APCO first look
Past and present merge in Beantown As the host city for the 66th Annual Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO) Conference and Exposition, Boston is in position to show the members of the public safety communications industry just what the city has to offer. And with a history that includes everything from the Boston Tea Party to that little bar where everybody knows your name, Boston greets its guests with a wide range of attractions and activities that exhibit that background.
As one of the original cities of the 13 colonies, Boston embraces its colonial history and recreates it through Plimoth Plantation, an hour south of the city. A living, breathing portrait of pre-revolutionary Boston, Plimoth Plantation gives visitors a look into the daily lives of the city’s founders in 1627. Food is prepared family-style as it was in the 17th century, and wood carvers exhibit their craft while the Mayflower II sits proudly in the harbor.
Fast forward to present-day Boston, and visit Copley Place or The City Under Glass at the Prudential Center for a more modern shopping and dining experience. Both are located in Boston’s Back Bay and offer innumerable ways to burn up your shopping allowance.
The TV show may be relegated to late-night reruns, but you can still belly up to the bar at Bull & Finch Pub, the inspiration for the popular sitcom Cheers. Norm, Sam and Woody might not be there, and there won’t be any witty remarks from the customers followed by a laugh track, but you can try the bar’s famous Bull & Finch Burger and Bloody Mary combo rated “Boston’s Best” by the Boston Globe.
If you’re in a hurry and want to try to take it all in at once, visit the John Hancock Observatory for the view from the tallest building in New England. From atop the 740-foot structure, the city’s “high points” spread out below on a miniature scale. Take in Fenway Park, Fanueil Hall and Quincy Marketplace, New Hamp-shire’s White Mountains and historic Boston Harbor, the site of the Boston Tea Party.
