Boston - any suggestions?
 

I'm heading up to Boston in a week to visit the bf.

Thus far, my bf and I are going to hit the following:
Museum of Fine Arts
JFK library
Museum of science
MIT museum (maybe not :P)
Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage (haha, check out their unique burger names)
Duck tour
Harvard museum of natural history
Fogg art museum
harbor cruise
New England aquarium
Changsho restaurant
Legal Seafoods
Galleria / Cheesecake factory
Finale
maybe a place at the north end

the Boston Symphony isn't playing anything great the weekend I'll be visiting, so we're saving that for next time. (not a big Debussy fan)

Any other suggestions?

If you really want to score some bonus points, try to get some tickets to see the Sox playoff games :)

It'll be expensive and you'll probably have to scalp, but your bf will love you forever.

nah, the bf isn't a huge sox fan. He's just in boston for school. (thankfully his last)

Hey Boston is a cool city! Some other suggestion:

Trinity Church where the "O Little Town of Bethlehem" song was created.
John Hancock Tower by the Trinity Church, and built accordingly to protect the church
Old Cemetery for America's founding fathers, in downtown
Cheers Bar "Where everybody knows your name"

How about our headquarter?
Theta Delta Chi HQ

;):D

Shoot, I forget

Hard Rock Cafe

Hee hee

Actually, the MIT Museum is pretty cool. There's a holography display and a display devoted to hacks (for instance, they have the fake campus police car that was put on top of the Great Dome a few years ago).

Legal Sea Foods is, IMO, overrated. You might want to try them at lunchtime for a bowl of clam chowdah, though.

Go to the Boston Public Garden and take a walk, it's very nice. Take a swan boat ride if they're still running them (although I think they stop on Labor Day).

There's also the Freedom Trail.

There are a bunch of nice shops and restaurants along Newbury and Boylston streets. (But bring $$$)

Have fun! :)

If you can start a fire next to any stadium, it would be much appreciated.

-Rudey
--Thank you.

Shopping on Newbury Street, Prudential Center, and Copley Square (between those three destinations, you'll have all price ranges).

Isabella Stewart Gardner House/Museum--right across from the MFA and much more intimate. Very romantic place! :)

Italian food on the North End. The original (ie, not the mall chain) Pizzeria Regina is there, and amazing. My best friend works at a restaurant there, he says it's the best seafood place on the North End (seafood imported from Sicily). If I talk to him soon, I'll PM you with the name.

If you just want to chill for a few between hitting stores on Newbury, the Trident Bookstore has a great cafe with affordable sandwiches.

I'm just generally a big fan of the Back Bay and Fenway.

fanueil hall/quincy market is fun to walk around and shop at.

as munchkin said, Pizzaria Regina in the north end is amazing. Also, La Familia Giorgio is one of my favorite restuarants there. the North End is a lot of fun to walk around as well.

i'm not too fond of Legal's either. there are some great local seafood restuarants all over boston.

if it's nice out, i'd check out tia's on the waterfront during the early evening. although it does get crowded with the afterwork crowd.

i'll let you know if i think of anything else..

Don't forget Harvard Square! There's a TON to do down there!
Down Mass Ave (towards the Harvard Bookstore etc.) there's a chinese restaurant called Hong Kong...upstairs above this restaurant is a small theater w/ a comedy show almost every night. It's called The Comedy Studio (I believe) and it's only $8! I just went 2 weeks ago, it was a great time. It's only 2hrs long (8pm-10pm about) so you still have time to do other stuff.

And of course, check out the theater district. There's always cool stuff down there. Mon Sept. 29, The Wang Center is showing "Breakfast at Tiffany's" for FREE!

I second the notion of the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum. That place is so beautiful!

For eats: almost anywhere in the North End is great, and the area in/around Fanieul Hall/Quincy Market.

Enjoy your stay in the city. I LOVE BOSTON! :)

Have a good trip to Boston. You have some good activities mentioned there, enough to keep you busy.

My favorite North End restaurant is a little place calle L'Osteria on Salem Street. After dinner go to Hanover Street to a place called Mike's Pastrys for espresso and pastry. Legal is kind of overrated but still has decent seafood.

Walking around Boston Common and the Public Gardens is nice. Charles Street and the Esplanade along the Charles river is another nice walk.

Have fun!

I can think of a million places to go (I could actually see myself working at a tourism company in Boston, but that's another story) - but here are a few of my favorites.

The North End: Most of the restaurants are amazing, but La Osteria, Fiore and Al Dente are my personal favorites. Go to Mike's Pastry for dessert, but try another place for gelato (can't remember the name of it right now, but will try)

Cheesecake Factory: Great selection, very good food, and the cheesecake is awesome

For seafood I'd go to Turner Fisheries or someplace by the Pier - Legal is way overrated, although the chowder is solid.

Sunset: Tons of beers, great burgers (although I heard Mr. Bartley's is even better)

Cactus Club: Great margaritas

Boston Beer Works: All beers brewed in building, has some really good beers that you won't get to try anywhere else.

The Place and The Rack: I group them because they're two of the most fun bars in Boston. You might even see some of the Celtics, Patriots, or other local celebrities having a drink there.

Boston Common and Boston Garden: Great place to hang out, very chill, and a great place to people watch.

Take a walk along the Charles by the Hatch Shell - if it's nice weather, it's a great view of everything, from Cambridge to downtown Boston. If you go to the top of the Prudential Center, you get the overhead view of the whole Boston area (for seven bucks if I remember correctly).

For shopping, try the Cambridgeside Galleria or Downtown Crossing (but not after dark, it gets kinda sketchy)

Harvard Square is great to walk through, and there are some good restaurants there as well (Fire and Ice for example)

It's funny, I go to Trinity Church for services every Sunday, and am always struck by how beautiful the church is - a definite sightseeing stop.

As a resident of the Back Bay I'm a big fan, but you really have to try to go all over to get a real feel for Boston.

I'll post more as I think of them - but Boston is a great city and a hell of a lot of fun, you should have a good time.

Collin

Thanks ya'll for your wonderful recommendations! We've added a few things on our schedule because of it! :) I'm visiting again in November and twice next semester so there are other visits to catch everything. (though it might be too cold later on to do much)

Isabella Stewart Gardner House- a definate yes. It looks gorgeous. Too bad their classical music concerts at the museum line up with the days I'll be there.

We're probably going to have Legal Seafoods as a lunch destination rather than a dinner one.

We're definately going to walk along the Charles. I'm sure the weather will be lovely for it.

Probably going to check out Pizzaria Regina.

We'll have to catch Mike's Pastries next time- bf promised to take me to Finale. Any of you been there?

Of course we'll visit Harvard square. The bf is in his last year at Harvard law school so it would be silly not to visit the square. hehe. He says there are bums there, but they're not violent so we can deal. lol.

I don't get to see him too often, so planning is essential!

I'm visiting Oct 8 - 12. wooohoo :D

haven't been there but i've heard it's amazing!

any day during the week we should try to meet for lunch, since i work near Harvard.

The Galleria is just a big mall, and you can find the Cheesecake Factory anywhere. I would skip it.

Also skip the Museum of Science unless you'll have kids with you. I loved it as a kid, but when I went a few years ago, it was totally not what I remembered. It's oriented towards kids. Of course, you may want to go to Omni Theatre, but that's all I would do there.

The bums at Harvard Sq. aren't mean. A lot of them have talked to me, and they never ask me for money. Of course, I don't have a job and would be a bum if I wasn't married! :) Have a great time!

most definately! Just pick a day!

I recommend Fire + Ice for lunch. They call it an "improvisational grill" you pick your meats and sauces and the like and they cook it for you. It's good and if you get the all you can eat lunch it's pretty darn cheap.

Another place I like is the Garment District in Cambridge on Broadway. It's a thrift store, and downstairs they just have a huge room full of clothes that you can dig through and when you're done you pay a dollar per pound for the clothes. Pretty cool.

I would definitely hit up Finale - been there once, it's a lot of money for dessert but it's definitely worth it. Best dessert I've ever had.

I agree with the Galleria - you could go to a mall anywhere that's just like it, if you REALLY wanted to go shopping it'd be better to go to Copley or Newbury.


Also, walk around a lot. The more you walk, the more you see stuff that some of us may have missed. If something interests you, go for it, the city is full of great stuff.

I'd like to second this. I've also only been once, but it was great and well worth the price. They also offer salads in case you want a small dinner first.

I am going to Boston (Cambridge) for a week in June. I've read over this thread and there are some excellent suggestions, some I didn't even think about. I am going up for my best friend's graduation, which will take up three days of that week, so I will only have about four days available to get away from campus. I wanted to know if any of y'all had other suggestions that weren't already mentioned. Thanks in advance! :)

When are you coming in June?

June 4 - 11.

Harvard or MIT?

(Yes, they're the same weekend. It's fun to try to get a hotel room in Boston or Cambridge that weekend. :rolleyes: )

Harvard. Luckily I don't need a room. I'll be staying in the dorms, woo hoo. LOL

:rolleyes: Don't they know any better? :mad:

My roommate told me a few days ago that NYU and Columbia and Fordham and maybe even CUNY's graduations are all over the same weekend. It's impossible to get a room that's not in the Sherry-Netherland or Waldorf. I guess we'll have some family members crashing on the floor.

I was talking to my friend the other day and we were discussing what to do on our free days. I mentioned to him that I had heard good things about "Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage" and that I wanted to try it. He then told me he had never been! I was surprised. Now he gets to try it out because he is taking me. :)

i never knew there was a fraternity headquarters here.

Tell me about it! MIT's commencement has been the first Friday in June for ages. Around 1995, Harvard changed their commencement day to coincide. :rolleyes:

Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage - if it's the place I'm thinking of, in Harvard Square, it's very good. They have some interesting burgers on their menu... the only one I can remember offhand is the Madonna burger, which is topless. :p

Oh, if you like beer, definitely visit the Sunset Grill & Tap. 110 beers on tap! And I second the earlier Fire & Ice suggestion.

JAZZ BARS!
 

I'll be up in Boston for the weekend. Can anyone suggest a great jazz bar or two? Thanks. :)

OMG this thread makes me want to go to grad school in Boston even more!!!

I keep saying, it's a great place to work and live. I'll eventually try living somewhere else, but I'm a big Boston fan (the city, not the sports teams).

Yeah I can tell by your sig that you're a Yankees fan. (c:

I was thinking about applying to BU grad school as well. Anyone know anything about their COM school?

yeah i don't know how he got let into the city.

I actually graduated from their COM school (2003 grad); got one of my undergrad degrees in journalism.

What specifically are you looking to major in; I could tell you more based on the major. Overall though, it's one of the top communications schools in the country, for all areas.

Collin

ETA: I've behaved pretty well as a Yankees fan in Boston...minimal death threats from passers by.

lol! I PMed you back!