Boston’s Public Garden is America’s first public botanical garden – and its happiest family ritual floats: the Swan Boats, gliding around the lagoon since 1877, pedaled by a driver tucked inside a graceful white swan. A ride takes about fifteen gentle minutes, costs a few dollars and has been the first ‘boat ride’ of Boston childhood for six generations.
Ashore, children hunt for Mrs. Mallard and her eight bronze ducklings from ‘Make Way for Ducklings,’ the beloved statues near the Charles Street gate that families dress up for every holiday and big game. Add the weeping willows, the flower beds and the bridge from the storybook, and the Public Garden is story-time made real.
