In the middle of Boston people can take a ride on pedal boat, where the driver sits on a farm tractor seat, surrounded by a giant white swan. These Swan Boats have been in the Public Gardens of Boston since the 1870s, and have been a family business. Started by Robert Paget the idea to use swans on the boats "...came to him from his familiarity with the opera Lohengrin. The opera is based on a medieval German story in which Lohengrin, a knight of the Grail crosses a river in a boat drawn by a swan to defend the innocence of his heroine, Princess Elsa."1
Located in the Boston Public Garden, the ride goes under the footbridge, around a little island, and around the lagoon. The boats run from April to September, weather permitting.
