Boston & New England
 

My husband and I are a planning a trip to Boston from May 3 through May 7. We will be traveling with our 8 month old daughter. We arrive at Logan at 9:30 am on Thursday, May 3. Our flight departs on Monday evening at 8 pm.

We would like to spend the first two days/nights relaxing and unwinding. Tentatively, I was thinking that we could head north of Boston since we both have visited Cape Cod and the weather will be too cool for hanging out on the beach all day. I would love your suggestions as to hotels, structuring our sightseeing, etc. We both like history, walking/shopping, sightseeing, and nice restaurants. We can't really do nature hikes/biking because of the baby. Ideally, we would like quaint towns, low-stress, charming, hopefully romantic. However, my hubby tends to get bored somewhat easily so we definitely need things to do, lingering in any one place for too long probably wouldn't work. Places that that I have considered are: Kennebunkport, Ogunquit, Rockport. Inn by the Sea also looks nice. Perhaps Portsmouth for lunch/ a couple of hours to sightsee.

We plan on driving into Boston on Saturday morning and returning the rental car. We will then have all day Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to explore Boston.

Look forward to your advice!

I like Rockport - and Gloucester is nearby where there's plenty to see and a nice promenade along the ocean/beach where you can walk. If the weather is nice ane warm enough, you can have a picnic at the Stage Fort Park. Halibut Point at Rockport is gorgeous but it does involve walking along trails (but not very far).

It is not likely to be particularly warm, though it could be in the 90's. Such is Boston in the Spring.

Salem, Marblehead, Gloucester and Rockport are all interesting. They have waterfronts, history, quaint or imposing architecture, good museums. Both the Peabody Essex in Salem and the Cape Ann Historical Society in Gloucester are museums about life, not just pictures and statues. The P-E has three colonial era homes you can tour and an antique house brought there from China. Just north is Essex, home of the fried clam and multiple antique shops. Beyond Essex is Newburyport, an attractive town with good restaurants and access to Plum Island. See Wikipedia.

Portsmouth, NH, has an incredibly lively downtown scene with lots of great places to eat (friendly to an 8 mo old in a stroller) and a town that loves its local beers, of which there are many.

Boston may be tough because that is a major college graduation weekend and lodging will be hard to find and expensive. You could consider staying out of Boston until Sunday. You may have better luck finding a place to stay on Sunday and Monday than on Saturday. I would rent the car at the airport and drop it off at the airport after your husband leaves you and baby at the hotel

You could do worse than skipping Boston and going on to Portland, Maine, where you could hang out and visit nearby Freeport and LL Bean. If the weather is good, the mailboat to the islands is one of the great cheap scenic boatrides in America.

Good luck on lodging. If you can't find any,let us know and we will have other suggestions.

Thank you for your wonderful responses! I definitely agree with renting the car at Logan and the drop-off idea. I looked into dropping the car downtown and it was $100 drop fee even though the rental for two days is only $70! What is the best way (balancing cost and time) to get from Logan to downtown (watertaxi, the T, cab)?

We're set for a hotel in Boston, booked the InterContinental for $221 a night through Hotwire. Also, I'm a city girl at heart (from Chicago, but living in not-so-exciting Buffalo for now). I definitely want to catch a Red Sox game and possibly a fancy dinner one night if we can get babysitting accomodations through the hotel since most of our other meals will be pretty low key.

Also, love the idea of a picnic and Halibut Point. We can put the baby in the bjorn for awhile, and we're fairly active people.

Do you suggest we stay in Rockport for 2 nights and explore from there? Or perhaps Portsmouth? I really would like something nice and relaxing (more resort feel or B&B if baby is allowed), and I get the impression that Portsmouth doesn't really have those type of hotels (please correct me if I'm wrong). Also, I'm not opposed to changing hotels (i.e., Inn by the Sea for the first night and somewhere in Rockport the second night).

Sorry, scratch Inn by the Sea. I think it's too far north. But it does appear to have the feel of the type of place I'm looking for.

I think many resorts in Maine will not be open in early May. For example, I just got e-mail from these places in Kennebunkport http://www.kennebunkportresortcollection.com/ which have opening weekend set for May 11th. The Nonatum nearby opens April 20th. Kennebunkport and Ogunquit are nice areas if you can find something suitable. Portsmouth does seem more small city like and Portland even more so. I like both of those places, but they have less of a resorty feel to me

Outside Portsmouth is the Wentworth, one of the big old New England resort hotels (one of the few that didn't burn down!) that was expensively renovated a few years back. It is easy to get into Portsmouth, has golf and spas, is near the beach and is convenient for touring and whatever in the area.

If you decide on Portsmouth, the harbor cruise and the inland rivers cruise are both very interesting. You can park in the garage and walk to the dock.

It's been windy lately, might be good kite flying weather at the beach. The coastal road thru Rye NH will take you past the private mansions. Very pretty with spring shrubs and trees in bloom. Rt 1B starting from Strawbery Banke/Prescott Park area thru New Castle is also very pretty. It goes past the Wentworth Hotel. Another good drive is to go out on Kittery Point (ME but it's just across the bridge).

If you want to go to the Red Sox game, you should get tickets as soon as possible. If they are sold out, you can check Ace tickets and stubhub. The way the season has been going so far makes it more likely that seats will be available.

The cheapest way to get from Logan to downtown is on the T. You can check the route planner on www.mbta.com. The water taxi is practical depending if your hotel is in the area. Taxi fares to the Copley Square area would be in the $30-35 range (depending of traffic).

Thanks for the advice about getting back downtown from Logan- that's very helpful.

Red Sox tickets are still available for now, we're waiting to see if some friends are going to meet us for the game. How are bleacher seats at Fenway? I usually sit in the outfield for White Sox games (hate sitting up high and love getting some sun if possible), and don't want to pay $100 a seat.

Bleacher seats at Fenway are usually good and about as reasonably priced tickets as you'll find at the park. And the ambiance in the bleachers is often fun and collegial, though they can get more contentious during Yankees games. If you can get them, I'd definitely go with the bleacher seats.

Be especially cautious of non-bleacher right field seats, as the sight lines are reportedly not the best. And one good thing about bleacher seats is that you shouldn't run into problems with a seat having an obstructed view, which can happen in other parts of the park. Also note that one problem with Green Monster seats is that you reportedly can't see what happens on a play where a ball is hit up close to the "Monster."