I'm thinking about taking a trip to Boston

Cafe Society
#1

I took sometime off from work because a) I was getting burned out and had to get away from there and b) I had to use my days before the end of the month or lose them.

So I’m thinking about making the 5+ hour drive to Boston in a few days and spending 4 or 5 days up there. Since I’ve never been to Boston and don’t go on any vacations I don’t know what to do when I get there and don’t know how to plan a vacation. I’m pathetic. Does anyone have a suggestion for stuff to do in Boston? I’d like to go to Fenway, but I have no chance of getting tickets. The only other thing that I’ve thought of is visiting Cheers. Again… I’m a very sad and pathetic individual. I’m probably going to go alone, so what is there for me to do in the fine city of Boston? I’m kind of looking for random ideas… what would you do if you went to Boston or have done there in the past?

I have to be back home by July 1st which works out anyway because I should be able to avoid a lot of the 4th of July traffic. But other than that I could leave tomorrow (pending hotel reservations) and spend the rest of June up there if there’s a lot to do… Help me have fun, please!

#2

Well, it’s been about a decade since I was there, but I’d say the hard thing would be not having fun. Good restaurants and bars all over the place (see how many “award winning” chowders you can try out), history everywhere, the U.S.S. Constitution…I’m hard pressed to think of a better city just to go to and strike out in search of amusement.

#3

Well, if you have $12, you couldVisit the park where the Babe pitched, The Kid hit, Yaz dazzled and Manny and Ortiz still thrill young fans today. Soak up the rich history; hear the echoes of the past. Touch the Green Monster, imagine being one of the “Knights of the Keyboard” as you see the view from the Press Box, visit the State Street Pavilion Club before strolling around Fenway Park.

Tours now leave from the Souvenir Store across Yawkey Way hourly seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. or three hours before game time.

#4

I lived in Boston for two summers and loved it. It’s probably my favorite American city.

Walk the Freedom Trail, from beginning to end – this is a red line in the sidewalk that winds throughout the old town, going past endless historical sights. Get a good guide, and spend the day wandering from site to site.

Go to the North End and have a meal in a good Italian restaurant.

Go to Cambridge, tour Harvard, wander around the bookstores, and catch a good movie at the Brattle.

Wander around the beautiful houses at Beacon Hill.

Find an Irish pub and feel like you’re sitting in Dublin. (Before I moved to Boston I thought that the Irish had stopped coming to Boston at the turn of the last century. NOT TRUE – there are still TONS of Irish in that city. The person who gives you change at the Dunkin Donuts or hands you your ticket at the movie theater is almost as likely to be Irish as American.)

Take a duck tour! That’s the converted amphibious tour busses dressed up like a duck that you see all around town. Like a fool, I scoffed at the people on the tour bus the first summer I was in Beantown, but when I was finally dragged onto one my second summer, I LOVED it – I learned lots of great information about the place I was living that I had never even heard of.

Take a day trip to Salem. Aside from the witch stuff (which is definitely played up), it is a beautiful town on the water, with a lot of history and stuff to see.

Laze around in the commons for an afternoon. Go to the duck pond.

Go to the Christian Science Center Chapel and take a tour.

Walk around the Boston Public Library at Copley – cool building.

Do some shopping in Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. On the top floor of one of them (can’t remember which!) is a pretty good comedy club.

Boston is great; you’ll have an awesome time!

#5

You will be if you go to Cheers. Go to the Bulfinch Pub (the original exterior of cheers)

Def go to the Museum of Science. Afterwards walk down the street to Cambridge Side Galleria and take a dinner cruise, meet some new people.

#6

You can get tickets to Fenway fairly easily. There are always scalpers outside the park, and if you go looking in the second or third inning they are quite cheap. Or you can go through one of the many ticket agencies and buy tickets for any game. You’ll have to pay a little more than sticker price, but you’ll be sure of seats.

I’d make sure and visit the Boston Harbor Islands national park. You can hop the boat at the pier downtown next to the Aquarium and visit several nice islands with a great view of the city. Or a trip to P-town by high-speed ferry in the morning and spend the day on the beaches and in town.