Boston - mandatory?

[Deleted]

I used to live in Boston. My H did, too, but a few years before me and we didn't meet till I was out here in CA. Therefore, we've never "done" Boston together but we'll be out there together for four days later this month and I'd love some ideas of stuff to do together.

I didn't do a lot of "tourist" stuff while I was there (you rarely do when you live in a tourist destination, isn't that right?) so I'm really wanting to do the typical, fun, touristy things. The plus is that we both know the T (and the general city layout) and feel comfortable taking it and going around.

Advice or suggestions?

[megalicious]

If the duck boats are still running, they're an absolute MUST IMO.

[mbcdefg]

Freedom Trail, boat tour of the harbor, aquarium, dinner and dessert in the North End

ETA: the Fenway Park guided tour. Can't believe I forgot that!

[Pilsy]

Oct 14, 2012 20:06:26 GMT -5 megalicious said:

If the duck boats are still running, they're an absolute MUST IMO.

Yes! I live in Boston, and a duck boat tour is one of the few traditionally touristy things I've done. Depending on the weather, you might enjoy walking the Freedom Trail.

The MFA really is nice, but I think the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum (www.gardnermuseum.org/) is more "Boston," and it's great. You can also tour Fenway and, if you venture out to JP, the Sam Adams brewery.

I haven't been, but a lot of people rave about the Mapparium (www.marybakereddylibrary.org/exhibits/mapparium), too.

[megalicious]

You should page Rock n Voll on ML for her comprehensive list. There still might be some nice leaf peeping, so you could always do Walden Pond or something for that. Freedom Trail, MinuteMan Tail, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is beautiful, ICA, the aquarium.

ETA: yes, I forgot all about the maparium--it's really interesting and fairly quick to go through. I'm in Boston too (burbs), but I haven't been here that long.

[greekypie]

Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum is one of my favorite places, ever. And the Boston Public Library.

[noodleoo]

Quincy Market/Faneuil hall. H and I love walking through there and watching the street performers. Then you can walk through the new parks to the waterfront and check out the Harborwalk or hit the aquarium. Finish with dinner in the North End. Have fun!

[LoveTrains]

I also can't say enough great things about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

[womet]

This is a great list to work from. When I went to Boston for a conference, I was able to check off a few of these while playing hookey from my meeting.

Oct 14, 2012 21:27:38 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Here is my standard list of suggested things to do in Boston. if you want food recs too, let me know.

Freedom Trail - This walking tour will take you through most of the historic sites of Boston. You can do a guided tour or I've heard there's a downloadable iPod tour so you can do a self-guided thing.

Public Gardens/Boston Common – Not such a great visit in the winter, but otherwise a nice public space to walk through. There's a Make Way for Ducklings bronze statue here that the kiddies might like if you have them. The Swan Boats are also a personal favorite, though not a must do.

Sam Adams or Harpoon Brewery tours – self-explanatory

Faneuil Hall – Historic area now full of shopping and restaurants. Mostly chain places, but can be fun to walk around, see street performers, etc.

Fenway Park – game tickets are hard to come by but you can sign up to take a tour of the stadium.

For the Freedom Trail, I paid for a guided tour and really enjoyed it. It started at the Public Gardens and ended at Fanueil Hall. I checked out Fanueil Hall, Old North Church and Paul Revere House on my own. And then I stopped and had a wonderful lunch at some small Italian place near Old North Church.

I loved the Sam Adams tour. Afterwards, I walked to the restaurant that they recommend. I ordered a Sam Adams with my lunch and got to keep my glass because I went on the tour.

[Awkward]

Oct 15, 2012 8:06:05 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I also can't say enough great things about the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Ditto this. The MFA is great, but the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum is far and away my favorite. It's a lot more intimate.

[MixedBerryJam]

Harvard – Campus is pretty and Harvard Square is fun to walk around
[/quote]

The Harvard Museum of Natural History is my favorite spot -- between the Glass Flowers and the mineral and gemstone collection ... The Peabody Museum is also a must-not-miss. A very cheap date, too; I haven't had to pay for a while, but I think it's only 4$ or something like that (employees are free).

[mbcdefg]

As long as this thread is still active ...

We're going in December. Any restaurant recommendations? Nothing too pricey, maybe $60 tops for the two of us. We've had bad luck just wandering the North End and randomly picking a place.

[kathybela]

Oct 14, 2012 20:35:35 GMT -5 Pilsy said:

Oct 14, 2012 20:06:26 GMT -5 megalicious said:

If the duck boats are still running, they're an absolute MUST IMO.

Yes! I live in Boston, and a duck boat tour is one of the few traditionally touristy things I've done. Depending on the weather, you might enjoy walking the Freedom Trail.

The MFA really is nice, but I think the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum (www.gardnermuseum.org/) is more "Boston," and it's great. You can also tour Fenway and, if you venture out to JP, the Sam Adams brewery.

I haven't been, but a lot of people rave about the Mapparium (www.marybakereddylibrary.org/exhibits/mapparium), too.

The mapparium was the highlight of my visit last summer - totally amazing!!

[mbcdefg]

Oct 15, 2012 9:44:28 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Oct 15, 2012 8:54:01 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Any restaurant recommendations? Nothing too pricey, maybe $60 tops for the two of us. We've had bad luck just wandering the North End and randomly picking a place.

Here's my full list, you can decide what's too pricey. And LOL regarding the North End given what I wrote below.

Thank you

I've read in numerous other places that you won't go wrong just choosing a random in the North End, but I guess we just had bad luck the last few times. Part of it was probably because we were there during touristy times and a lot of good places had long lines. We've been to a few crappy Italian places, and we ate at The Daily Catch and totally didn't see the hype. (We eat stuff from Mike's like it's our job, though, lol.)

Plus MH is very picky when it comes to Italian restaurants. His father is a retired chef from Italy, so MH has a hard time paying for meals that he can eat any ol' time. The last time we were there he actually said, "Let's walk around the North End, but I don't want Italian for dinner"

We'll be staying near Fenway Park in December so I'll research some places around there. Boston Beer Works is our standby when we just can't find anything else open in that area and it's good for a decent MM dinner.

[mbcdefg]

Thanks, I'll look into those! We'll have our car and aren't opposed to walking or the T to get somewhere else.

[devonpow]

If you are staying near Fenway go to Sweet Cheeks to eat - Barbecue (the chef is Tiffany whats her name from Top Chef) and the Buttermilk biscuits are to die for.

[magdala9]

If you get to Harvard area, stop in for hot chocolate at Burdicks. DH & I have had fun at Drinks (pub near Longwharf) and Sunset Cafe (a beer garden in Brookline).

[pinkroses]

Oct 15, 2012 10:59:34 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Oct 15, 2012 10:51:21 GMT -5 devonpow said:

If you are staying near Fenway go to Sweet Cheeks to eat - Barbecue (the chef is Tiffany whats her name from Top Chef) and the Buttermilk biscuits are to die for.

I haven't been here yet, will have to check it out.

And it's Tiffani Faison.

I will second this recommendation! I loved my meal there. The biscuits were great and I enjoyed the carrot and raisin salad also.

[mbcdefg]

Mmm, I love barbecue. The Yelp reviews all rave about the biscuits. I'll be sure to look into Sweet Cheeks, thanks!

[Pilsy]

Oct 15, 2012 10:05:13 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

I don't know how close to Fenway you want, but in the Brookline area there's Sichuan Gourmet if you like (really) spicy food, or Elephant Walk for French-Cambodian.

I second the rec for Elephant Walk. Love that place.

Audubon is good, too! www.auduboncircle.us/index.html