Boston in October

Considering that Boston is only 2 1/2 hours away, it's amazing how infrequently we get there, so in October 2016 we headed to Beantown.

Our original intent was to take the Amtrak Downeaster from Portland, Maine to Boston and stay in an in-town hotel, but the day before we were heading out, we learned that Pan Am Railways, owner of the tracks, was doing track repairs and we would have to take a bus for part of the trip.  This was a bummer because Ashton and Bethany had never taken the train to Boston and we thought it would be a fun, car-free family experience.

We reluctantly cancelled our Amtrak reservations, opting for the car and drove to Boston on a Friday afternoon.  After all, we already had the room reservation and plans for which city attractions we wanted to experience.

Our weekend destination was the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, because the price was reasonable, easy to get to and convenient to the city's attractions.  It also had a beautiful indoor pool which is a necessity when traveling with Ashton.

Royal Sonesta. Cambridge, MA

Check-in was a little slow and Bethany had to remind the desk clerk to actually take our credit card (I think the clerk was new), but once we got to the room we were quite pleased. Our 9th Floor room looked out over the Boston Museum of Science, the TD Center, home to the Celtics and Bruins, the Boston Skyline and the Charles River.  Ashton thought it was cool because, coming from Maine, he hadn't been that high up in a hotel before.

View of Science Museum from Hotel

The nice thing about Boston is that it's a compact city, making its pretty easy to walk anywhere. We hoofed it over to Boston Common via the Thoreau Path, a meandering walking path with lots of trees, green space and apartments.  This dropped us off on the north side of Beacon Hill with its historic brick buildings and narrow streets.  We crossed Beacon Street and came out by the Boston Common Frog Pond.  From here, Bethany wanted to see the "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture in the Public Gardens.

Making way for ducklings

The Public Gardens were beautiful and bustling with people enjoying the beautiful autumn day. We crossed the pond, which was absent of swan boats (they must have been stored for winter), then circled back to the Central Burying Ground and out onto Tremont Street looking for sustenance.

George Washington Silhouette

Sunny Fall Day in the Public Garden

Sparkling Golden Dome of the State House

Since we were in Boston and we were interested in getting a pizza, the logical choice was to go to the Old North End.  We hopped on the "T" back to Haymarket.  Just a couple blocks away was Regina Pizza.  It was their neon sign that first caught our attention from about a block away and as we approached we noticed a line had formed out front and the owner was taking numbers and seating people as he could get them into the building.

Typically, places with lines are good and this was no exception.  After about 15 minutes on the sidewalk, we were escorted into the compact dining room.  We happened to be next to the take out window and the take out orders were stacking up quickly - another good sign.  Every table and booth in the place was chock full and the waitstaff was really hustling to keep the orders coming and flipping the tables to keep up with demand.  We ordered our usual, large pepperoni, and it was very good.  When we left, the line was even longer than when we went in, so we were happy that we discovered this place.

After dinner we went back to the hotel for a swim.  They have a huge pool in a glass-enclosed room with an 8-foot deep end and pool toys like noodles and balls. The water temperature was pretty comfortable too.

After relaxing in the room a bit, we headed to the 9pm National Parks IMAX movie at the Science Museum.  I've always been interested in National Parks and even spend a summer working at Glacier National Park back in the early 90s.  Watching this film made me want to pack up the family and hit the road to see some of these treasured places throughout the country. These are places that you truly want to share with family and maybe someday we'll get to two or three of them.

The day started in the Science Museum where we spent the entire morning.  While we were there, Ashton turned into a moose/human hybrid.  I don't know what happened!

Warning!  Moose Boy at large.

We had lunch at the museum then headed for Faneuil Hall, which, as usual, was a mob scene.  There were so many people you could barely get through the building.  Since we didn't want to fight the crowds, we decided to walk over to Paul Revere's House in the Old North End.  Again, the place was absolutely packed, so we walked to the historic Granary Burying Ground to see the gravestones of Revolutionary War personalities like Paul Revere, Sam Adams and John Hancock.

One of the highlights for Ashton was to ride the "T".  He was on the subway many years ago, but didn't really remember it, so it was a treat.  Fortunately, he shed his antlers before boarding the train and we rode back to the Science Museum station.

Ticket for the Green Line

For dinner that night we walked over by North Station and the TD Garden.  We had seen a bunch of restaurants in that area earlier in the day and thought a couple of them looked good.  As we approached the "Garden" we saw lots of people wearing black and gold and were concerned that the restaurants would be packed with Bruins fans.  We were relieved to find out a pre-season game was just starting, so we got into the restaurant with no problem and frankly the place was pretty quiet by the time we left.

From dinner, it was back to the Science Museum for another IMAX movie about Sky Divers. By the time we left that one, we were all feeling slightly queasy.  After all, we had just watched lots of people jumping out of airplanes and doing stunts for the past 45 minutes.  By the time the day was over, we had walked just over 10 miles.  That's longer than most hikes I've been on!

After a good nights sleep, we headed north, content with our "city fix" for awhile.  It's nice to visit, but it's even nicer returning home to rural Maine.