Trip Report - Weekend in Boston
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Goofy'sGal · 08-30-2005, 07:27 PM

We just spent the weekend in "beantown" and had a really great time!! Many of you gave me such great tips and suggestions and I thank you for pointing us in the right direction!!

We drove there from NJ on Fri afternoon and hit tons of traffic!!! What should have been a 5 hour ride, took more than 6 hours! Yuck! And DD4 had come down with a fever the day before too - she'd vomited twice too (but one time was after gagging on her med for the fever

). We figured we'd play it by ear on Fri and she was fine! I took children's Tylenol, Motrin, ear thermometer, digi thermometer, a roll of paper towels, a wet wash cloth and lots of plastic bags with me JUST IN CASE! LOL We were very lucky that she was fine!

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton b/c DH was there on business (and got a great rate due to that fact). Wow!! I totally did not feel like I belonged in that hotel!!! We'd eaten McD's on the road and had the girls' drinks with us and I was mortified to be walking through the lobby of the Ritz with those cups!! LOL

DH is well thought of at work and we've never really taken advantage of any discount through his job before so they really made us feel welcome. Waiting in our room was a bottle of wine, fruit and chocolate covered strawberries for us, and for the kids, milk with cookie "straws", a few delicious cookies and a huge chocolate chip cookie ring thing which was sitting on a tray of dozens of M&M's (hmmm...just the thing to put a kid to bed right? Uh, I don't think so!!) There was also a gift bag filled with books, a few stuffed animals, and little toys. I couldn't believe how nice they treated us!!

The hotel is across the street from Boston Common, so on Sat we walked through there and over to the Public Garden and rode a Swan Boat (it was very hot but very beautiful!). Then we took a taxi to the Museum of Science and before touring that, we booked a DuckTour for later in the day. Good thing we booked then b/c at 11am, the next Tour available was for 4:30pm!

We all had fun at the museum - it's very hands-on and the girls loved being able to touch all the "toys" and "games" which is what they thought of the displays LOL After a lunch and snack break, we finished up and headed over for the Duck Tour. What fun!! Our driver was Lt. John F. Kenneduck and he was full of Boston lore. For those of you not familiar with the DuckTour, it is on a WW2 amphibious (sp?) vehicle - a truck that is also sea-worthy. They're very old and very big. First, you tour Boston on land and then we splashed into the Charles River for a tour on the water. The girls were getting a bit bored with the land tour (too much history for them, I guess

) and so that little splash perked them up. Then our driver selected DD4 to drive the Duck!! She loved it! Other kids were given a chance but my DD7 didn't want to (or was too shy too

) When we'd book the tour, I noticed a whole bunch of duck paraphenalia, including Duck "whistles" or quackers. I figured we'd get a chance to check these out before the tour. The checkin for the tour was outside, not back where we booked it so we didn't buy anything and at first, I was happy we hadn't b/c two of the kids on the tour quacked their way through it. Lt. Kenneduck was not too happy! Afterall, we were only supposed to quack when he gave the order, "PT 409...Quack-Quack!" LOL Our tour ended at 5:30pm or later and of course, the Duck stand was closed for the night. Kids were not happy at all to leave quack-less and Dh & I felt bad

We were exhausted after all that and couldn't decide where to eat that night. DH knows the area a bit but wasn't sure what place within walking distance of the hotel would be family friendly. DD7 started complaining of growing pains in her legs while we were walking so guess where we ended up eating??? Ah, yes, the Golden Arches once again! DH & I were not happy but the kids were. *shaking my head*

On Sun, we set out to visit the NE Aquarium. First we stopped at Dunkin Donuts and ate breakfast in the park which was very lovely til DD4 spilled her choc milk. At least it wasn't on her! Then we headed to the Aquarium and started that visit with an IMAX 3D Safari movie. WoW!! That was so cool - DD4 asked if we were in Disney! LOL It was definitely Disney-worthy! LOL I think Disney should look into the whole IMAX thing! The Aquarium was very cool too but DD4 just didn't have a lot of energy for walking around (although she was well, her appetite wasn't back yet) so we two sat out the last exhibit while DH and DD7 enjoyed a show at the top of the giant tank.

We then ate lunch at Legal SeaFood - yummO!!!

That was delicious! And yeah - we actually ate seafood (and not fastfood in Boston! LOL)

We then headed over to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Now this is shoppers' heaven. You all told me that but I figured well, I'm not going there to shop. But it's not big dept stores; just tons of kiosks of the cutest little things you ever did see!! DD4 was still low on energy and I thought DH was going to call it quits b/c of that, so I didn't really get to shop at all. Instead, I kept an eye out for the street entertainers I heard so much about. We watched two of these free shows - a funny juggler and a yoyo guy! They were hysterical and amazing! DD4 tried to put some money in the yoyo guy's hat and some other kid knocked her down before she got there - not on purpose at all, but she was so tired, she just cried and cried. That called for an ice cream stop, of course, at the Slugger's Duggout (I believe it was called?)!

But as for the shopping, I told DH that he's the worst person in the world to go shopping with - he walked through that maze of kiosks and cute little shops without stopping or wavering once, walking fast like he was on a mission, going somewhere! But where? We were already there! LOL But the sad thing was since he didn't stop, we didn't get to pick up any cute little souvenirs for the girls or my nephew. Later on, we returned here for dinner at Cheers (or the Cheers Replica as they like to call it) and most of the kiosks were closed for the night

On Monday, Dh actually had to do the work he'd come to Boston for LOL so the girls and I headed back to the Public Garden in pursuit of a family of ducks, from the book, "Make Way For Ducklings". We'd read the book before coming here and had searched for them when we were here on Sat to no avail. So, armed with a map, we set out and found them! Hooray! The girls lined up with the ducklings and I'm hoping my pics came as cute as they looked. Unfortunately, they're not digital so won't be able to post them. DH took others on his digi camera so we'll see what I can come up with!

We headed back to the Swan Boats, since we'd seen a display of all kinds of souvenir type things for sale there on Sat morning. Well, on Mon morning, nothing!!! Not one thing!! They were selling tix to ride the Boats but nothing else for sale! Bummer!!! Luckily, the girls were very good about that and didn't have a fit

Soon it was time to check out and head back home. The girls traveled well and we didn't hit traffic til we got near the George Washington bridge - bad, but not nearly as bad as on the trip there. It was a really nice weekend. Boston is such a great town and I'd love to return when the girls are older and can appreciate the history a bit more!

Thanks for all the tips and for reading my little report! If I can add pics, I'll update!

crystalloubear · 08-30-2005, 08:27 PM

Sounds like a success! Glad you enjoyed it!

poohmaine · 08-30-2005, 08:34 PM

Glad you had fun! My girls loved finding the duckling statues when they were little; Make Way for Ducklings was one of their favorite books.

Post photos if you can!

lauren-roxy · 08-30-2005, 08:41 PM

Thanks for sharing your trip!! It sounds like you did a lot and had a lot of fun!!!!

GoofyMom · 08-30-2005, 08:54 PM

That sounds like it was an awesome trip even though it was a bit light on the souvenirs! Your girls are great kids to not get too upset about that!

Luv2plan · 08-31-2005, 12:58 PM

What fun!! I'm so glad you liked Boston, you definitely hit some fun attractions & places. I love Duck Tours! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

katspjs · 08-31-2005, 04:57 PM

I'm glad you had nice time in Boston. That hotel is sooo posh! We've managed to stay their twice and I always feel like a fish out of water!

Sorry about the souveniers. My DH does that to me sometimes, it completely aggrevates me!

Courtney · 08-31-2005, 06:06 PM

Sounds like you guys had fun!!

FanOfMickey · 08-31-2005, 08:41 PM

Glad you had a great time in Boston!! I love going into Boston and walking around the common, Downtown and Fanual Hall. There is a lot of neat stuff in Boston and I am glad to see you hit some of them. One of these days I will do a duck tour, I have yet to do one and always wanted too.

**chezp** · 09-01-2005, 01:44 AM

Thanks for posting this trip report - it's proving to be very useful, as I'm right in the middle of trying to sort out our itinerary for the trip and work out what I want to see.

Real shame about the shopping though - I'll make sure I don't have that problem with Mark.

**Colexis Mom** · 09-01-2005, 06:12 AM

Glad you had a great time Val

debsta922 · 09-01-2005, 11:41 AM

I'm glad you had a great time... and I'm also happy you found my favorite statue (or statues) in Boston... Make Way For Ducklings is one of my favorite children's books.

Goofy'sGal · 09-02-2005, 12:00 AM

LOL Speaking about statues, we saw another type of statue while we were there - a "living statue"! I believe he was at Fanieul (sp? LOL) Hall. Since the ones at Epcot are no more, I guess that will have to do!