Visiting Boston this weekend

[SoCal Bong]

My wife and I are flying in to Boston on the red eye from Long Beach tonight so we'll be getting in at 5am. The main purpose of the trip is to attend the Pats - Fins game but we of course want to make the best use of the rest of our weekend. Just gonna throw out a bunch of questions and if you feel inclined to give me some feeback I'd really appreciate it.

Logan to the Financial District with two suitcases at 5am Friday morning - how would you go? T? taxi? shuttle service?

One of the things my wife wants to do is a fall foliage tour. Better to get our own rental car or to just go along for the bus ride with a tour company? Anyone know anything about this one? (Brush Hill Tours/Grey Line)
http://www.brushhilltours.com/tours/foliage.html
$50 for an all day tour

We'd like to have one nice dinner (probably Saturday night). We've been to Legal Seafood and enjoyed that though I'm guessing there are some non-chain places just as good for lower prices. Any suggestions?

Since we have all day Friday, Saturday and most of Monday open and we're probably leaf peeping one day, what would you suggest for the other days? Some ideas I had were
Duck Boat Tour
Fenway park tour
Shopping for Pats gear - Bob's Stores?

Too cool to walk around in shorts right now?

After the game on Sunday, I'd like to watch the Steelers-Chargers game in a sports bar near the hotel we're staying at: Hilton - Financial District on Broad Street (formerly Wyndham). Any ideas for a fun place?

I'm renting a car at Logan to get to the game on Sunday - How long from Logan to Foxboro early on Sunday morning?

Anything else going on this weekend or that might be helpful to out of towners is appreciated.

Thanks!

[BelichickFan]

I can't give you much of an answer as I also live in CA, but I will say that when my wife and I went in 2003 (can't believe it was that long ago, we were mere one time SB winners back then ), we did one of the bus tour things and although it sounds overly touristy, we really liked it. It took us around most of Boston and any place we were interested in we could get off, stay as long as we wanted and get the next bus. Of course, you're somewhat at the mercy of the driver in terms of the overall experience as some are really good at dropping little bits of trivia/history and some just drive.

We also were able to walk most of it, from the harbor to Cheers, the park, etc. Oh and the Quincy Market near downtown, damn I want to go back there for lunch. Lobster bisque by the bowl for $5 or so. You Bostonites don't know how lucky you are As I love seafood, that might have actually been my favorite non Patriot part of our trip to Boston. Just remember it's in Boston, my wife and I drove to the city of Quincy looking for it Morons

[BelichickFan]

Originally Posted by SoCal Bong

We'd like to have one nice dinner (probably Saturday night). We've been to Legal Seafood and enjoyed that though I'm guessing there are some non-chain places just as good for lower prices. Any suggestions?

We went to LS which was fine but not wholly different than you could find elsewhere. I'm not going to be able to name the place we liked but someone might be able to - there's a bar/pub there which they said was the oldest in the U.S., I forget the name although I did make sure to get a Sam Adams there, I wish I could remember the name. Anyway, there was a little 2 story cottage style restaurant there which felt much more Boston to me than LS.

Was Penny in the name of the bar ? Anyway, maybe someone can remember but I would definitely ask a bus driver (if you take the tour) for a little hole in the wall restaurant recommedation over some bigger place.

[sdaniels7114]

I don't think the Duck Boats are running anymore this season. I worked right next door to the Prudential Center all day today and didn't see a one. Maybe they're still doing runs over the long weekend. Union Oyster House is right in Quincy Market. You almost have to go there if you wanna experience Boston dining. There's a nice restaurant in the Bostonian Hotel near there too, or maybe Locke ober's at Downtown Crossing. I wouldn't call any of them cheap though, maybe compared to Legal Seafood. I couldn't say because seafood and me don't 'sea' eye to eye. So I've never been inside. For something more reasonably priced, try any one of a thousand Italian restaurants in the north end or a thousand Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Chinese restaurants in Chinatown are shockingly better than just about any Chinese food anywhere else. Its almost the same value-wise in the North End.

I really don't know much about leaf peeping. Most people make a day of it I understand and head out to Concord or so, or Mt Wachusett, which is a bit over an hour west on rt 2.

Keep in mind that the airport complex is barely in the city. Its located in East Boston, which is on the opposite side of the harbor away from the main part of the city. It can be a bit of a challenge to navigate for someone who's only driven where the roads are straight. Not just to and from the airport, but everywhere. We like to keep our tourists on their toes So give yourself extra time to navigate and be prepared to pay to park. I'd suggest spending an hour or so just looking at a map of the city before trying to drive at all.

Off the top of my head, I'd say you'd be really pushing your luck if you left the airport area two hours before kickoff even though its only 25 miles or so as the crow flies. You won't be driving in anything resembling a straight line, even though technically you'll be on rt 1 (the Razor's also on rt 1) as soon as you cross the harbor. Grab a Styrofoam cooler and a throwaway grille and spend the day tailgating. The time in the parking lot is almost as much fun as the game itself. He11, back when Pete Caroll was in charge tailgating was more fun.

[Nikki]

I have even at Legal's several times and I was never disappointed!

What hotel are you staying at? I usually stay in Copley (either at the Marriot or at Fairmont Copley)

Definately need to go to the top of the Pru! Great views of the city. And there are stores to walk around and shop at. Their is a Legals are the Pru (my friends ex-hubby is the manager) and their is a Legals right next door at Copley Place.

Fanuel Hall/Quincy Market has lots of yummy places to eat! You can take the T there easy enough!

Duck boat tours is a nice way to get a view of the city without having to drive it!

Have a great time this weekend!!

[3 to be 4]

Originally Posted by SoCal Bong

My wife and I are flying in to Boston on the red eye from Long Beach tonight so we'll be getting in at 5am. The main purpose of the trip is to attend the Pats - Fins game but we of course want to make the best use of the rest of our weekend. Just gonna throw out a bunch of questions and if you feel inclined to give me some feeback I'd really appreciate it.

Logan to the Financial District with two suitcases at 5am Friday morning - how would you go? T? taxi? shuttle service?

One of the things my wife wants to do is a fall foliage tour. Better to get our own rental car or to just go along for the bus ride with a tour company? Anyone know anything about this one? (Brush Hill Tours/Grey Line)
http://www.brushhilltours.com/tours/foliage.html
$50 for an all day tour

We'd like to have one nice dinner (probably Saturday night). We've been to Legal Seafood and enjoyed that though I'm guessing there are some non-chain places just as good for lower prices. Any suggestions?

Since we have all day Friday, Saturday and most of Monday open and we're probably leaf peeping one day, what would you suggest for the other days? Some ideas I had were
Duck Boat Tour
Fenway park tour
Shopping for Pats gear - Bob's Stores?

Too cool to walk around in shorts right now?

After the game on Sunday, I'd like to watch the Steelers-Chargers game in a sports bar near the hotel we're staying at: Hilton - Financial District on Broad Street (formerly Wyndham). Any ideas for a fun place?

I'm renting a car at Logan to get to the game on Sunday - How long from Logan to Foxboro early on Sunday morning?

Anything else going on this weekend or that might be helpful to out of towners is appreciated.

Thanks!

myself, i would take a taxi. the times i thought i could just take the T, with the bags etc, you are taking one shuttle just to get to the Blue Line, the Blue Line to the Green, Green to the Red, its exhausting. your on vacation, so spring for the cab.

although you did say you were getting a car at Logan.....??

if you want to see the most of Boston, do a touristy tour within the city, that way you'll see a little of it all, then you can always walk around later. Boston is a very walkable city. take a subway to trip to Harvard Square. also, id recommend a Green Line trip out to Brookline,Coolidge Corner, take a walk down Harvard St , see the Kennedy birthplace, grab some bagels...

as for foliage, take the car and drive northwest, if you have the day, make your way into Central Mass, Southern NH, or even southern Vermont. if you are good with maps i colud tell you a great route up 2 and then up thru Central Mass through Keene,NH and into Vermont

Boston has a great seafood, but also great other stuff too. Vietnamese food in Chinatown, Italian in the north end. Great Indian food on Mass Ave. Allston and Brighton have great little holes in the wall.

the Fenway Park tour is a blast. Have you been to Boston before?

Give yourself PLENTY of time on Sunday. Route 1 clogs up. If you have to get a car first, do it as early as you can in the morning. you'll never be too early.

[SoCal Bong]

Yeah I'm picking up the car at 7am and heading straight to Foxboro from there. Hoping to meet up with Zip, Mrs. B and Razors Edge Tailgate at 8:30 which give me 90 minutes but if I miss them I'm sure it'll be fun to just wander and check out the other Pats fans.

If we do fall foliage we'll probably take a bus tour. Car rentals were only reasonably priced on Sunday.

Thanks for all the tips.

Flight leaves in 2 hours. Gotta go!

[SoCal Bong]

Well we made it there and back in one piece and had a great time. Thanks for all the tips. We did not get a chance to take a fall foliage tour since it was sold out and car rental rates were very high but we made the most of our time. I guess that's a good excuse to go again next year! Here's the report:

Left on a red-eye Jet Blue flight out of Long Beach on Thursday night and with Direct TV for every seat for the whole flight, its hard to get any rest. Made our way to the hotel at about 6am and were able to check in early and catch up on some sleep. When we woke up around noon, we went to Faneuil Hall for lunch which was just a short walk away. Later that afternoon we took a duck boat tour all over town and on the Charles River and then did some shopping around Downtown Crossing. That night we saw a new musical show called High Fidelity (based on the John Cusack movie) which will be going to Broadway next month. It was good but not great. We had a late dinner at Cheers (replica of the TV show set, not Bull & Finch) at Faneuil Hall due to lack of options at that hour.

On Satuday we took a tour of Fenway Park which has some incredible history and then went to the Harvard Arboretum followed by a bit more shopping. Had a great dinner at Legal Seafood then picked up beverages and snacks for the next day's game at 7-Eleven. Not sure why but I think that particular location (near the Aquarium) was the only convenience store in Boston that sold beer & wine.

Sunday was game day and we were up at 6:30am. Took the T back to Logan to pick up a rental car and made our way down to Foxboro just after the gates opened up. Found the tailgating crew we were looking for and met lots of great Pats fans including Zip and Mrs. B who are both former Patriots Fans of the year. Got into the Pro Shop before the big crowds showed up and showed restraint by only puchasing one T-shirt though it was great to see all the stuff they had available. I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything like that when we went to a game 1998. Went as far around the stadium as we could and looked for the plaque on the ground in the parking lot that marks the exact spot of Vinatieri's winning kick in the Snow Bowl game against the Raiders which was the final play ever at Foxboro Stadium. Never found it and I was surprised that very few people even knew that it existed. Back to the tailgate for lots of meat off the grill and cold beer. At a bit after noon we gathered up our things and made our way into the stadium. It was the first time I ever saw gender-specific lines but since they frisk you pretty good I guess they have to be pretty careful.

We had lower level seats so we stayed on the main concourse and every spot on the outer ring was either food concessions, retail sales booths or restrooms. There wasn't any wasted space at all. Our seats were in the end zone under the main scoreboard right down the middle. I had purchased my tickets off of eBay and believed I had row 30 (about 10 from the top). Halfway through the first quarter someone comes by and tells me that we're in her seats. Fear instantly strikes as I'm pulling out my ticket only to find out that we're actually in row 12! So we move down to our correct seats which is great not only because we're closer to the field but also in the sun for a lot longer.

Though the Pats were never trailing in this game, they just couldn't run the ball and against many teams that performance would have resulted in a loss. I know the Gillette Stadium crowd takes some flack for not doing enough as the 12th man but I thought that fans did a good job standing and making noise on every big defensive play. Maybe Gillette Stadium just isn't designed in a way to keep the noise on the field. It was very cool to hear the stadium announcer: "Troy Brown with the catch and that's good for another Patriots... with the crowd finishing the sentence: "FIRST DOWN!!!" Can't believe I've never been able to hear that on TV. Also we were in great view of Pat the Patriot, the Minutemen who fire their rifles after every score and the cheerleaders.

After the game we took our time leaving and went through the concourse on the other half of the field which was almost identical to the half we first saw. Got back to the tailgate where they already had the grills fired up again for another feast. We even had champagne victory toast. A Dolphins fan made a bet with Zip and of course lost so he had to put on a Bruschi jersey and though I'm not sure why, he had to do a handstand, which at his level of sobriety at that point was not easy.

Had a great time getting to know those folks from the "Razors Edge" Tailgate even better and told them that we're going to try and come back every year for an October home game (us Hawaii natives wouldn't handle too well in the winter). A couple of hours later it was getting dark and was time to leave. I was really surprised to find that there was still traffic backed up. Can't imagine what it would be like if you left just shortly after the game ends. After returning the car it was great to get back to our comfy bed at the Hilton and peacefully enjoy the Chargers - Steelers night game.

On Sunday we went to the observation deck of the Prudential Center (2nd tallest building in Boston) where we enjoyed great views of the whole area on a warm sunny day. From there we made ouy way to the North End and settled on one of the many Italian restaurants for lunch. After that we finished some gift shopping and headed to the airport. It was pretty cool getting to watch most of Monday Night Football during the flight but I was hoping the Ravens would knock of the Broncos.

If that trip report hasn't bored you enough, I've uploaded pictures (just from the game) which you can check out as well (there are lots).

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/binciong...21914682#page1

[Crowpointer]

Great Pics . Looks like a perfect trip. Those guys look like they have a sick tailgate.

[BelichickFan]

Sweet pictures, Barry, especially the game action ones from the end zone. I'm jealous, though, my only Pats game was in 2003 vs. NYG and it was raining the whole time. Horrible.