Boston Trip advice
 

We're driving up to Boston (from Philly burbs) for a 2.5-day, three night trip in mid-October. A couple questions:
- I have most of our day activities in Boston planned, but need some suggestions for night activities. I hear "Shear Madness" is fun; anything else we should consider?
- Would it be too much to spend one of our nights in, say Cape Cod, or one of the Mass. islands?
- Any parking lots that are relatively "affordable" downtown? Yes, I know affordable is a very relative term.. but any that are cheaper than most others?

Thanks very much for any help you can provide!
Best,
Kelly

Shear Madness is a little silly, but I did enjoy it. There is a same day ticket booth near Copley Plaza and at Faneiul Hall - just show up and look for a show. There are also evening Imax movies and lasor or planetarium shows at the Museum of Science. Check out the entertainment section at boston.com for more evening events. If the evening is nice, then it can be pleasant just to walk around the city, perhaps wander around the north end and enjoy dessert and coffee.

The cheapest parking lot, I think, is under Boston Common, but I don't know about overnight parking. It may simply be easier to just leave your car at the hotel rather than having to worry about it at some other parking lot just to save a few dollars.

Sine you are only in Boston for a few days, I don't think it's worthwhile to head down to the Cape, let alone the islands. I would save that for when you have a longer trip.

www.artsboston.org has a good listing of shows.

Tell us what you liek to do at night and we can give you more specifics.

Hi, Kelly - we just got back from Boston. I just did a trip report if you'd like to read it. We went to Shear Madness - cute show; the theater there also shows the Blue Man Group if that interests you. Personally I wouldn't try to cram a sidetrip in if I were you; Boston has so much to see that 2.5 days will barely scratch the surface. Have a great time!

Thanks everyone! I think we'll skip driving to an island.
As for night activities... We're pretty open to doing anything that's recommended as fun. It'll just be my husband and me. We do like live music, if there's a particular bar or club that's known for good music?
VolcanoGirl - I'll check out your trip report. Thanks so much!

Dinner in the North End one night is a must.

There's a newish club in the South End called Beehive that's a great place for live music. You could have dinner at one of the many great restaurants in the SE before you go.

http://www.beehiveboston.com/

For some info, go to www.theinsider.com and go to the Boston section -

Beehive that was mentioned is good, as is Bobs Southern Bistro if you like that type of food and jazz at the same time, or go just for the music - altho if I only had one night for this, I would probably go somewhere other than Bobs for both dinner and music -

If you eat in the South End - I would eat somewhere other than the Beehive (small plates at 28 Degrees, the Metropolis, Tremont 347 - or just get a great burger at Clerys Irish bar, - there's a ton of restaurants in that area to consider - go to
www.opentable.com and to the Boston area, then choose different areas - South End, North End, etc and you can see restaurants, availability, make reservations, read their menus, visit their web sites, etc. - also menupages, and other such sites for the same, but opentable you could makeyour reservations at the same time.

You could also consider going to Cambridge/harvard sq one night, where there are plenty of music spots, shows, etc - Regatta Jazz club at the Rialto in Cambridge, Scullers in Allston, comedy shows ( check out that tix booth mentoined above for lots of ideas) -

go to the Prudential SKywalk at the top of the Pru, or just have dinner or drinks and dessert at the restaurant (which is higher than the Skywalk floor) at the Prudential -

If you spend one night in the North End, walking after dinner and down to Faneuil Hall/waterfront area and one night at a show the other night you could spend in the South End or even Cambridge if seeing the Harv Sq area appeals to you.