So, Dustin and I are supposed to be going on a weekend trip for our 7th anniversary in September. His mother has graciously offered her services to watch the boys while we are away. Thank you mom!
We plan on going to Boston, because it's only a 1-1/2 hour drive, neither of us have ever been there, and everyone tells us it's really cool. But, we are horrible at trip planning. We have no idea where to stay or what to do in our short 2-day excursion.
I ask all of you, my fine family and friends: Have any of you been to Boston? If so, where is a good and reasonably priced place to stay? And, what touristy things should we do? OR, is there somewhere else we should be going to, within driving distance of western Massachusetts? I am SO confused! I don't travel much, if you couldn't tell.
Please help if you can! And thank you in advance!
7 comments:
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I don't know anything about Mass, sorry. Check with your local visitor's center. Sounds like a fun little excursion though.
I emailed a friend who lives in Boston to see if I could find any info for you. She didn't know about where to stay as she lives there, but she gave these tourist ideas:
"They should visit Lexington/Concord and go to the Minute Man Visitors Center. There's also a nice little trail that is the path walked during the first battle. It's beautiful out there and I really love it - nothing way exciting, just nice and historical too. Walden Pond is also in the area along with some historic writer's houses (Louisa May Alcott, Thoreau, etc).
The Freedom Trail is another nice place. You can do it self-guided or get a tour guide, and it's just a walk along Boston to see historical sites - the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea" church), USS Constitution, famous graveyards, site of the Boston Massacre, Boston's Holocaust Memorial, etc are all along this trail. If you want to do it quicker and don't want to walk, you can do "duck tours" and I think there may also be a bus. They cost money though.
There's also, of course, the beach.
And there's a lot of houses they could visit (e.g. John Adam's house or the Orchard House - home to Louisa May Alcott who wrote Little Women).
If they're into museums there are several places to go: Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, DeCordova (I've never been to this one, but supposedly it has a great sculpture area outside that is free), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, etc.
It really depends on their interests. Boston has something for everybody. (And there are some great food places too; if they're into Italian, then the Little Italy section of town in Northend is a great place). The original Cheers restaurant is in Boston as well. Mexican food is a downer in Boston, so they shouldn't go for that. Lots of seafood as well.
Outside of Boston there are some nice haunts as well."
Have fun!
Thanks! And thank your friend, too! Some of those ideas are great. We were planning on doing the Freedom Trail and possibly the Museum of Fine Art. And of course I love Italian food! We'll have to check out Little Italy.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE planning trips! Having been in the hotel industry for 6 years, I would suggest you try to get a room on Priceline or Hotwire first. Guests would pay over $150 a night at the last hotel I worked at while other people were spending $50 for the same type of room. Be sure to search for the correct amount of stars you want in a hotel - 3 or above would probably be good enough. Then again, I'm a hotel snob and only like to stay at certain nice hotels! ;)
-Before you do anything.. go to priceline or hotwire. Search the dates you'll be needing a hotel and the location.
- Then sort by star ratings and see which hotels show up (also note which area it's located in).
-Once you find a few hotels you might be interested in, go to the NAME YOUR OWN PRICE section and place a bid. Most hotels I've worked for have had $50 rates available at certain times (although not always) so go ahead and start as low as that. If it's not accepted, bid higher.
***Remember though, with these sites and naming your own price, if it accepts your price, you just paid for it and there's no going back. It might not pick the hotel you wanted exactly, but you'll get the price you wanted, the star rating and the location you wanted.
If that's a little too scary for you guys, then you can still find good prices. Be sure to check each hotel's own websites for deals and call the hotel directly to see if they have any specials or packages for those dates. You'd be surprised how many of them offer great packages.
If you decide to go the route of finding the exact hotel you want then keep some things in mind. Hotels like the Doubletree, Hampton Inn & Embassy Suites usually offer free breakfast and sometimes appetizers at night. Embassy Suites are great because you get a separate living room area! You might want to consider that when looking at rates and noting it might save you money.
Also good to know the bigger hotels almost always charge for parking, while sometimes the smaller hotels like Hampton Inn or Double Tree might not. With bigger cities though, you might have to pay for parking everywhere, so look into that.
Just because the hotel is a HILTON or MARRIOTT doesn't mean it's going to be nice. Check out the pictures of the rooms and see how they compare to other hotels you are considering! Trust me on this! If they have the flat, flowered bedspreads chances are they haven't updated their rooms in years and their mattresses could be uncomfortable. Most big hotels have updated their bedding and mattresses to the fluffly white bedding we all love.
When looking for a hotel, find out these points:
Is parking free? If not, how much is parking?
Is there covered parking?
Does it have a pool/jacuzzi?
Is there a fitness center?
Is there a FREE shuttle? (always a good tool for local activities!)
Oh, also... you should know that KING beds are NEVER guaranteed. Your reservation is guaranteed, but should you check in at 6pm and a huge tour group just checked in and took all the king bed room types, you'll be stuck with a double bedded room. :(
My suggestion is that you check in as early as they will let you. Check in is generally 3pm. If you happen to be in the city earlier, call ahead and let them know and ask if they have a room available to check into. If they don't, just find out when a good time would be to come back.
You can almost always get a free late check out if you ask for it also. 1pm is usually a given, maybe later if the staff is nice and they aren't sold out for that night.
GOOD LUCK and happy hunting!!!
Holy cow Crystal! You went above and beyond. We were desperately in need of your hotel expertise! Thank you so much! I'll let you know how it works out.
I hope this comment is not too late. Boston is GREAT! We are a little partial to it because we met there, fell in love with the city and eachother. But, to answer your question, I would walk the freedom trail. It is about 2-3 miles if I remember right. It starts in downtown Boston and ends in Charlestown at Bunker Hill. You get to see a lot in a short amount of time. Also, going to Cambridge and seeing Harvard Square and the MIT campus is also very fun! Don't forget to stop by the Cheers restaurant and Fenway Park (where the Red Sox play) The Back Bay area (behind the capital building) is really pretty...all these beautiful homes, etc. If you like museums, Boston has plenty! The Museum of Fine Arts was a favorite of ours. Driving out to Concord and Lexington is an idea too. They have a visitor's center there. You may find reasonably priced hotels in Sommerville. It borders Boston and Cambridge. Get a map of the subway (the T) to get around town...it is actually VERY easy..much less confusing than NYC. Have a great time!! And happy anniversary! Oh, and I can't forget eat at Joe's Bar and Grill in the north end...we got engaged right there on the waterfront and they have the best clam chowder and bread and then pick up a pastry at Mikes in "Little Italy". You can walk there from Joe's. Good luck!
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