Yesterday was the third Saturday of
lectures and demonstration tours for my tour guide training class at @BostonbyFoot. Nearly 30 volunteers are learning about
history, architecture, land building and other required subjects to become
docents for BBF. On the first Saturday we learned about Colonial Boston and went on the Heart of
the Freedom Trail tour. Last week we
listened to lectures about Federal Boston and took the Beacon Hill tour.
Yesterday was special, though. We BBF trainees spent the morning absorbing a huge amount of
information about Victorian Boston in the South End and the Back Bay. Then we went on the Victorian Back Bay tour. Broken into several small groups, we met with our teacher/guides in Copley Square on the steps of Trinity
Church. It was the first time I had been
in that neighborhood since the bombings and I was astonished. There were so many people flooding
Boylston Street and Copley Square that it looked like the marathon had just
ended.
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| Boston Globe Photo |
There were people strolling,
riding, shopping, admiring the tulips, pointing cameras, and taking in the
sun. On our way walking there and on my
way walking back to the car, I saw four weddings and a quinceanera. The people of Boston were out in force,
reclaiming the city from the bombers and the terror they sought to inflict. This was a vital, personal demonstration of
what we mean by #BostonStrong.
But it’s not just the people of
Boston and not just the people of Massachusetts. Boston has more colleges and universities
than any other city in America. Students
come to these institutions from all 50 states and many foreign countries. Everyone was out in the Back Bay yesterday: people
of all ages, all colors, all manner of dress, and all economic groups. There were Boston Strong and Wicked Strong
tee shirts mixed with marathon jackets and @RedSox gear.
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| Red Sox Shirts |
People came into Boston and to
Boylston Street to make a statement about the importance of freedom and to
demonstrate solidarity. Everyone shopped
in the stores and ate in the restaurants that were closed when the whole area
was locked down. I heard stories of
people leaving large tips—one man left $100—to help out the servers who had
lost a week of income. Jars were stuffed
with donations to the One Fund Boston, which has raised nearly $27 million
so far.
It was a great day—if exhausting. I covered a lot of territory, but on a
beautiful spring day in Boston that’s a pleasure. The people I saw in the Back Bay yesterday
made it a wicked good day.
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