Boston for the wives
 

While my buddy and I are cycling the Cape Cod MS150, our wives are going to hitting the highlights in Boston.

Suggestions for them?

Shopping/eating on Newbury Street or the North End, walking through the Commons?

I'll let the natives chime in. But those are tourist favorites.

What do they like to do? There is a history trail thing, you get a map and follow a big line painted on the sidewalk, takes you to all the famous spots.

The aquarium is nice... so is the science museum... or they can catch a ferry to... I forget the spot...

Both are semi-hispanic, so I'm not sure if they want to see much of the history. Shopping, yes. My wife is not into museums.

Is there a Chippendale's in Boston?

Catch the Sox at Fenway.

Shopping - Newbury Street (high end); Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Dining - North End (Italian)
Aquarium
Harbor Island Tours
Ferry to Provincetown (cat style ferry, think it is 90min)
Boston Common
Charles River paths for jogging, people watching, rental canoe/kayak?)
Tour Harvard, MIT (eating/shopping at Harvard Square)
Touristy - Duck Boat Tour
Self Guided Walking Tour - Freedom Trail

Dunno about that but I can verify there IS a hooters! Sorry, not much fun for the ladies.

I have been there a few times... but I am into beer, history, beer, museums, beer, shopping? Not so much.

Do they still have the duck tours? That might be fun (The WWII amphibious vehicles)

Edit: After seeing deanp post, Harvard Square and Faneuil Hall were very nice... and right off the trolly (light rail)

Yup Duck Tours still going strong. Bruins rolling rally last week used them :D

Boston Duck Tours - The Official Website & Online Tickets

+1! Be sure to root for #2 in center field. That would be Jacoby Ellsebury, the pride of Madras, Oregon. :D

Another +1 for strolling along Newbury St (and Boylston, which runs just parallel to it). Back Bay is the beautiful people neighborhood of Boston. Outdoor cafes, upscale shops. No sales tax on clothing <$250; that's either good or bad, depending on your husbandly perspective. In the vicinity (along Boylston St) there's also the Prudential (indoor shopping mall) which connects via enclosed bridges to Copley (another mall, both upscale). Across the Commons/Public Garden from that is Charles Street, which has more shops and restaurants. Downtown Crossing is on yet another side of the Commons, and has more shops, though less upscale. (The diamond district is right there, too.)

If you've made it to Downtown Crossing, you're halfway to Government Center. On the other side of the superugly City Hall is Faneuil Hall/Quincy Marketplace, which is touristy for sidewalk entertainers, shops and food. I'd recommend the chocolate chip cookies from the Boston Chipyard. Slice of eggplant pizza from Haymarket Pizza for a hole-in-the-wall experience.

North End for Italian food. A lot of restaurants don't take credit cards. Parking is even more impossible than anywhere else in Boston. It's almost hard to find a bad Italian restaurant in the North End. They're almost all good: Giacomo's, Strega, Massimo's. "Everyone" stops off at Mike's Pastry after dinner.

The rest of the touristy Boston stuff is good: Duck Tours, Red Sox game, aquarium, Swan Boat ride in the Public Gardens, Cambridge/Harvard Square, Freedom Trail (a self-guided tour through Boston--you follow the red line/bricks in the ground), Top of the Hub (restaurant at the top of the Prudential Bldg on a clear night).

If they're into museums, the MFA is decent. I also like the Isabella Stewart Gardner (sp?) museum in the Fen.

bump

Have them go, or take them to the Union Oyster House at Government Center. Union Oyster House, Boston, MA—Seafood and History at America's Oldest Restaurant

Agree! Best food I've ever had was there. The seafood is incredible.

Not badly priced either. 150+ year old booths.

Hey, they just caught Whitey! In Santa Monica of all places.

OK so this is not wife related, but *big* Boston news nonetheless. It's gonna be splashed on the front page of the Globe and Herald for weeks.

His brother was the Chancellor of UMass when I went there.