DCR last week unveiled designs for the Gronk Playground it will be installing on the Esplanade - centered around a slide meant to immortalize the way Rob Gronkowski used to spike a football after a touchdown. Read more.

People with phones set up for emergency messages were warned this afternoon to leave the Esplanade as a line of thunderstorms approached south of Boston. State Police stopped letting people onto the Esplanade to reduce the number of people they might have to move out in a hurry had the heavy rain and lightning reached the Charles, which it didn't. Read more.

The Charles River Conservancy has set June 17 for this year's City Splash and One-Mile Swim, during which you'll be able to jump into the Charles from the Fiedler Dock on the Esplanade. Because the event and race have proven so popular, pre-registration for time slots or to enter the race will be required, although the group has yet to set up online pages to do so.

WCVB reports.

Chris in 02134 reports people were grooving to the sunset along the Charles River Esplanade this evening: Read more.

The Esplanade Association reports she died last night, and that a Boston animal-control officer was able to remove her body "while the father swan sat at the nest with their cygnets tucked under his wings."

Paddy G reports the two were forced to raise their young amidst man-made filth along the riverbank.

DCR is aiming for a fall start of a pilot program to test various methods for restoring the banks of the Charles River Basin and reducing the amount of invasive trees and other plants along the banks that it says crowd out native species and reduce the vistas of the scenic waterway. Read more.

Liz the roving UHub photographer came upon a white duck having a grand old time hanging with a gaggle of geese on the Esplanade this afternoon.

Keith Lockhart made the announcement this afternoon: Read more.