantheon of Washington, Jefferson and Franklin. John Quincy's often icy and irrational behavior has kept him off nearly everybody's beloved Presidents list.

Do not make the mistake of ignoring the Adamses. The Adams NHP offers one of New England's best and most historically significant house tours. You should visit this Site especially if your (Michael's sister) in-laws live just a few miles away in Holbrook, Mass.

TOTAL 58/80

www.usa-c2c.com
© 2004-06

BOSTON HARBOR ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK AREA

Boston, Mass.
NPS Website; Local Website

WHAT IS IT?
34 islands of various shape, size, origin, accessibility, population and history that dot the Boston’s wide G-shaped harbor.

BEAUTY (5/10)
Boston Harbor is more utilitarian than beautiful. Industry takes precedence both on the water and along the shores. A mild, unfiltered haze hangs over the city even on the clearest and sunniest days. The most accessible islands, Georges and Spectacle, are situated too far from the city skyline to produce awe-inspiring views. In addition, Georges' Fort Warren is in mild disrepair and Spectacle has a long history as a trash dump.

No matter, it is still nice to be out on the water and away from the city's hustle and bustle. The most stunning views on the Boston Harbor Islands tour come early so be alert. When you leave the docks, Boston's surprisingly imposing downtown skyline appears. It looms far more impressively from the water than from land. The cruise also offers the opportunity to spot Boston's famous church steeples. Is that one lamp or two?

HISTORICAL INTEREST (3/10)
History has largely ignored the Boston Harbor Islands but humans have not. Man has hunted, farmed, built on, trashed and, most recently, set aside the land for recreational purposes.

Georges Island's main attraction is Fort Warren, an early 19th Century coastal defense fortification. The Fort never saw a naval attack but it did serve as a Civil War prison camp for Southern VIP detainees. Many of the Islands contain modern civilization's necessities: Little Brewster Island boasts the requisite charming lighthouse; Deer Island has a water treatment plant; and Thompson Island is an Outward Bound-administered destination.

Spectacle Island's twin peaks, the North and South Drumlins, have grown over 60 feet in height in just 15 years. Its hills' newfound augmentation comes as the result of the much derided Boston boondoggle, the Big Dig. This Island was the dumping ground for all the dirt unearthed during the infamous tunneling project.

CROWDS (9/10)
The Boston Harbor Islands are primarily a locals' destination, an excursion unknown to most tourists. The people on Georges and Spectacle Islands had been there before and were excited to return. We toured the Islands on a Sunday. On Georges, large groups staked their claim on the BBQ grills. Spontaneous soccer games started. Wafts of good smells hung in the air. In every directions, kids ran around in circles, screaming with joy trying to catch elusive sea gulls. To hundreds of people, Georges Island was their private weekend fun getaway.

EASE OF USE/ACCESS (1/5)
Unless you have your own boat, you will need use the Harbor Islands Express ferries to get to most of the Park's attractions. Direct ferries leave often from Boston's Long Wharf to both Georges Island and Spectacle Island. Long Wharf is located downtown at the Boston T (subway) Blue Line Aquarium Station.

Island hopping ferries travel to and from Georges and Spectacle Islands. Check the schedule once you get there. If you wish to avoid the city altogether, less frequent ferries leave from Quincy, Mass. to Georges Island daily.

World's End Park, located in the southeastern corner of the harbor, near Hingham, is not even an island and is completely accessible by car. The 274-acre peninsula is a Frederick Law Olmsted landscaped park and has miles of carriage trails.

CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (2/5)
Georges Island's status as a locals destination is reinforced by its lack of a Visitor Center and knick-knack vending bookstore. The tourists here are not interested in Boston reminders, they already live here. The only thing you can buy on Georges is food. Grillers flip hamburgers vigilantly while the fryers stay busy. French fries, steak kabobs and fried dough are not your standard National Park Site fare.

COSTS (1/5)
On weekends, a round-trip ferry ticket (with unlimited island hopping) runs $12 per adult, $7 per child. A family 4-pack (2 adults and 2 kids) costs $32. These prices are not bad, considering a) its a lot cheaper than carting the family to the beach; b) you can take the T to the pier; and c) transport means a Harbor cruise with beautiful views of Boston.

Primitive backcountry camping is available on a few of the more remote islands. Cost per site is $10. If you wish to ensure your spot through online reservation, there is an exorbitant $9.50 transaction charge.

RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (4/5)
The National Park Service (NPS) has no museum or exhibits on any of the Harbor Islands probably because they do not administer any of the Islands. Confusingly, the Park is a National Park Site. NPS Rangers answer questions at the Pier prior to boarding but we saw none on any of the Islands. An 90-minute long $18.95 per person Ranger-led catamaran cruise leaves three times a day during the summer months.

The Islands themselves are full of State Park Rangers and volunteers. If you have questions, they won't go unanswered.

TOURS/CLASSES (6/10)
During our weekend stop, both Spectacle and Georges Island were veritable tour machines. Fort tours, birdwatching tours and island history tours led by very young volunteers seemed to be going on in all directions.

We lucked into a New England Aquarium Kids Day going on in Fort Warren's unmowed and slowly-going-back-to-nature parade ground. The exhibit brought many of the Aquarium's live animals to the Island. Michael was transfixed by a gorgeous, inquisitive and playful Raven while most of the crowd gravitated to the shellfish and owls.

An interactive State Park-run display room on Spectacle Island recounts its turbulent past as the city's dumping ground and transformation into a wildlife zone. The area between Spectacle's two Drumlins (hills) was reclaimed from the harbor in 1902 and used as a trash heap until 1959. Some accounts say the dumping ceased because the festering trash swallowed a bulldozer. Other accounts say that the underground fires, sparked by the dangerously contained methane gases, had made the situation too dangerous. Today, Spectacle is a much more attractive destination with its gentle hiking trails, countless birds and harbor views.

FUN (8/10)
Fort Warren screams fun. Literally. Its dilapidated interiors are the perfect place for amateur explorers. Children and adults armed only with sputtering flashlights wander its pitch black corridors imagining ghost tales and filling themselves with healthy fear. Their shrieks echo uncontrollably until they emerge from the dark. No other Fort in the National Park System is so dishevelled, so non-OSHA compliant, so ignored and so much fun.

WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (4/10)
The Islands are more of a fun, weekend getaway for city denizens than an out-of-town tourist destination. The trip here is more for relaxation than tourism and if your vacation is about relaxation then why would you be in Boston?

The ferry rides to and from the Islands guarantee your visit will gobble up much of the day. The Park warns against camping on the Islands and spending the day in Boston; the ferry schedule makes that cost-saving strategy difficult. If you absolutely must get out onto the Harbor, the 90-minute Ranger-led catamaran cruise sounds like fun. Call ahead for reservations and enjoy what the Park calls “Boston's best kept secret.”

TOTAL 43/80

www.usa-c2c.com
© 2004-06

JOHN F. KENNEDY LIBRARY & MUSEUM

Boston, Mass.
Local Website

WHAT IS IT?
The Presidential Library and Museum of our 35th President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

BEAUTY (7/10)
I.M. Pei's modernist design recalls a historical path that never occurred. His angular white towering structure feels like the space-age, clean, civilized future we imagined would come but never did. The building is anachronistic and progressive at the same time. Like Kennedy, it leaves you with a feeling of “what went wrong”, where did the chaos and uncertainty come from. Weren't we in complete control of our perfect destiny?

The Museum's interior layout casually takes you through the past with style, an ordered past and without confusion. You always know where to go and those places fill you with reassurance. The black-walled corridor adorned only with the date, November 22, 1963 empties into another, larger corridor that shows the achievements of JFK's initiatives, other Kennedy members, and JFK's political heirs.

The final room is a 155-foot tall glass-enclosed pavilion which looks out onto the Harbor and the Boston skyline. Above a gargantuan American flag hangs. The tower speaks of lofty dreams which are belied by the oppressive, criss-crossed girders which even, 155 feet above the ground, limit any further soaring.

HISTORICAL INTEREST (6/10)
The Museum does a terrific job of explaining and evoking Camelot, the romance of a young, charming and handsome President and in the promise that hope brought a modern nation.

CROWDS (7/10)
The memory of JFK and his mythic life still hold powerful sway in New England. The 43 years that have passed since his assassination are reduced to none once you step into his Library. The crowds' lingering love for Kennedy makes the Museum a very emotional, somber and hero-affirming place.

EASE OF USE/ACCESS (5/5)
The JFK Library and Museum is located just off Interstate 93 on the campus of Umass-Boston, about five miles south of downtown Boston. Take either Exit 15 (from the North) or Exit 14 (from the South) onto Morrissey Boulevard. Follow the signs, they are abundant, to the Museum. Parking is free.

From the T (the Boston subway), take the red line to the aptly titled JFK/UMass station. A frequent shuttle ferries museum mavens from the stop to the Library.

CONCESSIONS/BOOKSTORE (2/5)
A first glance at the bookstore reveals classy souvenirs and a slew of books. Further perusals confirm the ritzy knick-knack part: Robert Berks casted JFK busts, stylish Jackie O accessories, sailboat miniatures and lots of scrimshaw. We bought a wonderful large Irish-made teapot for Michael's parents. It is very hard to find nice large teapots.

A second glance proved the book part lacking. 90% of the books are written by a Kennedy family member (or ghostwritten by Ted Sorensen). It is easy to imagine that their books take up two shelves given the Kennedy family's prodigious writing output. What does this have to do with the historical research done at the Library and analysis of JFK's Presidency? Nothing at all.
We have been largely disappointed at the lack of critical books stocked at most modern-day Presidential Libraries: Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Kennedy. Why not stock everything written about the men?

Even more disappointing was the lack of Ernest Hemingway books. Yes, Hemingway. The Kennedy Library manages the entire collection of Hemingway's manuscripts, letters and correspondences. Why no Hemingway rarities for sale and why no Hemingway exhibits in the Museum?

COSTS (1/5)
Entry is $10 per person, making it the second most expensive Presidential Library. The Reagan Library in Simi Valley has undergone a dramatic price hike to $12 per from our $7 visit in May of 2005. Most Presidential Libraries run about $7 per person and also hold significant AAA discount potential.

RANGER/GUIDE TO TOURIST RATIO (1/5)
No one. This tour is fully self-guided.

TOURS/CLASSES (6/10)
The early Kennedy imagery (the Nixon debate and the Inauguration speech) is so ubiquitous, so canonized and so familiar that witnessing them play out on Hi-Def televisions in Disney-esque set-pieces seems natural and immediately acceptable. We were not born until 1974 but it still feels like we were there when these events happened.

Once JFK is elected, the Museum's chronological layout switches from a jumbled walkway surrounding exhibits to a long corridor with topical antechambers. It is with the less familiar material that JFK's aura and lasting sway over the American people becomes clearer. One exhibit space recreates the White House briefing room where a full JFK press conference is replayed on a small 60's cabinet monitor. The literary brilliance of his staff reports and personal correspondences line the walls.

Kennedy's press conference performance is so natural, so charming, so intelligent, so witty, so suave and so confident. He is a polished level-headed representation of our grown-up USA, he is class, he is the promise of a modern, perfect world.

Promise, however, is what the Museum must lean on. Kennedy's accomplishments are beginnings, thoughts, inspirations and legacies. His actions sometimes contradict the mythology and the Museum largely ignores the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the beginnings of Vietnam, the personal peccadilloes and the lack of Civil Rights legislation. The Museum is about the Kennedy dream and romance rather than the Kennedy reality; it is debatable which holds more meaning.

FUN (7/10)
We enjoyed being transported back in time through I.M. Pei's alternate universe spaceship. Back to a time of heroes and legends and of hope and dreams. Back to a time when greatness was the goal, when the future was a part of the plan and when fear was forgotten and dreams were met without cynicism. It felt good to be a part of that world. Knowing that historically it quickly ended and perhaps never even existed was heartbreaking.

WOULD WE RECOMMEND? (7/10)
Jack Kennedy is as Boston as baked beans, Jerry Remy and Faneuil Hall. If you visit Boston, you should travel to the JFK Presidential Library. It is a perfect commemoration of his time as President, especially in remembering the mythology and charm that wooed hundreds of millions of people the world over. Camelot still lives at UMass-Boston.

TOTAL 49/80

www.usa-c2c.com
© 2004-06