Can't find the damned travel thread again, so ... Boston?

Going in July. Supersized the trip to get a Fenway pilgrimage in (maybe two), though the Sox haven't started selling tickets for July yet. Planning on doing the basic historical stuff for sure. Trip piggybacks on a family reunion in Maine but will be in the city for five days before taking the train north.

This may be a stupid question, but is there stuff to see at Harvard and/or MIT? I'd love to walk around the campuses and maybe see interesting locations. As a college hockey guy, I'm kind of thinking about seeing all four of the Beanpot school arenas if I can get around.

 

Perfect timing for the thread. We’ll be in Boston the week of July 4.

 

attn: @Michael_ Gee

 

OK, let me put on my thinking cap. 1. There is plenty to see around Harvard, which of course has its own art museums and such. MIT less so, although Kendall Square nearby, which was a vast field of undeveloped rubble in the '70s, is now the commercial heart of high tech and biotech in the city and as such has numerous restaurants, most of which I am unfamiliar with. The view from the Mass. Ave. bridge between Boston and Cambridge is like the best view of the city, and takes maybe 5-10 minutes to walk. 2. The four hockey arenas if the Beanpot schools are IMO very nice but only Northeastern's Matthews Arena is of historical interest, as it had a prior life before becoming the school's venue. All are easily reachable by public transit. Historical stuff: As you walk the Freedom Trail and go to the old Granary Burial Grounds and in there is the grave of Peter Gee, a fisherman who's my first known ancestor on these shores, circa 1650 or so. At Old North Church there's the much better marked grave of Joshua Gee, who we used to think was the first American Gee. He got captured by pirates! OK, so much for that fascinating detour.
Ordinarily, I'd give you restaurant recommendations, but covid has placed the Boston dining scene in the same chaos as everywhere else, so I'll just say seafood and Italian are your best bets.
My final general recommendation for Boston proper is just walk around as much as you can. There's history on damn near every street corner. Do you like gardens? Take the T to Jamaica Plain and go to the Arnold Arboretum. Do you like architecture? Go to the Back Bay and stroll.
Day trips. Do you like the beach? Wonderful North Shore beaches (with real cold water) like Crane's Beach in Ipswich are less than an hour's drive and Cape Cod is a two hour drive. Early American literature fan? Walden Pond in Concord is both a beach AND history and it's only a 30 minute drive from downtown. Concord itself is both beautiful and dripping with history, the shot heard round the world and all that. And to anyone going to Boston who has preteen or older daughters with them, the Louisa May Alcott house in Concord will be a big hit.

Will come back with more information as it comes to me. I'm not properly caffeinated yet this morning'

 

Now that I’ve done all the touristy stuff there, I just gorge on the Italian food there.

 

We got our Sox tickets. Infield grandstand. I’ve never been to Fenway.

 

Are the grandstand seats still super tight? Damn, those things were uncomfortable when I went 20 years ago. As an added bonus, they were at an odd angle so you had to turn to see home plate. Boston's a fun town. Decent public transpo so if you want to save some cash, stay in Chestnut Hill and rail in to downtown.

 

Get a seat with a better view than the one I had on one of my trips. I was waiting for Bob Uecker to arrive and take the one next to me.

 

Former Rhode Island resident here, and I concur with Gee's list. Some other things that come to mind for me...

- Get yourself a map for the T and some daily or weekly passes, depending on what you think you need. If you don't mind walking a bit, it's the easiest way to get around the city. The traffic pretty much always sucks.

- Boston has a good science museum and a kid's museum. I can't remember if they're separate buildings or one structure, but I visited both multiple times on school field trips, and they're both fun. The science museum I visited a couple times as an adult and enjoyed, because they have special exhibits on interesting things.

- The Gardner Museum (art) is interesting, plus there is a Netflix series about the art heist now. You can check that out, and then go visit the museum, haha.

- Most of New England has a thriving local brewery scene, so don't confine yourself to Sam Adams and Harpoon. Trillium is a great spot in the Boston area, and if you have a car, Treehouse is widely regarded as the best brewery in New England, with some seriously drinkable stuff. However, that's in the Sturbridge (Worcester Hills) area, about a 60 to 90 minute drive depending on traffic. (My wedding ceremony is in Sturbridge in late July, so we've done a trip or two to that area to scout things out.) There are a ton of local breweries in the Boston area though. Oh, for phone apps - Untapped : beer :: Yelp : restaurants. You can log your beers, and it does a good job of showing you breweries (or bars, or liquor stores) that are local, which can be in issue in Boston at times.

- My wife is really into pastries, and Mike's Pastry is one of those Boston touristy things that's popular, but still good. Same thing goes with Pizzeria Regina, although you want to go to the original location on Thacher Street if you're going to go. If you ask locals though, they probably have places they like better.

- It's worse because of the pandemic, but even before that, the night life scene skews more toward loud and drunk 20somethings at the bar. There's some smaller comedy clubs, but I imagine the larger acts aren't going to be back until 2022. (Looking just now, it was just open mic nights, that kind of thing.)

- I'm guessing you've probably already booked a flight, but if you haven't, you might want to check TF Green (Warwick, RI) and Manchester (NH) for rates as well. We live in Houston now, and on our three flights back to visit, we've used Logan once and TF Green twice. The price difference on the tickets was $50/each, and the rental car was also cheaper - just make sure your hotel provides parking. If it doesn't, there is a commuter rail from Warwick to Boston. Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont all have cool stuff that's within a couple hours of Boston as well, but unless you're spending a whole week or more there, the city itself and the suburbs should keep you plenty occupied.

 

Top of the Bunker Hill monument and Old Ironsides. Be prepared to turn in your Fenway seat to see the action. Take warmer clothes than you think you’ll need. Skip Cheers.

 

I see Red Sox tickets for the period I'm going have gone on sale. I shouldn't be surprised that they're expensive, but the Red Sox are still insisting on selling tickets in "pods," which, however unintentional, is discriminatory against single people like myself, so it's expensive and a 100% tax. Discouraging, but I'm going to have to bite the bullet.

 

Loved just walking around Boston. Stumbled across a small cemetery while meandering around (might have been the one below) and was blown away by the dates on and (incredibly thin) tombstones.

https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/trail-sites/copps-hill-burying-ground