Boston Bits ~ Insiders’ Tips -- our monthly journal of things Bostonian, to give Boston Your Way site visitors a sense of our city.

The Hancock Tower Weather Beacon
We all love the old John Hancock tower in the Back Bay with its distinctive weather beacon on top. But do we know precisely what the glowing blue and red signals mean? Here is the rhyme that helps us remember.

Steady blue, clear view
Flashing blue, clouds due
Steady red, rain ahead
Flashing red, snow instead*
* or the Red Sox game is cancelled.

Insiders’ Tip
The red and blue light from the tower is best seen in the evening or at night. Unfortunately, bright daylight seems to overwhelm the beacon. To make up for the shortcoming, the “new” mirrored Hancock Tower across the street captures a stunning reflection of the old Hancock from as far as Storrow Drive along the Charles.

A Cemetery For The Living
Sightseeing in Boston doesn’t usually bring to mind the Forest Hills Cemetery. Boston is a great place for graveyards, but usually only the Puritan ones, such as the Granery Burial Ground downtown, where Paul Revere and John Hancock rest.

Yet, Forest Hills is a magnificent landmark, well worth the 10-stop trip from Downtown Crossing on the MBTA Orange Line. It is part of our Emerald Necklace (or at least adjacent to the final park on that strand, Franklin Park) and an example of the 19th-C garden cemetery. But even when people think of Victorian cemeteries in Boston, they consider the famous Mt. Auburn in Cambridge.

Forest Hills is the resting place of some of America’s prominent figures: poet ee. Cummings, playwright Eugene O’Neil, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, suffragist Lucy Stone, and the creator of the fountain pan, Lewis Waterman.

The memorial monuments, vaults and mere headstones are dazzling examples of high Victorian stonework. Conceived to comfort the bereaved, the landscaped 250 acres of hills, ponds and groves today is also a contemporary-sculpture park, attracting picnickers, birders and art lovers.

Insiders’ Tip
Probably the most evocative event at Forest Hills is the annual Buddhist Lantern Floating Festival, held in June. Unknown to tourists, it brings out locals who come to memorialize loved ones with personally inscribed lanterns that they light with candles and set afloat on to Hibiscus Pond.

Check www.foresthillstrust.org for information and excellent images.

Red Sox Nation gets spiffed up
You don’t need to head to a Red Sox game or a Lansdowne dance club to experience the Fenway scene. Tons of $$$ has been spent to dress up the dingy Lansdowne and Yawkey Way streets to appeal to visitors on away-game days or off-season – or just fans ready for a more grown-up pre-game outing. No one will mistake the area for Main Street Disneyland yet, but it has taken on a bit of that wholesome aura, which we think is a good move. The new Game On!, across from the Park, is the kind of sports bar that can appeal to one’s feminine side. Cask ‘n Flagon is back after being closed for a good scrubbing. The Baseball Tavern is in a great new location, with a terrific roof deck. Jillian’s still reigns, of course.

Insiders’ Tip
Going to a game? Take the T. Don’t drive. There is no official Red Sox parking garage. You have to count on local businesses, from gas stations to Boston University to open their spaces...and they do – for $50-$60. The T costs $1.25 each way.

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