Boston City Limit » Fun for Kids

Boston Common Fun: Ice Skating & Hot Chocolate at the Frog Pond

Chrissie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:20:16 +0000

The Frog Pond is open for the season. Sharpen those skates, or rent some! A hopping spot for ice-skating is the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. Although dependent on the weather, Frog Pond has its own ice-making system. It also offers skate rentals and hot cocoa at the Pond Cottage.

This year the Frog Pond introduces freestyle skating on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for $12 a session. Don’t forget to bring your own skates, because there are no rentals during that time.

Season Passes
Individual season passes are available for $100, family passes are $150, and a lunchtime pass good Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (holidays excluded), is available for $60.

Mass Transit:
Park Street Station on the Red and Green Lines.

The prime location of Frog Pond makes it easy to squeeze in just an hour or so of ice skating. Why not go skating while waiting for a movie at the Boston Common Loews Theater? Or go skating to relax after a crazy day of shopping in the nearby Downtown Crossing. And for the hopeless romantics out there, go skating under the starlit sky and finish it off with a stroll in the park.

For more information, call (617) 635-2121.

For more on Boston Common (click!)

Union Oyster House

Chrissie — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:26:23 +0000

Union Oyster House, 41 Union Street, (617) 227-2750, www.unionoysterhouse.com, is around the corner from Faneuil Hall. Yes, it’s old (open 1826, it bills itself as the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the nation), and very touristy. But kids can visit the Freedom Trail room to spot the carvings and displays of the main stops on the trail and chow down on a fish filet sandwich ($7.95) or hot dog ($4.95), while adults enjoy a bowl of creamy clam chowder ($5.50).

Ice Skating @ Boston Common’s Frog Pond

Chrissie — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:30:45 +0000

Boston Common is the first gem in the city’s so-called Emerald Necklace, a series of linked green spaces. Come November, the Frog Pond (on the Beacon Street side of the Common, 617-635-2120) fills with ice skaters. The rink makes its own ice, so skaters can glide even in relatively balmy temperatures (admission is $3 for adults; skate rental, $7).

If the ice seems too crowded, pause for a moment to gaze at the Common from Boylston and Tremont Streets: the gauzy, lamplight scene inspired Childe Hassam’s ”Boston Common at Twilight,” which you can catch indoors at the Museum of Fine Arts the next morning.

Canestaro’s Restaurant and Pizzeria

Chrissie — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:27:32 +0000

Canestaro’s Restaurant and Pizzeria, 16 Peterborough Street, (617) 266-8997, www.canestaros.com, just a few blocks from Fenway Park, has a nice outdoor patio, good pizza, and big pasta dishes.

Entrees range from fettuccine Alfredo ($11.95) to grilled sirloin ($18.95), or dig into a chicken Parmesan or a meatball Parmesan sandwich ($6.95), a large plain pizza for $11.50, or pasta entrees for $11.95 to $13.95.

Musuem of Fine Arts, Boston

Chrissie — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:33:31 +0000

Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Avenue, 617-267-9300

Where Boston Common is always snow-covered as the sun fades in Hassam’s painting, which hangs in the Art of the Americas gallery on the first floor. The museum has strong collections of Asian and American works, portraits and landscapes by John Singer Sargent and a collection of silver teapots by Paul Revere. On weekends, there are screenings of foreign and classic films.