John Kerry's House
Get an up-close and personal look at Senator John Kerry’s five-story, 9,798 square foot Beacon Hill townhouse. It's valued at $6.9 million, and while the outside looks sort of ordinary, the inside boasts five bedrooms, six bathrooms, six fireplaces, and an elevator. The home borders the very exclusive Louisburg (pronounces "Lewisburg") Square section of Beacon Hill, and it's a good idea not to hang around too long -- the Secret Service usually has agents posted nearby. Understandably, the house is closed to the public.
Location: 19 Louisburg Square, Beacon Hill, Boston
Public Transportation: Charles/MGH (Red Line)
Cost and Hours: Admittance prohibited

"Smoots" on the Harvard Bridge
MIT students are world-famous for their brains and creativity, and the invention of the "Smoot" as unit of measure is no exception. In 1958, the pledge class of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity marked the length of the Harvard Bridge (which goes to MIT) using pledge Oliver Smoot as a measuring tool. For the record, Smoot was 5 feet 7 inches tall, and the bridge is 364.4 Smoots (plus an ear) long. The bridge is marked with colored lines to mark every 10 Smoots, and the markers are painted on the sidewalk on the outbound side of the bridge.
Location: Over the Charles River between Back Bay and Cambridge
Public Transportation: Kendall/MIT
Cost and Hours: Free, open 24 hours/day

The "Steaming Globe"
Steam rises from below this sculpture of the earth, designed and built by a team of artists from the M.I.T. Center for Advanced Visual Studies program who collaborated with landscape architects, urban designers and engineers to build this piece of art.
Location: Kendall Square, Cambridge
Public Transportation: Kendall/MIT (Red Line)
Cost and Hours: Free, open 24 hours/day

Site of the Great Brinks Robbery
On January 17, 1950, seven robbers – made their way through several locked doors and up to the second floor where they hustled over $1.2 million in cash and more than $1.5 million in securities from Brinks employees. At the time was the largest heist in U.S. history and dubbed "The Perfect Crime." The robbers and several others involved were all tied to organized crime and were later caught and charged with the robbery.
Location: Prince St. and Commercial Street, North End
Public Transportation: Haymarket (Orange and Green Line)
Cost and Hours: The Brinks Building still stands at 169 Prince St. in the North Terminal Garage