Boston, MA
Boston, why not, I flew up here for a quick easy weekend trip away with the family. But what would I do while I’m here? I didn’t really research anything apart from doing the Sam Adam’s Brewery tour. Saturday mornings, yes mornings, There is a Morning Mash In tour, at 9:30 am and costs $15, for that fifteen dollars you get to try a beer to start off the tour, a guided tour with history of the brewery and why it’s called Sam Adam’s (I won’t ruin the story), and then you’ll be given a small 150 ml (5 oz) tasting glass and you’ll sample about 3 or 4 different beers in the tasting room. As the jugs are passed along the long tables, if you want a bit extra, be sure to sit at the end away from the bar. The tour guide I had has plenty of charisma and the tour was worth it just for his wit. The gift shop will sell glasses that’ll go for about $6 each, or the tour guide gave some handy advice. If you walk about 15 minutes down the road to Doyle’s Café, order any Sam Adam’s beer and show your tour stamp you’ll be given a free glass.
We based ourselves out of South Roxbury, so there was easy access to the Brewery, to the city, as well as to the airport. Public transport is easy enough to take, catch the Blue Line into town, and then transfer as required at Government Center. Uber is of course easier and more convenient, but for a solo traveller is likely to cost more than the train.
As I hadn’t really planned to do anything this trip other than Sam Adam’s I don’t really have any other tips or advice. I ate a sub lunch at Pauli’s to eat some chowder (chowda?) and lobster (lobsta?) rolls. Then an aimless walk around North End area until I stumbled across the Paul Revere Statue and followed the path until reaching Captain Jackson’s Historic Chocolate shop. The hot chocolate here was pretty good, and made by Mars, and has herbs and spices to give it some kick for the adults. Walked back along the harbour front, and it was nothing special to look at, and watched the kids throw tea boxes into the harbour at the Boston Tea Party Museum.
Dinner was at China Town at the Hong Kong eatery. A very busy place with the traditional Cantonese custom of making it awkward if you didn’t leave your table quick enough at peak time. The food was good value and I’d recommend it.
The next day I got up early and explored Boston Common. Theres a number of nice photo spots here, such as the Make Way for Ducking’s. South of here is a good area for fashion shopping on Boylestown Street and Newbery Street.To the north is Acorn Street, an old street also good for a photo spot. Lunch was at Koy, a Korean Fushion place near Government Center station. I’m not usually a fan of Asian fusion, and this was no exception. It was good, but not authentic. Faneuil Hall Marketplace is nearby and so are the Old State House and the site of the Boston Massacre.
April, 2018
