Shipping up to Boston - Layover, what to do?

[Nostril Cheese]

I'm gonna be in Boston on the 25th, getting in to Logan at 10AM, leaving back to PDX at 6:30PM.

Any suggestions on things to see/do? Never been there.

[petrolhead611]

Boston downtown is the simplest place to to tour around. Literally just follow the red line painted on the sidewalk to take in all the places of interest. Of course this probably only applies to non-US tourists, because it involves walking!!!

[billybek]

We walked the Freedom Trail though Boston at Christmas. My nephew is a huge Revolutionary War fanatic and was our tour guide.
I also met up with Shaun for a lunch at Harvard Square.

Was my first Pelican meet up other than the local guys around here...

[Porsche-O-Phile]

If I'm free I'll be happy to buy you a beer someplace!

Logan truly sucks to get in / out of though - I wish you an easy time. It's a very, very badly designed airport.

[Nostril Cheese]

Is there a bus/train out of the airport? What makes it difficult? Meeting up would be cool.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Bring a snow shovel.

If you need a ride from the airport to hotel or wherever, let me know. If you have time for lunch, my treat, plenty of good places around.

Here for a few hours limits you to Boston. Paul Revere's house is good. USS Constitution too.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

That was a great time at lunch Bill! Hopefully will see you again sometime.

Originally Posted by billybek

We walked the Freedom Trail though Boston at Christmas. My nephew is a huge Revolutionary War fanatic and was our tour guide.
I also met up with Shaun for a lunch at Harvard Square.

Was my first Pelican meet up other than the local guys around here...

[Noah930]

You can catch a local/airport bus (free) to Logan's subway (T) station. From there, you can buy/put some money on a Charlie Card and ride across the bay into Boston. The T will drop you off within a couple blocks of anything you'd want to see or do in the metro Boston area. You can look at the MBTA website for a route map. For the most part, it's one fare for any single trip.

[Noah930]

It's a shame you're only in town for a few hours. Boston is one of the great American cities to visit. Can you spend the night?

Unless you have plans to meet someone or have something in particular you want to see, hop the T and get off at Haymarket (Faneuil Hall), or Copley (Back Bay), or Downtown Crossing and just wander around. You can never get too lost. Wandering around downtown Boston is like wandering around downtown PDX/the Pearl/NW 23rd, but 5 times bigger. Hopefully the weather's good for you.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by Noah930

It's a shame you're only in town for a few hours. Boston is one of the great American cities to visit. Can you spend the night?

Unfortunatley not.

I would like to see some Colonial/American Revolution stuff, maybe an art museum if there's time. Anything of scientific interest at MIT/Harvard?

Thanks for the tips on public transit.

[Noah930]

Look up the Freedom Trail. It's a red line literally painted on the sidewalk and takes you through downtown Boston to historic sites. A self-guided tour.

Never spent much time at MIT, but Harvard is an interesting place to visit. There's a museum there, though I don't think I've gone into it. For other museums, there is the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) over in the Fenway/Longwood area. Very close to it is the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. There's the Science Center downtown by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), but I think it's better for kids, like the OMSI.

[Noah930]

Taking the T to downtown Boston will take you 1/2 an hour from the airport. But if you try to take it out to Harvard or MIT, I'd guess that it would take 45 min or so. Given your limited time, I don't think I'd want to go so far as to Harvard Square (or MIT, which is only 2 stops earlier).

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Anything of scientific interest at MIT/Harvard

Lol...no, nothing of scientific interest at MIT.

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by speeder

Lol...no, nothing of scientific interest at MIT.

Ok, you got me there..

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Look up the Freedom Trail. It's a red line literally painted on the sidewalk and takes you through downtown Boston to historic sites. A self-guided tour.



Never spent much time at MIT, but Harvard is an interesting place to visit. There's a museum there, though I don't think I've gone into it. For other museums, there is the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) over in the Fenway/Longwood area. Very close to it is the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum. There's the Science Center downtown by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), but I think it's better for kids, like the OMSI.

You won't be able to see the sidewalk at all much less the red line painted on it!

There are a lot of fun things to do if you've got a little time.

Of course the downside is this (view heading to the office earlier today). Bleah!

It's a cool city all-in-all though. Some good ideas already floated - a lot depends on what you're into. Most things in / around town can be gotten to in a half hour or so from the airport.

[Nostril Cheese]

Uh, lets just go get a beer somewhere.

[Esel Mann]

So some ideas (taking into account the weather and in no particular order of sillyness):

MFA - Always something kool going on there. Security and staff are kinda creepy though.
Mapparium - Ask for Tom Cruise.
Mass Ave bridge - See exactly how many Smoots long the bridge is.
Top O' the Prudential: Great way to oversee it all (weather of course dependent)
Harpoon Brewery Tour: Be sure to ask for a Sam Ale during the beer tasting.
Sam Adams Brewery Tour: Be sure to ask for a Harpoon IPA during the beer tasting.
Fed Reserve: At the end of the tour, get a postcard from the gift shop. Title it "From the Fed with Love, We're Watching You!!!". Send to TABS USA.
O'sullivans: Great lunch. Be sure to talk Yankees baseball.

And.... You know... You seem like a squire, know what I mean? Wink, wink, nudge nudge:
Golden Banana on US1 in Saugus (if you can Uber)
Glass Slipper (Chinatown cough cough Theatre district alternate).

And if that's not enough, you could tour the former homestead of Pelican A-list Celebrity Esel Mann. Now I'm not sure the current owners know. But hey, after they leave for work, if the door is unlocked, what the hell, have a look see!

[71scgc]

I think Old Ironsides is closed this time of year.
Besides my cousin and her family, my favorite cheap thing to do in Boston.
I think it's the only big city in Yankeeland I would live in.

Carter

[Shaun @ Tru6]

The USS Constitution museum is open. The ship itself is only open Thursday through Sunday.

[Nostril Cheese]

Anybody want to meet up? Went through Logan back on the 8th. I'd really rather not stay in the airport again. Pretty awful experience.