Just a day in Boston (Boston (Massachusetts))

Member Name: sim721

Product:	Boston (Massachusetts)
Date:	22/09/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful litter free city with plenty of well kept history

Disadvantages: Pricey

*** I've finally solved the mystery of why the links I've posted are not working. For some reason dooyoo decides to add a space in between year_book and 08 which completely messes up the link. If you are interested in seeing the photos you just need to remove the space that dooyoo have added***

There's one point I always fear when about to go on holiday and that's my dad at airports. He's usually quite a strong minded person and an aggressive driver but mention that we're en-route to Heathrow airport and he will go weak in the knees and be so awkward and paranoid and be such a difficult man to be around. I feel sorry for the check-in lady who had to put up with shaky disposition and attempt at jokes.
Once through check-in it was the simple case of putting up with 8 hours travelling via virgin, with whom I will never travel with again personally but I guess that story is for a different review.

We touched down about 4pm at Logan International Airport in Boston on a saturday. After a disappointing realisation that Virgin had changed car hire company to a "lesser" one (obviously cheaper) and we had been given a car way past retirement, but funkily named "Avenger", we headed off to our hotel. The journey itself was quite eventful with the sat-nav we bought from home, dubbed Jane, attempting to send us the wrong way down several one way streets.

We were stopping at the Inter Continental in the Marina district, (we being myself, my sister, Dad and Mum) a rather attractive hotel but also a very dear one. The entrance hall itself was very grand and followed the Marina theme with wooden boats positioned neatly throughout, due to a mistake by an elderly couple who arrived a day early, we were given the option to trade our two rooms for the Penthouse suite as no rooms were available for the couple. Even though this meant 2 of us would be downgraded to the sofa this was just an opportunity we could not pass up and one I will not regret.
The suite itself had a hall, a small toilet room, a kitchen, a lounge and dining room with floor to ceiling windows, a spectacular master bedroom and a main bathroom with a shower bigger than my entire bathroom at home.

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The next day saw an early start, after all we didn't really have long wherever we were staying this holiday so if there was something we wanted to do, it had to be done then. The first, and may I say most important, task was locating something to eat. With breakfast reaching about $25 per person at the hotel we needed something cheap.

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After exploring the streets of the towering city, we came across a Dunkin Donuts advertising a very nice and cheap breakfast. In fact, during the hour following, we probably came across about 5 Dunkin Donuts.
The first Boston activity was following the famous freedom trail which consisted of a red line painted through the city streets locating all the historical sites around Boston.

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For a country with far fewer years behind it than England they certainly like to show off their history, the walk was in fact very educational and fun and we got to see a lot more of the city by following it and as my Mom likes to say, "it's nice to actually know something about where you're visiting".

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After several Ice Creams to cool us down and several Starbucks coffees to heat us back up and allow us to complain we were too hot so we could have more ice cream, we arrived at the Bunker Hill Monument, it took us about 3 and a half hours from the start of the trail in the Park to reach this tower which commemorates the battle in 1775. You are allowed to climb the tower but be warned it's a long way to go in a very stuffy, narrow winding staircase.

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After walking back across the bridge to the main part of Boston we headed to the docks. After some looking around and eating/drinking some frozen lemonade we took a look at the WWII French Destroyer that was docked and set up for tourists to look around in. It was quite a shock to see the cramped conditions that soldiers had to live in and makes you glad that engineering has moved us past that era.

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After getting lost and eventually finding the marina we got a chance to look around some shops and watch crazy old couples dance to the Peruvian/Western mix music that was being played. It was an amazing atmosphere to be in with Little Italy just a few blocks away and street carnivals moving through the area.
Dinner was spent at the main town market area. There were several street stalls and plenty of shops and restaurants to eat at but the main attraction had to be Quincy Market, the food court. This place had literally every type of food you could ever imagine all done fast food style, perfect for the indecisive family who all like to try different things, much like mine. It was a difficult choice deciding what to eat with BBQ food, pizzas, sushi, hotdogs, curry, Malaysian, Chinese the list goes on. I ended up having a half pound burger, very nice, along with my fourth bottle of Mountain Dew for the day, it still upsets me that you can't buy Mnt Dew in the UK.

This would have been a perfect way to end our first and only day in Boston, but the only real way to end it was with a Whale watching trip with a sunset finale.

The boat ride wasn't too expensive and the boat itself was comfortable and roomy with seats indoors and outdoors. It was a fear at first we might not be able to see many whales as they were so quick and so few, but after over an hour out at sea we were surrounded by them and they made for some truly stunning photos.

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Boston is definitely somewhere I would visit again without hesitation as the city still has so much more to offer. We only managed to experience the historical side of the city and the Marina district's night life but I'm sure one day I'll be able to see it all.

5 Stars.

Summary: Check back soon for the next part: Just a day in Jackson.