[color:"red"]HOTEL[/color]
Sheraton Boston – Very nice large hotel across the street from Jasper White’s “Summer Shack” and a bowling alley. Adjacent to the Prudential Bldg and mall. Close to two “T” stops.
We had a room on the 16th floor, double/double. Large bedroom with plenty of draw and closet space. Comfortable chair and ottoman. Free Internet access in the lobby via there new “Sheraton Link” area. Also in the lobby area was a Starbucks, Notion shop, bar and restaurant.
[color:"blue"]TOURS[/color]
The only tour we did was the “Duck” tour and it was a lot of fun. Rather than wait on line in the Prudential Center we paid the $3.50 surcharge at the Sheraton and purchased the tickets conveniently from the Concierge. We arrived at the hotel on Thursday and the Concierge was able to retrieve the “duck” schedule and tell us what was left and it wasn’t much for the entire weekend. We didn’t feel like getting up early to wait on a line Friday when they opened at 8:30 AM. Our “conductor” was funny and full of Boston history information. We were surprised how long the boat was in the water on the Charles River, it was a lot of fun.
[color:"purple"]ACTIVITIES[/color]
We decided to take a short ride on the “Swan” boat in the Boston Commons. Cost was $2.75 for each. The boats have been operated by the same family since 1877.
[color:"green"]Freedom Trail[/color] – David and I were in Boston 4 years ago so we did the Freedom Trail and decided to just do what we thought were the highlights for our daughter. We started at the Boston Commons and then went on to most of the churches and cemeteries along the trail, Paul Revere’s home, and boarded the U.S.S. Constitution.
The last tour of the ship is at 3:30 PM. We got there about 2:50 PM and decided to wait on the “speed” line where you get 10 minutes to look on the top deck only. There are sailors who will answer your questions but you do not receive a guided tour on the speed line. If you wait for the guided tour you walk the ship with a sailor who gives you a tour of both the top and bottom of the ship. The 3:00 PM was already packed so we would have to have waited 40 minutes and just didn’t want to do it in the heat.
Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market – there is a lot of activity in both the day and night and during the week or the weekend but other than the history plague at the back of the bldg and a few memorabilia items it’s basically a place to shop and eat. We went there several times because it was a quick walk to the North End and also for a quick bite to eat or a drink.
[color:"pink"]FOOD[/color]
Salty Dog located at Faneuil Hall has both indoor and outdoor dining. We like staying outside so sat at the bar and ordered ½ dozen raw oysters, 1 quahog. The chowda looked thick and filled with clams but it was too hot to have soup outdoors otherwise it looked like a good choice. Oysters were pretty good although small and there were no choices, there was one kind of oyster. Great guahog, aka baked stuffed clam.
Union Oyster House – split oysters on ½ shell, 2 lb lobster (baked), and shrimp cocktail, shrimp potstickers,, chowda (thick and rich) and a crab cake. We like the food as this was our second visit in 4 years. Nice relaxed atmosphere, very friendly wait staff.
Summer Shack – We had visited the “Summer Shack” in Cambridge so we were a bit disappointed with this one. Not as nice and much smaller. Chowda was very thin and oily. Can’t say we weren’t disappointed because we were. Other food was very good. Had 3 different kinds of oysters on the ½ shell, they were all delicious and very big. David had the lobster roll with fries which he said was delicious. Daughter had surf and turf which was steak tips and shrimp plus fries. She really liked her dish and the fries were some of the best we’ve had in a long time. I had the bouillabaisse which had a nice piece of lobster, clams, mussels, a white fish, salmon and some squid in a nice saffron broth. Rice was served on the side. We did not like the jumbo shrimp tempura appetizer with satay sauce. Four shrimp were skewered on a bamboo stick and over fried, not jumbo and the sauce was almost non existent.
Giacomo’s – I had read about this restaurant on the Internet. We wanted to have a late lunch but the restaurant is only open for dinner. They don’t take reservations and cash only. We arrived at 4:00 only to be told they would seat us at 5:00 PM. We decided to wait as I really wanted the pumpkin tortellini. We were the first one’s on line and not soon after a line started to form. By 5:00 Pm the line was long. It was well worth the wait.
The waitress told me I made a good choice when I picked the pumpkin tortellini because that is what Rachel Ray ordered who is on the Food Network. I’m a huge Food Network fan and must have missed that episode because I found this restaurant from reviews on another site. Tortellini was fantastic, huge portion for $13.95. Daughter had chicken parmigiana which came with a bowl of spaghetti on the side. The tomato sauce was thick and delicious. Best chicken parm I ever had! Hubby had veal marsala which he loved. Daughter had a Caesar salad to start and hubby had mussels in white wine. Meal was served with bread. Great meal for $60 plus. We wished we had found the place sooner.
Cafe Roma Pastry Shop on Hanover in the North End– gelato was very good but the Cannoli’s were just OK.
Mike’s Pastry – chocolate covered pizzelle was delicious as was the marzipan. Besides gelato and baked items they had a huge display of individual marzipan in unusual shapes and sizes. This pastry shop was mobbed. Had the pistachio gelato was just OK. Like the gelato from Café Roma’s better.
“Top of the Hub” is located in the Prudential bldg on the 52nd floor. Great views of Boston and at night it was very romantic. We sat at the bar and ordered a few drinks along with a “chicken lollipop” appetizer. Six chicken drumettes with a sweet coating that was very tasty. Martini’s were very good. A small band was playing in the corner of the bar.
We really enjoyed Boston, found the people to be very friendly and easy to get around the subway (trolley) system.
