City Exploring: Discover Boston on Foot with the Boston Center for Adult Education

Aug. 11, 2014 - PRLog -- (BOSTON, MA) – Boston might be known as America’s walking city, but how many people actually stop and explore this historic playground? Beginning September 2014, the Boston Center for Adult Education (BCAE) is offering a series of interactive walking tours designed to educate and inspire. Guests will have a chance to explore historical neighborhoods on foot while discovering fascinating facts about the community! Whether someone has just moved to the city and wants to get to know the neighborhood, or has lived in the city for years, there’s something for everyone to discover. The tours will be held on four Tuesday evenings throughout the BCAE’s September/October term and will include: A Walking Tour of the South End, Beacon Hill: the North Slope, Fort Point Channel Neighborhood and Bay Village and the Theatre District.

All tours are non-refundable and will be held rain or shine. Registration is necessary. Please visit www.bcae.org or call the Boston Center for Adult Education at 617-267-4430 to sign up.

Tour Schedule:

A Walking Tour of the South End:
Tuesday, September 16^th, 2014 from 6:00PM - 8:00PM; $20.00
During the mid-19th century, Boston's South End developed into a fashionable neighborhood of tree-shaded oval parks and bowfront bordered avenues. Explore the neighborhood on foot and discover the natural beauty and architectural development of this fascinating, multicultural and urban community. The tour will include sites like an 1810 burial ground, an 1830’s alley-hidden wooden house and a number of charming masonry town houses. Shopping at the many vibrant shops, galleries and restaurants after the tour is a must! *Please note: Tour meets at the BCAE.

A Walking Tour of Beacon Hill: the North Slope
Tuesday, September 23^rd, 2014 from 6:00PM – 8:00PM; $20.00
Discover the 19th-century townhouses and turn-of-the-century tenements of Beacon Hill's North Slope. Once considered part of the old West End, this fascinating neighborhood has been home to African Americans, Yankee entrepreneurs, Irish immigrants and Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe. While on the main streets, appreciate the vintage storefronts, copper oriels and ornate fire escapes. Also, spot the few surviving wooden houses and explore the hidden alleys and cul-de-sacs. The historic Vilna Shul, Boston's oldest surviving immigrant-era synagogue, is a site not to miss. *Please note: Tour meets at the corner of Charles Street and Charles Circle, in front of the CVS pharmacy (Directly across from the Charles Street Red Line MBTA station).

A Walking Tour of the Fort Point Channel Neighborhood:
Tuesday, September 30^th,2014 from 6:00PM - 8:00PM; $20.00
Summer is the perfect time to explore the Fort Point Channel neighborhood, a bustling area that's home to museums, artists' studios, restaurants and lofts. Learn about the remarkable land fill projects that created the neighborhood that was once the center of the world’s wool industry and walk the gritty streetscapes that inspired painter Charles Sheeler, photographer Walker Evans and director Martin Scorsese, whose 2007 Oscar winning film, The Departed,  was shot on these streets.  *Please note: Tour meets in front of South Station- Atlantic and Summer Street corner.

A Walking Tour of Bay Village and The Theatre District:
Tuesday, October 7th, 2014 from 6:00PM - 8:00PM; $16.00
Once a major railroad transportation hub, the tour will start off in Park Square that is home to landmarks such as the Boston Park Plaza Castle, a massive granite building constructed during the 1890s, and the Park Plaza Hotel, a symbol of the glamour and prosperity associated with the Roaring '20s. From Park Square, the tour will find its way to Bay Village with its "mini" red brick Beacon Hill row houses. Ending in the Theatre District, guests will take in the opulent theatres designed by Clarence Blackall, the murals of Old Boston in the lobby of the Little Building, as well as visit the only commercial building in Boston designed by prominent American architect H.H. Richardson. *Please note: Tour meets at the BCAE.