You should make time to actually go into Faneuil Hall--the sense of history is palpable in there, and in so many other areas in Boston, really.

You won't need to even ask for white chowder - when you order clam chowder, you get the white kind unless the restaurant lists some alternative, which is very rare.

There are two kinds of white chowder:

1. One kind is white from flour thickening and is recognizable because your spoon stands up in it. It may come in a bread bowl.

2. The good kind is thin and is white because it has cream and milk in it, along with potatoes, onions, maybe bacon, and clams. Your spoon will not stand up in it.

The best clam chowder is sold, I reluctantly have concluded, in Rhode Island and in Eastern Connecticut. It is clear broth with clams, potatoes, maybe bacon, and onion. No cream, no milk, no flour, nothing but intense broth.

Fish chowder and scallop chowder and lobster chowder are all delicious. Why not have a bowl of each over the course of your trip, like going to both Mike's and Modern Pastry?

You've got advice from known experts so far. Forget a car, use public transport and cab, and walk. I am still shuddering over last winter's heavy snows and cold but you never know. Mostly came in Febraury. Plenty to see such as the history and chowder...and we like Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MFA, etc. Pretty pricey shopping on Newbury St. I go there for genealogy library...and a recent discovery the street named for my ancestor Thomas Newberry.

(from MO now in MA)

It all sounds great to me!! But I couldn't find what MFA stands for??? I still need to research the museums. I will only get to one this trip.

I think my daughter is ready to move there!! The only thing she would mss would be our crawfish!

Museum of Fine Arts is outstanding.

Yes, MFA= Museum of Fine Arts, and it really is outstanding. Also, huge!

ahhhh ok!!! thanks!!