Day Tripping: Boston Harbor Islands

A couple weekends ago when it was VERY hot in the city, rather than decamp to Cape Ann I explored the Boston Harbor Islands with a friend. We had a blast and I highly recommend it. I explored two different islands, but would absolutely go out and explore more. There's an event calendar and you can see the great line-up of events the islands have to offer!

Arriving in Boston  | Leaving Spectacle

Transportation:
The ferry to Georges Island leaves approx. every hour and is $17/ticket--you can even get tickets online. No need for a return ticket, and if you want to bop around between islands you just hop on and off of the ferries as they come in. Pretty neat! Just keep an eye on the schedules.
There were snack bars with alcohol on all of the boats and they all also had seats on the top deck which was fun since it was a beautiful day to be on a boat on the water. The one to Georges was pretty big, the one to and from Spectacle was a little smaller, but they were all clean, safe, and well-done with really great crews.
On the way out of the harbor, there was a tour! A woman on a loudspeaker highlighted points of interest and backstories. At first I was too cool for school... but it was actually pretty good info and I ended up really enjoying the points of interest she pointed out!

Georges Island has a fort and is perfect for exploring. There are plaques in a lot of places to educate yourself, a great visitors center with lots of historical information about the island, and a whole fort to explore! People are dressed in old-fashioned attire and will teach you about life back in the day when the fort was active. There were some art installations, a big field where people were playing with a frisbee, grills and picnic tables where people had set up shop, a little beach, a snack bar, and there are even tours of the island. So neat!

Spectacle Island

At Spectacle Island we heard live music, grabbed lunch and ice cream, and took a dip in the water (while a lifeguard watched over us). There were changing rooms and showers. The sand was a little rocky, but it was pretty great--and had a beautiful view of the skyline. Jumping in that cool water was so refreshing--and now I can tell people I've been swimming in the harbor, ha! Lots of boats anchored out in front of the island and there were even slips available, which I thought was pretty cool. You can bring anything, but if you're headed to Spectacle I recommend sunblock, a towel, a swim suit, and potentially water shoes since it's a little rocky (I didn't have any and was fine).

 

Choco Taco | The sand at Spectacle 

Some of the islands allow you to camp out, which seems like it could be a fun adventure! We saw people leaving Georges with sleeping bags and they seemed like they had a great time.