Hey all,
I’m going to be visiting Boston just before Labor Day weekend, and I have a bit of time to kill before driving down to the Cape. I’ll be flying early Thursday evening, and leaving mid-afternoon Friday. What are the MUST SEE things I can cram into my time? Breweries with great food and historical sites win cookies.
The Friday before Labor Day is going to be a crowded day for driving to the Cape. You might want to leave before mid-afternoon.
There’s a walking path through Boston called the Freedom Trail that passes a lot of the historic sites. You may want to check here and see if anything sparks your interest.
Breweries with great food might be trickier. Most of the breweries and tap rooms I can think of just offer snacks (but good ones) along with the beer. It sounds like you’ll have a car, so you might look a little bit outside of downtown Boston. I’m not a beer drinker, but I’ve heard good things about Slumbrew and Night Shift.
And do bring a good navigation app. Traffic around here can eat tourists alive; it will really help to know where you’re going.
Sox are away but you can still tour Fenway.
Cheers fan? Go to the bar.
USS Constitution
Faneuil Hall
Boston City Hall, is the most boring, uninspired municipal building ever. It looks like a concrete cross between a parking garage & a prison.
And bear in mind that driving IN Boston can be a nightmare, at any time. Give yourself plenty of time.
I’d either leave for the Cape before noon or after 8PM.
Dinner in the North End, many amazing Italian restaurants to choose from. Ride the Swan boats in the Public Garden, or a Duck Boat tour. The Freedom Trail.
That may be the first time I’ve heard those particular adjectives used to describe it, even given it’s less-than-stellar reputation. The best thing about buildings in its style is when they are original and interesting, like I consider the Hall to be, rather than literally parking garages or high rises.
Then again, I like this literal parking garage in Charleston WV so my opinion may be suspect.
It’s not just driving in Boston that’s an utter nightmare, ANYWHERE where there are massachusets drivers is a nightmare (if cars were able to drive on the Moon, it’d be a nightmare if even a single Mass. driver was there…)
They seem to consider driving a full contact sport, and turn signals are a sign of weakness, they seem to be out to disprove the physical law of "no two items can occupy the same physical coordinates in space/time…
anyway, landmarks?
Old Ironsides (USS Constitution)
The Museum of Science/iMax Theatre
Boston Aquarium
The Isabella Stewrt Gardener Museum is a prize! Very unusual with astonishing holdings. If i could only visit one thing in Boston this would be it, though the other places noted also are wonderful. I love this city even though the people talk funny (I’m from the south…)
Freedom Trail would be my first choice. And you can walk across the Hahvahd Bridge to Cambridge and MIT, noting the Smoots on the sidewalk. Some interesting architecture in MIT.
Boston is a good walking city. Leave the car somewhere and take the T or just walk. Probably as fast as driving and a lot less stressful.
The Skywalk observation deck on the 50th floor of the Prudential Tower offers excellent panoramic views of the city and region. Pricey at $21 per adult under age 62, then it’s $17. Top of the Hub restaurant is above it on the 52nd deck. I worked in a windowed office on the 48th deck overlooking MIT for a couple of years.
Oh, the the very finny Punning in Innsmouth post two or so above this in the listing reminds me
that you can probably still get scrod at the Parker House in Beantown.
“Should we walk, or do we have time to take the T?”
