Long Weekend in Boston in April
 

Taking my husband to Boston in mid-April for his birthday weekend. Would love any suggestions in terms of hotels, restaurants and places to go. I would love to stay at nice quality hotel near Copley Plaza but can't afford the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton. He's a huge NY Yankee fan and the idea of a Red Sox game came to mind. Any suggestions? Oh, and what is candlestick bowling?

Try to avoid the weekend of April 19th, which is Marathon Weekend this year, so hotel rates will be ridiculously high, and many hotels will require three-night minimum stay.

Try www.ninezero.com - a fabulous new boutique hotel, nicely located (though a bit of a walk from Copley Square, but closer to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Marketplace) with incredible rooms/ammenities and attractive rates.

We weekend in Boston throughout the year. I nearly always book with Hotwire or Priceline. In the overall, we've enjoyed the Hotwire hotels more, though we've gotten better rates with Priceline.

You can see the Red Sox schedule at http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/...m=4&y=2004

I highly recommend getting tickets in advance for the best seats.

I used to like in New Hampshire and loved to go to Boston on weekends. If you like art, two places I'd recommend in the Isabella Gardner Museum and Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Isabella Gardner Museum houses the art collection of Isabella Gardner in her former house. What i love about the place is that the art collection...composed of paintings, tapestry, vases, etc...are displayed as everyday decor rather than museum pieces. You get a sense of how she lived and enjoyed her art collection in an everyday setting. She has a huge portrait of herself done by John Singer Sargent which is fabulous. Nearby is Museum of Fine Arts. I love the Monet and Egyptian collection. I also love that they have afternoon tea in the museum where they have instrumentalists playing while you enjoy your tea. Great way to while away the afternoon.

Other favorite is the duck tours.

Regarding Redsox - they are in town 2nd and 3rd weekend of April. The 2nd weekend apponent is Toronto and according to website still has seats available - most good seats go to season ticket holders and then on-line early buyers - so you will likely get crummy seats but still have fun if you do not freeze to death.

Unless you are willing to pay megabucks to scalpers/ticket agencies, you can forget about the 3rd weekend against the Yankees. These tickets were sold out long ago and will go for a big premium - especially considering it is Patriot's Day weekend (a uniquely Massachusetts holiday on the 3rd Monday in April of dubious historic importance but a really good reason for a day off).

Candlepin bowling uses small pins - narrower and now as fat on the bottom. You get to 3 chances to knock them down instead of 2.

Agree with djkbooks about hotel availability that weekend - and many hotels will be sold out in Copley/Downtown area.

Candlepin bowling is a form of bowling that is, as far as I know, unique to New England - I believe it is a descendant of duckpin bowling. It's been a few years since I've gone bowling (since my kids were younger), but from what I remember, the pins are fairly straight up and down, like candlesticks. The balls are smaller and lighter than in ten pins, held in your hand, with no holes for the fingers. You get three balls per frame, instead of two, and the pins don't get cleared away between balls within the frame, unlike ten pins. I think it's a bit more challenging than ten pins, but the nice thing is it's easier for kids to bowl, since the balls aren't so heavy and unwieldy.