TWO DAYS IN BOSTON
Pack comfortable shoes to explore the city, home of many American firsts.
I used to visit Boston regularly in the early 2000s and what always stuck in my mind was how walkable it was. After more than 20 years, I returned for a short getaway with my son (who you may remember from such adventures as Las Vegas, the beach, a cruise — and no, you’re not forgiven if you don’t remember).
Boston has a walking score of 99 out of 100, so it was easy finding a hotel (more on that later) near the sites on our itinerary. If you want to be aggressive, you can do all this in one day, but you’ll be very knackered to do anything after dinner.
I wish I could tell you what the nightlife in Boston was like, but I was traveling with a 13-year-old.
Despite Boston having an even higher score for its public transportation, we chose to walk everywhere!
DAY 1
Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum
We met in a replica of the Meeting House where we received our Sons of Liberty characters. Levi and I were Benjamin Rice, a militia captain, and Ebenezer MacIntosh, a shoemaker, respectively. After Samuel Adams (who we learned is probably not on the Samuel Adams beer label, but perhaps Paul Revere is because he was better looking) gave a rousing speech and the captive audience responded with a lot of “Well said” and “Huzzah” and hisses, we walked down to one of the two replica ships, Brig Beaver and Eleanor. On board the Beaver, we got to throw a replica tea chest overboard. It’s sweet for the little ones.
There’s a 3D performance of the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party; a viewing of the only known surviving tea chest and a panoramic video reenacting the beginning of the Revolutionary War, that includes Paul Revere’s midnight ride. Spoiler alert: He wasn’t alone.
Once the tour concluded, we were led into one of the best gift shops of all time! You tea lovers will, um, love it! Shelf after shelf with boxes of tea and cups and saucers and all the accoutrements.
Next door to the gift shop is Abigail’s Tea Room, which has one of the best scents. They should make candles of this scent of the most glorious baked goods. For a few Continentals, you can have your own Boston Tea Party by tasting all the different teas that were available way back when.
https://www.bostonteapartyship.com/
You must be asking: Jason, didn’t you eat? Great question. We did. However, I was taught that if you do not have anything nice to say, don’t say it. So, I won’t say anything about our meals at Banh Mi Huong Que and French Quarter.
DAY 2
There are several locations of this Jewish deli. The original Mamaleh’s is on the other side of the Charles, in Cambridge, which is also home to the Harvard campus and MIT Museum, both worth visiting.
Luckily, Mamalah’s has an outpost at the High Street Place food hall — the only Jewish deli in Boston proper. The abridged menu still has classic bagel sandwiches and smoked fish and meat ones, and egg sandwiches and tuna, egg, chicken salads and plenty of Dr. Brown’s to choose from. And prepackaged gribenes (fried chicken skins, like you didn’t know)!
The High Street Place food hall was your typical food hall: barren and sterile.
In 90 minutes, you will hear stories from an exuberant American Revolution era-dressed guide about the history at nearly a dozen sites. They include Boston Common, Massachusetts State House, Granary Burying Ground, which has Samuel Adams’ grave, Old South Meeting House, Boston Massacre, the original city hall (which is now a Ruth’s Chris steak house — the new city hall, completed in 1968 in the architecture style of Brutalism, is continuously voted one of the ugliest buildings in the world), Faneuil Hall and more. You also walk by the Omni Parker House, home to the original Boston Cream Pie.
We were led by Harbottle Dorr. He collected and annotated newspapers, so he was obviously against the Stamp Act. Along the tour, Harbottle waxed about all the people involved in the American Revolution, including the many unsung female heroes.
Tours leave hourly between 10.00 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. from the visitor center at Boston Common.
https://www.thefreedomtrail.org/
We chose the tour at 11.00 a.m. so we would end here at lunch time. Faneuil Hall is a giant gift shop, with multiple vendors selling everything Boston, from historical currency and books about the Revolutionary War to sweatshirts, tchotchkes and signs with local phrases. Wicked!
Quincy Market, America’s first food hall (and the temperature inside was a sign that this place existed before air conditioning was invented) has several food stalls selling “local” delicacies like overpriced and over-mayonaissed lobster rolls and clam chowder (I went for a roll), one bakery with all the Italian pastries one expects in Boston plus a Boston cream pie (it was underwhelming) and international cuisines from Greek to Japanese.
There’s a very dimly lit seating area upstairs and places to stand and eat on the ground floor, but I was surprised there wasn’t any dedicated seating outside.
https://faneuilhallmarketplace.com/
Boston Common
Sure, it’s the site of some amazing history over the past 350 years, but the layout of Boston Common is ideal for anyone who loves to amble. And amble we did! All the way through until we got to another American first: The Public Garden, America’s first botanical garden.
After admiring the flora, rent a swan boat to view the fauna. I’m talking about the ducks, of course, who make Duck Island their home. Fans of the children’s book, Make Way for Ducklings, can also take their photos with Nancy Schön’s nine duck statues.
https://www.boston.gov/parks/boston-common
https://www.boston.gov/parks/public-garden
Jewelry stores, art galleries and cafes, oh my! Most, if not all, of the clothing and accessories stores along this mile-long strip can be found in any high-end mall or major city, but here, they’re built within brownstones. The highlights for us were the New England Historical Genealogical Society, Trident Booksellers (a great independent bookstore) and Newbury Comics.
If you’re looking for more shopping, walk over one block to Boylston Street, which runs parallel, and has the fancy Prudential Center.
https://www.newburystboston.com
I’m a Mets fan, but I love baseball, so a visit to the oldest ballpark should be part of your itinerary.
Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, has just about as much history as the rest of the town. The one-hour tour takes you throughout the park: sitting in the original seats from 1912, overlooking the field from atop the Green Monster, into the press box, as well as past the 5,000-square-foot farm that grows some of the food for the concessions.
A tour guide — ours was Laura; there were also the two Joes, among others, none of whom are fans of the home team — shares the history of the team, the marked seat of the farthest home run ever hit there (509 feet by Ted Williams) and other facets of what makes Fenway so special.
Do not expect to visit the locker rooms during the season, but perhaps in the offseason. And due to lack of space behind it, a visit to the last-remaining manual scoreboard is not in the cards.
https://www.mlb.com/redsox/ballpark/tours
Cozy. Soooooo cozy. That’s the one word to describe 75 Chestnut, nestled inside a federal style row house along one of Beacon Hill’s charming and narrow cobblestone streets.
This was a meal worth writing home about. Beneath the perfect lighting, we had some dang good clam chowder and a flatbread pizza loaded with fig jam, grilled asparagus, sweet peas, caramelized spring onions, prosciutto, Vermont goat cheese and balsamic glaze. For entrees, we indulged in pasta primavera and lobster pasta, which may have had more lobster than the roll I had at lunch. I could have done without the jarred artichokes.
Since we were in Boston, I went with an apropos cocktail: Spill the Tea — bourbon, peach puree, lemon and iced sweet tea.
Hotel
We stayed at the Doubletree by Hilton in downtown Boston and I highly recommend it. There were some vagrants loitering down the street — homeless people who were released from the neighboring Tufts Medical Center — and there’s a subway station right there, but you cannot beat the location.
The former school building borders Chinatown, and within 20 minutes, you can walk to, well, all of the above mentioned places.
The hotel offers valet parking at $63 a night but there are cheaper lots in the area. Just check SpotHero.
The room was clean, the shower had nice pressure, and the TV came loaded with streaming apps that automatically sign you out upon check-out. The lobby features a lovely lounge and bar area, which were buzzing on both evenings.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/boscodt-doubletree-boston-downtown/
You can technically say this was 48 hours in Boston, but we left the next morning by 11.00 a.m., so not officially. On getaway day, we enjoyed a tasty breakfast at Café 26, just a few feet from Boston Common. This family-owned business’s highlights were the Deluxe French Toast, Shakshuka, and many crepes and smoothies. They also offer halal meats, and bacon and sausage made from turkey.
Yes, I am aware that we left Boston without doing one of those famous Duck Tours. It comes highly recommended. It looks like great fun!
So, you should probably fit it in somehow.
