Directions to Jeff & Nancy's House

From or Via Boston
Via the Mass Pike
From the Northern Suburbs Inside Rte. 128
From Logan Airport

These are the detailed directions. If this is too much detail, try the short directions instead.

Notes:

Please note that we have two cats. If you are allergic to cats, don't forget to bring your antihistimines.

The maps on this page were produced by MapQuest and edited with xpaint.

From Boston/Cambridge or other places inside Rte. 128:

Summary: Mass Pike through Ted Williams Tunnel to Rte. 1A North; or Callahan Tunnel/Rte. 1A North; or Rte.1/Tobin Bridge to Rte. 16 East. Take any of these to Bell's Circle.

Details:

map of the Northern suburbs of Boston

Estimated travel time from Downtown Boston is 25 minutes in light traffic and 40-50 minutes in rush hour traffic. If you're driving any time near rush hour, it's usually worth checking the traffic reports. You can get traffic reports from SmarTraveler ((617) 374-1234, or *1 on some cell phones), or from some of the local radio stations. WBZ radio (1030 AM) provides traffic reports every ten minutes, "on the 3s".

Boston Traffic Reports

Via the Mass Pike (I-90) and the Ted Williams Tunnel:

If you're going this way during (or close to) rush hour, check the Mass Pike traffic report.

  1. Follow the Mass Pike (I-90) East until it ends.
  2. When the Mass Pike ends, it will dump you on Rte. 1A North. Continue on Route 1A North to Bell's Circle.
  3. You'll actually be staying on 1A through Bell's Circle, but at this point, you should jump to the directions below, labeled "From Bell's Circle."

Via Rte. 1A and the Callahan Tunnel:

If you're going this way during (or close to) rush hour, check the Sumner & Callahan Tunnel traffic report.

  1. Get onto Route 1A North. From the Central Artery/Fitzgerald Expressway/I-93, this is Exit 24B (Callahan Tunnel/Logan Airport).
  2. Go through the Callahan Tunnel and and continue up Route 1A North to Bell's Circle.
  3. You'll actually be staying on 1A through Bell's Circle, but at this point, you should jump to the directions below, labeled "From Bell's Circle."

Via Rte. 1 and the Tobin Bridge

If you're going this way during (or close to) rush hour, check the Rte. 1 traffic report.

  1. Get onto the Tobin Bridge/Rte. 1 North. From the Central Artery/Fitzgerald Expressway/I-93 Northbound, this is Exit 27 (left exit). During rush hour, it's often faster from Cambridge to avoid the artery and get on the Tobin Bridge via the Prison Point (Gilmore) Bridge.
  2. About a mile after the Tobin bridge ends, exit onto Rte. 16 East, towards Revere Beach/Lynn.
  3. Follow Rte. 16 until it ends at Bell's Circle.
  4. From there, follow the directions below labeled "From Bell's Circle."

Via Rte. 16 or Rte. 60 (From the Western Suburbs inside Rte. 128):

Estimated travel time from Alewife or from Arlington Center is 30 minutes in light traffic and 45 minutes in rush hour traffic.

  1. Take route 16 East or Rte. 60 East until it ends at Bell's Circle.
  2. From there, follow the directions below labeled "From Bell's Circle."

From Logan Airport:

Estimated travel time from Logan Airport is 20-25 minutes.

  1. Get onto Route 1A North toward Lynn and Revere. (This exit is also labeled as an alternate route to the tunnel, although you will be heading away from the tunnel.)
  2. Follow Rte. 1A North to Bell's Circle.
  3. You'll actually be staying on 1A through Bell's Circle, but at this point, you should jump to the directions below, labeled "From Bell's Circle."

From Bell's Circle

Summary: Find Rte. 1A North to Revere Beach/Lynn and get on it. Stay on parkway when 1A turns off. At rotary, take causeway to Nahant (1st exit). At end of causeway, take second left. Second house on the left.

Estimated travel time from Bell's Circle is 10-15 minutes.

Bell's Circle is a confusing intersection at which Route 1A and the endpoints of Rte. 16, and Rte. 60 all come together. The intersection is a rotary with a divided highway going through the middle and traffic lights everywhere. In the middle of the rotary, the divided highway changes from Rte. 60 (which ends at that point) to Rte. 1A.

map of Bell's Circle

Details:

  1. No matter which road you're coming in from, go around the outside of the rotary (do not go through the middle) and exit onto Rte. 1A North towards Lynn. Note your odometer reading or zero your trip odometer here.

    If you're coming via Rte. 60, there are no signs for Rte. 1A Northbound. The entrance to the rotary is just after a 3-story-high rock wall. You'll be going about 3/4 of the way around the rotary.
  2. Follow Rte. 1A North for a total of 4.8 miles from Bell's Circle (staying on 1A through the Wonderland rotary) onto the Lynnway in Lynn. Here are some landmarks, with mileages from Bell's Circle:

    Miles
    From
    Prev.     		Total
    Miles     		Description of Intersection or Landmark
    0.0 mi. 0.0 mi. Bell's Circle. Pseudo-rotary where Rtes. 1A, 16, and 60 meet. Exit the intersection onto Rte. 1A North towards Lynn.
    0.5 mi. 0.5 mi. Wonderland rotary. Go 3/4 of the way around, staying on 1A North, which is now North Shore Road.
    0.1 mi. 0.6 mi. Wonderland Blue Line T Station on your right.
    2.6 mi. 3.2 mi. Steel deck drawbridge. As you cross it, you can see Nahant off to your right. Once you're across the bridge, you're on the Lynnway in Lynn.
    1.6 mi. 4.8 mi. Go straight on the Carroll Parkway (1A turns off) at the 7th traffic light after the drawbridge.

  3. When 1A turns off, continue straight on the Carroll Parkway (stay in the right lanes), following the sign for Nahant/Swampscott.
  4. 0.5 mile after 1A turned off, you will come to a rotary. Take the first (right) turn out of the rotary, about 1/4 of the way around, onto the Nahant causeway. You're now on Nahant Rd. in Nahant.
  5. Travel the length of the causeway (about 1.4 miles). If it has recently rained heavily and it is near the time of high tide, stay in the left lane.


    6. map of Little Nahant
  6. After the causeway ends, go 0.2 mile and take the second left onto Little Nahant Road. This turn is hard to see until you're right there, but there's a stone wall on your left just before the turn. If you come to a boarded up Coast Guard station on your left, you went too far.


    7. aerial photo of our house

  7. Our house is 8 Little Nahant Road. It's the second house on the left, at the first curve in the road. The house is a yellow gambrel-roofed Dutch colonial with red and brown trim. The house number is on the lamp post.

    The best places to park are in the driveway, in the spaces behind the garage (which are accessible from Chamberlin Circle), or on etiher side of Chamberlin Circle. If Chamberlin Circle is parked up, ask us for other options. (Sometimes some of our neighbors let us use parts of their driveways.)

Here is a picture of the house, as you approach it on Little Nahant Road:

picture of house

Telephone

Our telephone number is (781) 592-5802.

Other directions to Jeff & Nancy's house / jcb's homepage / send email

Last modified: Sat Feb 7 20:54:38 2004 by jcb@mit.edu