Last week I took a four-day trip to Boston to attend a family event. It was my first trip of 2024 and my first time back in Boston post-COVID-19 pandemic. On my departure flight I got a free seat upgrade which included priority boarding and more leg room. Even though the flight was only one hour, the free upgrade was a nice surprise.
Aside from enjoying a lovely time with my family, one morning I explored a new-to-me section of the enchanting Boston Harborwalk. Boston Harborwalk is a near-continuous, 43-mile (69 km) public walkway along Boston’s shoreline. It connects Boston’s waterfront neighborhoods to Boston Harbor and each other.
Murals
I discovered several beautiful murals at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina. They were part of the “Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans, Boston 2020” project from PangeaSeed Foundation in collaboration with HarborArts. The murals are about climate change, sea level rise, pollution, and how these problems particularly hurt communities of color.
Have a look and let me know if you have a favourite.
As I was leaving the shipyard, I found one lovely mural that is not part of the above art project. It’s a proud shipyard cat and his Bluefin catch.
I enjoyed my walk along Boston Harborwalk and would definitely explore other sections of this public walkway next time I am in Boston.
Link-Up
This post is my contribution to Min’s WWWhimsy link-up.
A friendly reminder that there is no Weekend Coffee Share link-up on January 26 when I take a short blogging break.
I’d love for you to share your week’s highlights and/ or public art around the world in the Comments or Weekend Coffee Share link-up #149 below.
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Natalie the Explorer 
Love the murals, the sea birds are my favourite.
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Those sea birds look amazing up close. Thank you Aletta for sharing your favourite.
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You’re welcome
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I love Boston! I don’t normally associate Boston with Murals, though. Nice to see a new aspect of a favorite city!
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I’m pleased to share a new aspect of Boston with you. Thank you Jeanne for your comment.
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What do you love about Boston?
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Beautiful murals. I think I was there in 2013, and so I definitely missed the cat and fish. I don’t remember any murals at the time, but I loved the walk through Boston. I remember looking all over for the pathway until someone told me to look down. It was like following the yellow brick road through the Land of Oz. What a wonderful place. Thanks for sharing this small sliver of all that Boston is. I look forward to more explorations.
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Hi Marsha, Boston is a great city to visit; lots of things to see and do. I think you were referring to the Freedom Trail where one looks down to the ground to see where to go. The Boston Harborwalk has signage at eye level 🙂 The section where I was offers fantastic views of Boston’s skyline and plenty of public art.
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You are right. I think I went on both, thinking they were the same thing. I was with someone else during the Harbor walk, too. Thanks for clarifying that.
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You find the best murals! I love Boston.
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Thank you Gail for your compliment. Boston is a great city to visit.
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I’ve only ever been once to Boston and absolutely loved it although murals were not anything I noticed. These are all very striking and I’m touched by the expression of the boy listening intently to the shell! A lovely post, Natalie!
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Thank you Annika for your comment. All of the murals in my post, except the last one, were painted in 2020. I really like that mural of the boy listening to the shell. Its title is “The Calling” which I think is brilliant.
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Beautiful murals, so large! I like the cat with the fish in its mouth. That tracks.
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I like the subtle details in that cat mural. The cat has eyes with different colours.
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I was in Boston years ago as a spectator at the Boston Marathon. It was a good time. I can’t say I recall seeing art work, which is too bad because those murals are lovely.
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Most of these murals were painted in 2020, except the last one was in 2014. I noticed the increase in quantity and quality of murals in Boston on this visit (compared to when I was in Boston before 2020).
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Interesting. The murals do add such a nice touch to the look and feel of a city.
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More and more big or popular cities have been embracing murals.
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Natalie,
I haven’t been to Boston in a long time, but want to return. Thanks for giving me a wonderful suggestion of something not to be missed. I love “Fight the Rise.” The detail is amazing. Have a great weekend! Joe
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Joe, The Boston Harborwalk is not to be missed. The views of Boston’s skyline are amazing and there are lots of public art and historic lookouts with information boards along this walk. Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend!
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What a great walk. I (rather unkindly) like the cat and the fish.
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This walk and the murals were delightful discoveries. Did you notice the cat has two different eye colours?
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I hadn’t! Unobservant old me 😦
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There is usually a lot to see in a mural and it’s normal to miss some details not because you’re unobservant or old 🙂
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The first and the last mural are my favourites. I really liked this walk!
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Thank you Maria for letting me know your favourites. This walk is along Boston’s waterfront with fantastic views of the city’s skyline and lots to see and explore.
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Something for next time I’m in Boston 😉 I’ve actually passed through once…with an RV in tow, that was not a veyr fun experience. I have not seen the actual city, and would like to do that one day.
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RV in a busy city is stressful. I hope next time you’re in Boston, you’ll have some lovely and stress-free walks. Boston Harborwalk is wonderful. I highly recommend it.
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Thank you!
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The mural with the sea birds and the underwater mural are my favorites, they’re quite beautiful. What a lovely trip, it sounds very relaxing and enjoyable.
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Laura, Thank you for your visit and comment. Welcome to my blog! I really enjoyed this walk and was pleasantly suprised to discover the beautiful murals.
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Some great murals – zI of course like the cat ne!
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I also thought you’d like the cat 🙂
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Fantastic murals, Natalie. We visited Boston over 10 years ago and loved the City. Thanks for sharing your harbour walk with us and have a lovely week. x
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Thank you Sue for your comment. I was pleased to discover these murals. I’m glad you like them. Have a great week!
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These are amazing. I’ve never been to Boston but would love to go – mainly for the history.
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Yes, lots of history and things to see in Boston. I think you’d have a fantastic visit when you go.
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These are so lovely Natalie and I have to tell you that you’ve inspired me! As we were walking around Sydney last week I noticed some great murals and took photos of them telling my daughter about your posts with many such murals included. I’ll write up a post shortly and share! Thanks for the trip to Boston, I’ve not been there before!
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Debbie, I’m glad and humbled to have inspired you to photograph murals. Once I got into exploring murals and public art, it’s like reading books that open doors to new learning and new knowledge. I look forward to your post on Sydney murals. Have a great week!
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I do enjoy seeing public art and in Sydney Australia more walls and utility boxes are being painted with murals. Schools are now doing this too, to celebrate and commemorate the indigenous first Australians. It’s such a good way to share and connect. Just as you have today and thank you for the link up! Denyse
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Denyse, I think public art plays an important role in the social behaviours of the general public. Once I started paying attention to public art, it led me to learn about the artists and local art programs. Kudos to Sydney for having more murals.
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This looks like a lovely place to walk Natalie. I really like The Calling, especially part 1.
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Jennifer, I also love The Calling part 1. Thank you for your comment.
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These are great – I think my favourite is the first one, ‘Fight The Rise’, although the cat is cute and I love the detail of the girl with the seashell from ‘The Calling’ 🙂
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Thank you Sarah for your comment. I love Fight the Rise and The Calling. There were a few more murals in that area. Unfortunately the parked cars in front of them prevented me from getting good photos 🙂
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I live about an hour and a half drive out of Boston and fly out of BOS often, but it has been ages since I explored the city at all, and I don’t think I spent any time at the ship yard and marina. Nice photos. Glad you had a good time on your first trip of 2024 🙂 Have a wonderful week!
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Trent, Winter adds more unpredictability to travel so I was glad my first trip of the year went well. I really enjoyed Boston Harborwalk. The section I was in offers beautiful views of Boston’s skyline and plenty of interesting things to explore. Have a great weekend!
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Thanks for this post since I will probably never go back to Boston. Traveled there for a wedding back in 1976! Beautiful murals!
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Cynthia, Thank you for your visit and comment. I’m glad you like the murals. I enjoy going to Boston every few years as it’s not far from Toronto.
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I haven’t been to Boston in quite a few years!! I love the first mural!
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The artist did a great job painting the birds and shorelines in the Fight the Rise mural.
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Though I am not a cat person, I like the cat eating the fish. It’s really cute!
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Yes, the cat looks cute. I like the contrasting colours and the subtle details of that cat and fish mural.
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I realized the background of the cat mural is the same color as my front door. That’s also why I drawn to it.
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Teal is a nice colour. I like front doors with a distinct colour.
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I like the first and the last of them the most.
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Thank you Lizl for sharing your thoughts. I also love those two murals. They look quite realistic with nice colour combination.
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I like the fish on top of the building. Walking the 43 miles of coast sounds like it would be fun to site see & take pictures.
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I like that fish and the detailed fins. Thank you for your comment.
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Oh wow. those are gorgeous and a few almost look 3D. We didn’t get down to the Boston Harbor area when we were there. I kind of wish we had.
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Thank you Kirstin for your comment. I really like Boston Harborwalk. I’d walk a different section next time to explore more of Boston.
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Those are some cool and beautiful murals. So much detail in all of them.
I was going to share something else but I will share the murals that I saw outside of a store called Love On Haight in San Francisco. I hope that you have a wonderful week. and thanks for hosting.
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Thank you Patrick for your comment and coffee share. I’m glad you like these murals and their details. Have a wonderful week!
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They are beautiful murals. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Mélodie for stopping by. I’m glad you like the murals. They were a delightful surprise on my walk. Have a great week!
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These are lovely, Natalie. I particularly like the Calling and your first one, the windows.
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Jo, The Calling and Fight of the Rise are large and beautiful murals. I was delighted to discover them on my walk. Thank you for stopping by. I hope you’re feeling better. Have a wonderful week!
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Slow progress, darlin, but getting there, thanks 🤗🩷
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These are fantastic Natalie, I haven’t taken many murals lately but I will share my latest sculptures.
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Thank you Ali for your comment and share. I love your latest sculptures in Hong Kong.
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Here’s mine https://travelswithali.com/2024/01/17/hong-kong-gallery-sculptures-and-artwork/
and the cat is my favourite of your photos!
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That cat is cute, isn’t it? Thank you for your PPAC contribution that took me back to dynamic Hong Kong.
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Love these murals, I wish every city would have the same as it also enhances the city’s image by depicting beautiful stories. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you for your visit and comment. Murals are becoming more popular in cities so maybe one day all cities will have them. Do you have a blog? If yes, please let me know.
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I hope so. Yes, I do: http://www.afreesoulabroad.com 😊
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Thank you Ginger for your blog URL. I’ll visit it soon. You may want to update your gravatar to link your profile picture to your blog, to make it easier for readers to find it. Have a great week!
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Thanks for the tip, I will!
Have a great week too!
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I love all of these, Natalie, but I think my favorite is The Calling. I’ve never been to Boston, but it is on my travel bucket list.
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Christie, Boston is a great city to visit; lots of things to see and do there. I like The Calling mural, too. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great week!
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Hi Natalie, how nice to take a trip with family for a family event! I hope you had a wonderful time. Well done on the seating upgrade for the flight there! I don’t know much about Boston except there is a Boston Marathon that I’m aware of. Love the murals. Hard to pick a favourite but I do really like the first one of the birds and of course the cat one! Thanks so much for linking up with our very first #WWWhimsy of 2024. Take care! xo
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Hi Min, I had a very good time in Boston. Lots to see and do there. I’m glad you love the murals. I was delighted to discover them on my walk. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great week!
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Amazing pieces of art
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Thank you for stopping by.
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I love that mural with the sea gulls and of course that gorgeous cat with the fish in its mouth. I do love streetart/murals!
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Excellent choices, Sherry. Those murals are quite beautiful to see up close IRL. Thank you for your comment.
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