cmwbak

Hi! Just a report on our 9 day trip in April with 3 kids aged 8, 11, and 14. As a disclaimer, I must tell you we live in San Diego, so we had no interest in aquariums, museums, or other activities that we could do at home. And, since we were on a budget, we did eat some meals at fast food joints, which I won't bother commenting on....

Day 1: arrived late into Boston Logan. Stayed at the airport Embassy Suites (mainly to get free breakfast). This was a typical airport hotel, nothing great, but good free breakfast.

Day 2: Took T to hotel. We bought the 7 day ticket for my husband, oldest son and me. Kids under 12 ride free. We stayed at the Buckminster Hotel up near Fenway Park. This hotel was PERFECT for us. Our "room" consisted of two rooms, one with 2 queens and 1 with 1 queen. The rooms were clean, came with shampoo and conditioner, and a decent free continental breakfast (breads, cereals, fruit, juice, coffee), which saved us a lot of money. Many fast food restaurants near by. The room also had a microwave and fridge, plus on each floor of the hotel is a kitchen and laundry room for your personal use.
Dropped of luggage. Took T to the Science Museum to take the duck tour. We had gotten cheap tickets on "buy with me", and the kids wanted to do it. Personally, I thought the water portion of it was a complete waste of time...you just drove in a circle in a river. The tour was interesting enough, but I would probably recommend a tour where you could get on and off the bus at the different stops if you wanted. Next, we took the t to the downtown section of the city and walked all around, basically doing the first portion of the freedom trail.

Day 3: We did the second portion of the freedom trail to Bunker Hill. My kids had no problem walking the entire freedom trail. We climbed to the top of Bunker Hill monument and hung out in that area for a while. Then, for the second half of the day, we took the T to Harvard, and explored the Harvard area.

Day 4: Took T back to airport and got rental car. Drove north out of Boston, on main freeways, until North MA, where we headed out to the coast. We ate lunch at Chef Howie's Hobo Restaurant in Salisbury (my husband and oldest son loved the Hobo Burgers). Drove up on the coast through New Hampshire to our hotel in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. We stayed at the Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth. LOVED it! We had a 2 queen room with a pull out sofa. It was a two story room with a beautiful view. Great little bar with fireplace in lobby. I would highly recommend this place. We walked out to the beach and walked along the beach. So pretty and different from our West coast beaches. Had dinner at Ocean House Pizza. Typical pizza place with good pizza and beer. Also, very good coffee shop next door called The Local Buzz.

Day 5: First day of bad weather . Tried to tour the national parks with the light houses, but it was so windy and rainy, our umbrellas blew inside out. So, we took the car tour instead. Drove up to Portland Maine for the day. Took the kids to the Portland Children's Museum. This entertained even my 14 year old son for quite a while. Great place for a rainy day. Found a local coffee shop and warmed up, then did the Old Port tour from our car, instead of walking, due to weather. Headed to Dimillo's "floating restaurant" for dinner, recommended by our hotel. We were very disappointed with this recommendation. The hotel had NO atmosphere, and the food was lousy. We ordered shrimp,and it ended up looking and tasting like that popcorn shrimp you buy in the frozen food section of your grocery store. WAY overpriced for tasteless, boring food. Do not go there! The best part of the dinner was the fact that ship came up and the kids got to watch the drawbridge open. We stayed at the Inn by the Sea again that night.
Day 6: Drove back down, out of Maine, heading to the coast when we got near Cape Ann. Went out on the cape to Gloucester. We stopped there and watched the lobster boats, walked around the little main street and ate some ice cream. We did not drive the entire loop but headed back out to hit Salem. We wanted to go the the Salem Witch Museum this day, but arrived too late. So we checked into our hotel instead: The Hawthorne Hotel in Salem. This place is WAY overpriced for what it is. Not even a coffee maker in the room. And, renovations were going on and the workers started using power tools at 7:25 in the morning!! We walked around Salem that evening, and as other posters have said, this town is just weird. How the witch hunts led to a town full of "witches" is beyond me. Strange people, strange shops. My kids enjoyed the weirdness for a while, but even they were soon creeped out by the never endingness of it. Ate dinner at the Derby Deli. Decent food and live music.
Day 7: Got up and went to the Salem Witch Museum. This was historically accurate and told the story of what happened in a way that was understandable to my 8 year old. Entertaining and worth the visit. Got in car and headed to Plimouth Plantation. Plimouth Plantation was definitely worth the stop. We especially liked the way both sides were portrayed,and not just the side of the pilgrims. All the kids enjoyed it, and my husband and I did, too. Got back in car, headed to Wood's Hole. Took Ferry from Wood's Hole over to Martha's Vineyard. Took bus from ferry stop to our hotel in Edgartown: Harbor View Inn. This was another beautiful hotel with beautiful views. Again, I would recommend this hotel. We had a double queen room with a roll away. Edgartown is SO pretty and the homes are beautiful. We had dinner at the Newes Pub...good and fun for the kids.
Day 8: We had breakfast at Dock Street Coffee House. The kids loved this place and the prices were right. We walked around the little town, explored the light house, got some fudge, and around 2, we got the bus back to the ferry. Cold day! Took ferry back over and drove back up to the airport. Turned in rental car, and got shuttle to Hilton airpot hotel. OK hotel....expensive....but served our purpose of being as close to the airport as possible for our 6 am flight the next day. Took T back into Boston to get dinner. Walked around with the kids...the city was packed with marathoners at this point, since the Boston Marathon is this MOnday. I would NOT recommend going to Boston near the marathon. We were happy we had done the city the week before. Ate dinner in Boston after walking for a long, long time to get away from the crowds due to the marathon. Headed back to hotel.
Day 9: flew home.

GREAT trip. I know we barely touched on some things, but overall we felt we got a good sense of the area without boring the kids to death. We were very lucky to only get one day of rain. The beginning of the trip was really warm, and the end on the colder side. We were happy we packed our heavy coats. Thanks again for all the advice!
Claire
PS What is the deal with all those dunkin doughnuts?????

HappyTrvlr

Great coffee?

bachslunch

Enjoyed your trip report -- thanks for sharing.

Re: "PS What is the deal with all those dunkin doughnuts?????" -- as far as I'm concerned, like Pizza Hut and McDonalds, it's a triumph of chain saturation over quality. I actually like DD's cookies and their bran and corn muffins, but am not at all fond of the other items they sell. And that for me includes their coffee, which I find weak and innocuous.

gail

As a Boston area resident, loved your trip report. Hope that people who think they must go to Salem especially read that part. Believe it or not, you were somewhat lucky with April weather - at least it did not snow.

You could start a good argument here about Dunkin Donuts if you are not careful. I am a fan of their coffee but nothing else. Still can't understand why we need one every tenth of a mile, though.

Agree about Dmillios in Portland, as well. In our case the experience was even worser since there was a large group of drunken elderly diners at next table, and they would not move us to a different table, even though restaurant was only half full.

Salem, MA attracts an interesting group of residents, some attracted to and claiming to be witches. Other than the witch stuff and the Peabody Essex Museum, it is in many areas a rough at the edges and impoverished working class city, suffering more than some in this economy.

Glad you had a good trip (and I love San Diego)

emalloy

Thanks for a neat report. Agree, Peabody/Essex Museum and Witch museum are about it for Salem. And the Hawthorn is old with very small rooms, only some of which have character.

And I'm another one who likes DD coffee.

It is fun to hear about the area from a tourist's point of view.

bachslunch

For Salem, there are also some interesting historic houses that can be toured (House of the Seven Gables, Salem Maritime National Historic Site complex), as well as the Peabody/Essex and Witch Museums.

dfrostnh

Great trip report. It's always fun to see what visitors think of New England and what they choose to see and do.

cmwbak

We did not do the Peabody/Essex, only because we have access to great museums for free as San Diego County residents at Balboa Park.

Not sure I like the Dunkin Doughnuts coffee....why do they insist on adding the cream for you? That really bugged me. And, where are the Starbucks? Do they not allow them in MA?? Or NH? I guess here on the West Coast, we have Starbucks every 1/2 mile.

We only stayed at the Hawthorne because we didn't want to have the kids in the car all day, and the only other hotel in Salem, The Waterfront something or other, could not give us a room that held 5 people. Next time, we'll bring along a sleeping bag!

cmwbak

We did not do the Peabody/Essex, only because we have access to great museums for free as San Diego County residents at Balboa Park.

Not sure I like the Dunkin Doughnuts coffee....why do they insist on adding the cream for you? That really bugged me. And, where are the Starbucks? Do they not allow them in MA?? Or NH? I guess here on the West Coast, we have Starbucks every 1/2 mile.

We only stayed at the Hawthorne because we didn't want to have the kids in the car all day, and the only other hotel in Salem, The Waterfront something or other, could not give us a room that held 5 people. Next time, we'll bring along a sleeping bag!

bennnie

Your family covered a lot of ground in a short time. Totally agree iwth you on Salem. I have never understood the attraction except for Chestnut St and the PEM.

Dunkin Donuts started in Braintree Mass, so the chain has been long established around here.

"We ate lunch at Chef Howie's Hobo Restaurant in Salisbury (my husband and oldest son loved the Hobo Burgers)."

I live in a town very close to Salisbury and have never heard of this place. How did you find it? And what is a hobo burger?

cmwbak

www.chefhowieshobocafe.com
We just came across it while we were driving and hungry. The hobo burger is this HUGE misshapen burger patty....really big (and gross, in my opinion). However, my teenaged son and husband thought it was the best thing ever.

Ackislander

You did get around, didn't you?

Nice report. I like the Federal architecture in Salem, and the Peabody Essex is really different from any of the Balboa Park Museums, but different strokes. I wouldn't want to confine kids of their ages in a museum anyway. At least you didn't try to go to Salem in October!

There is a Dunkin Donuts about every hundred yards because they are huge, huge money makers. If you have ever seen one close, it is because the owner found an even more profitable location. It is a bankable franchise, with low labor costs, great corporate support, and quality ingredients delivered by a highly automated and responsive system. They are very popular businesses among recent immigrants.

I dcn't like their coffee, and I don't eat muffins or pastries or donuts (diabetes), but DD is so popular that they joke in Boston that if you dial 911, the phone rings at Dunkin.

Milk in coffee seems to be a big northeastern thing. In NJ, a "regular" coffee is one with milk (and maybe sugar?) You have to specify if you want it black. And we do have lots of Starbucks and Peet's.

yk

Thanks for your report - on both the good and the bad.

Another sight worth seeing in Salem is the Salem Maritime Historical Park (part of the National Park System). You can visit the USS Friendship, plus there are ranger-guided tours which lead walking tours of the neighborhood and houses (where the extremely rich ship merchants used to live in the late 1700s). I've also toured the Salem Custom House with the NPS, which is where Hawthorne had worked and inspired him to write The Scarlett Letter.

FWIW, PEM is very different from any of the museums in Balboa Park. Salem, apart from being famous for the "witch" stuff, was once the wealthiest seaport in US after the revolution. Many of the sea trades originated there, and therefore there are lots and lots of exquisite export goods that these merchants had acquired. Many of these ended up in the museum.

bachslunch

Ackislander's observation about coffee "regular" in NJ definitely holds for several places throughout New England, and that includes a number of Dunkin' Donuts shops. "Regular coffee" in such places means you want cream (or milk, depending on the place) and sugar added right in. It's always safest to say "coffee black" and whether or not you'd like sugar if that's what you want in this part of the country.

And he's also right that there are a lot of Starbuck's in New England -- in fact, it's surprising the OP didn't encounter one. Honey Dew Donuts, Peet's, and even Tim Horton's can be found as well but less often.

For me, at least, I've had the best baked goods luck at Starbuck's, Peet's, and Tim Horton's. I also prefer the coffee strength at these places compared to the weak stuff served up by DD and HDD, but am somewhat less taken with the presence of burned flavor one sometimes finds in Starbuck's coffee. At both DD and HDD, I find most all baked goods (including donuts) and all sandwiches I've tried, plus the coolata type drinks at DD, to be utterly awful.

cmwbak

YK....we saw did walk to the Custom House and the Harbor area directly across from it, and read all the signs along the way, but did not do any official tours. Thank goodness my kids are all good walkers, and so we were able to see a lot by just walking all around Salem. The architecture was pretty. It is too bad that all that kitchy witch stuff has taken over.

And, too funny about all the dunkin doughnut opinions! You all crack me up. Someone should open one out here ih Southern California and see how it does.

Cranachin

Krispy Kreme, the Southern doughnut chain, opened some shops in the Boston area several years ago (much to my delight and that of my fellow Southerners), but they are all closed now. From what I heard, coffee was their downfall. People would go to KK for doughnuts (and I much prefer theirs to DD's) but then go to DD for coffee! And since coffee is a bigger money-maker than baked goods, you can see why KK folded.

Don't know if that is the true reason, but it's what I heard and experienced. As I don't like coffee, that part never mattered to me!

Kwoo

Being a New Englander, it is interesting to read someone's trip report about New England who is not from NE.

Regarding the DD debate, their coffee is my favorite. Personally, I think Starbuck's is too strong for me, although I like their latte's. But for coffee, I prefer DD. I try to stay away from all baked goods. Watching my diet Don't like HOney Dew Donuts coffee. Definitely too weak.

I do like Salem because of the Peabody Essex Museum, which is a gem, & they periodically have special exhibits, which is why we go there every so often. Agree with Ackislander about the lovely Federal architecture, too.

bennnie

Years and years ago there were two coffee/donut chains on the South Shore of Boston. Mr. Donut and Dunkin Donuts. Rumor had it when I was growing up was the Mr. Donut and Dunkin Donuts were originally one shop owned by two brothers. The brothers fought and split up. One took the donut recipe and one took the coffee formula. Hence Mr. Donut had better Donuts and Dunkin Donuts had better coffee. Mr. Donuts is no more. My neighborhood Dunkin actually had a grill and we used to go there for hamburgers and cokes while sitting at the counter. The doughnuts were way better back then too.

Personally our favorite is Heavenly Donut for anyone in the Merrimack Valley.