Street Vendor
So, you’re walking around outside and you feel a little hungry. If you’re downtown, that certainly isn’t a problem. Hot dogs, roasted nuts, italian ice, lemonade, sausage and pretzels are for sale on almost every corner.
If you’ve ever walked past the Park Street T station on Boston Common, you might have noticed the prominent fried dough cart that always has a prime spot right next to the entrance. If you haven’t seen the cart itself, you might have seen the big friendly guy who is usually behind cart greeting everyone with a smile. He certainly stood out to me, so I thought he’d be a great person to tell us about the art of street vending.
Boston Common and the Visitors’ Center
On this episode, we’ll play tourist at the Boston Common Visitor’s Center.
Boston Common is the nation’s oldest public park, and throughout the last 350 years, it has served many purposes. From grazing cows to civil rights marchers, the parks has seen visitors of all types.
These days, many of those visitors head over to the Visitor Information Center to find out all about the Common and the city. A small building next to the Park Ranger’s station and at the beginning of the Freedom Trail, thousands of people walk through its doors every day.
So, let’s add some ears to that number during our visit to Boston Common.
Haymarket
Today we’re going to take a trip to Haymarket, Boston’s weekly outdoor market.
Where do you go if you want ten oranges for a dollar? What about a case of strawberries for five dollars? Or maybe you’re looking for something more exotic, like 5 loquats for a dollar? You’ll find all of these things at Haymarket.
Haymarket’s been around for well over a hundred years, and it’s quite the experience. To find out how it happens every week, I tracked down the board of the Haymarket Pushcart Association sitting on a Blackstone Street Jersey barrier.
Every city should have a podcast like Boston Behind the Scenes.
This one is a no brainer; add it to your rotation right away.
