The Baby Boomer Renaissance: The Boomer Chronicles

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Boomer Chronicles

Here Are My Summer Plans; What Are Yours?
A Fascinating Look at Jewish Boston History
BloggingBoomers Carnival #166

Here Are My Summer Plans; What Are Yours?

Posted: 22 Jun 2010 08:08 AM PDT

Mainly, I am taking long bike rides, going to Provincetown for a week, visiting Ohio’s Amish country for a week, seeing friends who are in Boston from out of town, and making lots of ice cream.

Are you going somewhere cool? Having a family reunion? Making mint juleps on the back deck? Spill the details here.

A Fascinating Look at Jewish Boston History

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 07:58 AM PDT

I went on a cool bike tour yesterday of Boston Jewish history (by the way, nearly every rider was 40+ and I’d even venture to say 50+.) Many of the stops we made were in the Roxbury, Mattapan, Dorchester neighborhoods of Boston — areas that are no longer Jewish, but were strongholds from the early 1900s until the 1950s or so. We saw the remains of old institutions (schools, synagogues, stores), but you had to know where to look. For instance, many of the now-Haitian churches are housed in buildings that still have Stars of David motifs in the iron gates or atop the roofs.

Here are pics of one place that I heartily wish was still in existence: The G&G Delicatessen on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan. Today it’s a hardware store, and the only remains of the once-lively gathering and eating spot are the initials in the sidewalk at the front door.