As an international visitor, when I think about Boston, I definitely do not think about beach and sand. I think about city-life, museums, buildings and the subway. So when Joseph, the owner of Boston Homestel, told me there was a beach, called Carson Beach, that it is 15-minutes-walking-distance away and 4-minutes-biking distance from the Homestel, I was feeling excited and skeptical at the same time.
Carson Beach can be enjoyed in different ways. You can spend the whole day in the beach, especially during the warm weather season that starts non-stop late May until August, while enjoying the Dorchester Bay view. Another option is to wait until the early afternoon and go get an ice-cream to Molly’s Beachside located in the middle of William J Day Blvd, the street next to the harbor walk surrounding the beach.
Also known as Molly Moo’s, Molly’s Beachside has a variety of delicious ice-cream flavors and you can have any of them while you are facing the sea. Finally, if an ice-cream is not enough for the “after-beach” hunger, there is the Sullivan’s Castle Island, which in our opinion, it deserves a full paragraph.
The Sullivan’s Castle Island was founded by Dan Sullivan and it first opened in 1951 in South Boston. If you bike all around William J Day Blvd until the end, you will find the Castle and a park where you can sit and eat what Sullivan has to offer. Either you have the Fish and Chips, the bowl of Clam Chowder or the Lobster Roll, the experience will be equally pleasant. You can even order online in advance and just get there to enjoy the view or the walk around the beach.
After spending time under the sun getting a tan, you can head to Joe Moakley Park right next to the William J Day Blvd. There is an outdoor track, a couple of tennis courts and a warm atmosphere surrounded by dogs and families. This place is open to the public and it is the ideal location to exercise or go for a walk after office hours or during the weekends.
The best way to get through Carson Beach, if you are walking, is throughout the JFK/Mass Station. If you are biking, you can take Columbia Road, cross the Southeast Expressway and turn in Kosciuszko Circle to William J Day Blvd. Either way, it is a short trip from the Boston Homestel and it will definitely make your afternoons and weekends more fun and lighter. Next time someone ask you what you did while you were in Boston, surprise them by saying you spend hours and hours in Carson Beach. Yes, Boston has a beach and is extremely recommended to enjoy it while you are here.