Cheapskate’s Guide to Boston: Memorial Day

Let’s cut to brass tacks — you have Memorial Day off (appy-polly-loggies to those who, like yours truly, fall outside this category) and are looking for something worthy to do with your post-sleeping-in self. Fear not, The Quad has you covered this bank holiday, whatever your poison.

Beaches

Always money in the banana stand (author at Banana Boat in Revere Beach) | Photo by Ariana Katz

Revere Beach is the Boston go-to for pulverized rocks abutted by saltwater. For all the knocking West Coasters or Cape Codfish give Revere it’s a solid bet — easy to get to and reasonably clean. Expect the horde for Memorial Day, though. Take the Blue Line to Revere Beach, and hit up the Banana Boat ice cream stand across from the station while you’re at it (it’s worth the queue).

Constitution Beach is another East Boston standard right across from Logan Airport. Take the Blue Line to Orient Heights. Pack a blanket, earplugs and maybe a rosary to ward off water landings.

Carson Beach in South Boston is a solid bet, and probably a bit cleaner than Revere. There are free public facilities, but pack your own vittles — Carson is thin on eateries. Take the Red Line to JFK/UMass.

The L and M Street Beaches are adjacent to Carson Beach, and are accessible by bus from the T  — take the Red Line to Broadway Station then switch to the 11 bus (towards Bayview) and get off at 8th Street and K Street.

Fort Independence on Castle Island in South Boston | Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Chris Wood

Pleasure Bay rounds out the South Boston beachfront with a triple threat: an enclosed lagoon, shaded green space in the adjacent 20-acre Marine Park, plus the historic Fort Independence, which will host free guided tours of Castle Island until 3:30 PM for Memorial Day.

If you’re looking to get a bit farther out and are willing to shell out the 14 bucks for roundtrip ferry fare, Spectacle Island (one of the Boston Harbor Islands) has a great beach and unrivaled views of the city. Grab the ferry from Long Wharf (near Faneuil Hall).

Entertainment

Breakdancers, jugglers and et cetera ephemera converge on Faneuil Hall for the Street Performers Festival | Photo by Wikimedia Commons user Chris Kirkman

The annual Faneuil Hall Street Performers Festival concludes on Memorial Day. Contortionists, illusionists, musicians and all manner of sidewalk spectacles descend on Boston’s greatest tourist trap.

Club Oberon near Harvard Square hosts The Big Quiz Thing, a live trivia game show from New York City. Grand prize is $200 and the satisfaction of knowing Freddie Mercury’s hometown. Doors open at 7:30 PM, seating for first comers. Take the Red Line to Harvard, then follow Mass Ave toward Central Square.

While not free, Harvard Square’s Club Passim hosts its annual fire-sale-cheap Campfire Festival through Memorial Day. Ten bucks gets you a day pass (noon to midnight-ish) for over 20 individual sets of folk, country, indie, classic rock, chamber and every other imaginable genre.

Again, the free movies really blossom the second week of June, but a cheap option to tide you over is the Brattle Theater Repertory Series of double features. This Memorial Day it’s West Side Story and Pretty in Pink. $7.75 gets students into both films, starting at 2 PM (with Pretty in Pink at 5 PM) and 7 PM (Pretty in Pink at 1o).

If you’re looking for a classic on screen but can’t sit through 4+ hours of film, Coolidge Corner is showing Streetcar Named Desire this Monday at 7 PM, 6 bucks for students.

Memorial

The Boston Common hosts its Garden of Flags to commemorate over 20,000 Massachusetts soldiers who have died in conflict since World War I.

About Shawn Musgrave

Shawn Musgrave is a senior studying economics and global development.

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