Boston’s setting along the Charles River is one of its greatest assets, and the city has treasured and preserved its riverside landscape, turning it into a long linear park. Culture, nature, sports and entertainment all find a place in the Esplanade’s tree-shaded green, anchored by the Hatch Memorial Shell, where the Boston Pops plays summer concerts. Picnic or read a book on its benches, rent a sailboat from the boat house, catch rays on the pier, launch a kayak from anywhere, walk the dog, watch kids in the playgrounds, cycle for miles, feed the squirrels, wander the Esplanade’s winding paths past nesting water birds, ride a Venetian gondola in the lagoon or hear rock concerts in the amphitheater. The Esplanade is for everyone, and on a nice evening, it seems as though everyone is using it.