Breath Mints for Penguins: Walking 30 miles from Beverly to Boston

On May 21, 2024, I walked about 30 miles from Beverly MA to Boston MA.

A coworker asked me to blog about it, so here we go.

Here's a Google Photos album of pictures I took along the way:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NkyMJwm3MSt64maD6

Here's an interactive map of the route:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1yGUECeeST6aukYuqzeBJFqhrT6GI1tA&usp=sharing

And the record from Strava:

Statistics:

30 miles
11.5 hours
1 milkshake
1 smoothie
2 four leaf clovers
2 five leaf clovers

Narrative:

At 7:30 AM on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, I ate my typical breakfast of soy milk and a soup-dipped bagel.

I smeared sunscreen all over my head and upper extremities and donned long pants, long sleeves, a safari hat, and a pair of disintegrating four year old skate shoes. I set out Boston-bound at 8:30. I didn't plan a route ahead of time, or make any kind of transportation, dining, or hotel reservations along the way or in Boston.

Breakfast of a bagel with hummus, soy milk, fruit, and bagel-dipping soup

My equipment for the trip, and my toes

Less than a block from my house I encountered a turkey blocking traffic and eventually wandering into nearby yard.

A turkey in a yard

The first major landmark I encountered on was the Veterans Memorial Bridge connecting Beverly to Salem. The bridge is conveniently pedestrian friendly.

The Veterans Memorial Bridge

Crossing into Salem, I proceeded south towards Forest River Park.

Some cool murals in Salem

At Forest River Park, I sat for a while at a friendship bench, but nobody stopped to talk to me.

Nobody was dispuesto a charlar conmigo.

I proceeded to the library at Salem State University. They had a display of zines in the lobby by the door, so I stopped to read two of them that seemed interesting based on the title. The first was "Don't be a Dick", I didn't know what to expect from the zine, but not being a dick seems like a necessary goal for everyone, so I decided to read it and see if it had any tips to help me in that pursuit. It turned out to be a reflection rape culture and consent in sexual relations. Reading it got me thinking about ways I've made people uncomfortable in the past and on how I can treat people better in the future. The second zine was "Depression cooking: easy recipes for when you're depressed as fuck", by Sonali Menezes. This was interesting to me because I've experienced depression in the past and whenever I'm experiencing depression, anxiousness, or other stress, I have a tendency to lose my appetite.

Don't be a dick! a reflection on rape culture and consent

The depression cooking manifesto
"You are one depressed human trying to survive under the crushing weight of capitalism. You, you are doing just fine sunshine."

As I was leaving the Salem State campus, I happened to notice two five leaf clovers and a four leaf clover (a few miles down the road I found another four leaf clover).

A five leaf clover and a four leaf clover

This traffic sign correctly measured my speed as 3 miles per hour

Marshalls and Martial Arts on the same sign. Coincidence?

Arriving at Swampscott, I was greeted by trash-filled wire bird

In Swampscott, I stopped at "Oyo frozen yogurt" for a coffee-Oreo milkshake and ate it at a bench overlooking the ocean. I saw a couple of ducks in the ocean there. I thought ducks were freshwater fish, not saltwater fish, so I was a little confused, but they seemed happy.

The sea ducks of Swampscott

Further south, I walked half way up the land bridge to Nahant. It was here that I caught my first glimpse of the Boston skyline in the distance.

Boston skyline as seen from the road to Nahant

Next was Revere Beach, which is really long and really full of people. I didn't take very many pictures there because I didn't want to seem like a creeper. There are signs all over the place that say "No Dogs Allowed", but I saw some people with a kitten. A bit later I saw some "Missing Kitten" signs, which depicted a kitten that looked a lot like the one I saw people playing with on the beach. Due to the aforementioned desire to not be a creeper I hadn't taken a picture of the kitten people and they were a few miles back, so I didn't want to go double check or question them about it.

Just past Revere, I arrived at Belle Isle Marsh Reservation in Boston, where I saw even more birds, most of which I did not know the species name for. The reservation is right under the path of airplanes approaching Logan Airport, so there were planes passing directly overhead every few minutes, which was pretty cool.

I arrived in East Boston at about the 24 mile mark, still had a ways to go though.

A plane passing over Belle Isle Marsh Reservation

In East Boston, I stopped at Sunny Cafe for a strawberry banana smoothie, which was delicious. East Boston seems like a vibrant community, it was fun seeing all the families having fun in Bremen Street Community Park and the diverse murals along the East Boston Greenway.

At the end of the Greenway, I arrived at the Logan Airport Ferry Terminal. I called the number for the water taxi and, about 15 minutes later, a water taxi arrived to take me across the harbor.

The Boston skyline, as seen from the deck of the water taxi

I was planning to spend the night in Boston, but I didn't have a hotel reservation. Checking several online services, I was shocked to see that there were really no rooms available near downtown for less than $900. In a major city on a Tuesday, I would think there would be some rooms, but apparently President Biden was visiting that day and the Celtics were playing a home game in the playoffs, so things were pretty tight. My phone was also nearly out of battery, so I needed to book something fast and also get there fast while I still had access to internet and a GPS. I ended up booking a room in the Revolution Hotel. The room had four beds and no restroom, but it was quiet enough and comfortable enough for the night.

The person at the hotel front desk asked "would you like four keys", to which I replied, "Nah, I think one will be sufficient."

For dinner, I had a delicious non-alcoholic margarita, black beans, and Cauliflower a la Cósmica at Cósmica restaurant, which is attached to the hotel.

No vacation to Boston would be complete without visiting L.A. Burdick chocolate, so I went there for breakfast in the morning. They had some vegan options, which was nice! After breakfast, I met my friend Jeremy and we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum and then got lunch.

Vegan pastry and dark hot chocolate with oat milk from L.A. Burdick, the perfect way to start the day

I was hoping to take the Boston Salem Ferry home, but I was two days too early for ferry season, so I walked to North Station and took the commuter rail home.

Stickers:

I like indie art and taking pictures of sticker graffiti that people stick to lamp poles, mail boxes, street signs, etc. Here are some of my favorites from the trip. You can see a bunch more in the album linked at the top.