Buffy9297

Re-posting this as a trip report in case people missed it on my original post. Thanks!
First off, I want to apologize for the lateness of this trip report, but better late than never! Keep in mind while reading this trip report that November was the only time we could go and this trip was 100% about my son seeing a Patriots game in Foxborough. My husband and I will definitely be visiting the Cape again...what we did see, we absolutely loved! Here goes - we arrived in Boston on November 8 and the weather was a little drizzly and overcast. We got our rental car and headed to TD Garden. My son was happy to see where the Celtics played, but my husband and I agreed we could have skipped it (but again, this trip was not about us). Next up was Fenway and bought tickets for the 4 p.m. tour. Wow - what an excellent tour!!! We are not baseball people at all, but the tour guides did a great job and we all loved it. Everyone was very friendly and we had a great conversation with a guy who worked in the Pro Shop. Weather was cold, drizzly and icky, but we had brought our winter weather gear with us. Unfortunately, the tour ended around 5 so we had to contend with the traffic leaving Boston. Regarding driving in Boston, even with the GPS, it was tricky. The set up of the roads and aggressive drivers threw us for a loop. We definitely weren't big fans of driving there, but we managed. We drove to Falmouth, as I had reservations at the Sea Crest. They upgraded our room at no additional cost - very much appreciated. We were starving so the desk clerk recommended The Quarterdeck in Falmouth. Great food, great service, loved the atmosphere - it was all wonderful! If this trip been just the hubby and I, we would have walked the main street and looked in the shop windows (even though it was late and everything was closed), but my son was coming down with a cold and wanted to get back to the room and rest. Friday morning we got up and saw there was a little damage outside to the pool area from Hurricane Sandy. The weather was windy and cold, but the sun was trying to make an appearance. You could see more of the effects of Hurricane Sandy in the daylight on the beach, but didn't look like it did any major damage. We went to Betsy's Diner for breakfast. Again, very friendly people and great food. Being from the Midwest where no one has an accent (at least that's what we tell ourselves!), we absolutely loved listening to the locals talk in the diner. After breakfast, we drove around the area and somehow found our way to the Nobska Lighthouse. We got back onto the main road and headed up the Cape and stopped to see the Nauset Light (I have a thing for lighthouses) and went to the beach as well. We drove to Provincetown and had lunch at Bayside Betsy's (my son's first clam chowder) and walked up and down Commercial Street. We went to Race Point Beach and also to the Highland Light. We were running out of daylight at this point, so we needed to head back. Friday night we stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Mansfield/Foxborough. There wasn't much in the area - so even though it wasn't our initial plan, we ended up going to Patriot Place that night and having dinner at Red Robin and my son got his first look at the Stadium and we browsed in the Pro Shop. The look on his face when he first saw the Stadium was priceless....I will never forget it and that kid was so darn happy. Warms my heart just thinking of it! Saturday morning we headed back to Patriot Place and went to The Hall -- what a great place! All the memorabilia and the interactive stuff for kids. They had a great video presentation as well. Dropped a few bucks in the Pro Shop and had lunch at Toby Keith's restaurant. We went to the Bass Pro Shop and walked the cranberry bog. It was a beautiful day. Sunday we checked out of the Courtyard and headed towards Patriot Place about 9 and already the traffic was backed up and tailgaters everywhere! I had some great advice from a fellow Fodorite about heading out early on game day and it was much appreciated – otherwise, we definitely would have been stuck in traffic longer. We had no trouble getting to the Renaissance and our room was ready so we were able to check in about 10 which was great. We definitely have never stayed in a place that swanky! We had lunch at 5 Guys Burgers & Fries, walked around and checked out all the fans and tailgaters, and then it was time for the boys to head to the game and I went back to the room. We had a room facing the Stadium so I was able to open the window a bit, hit mute on the TV and watch the game, but listen to the cheering fans. There was a delay between the TV and game, so that was fun to hear the cheering before anything was shown on TV. As expected, my son absolutely loved the game, loved the experience - everything! He had no complaints. He felt like he was with his "people". haha He definitely was a tad jealous of all the season ticket holders and the people that get to do this every home game. I wouldn't be surprised if he makes Massachusetts his home someday. Checkout on Monday wasn't until noon, so we slept in, took our time getting ready to leave, and the husband and I walked around a bit more. We weren't sure about the traffic heading back to Boston and we needed to return the rental car by 1, so we left Foxborough about 11:30. Traffic wasn't bad and we made it back with plenty of time to spare. Security lines at the airport were pretty long though, so I was glad we got there early. A very successful trip all around and I can’t wait to go back someday with just the hubby. Thanks again everyone!!

cw

Thanks for reporting back. Sounds as though you all had a good time. Your son is probably watching the game right now. Where did he get his love of the Patriots?

Hope you'll return soon.

jubilada

Buffy, thanks for posting.
For future reference, may I suggest more paragraph breaks to facilitate reading ?

Lookin_Glass

Thanks for the wonderful report back. What a fantastic trip for all of you and what a remarkable gift to your son. Mr_Glass was swearing at the TV today during the Pats game and at the officials/refs like he was a drunken sailor left on a deserted island....not the best role model for your son.......but maybe????

travelerfromtx

Nice trip report. It sounds like Your family had a great trip. What age is your son?

Buffy9297

cw - we have no clue how he became a Patriots fan! He doesn't even remember himself...just as long as we can all remember, he's been a fan. We don't have DirecTv either so he only sees the games if they air on network tv...which they often do not in the Midwest.

jubilada - yep, looks like paragraph breaks would have helped. Sorry for that!

Lookin_Glass....haha, well if my son was allowed to swear in front of me, he probably would have been...there was a moment our remote was tossed & batteries went flying!

travelerfromtx - my son will be 16 in amount a month. How that happened, I do not know!

dfrostnh

Great to read a family trip report and about how excited your teen was. Also, great positive attitude about our November weather.

nelsonian

Did you walk up the Provincetown Memorial? I walked up to the first window!!, my DH and DD and SIL walked right to the top. The museum there was very interesting also. We were there about the same time as you.

irishface

Have been remiss in checking Massachusetts threads, so just saw this one. Great report and glad to see that you enjoyed your trip! Lots of great colleges in Mass, so your son could become a Massachisetts-ite one day. Of course that will give you and your hub a chance to revisit this part of the world.

Agree that driving in Boston is a nightmare and seems to get worse every year. I take the bus in.

"...the midwest where no one has an accent." I used to think that until one of my cousins married a fellow from the midwest and at the wedding reception I listened to his family and friends converse.