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🌂Hot, with highs in the 80s and a chance of afternoon and evening showers. Sunset is at 8:21 p.m.
Today we have another installment of “Free Ride,” our series of $0 day trips you can take every Friday this summer, when the Commuter Rail is free. But first: yesterday we said goodbye to local World Cup games, with France beating Morocco 2-0 at the final match in Foxborough. France moves on to the semi-finals in Dallas next week, where they will play Spain or Belgium. GBH reporter Esteban Bustillos and photographer Dan Murphy were down at Boston Stadium to capture the scene. “You could not dream about it, like when you move to the United States, that you’ll get a chance to see [France] play the World Cup here,” France fan Oliver Bezy said. “So that was phenomenal when they announced it.” You can see more photos from outside the stadium here.
Four Things to Know
1. Gov. Maura Healey has signed a $63.4 billion budget to fund the state’s operations for the next 12 months.
Among the line items: a commission to look at how the state funds its public schools; money to install infrastructure and train police officers on preventing wrong-way driving; and $51 million for the state’s rainy day fund, which is projected to hit $8.2 billion by July 2028.
2. Lawmakers in the Massachusetts State Senate will vote next week on a bill they hope will help health care workers who deal with violence in the workplace, especially in hospitals. The bill would require hospitals to conduct a risk assessment every year, implement programs to prevent workplace violence and report violence to the Department of Public Health.
Nurse Liz Taranto said she’s had patients kick and threaten her. “Experiences like these have lasting effects, and they change the way we practice,” she said. “Nursing is about trust and connection, which is hard to build when you’re worried about your own safety.”
3. President Donald Trump said he will push for the reopening of the Northern Edge of Georges Bank, a piece of sea floor between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, to scallop fishing. Scallopers have not legally been allowed to fish there since 1994. The idea was to protect cod spawning grounds, but scientists have not seen a significant difference in cod populations in the last 32 years, said Kevin Stokesbury, dean of the School for Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth.
Among the issues to consider: the trip to the Northern Edge takes about 15 hours, which means smaller boats are not suited for it, so reopening the area to scallopers may benefit larger vessels. The New England Fishery Management Council will have to approve the change and likely won’t get to vote on it for another 18 months.
4. Here’s a scoop: If you’re looking for ice cream made from local ingredients, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has put together an ice cream trail. It includes 115 dairy farms, farm stands, and ice cream shops that get their milk locally. “The priority was to be able to promote and recognize those ice creams that are being produced with Massachusetts milk and cream,” Commissioner Ashley Randle said.
Follow the trail to Hadley and you’ll end up at Flayvors of Cook Farm, where you can eat ice cream and see the cows that made it. “When we started, we had a farm sign with two cows on it. One of the cows was called Cook Farm Flip Inez and the other one was Recordridge Ginger,” owner Gordy Cook said. “The Ginger ice cream is a ginger flavor and the Inez ice cream is a coconut-based almond with chocolate pieces.”
Free Ride: Beach day
Welcome to Free Ride, your weekly guide to a $0 day trip. Remember: the MBTA Commuter Rail is fare-free every Friday this summer. As each weekend approaches, I’ll invite you to take a break and find some nature, art, science, fashion, music and more — all for $0 (or as close to free as I can get).
A few years back my colleague Chris Burrell, a reporter on GBH’s investigative team, published some numbers that put beach days into perspective for me: Massachusetts has about 1,400 miles of coastline, but only 12% is open to all. Some of the coastline is private property, some is occupied by industry and ports, and much of it is accessible only to the residents of the (usually wealthy) town where it is located. That’s why the simple act of going to the beach in the summer usually means getting into a car, getting stuck in traffic and shelling out $20, $30, or $40 for entrance. (Chris also investigated how coastal erosion is chipping away at beaches and looked at how people of color are especially excluded from beach space.)
Not exactly my idea of a relaxing day. So today we’re going to go to the beach — for free.
Board the Commuter Rail’s Rockport line and ride it all the way to Rockport. From there, it’s a pleasant 10- to15-minute walk down King Street, dotted with homes that have beach roses and lavender in their yards, to Front Beach. This is a sandy spot with a lifeguard on duty and water that is usually warm enough to splash around in. I saw beachgoers of all ages, from little kids running into the water to sunbathing young adults to older adults sitting in the shade by the retaining wall that separates the beach from the street. Crucially, there are also decently clean public bathrooms, which you can use to change into and out of your swimsuit.
Front Beach is quite popular with locals, so if you’re looking for a more solitary New England shore experience, Back Beach is just a four-minute walk away. Think of it as the rockier, quieter sibling, where you can find a spot to sit and watch for wildlife.
Once you’ve had your fill of water and sand, you have a few options: you can walk back to the train through Millbrook Meadow and Pond, a public park across the street from Front Beach. There’s an impressive playground for kids who need to get one more burst of energy out before heading home, shady spots to sit and relax and a water fountain to rehydrate after your time in the sun.
You can also make the roughly five-minute walk to Main Street and Bearskin Neck, where there are art galleries displaying seascapes and landscapes by local artists, as well as places for people-watching and, if you want to spend a few dollars, ice cream and coffee. Take in the sights, then head back to the Commuter Rail.
📚A bonus: Jared Bowen, host of GBH’s The Culture Show, has three book recommendations for the weekend: “The Things We Never Say” by Elizabeth Strout, “Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir” by Jeffrey Seller, and “The English Understand Wool” by Helen DeWitt. He talks about why he loved all three of them here.
Like this Free Ride?Share it with a friend and tell them to subscribe to GBH Daily for more.
And remember: if you take any of these hikes or have your own Free Ride ideas to share, I want to hear from you! Send me a note at daily@wgbh.org.
😎More Free Rides:
-Thinking outside the frame in Lowell
-Here are the books to have on your radar this summer
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