What Are Must See/Do Things in Boston/Cape Cod?
Mar 19th, 2007, 09:11 AM
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What Are Must See/Do Things in Boston/Cape Cod?
We are traveling to Boston in June to visit a friend and combine the trip to see my husbands relatives whom he hasn't seen in many years. My sister in law is coming along too.
We arrive at 7am Weds. 6/13 and figured we would head straight for Cape Cod. What is a MUST SEE there? My husband sells whole sale seafood so is really looking forward to seeing this area. Maybe a clam bake or great restaurant? Place to stay one night?
Then back to Boston/Cambridge area for dinner with friends Thursday night. Any suggestions on what to do in Boston for Friday/Friday night? Saturday/Saturday night will most likely be spent with relatives in Auburn.
We were able to get two tickets to see our team (SF Giants) play at Fenway...on Sunday...Yippee! Then we have more sightseeing time on Monday before we head back home Tues. morning.
We arrive at 7am Weds. 6/13 and figured we would head straight for Cape Cod. What is a MUST SEE there? My husband sells whole sale seafood so is really looking forward to seeing this area. Maybe a clam bake or great restaurant? Place to stay one night?
Then back to Boston/Cambridge area for dinner with friends Thursday night. Any suggestions on what to do in Boston for Friday/Friday night? Saturday/Saturday night will most likely be spent with relatives in Auburn.
We were able to get two tickets to see our team (SF Giants) play at Fenway...on Sunday...Yippee! Then we have more sightseeing time on Monday before we head back home Tues. morning.
Mar 19th, 2007, 10:05 AM
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Wow, sounds like fun.
If you only have one night on the cape, I think you might want to take the speedboat from Boston to Provincetown, to avoid the loooong drive around. Then you can stay in Provincetown or rent a car and try Wellfleet. Provincetown is busier, with lots of restaurants, shops and a monument; Wellfleet has lots of art galleries.
There are places that will cater a clambake or lobsterboil for you. You have to get a permit from the National Park Service to have a fire on the beach, but they're easy enough to get if you ask.
Wellfleet has working oyster beds and some fishing boats -- there is a fish market on the harbor, I think.
The National Seashore / Visitor Center is not to be missed. I am also a fan of Marconi Beach.
Another option would be to go to Glouchester/Rockport (Cape Anne) if you just have the one night -- it is north of Boston, easier to get to, and has a more active fishing fleet, also lots of art galleries.
Mar 19th, 2007, 10:14 AM
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capxxx - Thanks for your help and recommendations. According to the map I thought the Cape trip to be only a couple of hours from Boston. I think that having a clam bake catered for only the three of us is probably out of the question, even tho we do have good appetites! Maybe a great seafood restaurant recommendation is needed here. The hub loves anything to do with seafood and perhaps the Gloucester area is more easily accessible. We just want a great port experience and to see what we can while there.
Mar 19th, 2007, 06:30 PM
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To find restaurants in the Cape go to the site chowhound.com Go to the New England Board and usually there are a # of posts re Cape Cod. Chatham, on the Cape, at the "elbow" has a pretty active fishing fleet. Slso a very pretty town.
Mar 19th, 2007, 07:39 PM
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On Wednesday, arriving at 7am, I would drive straight to the Cape. On the way down, you might choose to go the 'back roads' (6A, there are various ways depending on what you want to see)
Question would be: are you arriving at Logan at 7am and picking up rental car there? B/c if so, I'd talk about rush hour traffic, where to maybe stop for breakfast first to avoid and kill an hour, etc.
Otherwise, head out to the Cape - once you get thru downtown, you are going in the opposite direction of commuter traffic and it is easy
For example, if you took the highway from Boston to say Plymouth - if you wanted, you could stop at Plimoth Plantation - if not, stop at Plymoth Harbor - have a cup of coffee, see the harbor, Mayflower, Rock (not much too see, but it's a stretch your legs stop) - from there, take the back roads so you will pass antique shops, galleries, quaint towns, etc and pick a destination for the night
You can do a lot of searches here by putting things in the search box like "Cape Cod Itinerary" or specific towns like Brewster, Sandwich, Osterville, Falmouth, etc.
Specific thing s you want to see woul d help determine which town might be best - do you want quaint downtown/stores/waterfront - glass blowing, antiques, beaches and dunes? harbors?
Even if you drove the above combo of highway and back road and made some stops, leaving Boston by even 8:30 - you'be be to Plymouth by 10:30 am
from there, it's another hour to places on the Cape - at the most, you could be somewhere nice for a seafood lunch by noon and still drive an hour or more further down the Cape and finally come to your destination for an overnight. The next day, you could drive home a different way for part of it - doing one side of the cape on the way down, and exploring a bit on the way home.
For Boston on Friday/Friday night the list is endless - give us some ideas what you like -
museums, history, architecture, do you want to do part of the Freedom Trail and walk thru the Boston Common, Boston Public Garden, down to the waterfront and into the North End? Are you walkers? Or do you want to take the Trolley Tour or the Duck Tour? Or a boat in Boston Harbor out to one of the historic islands?
Do some searches here, look at Boston.com adn other sites to try and narrow it down depending on your i nterests.
If your husband is in the wholesale seafood biz, he might like to venture Friday early am down to the pier in Boston where all the wholesale seafood (O'Hara's, etc) is and all along near NoName Seafood Restaurant or the Barking Crab for great seafood - you can google those and read about them - or maybe he wants nothing to do with seafood on vacation -
One day, does he want to do the northern coast into Gloucester, Rockport, Salem, Marblehead, more rocky coastline and fishing industry , etc. ....
Question would be: are you arriving at Logan at 7am and picking up rental car there? B/c if so, I'd talk about rush hour traffic, where to maybe stop for breakfast first to avoid and kill an hour, etc.
Otherwise, head out to the Cape - once you get thru downtown, you are going in the opposite direction of commuter traffic and it is easy
For example, if you took the highway from Boston to say Plymouth - if you wanted, you could stop at Plimoth Plantation - if not, stop at Plymoth Harbor - have a cup of coffee, see the harbor, Mayflower, Rock (not much too see, but it's a stretch your legs stop) - from there, take the back roads so you will pass antique shops, galleries, quaint towns, etc and pick a destination for the night
You can do a lot of searches here by putting things in the search box like "Cape Cod Itinerary" or specific towns like Brewster, Sandwich, Osterville, Falmouth, etc.
Specific thing s you want to see woul d help determine which town might be best - do you want quaint downtown/stores/waterfront - glass blowing, antiques, beaches and dunes? harbors?
Even if you drove the above combo of highway and back road and made some stops, leaving Boston by even 8:30 - you'be be to Plymouth by 10:30 am
from there, it's another hour to places on the Cape - at the most, you could be somewhere nice for a seafood lunch by noon and still drive an hour or more further down the Cape and finally come to your destination for an overnight. The next day, you could drive home a different way for part of it - doing one side of the cape on the way down, and exploring a bit on the way home.
For Boston on Friday/Friday night the list is endless - give us some ideas what you like -
museums, history, architecture, do you want to do part of the Freedom Trail and walk thru the Boston Common, Boston Public Garden, down to the waterfront and into the North End? Are you walkers? Or do you want to take the Trolley Tour or the Duck Tour? Or a boat in Boston Harbor out to one of the historic islands?
Do some searches here, look at Boston.com adn other sites to try and narrow it down depending on your i nterests.
If your husband is in the wholesale seafood biz, he might like to venture Friday early am down to the pier in Boston where all the wholesale seafood (O'Hara's, etc) is and all along near NoName Seafood Restaurant or the Barking Crab for great seafood - you can google those and read about them - or maybe he wants nothing to do with seafood on vacation -
One day, does he want to do the northern coast into Gloucester, Rockport, Salem, Marblehead, more rocky coastline and fishing industry , etc. ....
Mar 19th, 2007, 08:30 PM
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As others have noted, more interesting, more scenic, and faster to go to the north shore, rather than Cape Cod. Start at Salem and take the shore road to Gloucester. Lots of interesting towns, harbors, seafood. Then Rockport & Ipswich. Make sure you have Ipswich steamers (all over the area). In Boston, just head for downtown and the Freedom Trail. Loaded with history, the old alongside the new, shopping, incredible restaurants.
Then go see the Red Sox whup the Giants. Outside of the downtown/harbor area, there are galleries along Newbury St. and two fine museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Then go see the Red Sox whup the Giants. Outside of the downtown/harbor area, there are galleries along Newbury St. and two fine museums, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Mar 25th, 2007, 09:13 AM
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sobster - Oh boy I can't wait to check out the restaurant recs on the chowhound website. Thank you!
escargot - I think we will stick with headin north rather than down to the Cape for Weds/Thurs. Sounds like we'll have more exploring time and less drive time that way. We are arriving at Logan at 7:00 a.m. and then off to Somerville to our friends place. He has generously offered us his vehicle to tour around in since he walks to and from work. I think we can take the pink line from Logan to Somerville, is that correct?
Yes, we do want to do some of the Freedom Trail. We are walkers, the DH is also a jogger, so trekking around town shouldn't prove to be too much for us. Not really interested in the Trolley or Duck tours. We wouldn't mind one museum, love history, architecture, and the sea.
Thanks for the recommendation on heading down to the pier Friday AM. He lives for fish and always loves to see what is happening at the local harbors and plants.
xkenx - The northern trip sounds right up our alley. Mmmmm...I can just taste those steamers! We are really looking forward to this trip.
What do you mean watch the Sox whup the Giants??? We shall see...it will be the Giants first time ever at Fenway and we are just excited to see the ball park.
escargot - I think we will stick with headin north rather than down to the Cape for Weds/Thurs. Sounds like we'll have more exploring time and less drive time that way. We are arriving at Logan at 7:00 a.m. and then off to Somerville to our friends place. He has generously offered us his vehicle to tour around in since he walks to and from work. I think we can take the pink line from Logan to Somerville, is that correct?
Yes, we do want to do some of the Freedom Trail. We are walkers, the DH is also a jogger, so trekking around town shouldn't prove to be too much for us. Not really interested in the Trolley or Duck tours. We wouldn't mind one museum, love history, architecture, and the sea.
Thanks for the recommendation on heading down to the pier Friday AM. He lives for fish and always loves to see what is happening at the local harbors and plants.
xkenx - The northern trip sounds right up our alley. Mmmmm...I can just taste those steamers! We are really looking forward to this trip.
What do you mean watch the Sox whup the Giants??? We shall see...it will be the Giants first time ever at Fenway and we are just excited to see the ball park.
Mar 25th, 2007, 01:00 PM
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wyatt92 - Yes, you are right. I was looking at my AAA map and it looks pink to me but obviously I failed to READ the fine print which clearly states it is the Red Line!
I do not see a silver line tho, only the Blue Line that runs from Wonderland to Bowdoin seems to pass Logan.
I do not see a silver line tho, only the Blue Line that runs from Wonderland to Bowdoin seems to pass Logan.
Mar 25th, 2007, 03:03 PM
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karens - I think we are going to head north rather than down to the cape. That will be another trip!
wyatt - Thank you so much for your information. Now hopefully we will get to Somerville without a glitch!
wyatt - Thank you so much for your information. Now hopefully we will get to Somerville without a glitch!
Mar 25th, 2007, 04:30 PM
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Galelstorm:
Based on what you like, and some of the decisions you've narrowed down, I would suggest:
Go to MBTA.com -
there are drop down menus, there is a place where you can 'plan a trip' - so you can plug in say the airport to Somerville or Somerville to Cambridge, etc, and it will tell you how to get there.
If your husband wants to see what being in the wholesale seafood biz is like in Boston, he should go down to the New Boston Seafood Center - where I mentioned to you before O'Haras is also located - I wouldn't tell just anyone to go in looking for a tour, etc -but someone 'in the biz' -who wouldn't be in the way and wanted to watch and see what the deal is here - as he would probably say, he wouldn't mind someone conversing with him about his either - these guys are all there from 3:30am until around somewhere between 1 and 3pm -
He would go past the Fleet Boston Pavillion, past the old Jimmy's Harborside, past the beer co, and then there are two new buildings, the New Boston Seafood Center, drive past it to the driveway, go down to the end, park and he can walk around and the building is full of wholesale seafood companies, I mention O'haras b/c I know them and they are very nice guys and he could just introduce himself - all the guys down there are nice, esp since he is in the biz and interested - he might like to do this.
They may also direct him to some special places on the north shore area.
If you want the Freedom Trail, I would go on their website and get a feel for what it entails, where it goes, what stops are more important to you.
Many people overlook the State House, it is a very interesting building - they have guided tours, but you can also do a self guided tour - check out this web page which provides the latter and maybe or maybe not an actual tour would interest you ; some interesting history and architecture.
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/trs/trsbok/trstour.htm
If you end up dividing the Freedom Trail, you might want to eat in the North End one night, and do the freedom trail sites there prior to dinner.
We were at the Prudential Skywalk Observatory with friends the other day. It was a glorious sunny day and you can see forever - fabulous views of Boston and beyond. It also has some history info - you might enjoy doing that -
My favorite Boston museum is the Isabella Stewart Gardner -
gardnermuseum.org
if you are only going to do one museum - small, gorgeous gardens and courtyard, might be a good choice.
Also, the Boston Public Library - bpl.org
it is a treasure, -the one in Copley Square- you can see the Sargent Murals and the rotating exhibits (the Adams historical exhibit will be gone and I am not sure what is replacing it)
also a lovely spot for lunch - look on their site and use the drop down menu to see about the murals and restaurant, courtyard, map room, etc.
Also, if you like the sea and history, go to
bostonislands.org and look at Georges island
(Spectacle is nice but doesn't open until 6/24)
and some of the other islands and see if any of them interest you. Fort Warren on georges is a popular destination and doing something like that one afternoon would get you on the water, out in Boston Harbor, anda view of the city from the water, which is spectacular.
There are tours of fenway if you don't have tix to a game, on their webiste is the info - I don't know that website but I'm sur eyou can find it online.
have fun. I'm sure your Somerville friend can direct you as to the best ddriving directions for you and when to wait depending on day of week, to avoid rush hour -
Based on what you like, and some of the decisions you've narrowed down, I would suggest:
Go to MBTA.com -
there are drop down menus, there is a place where you can 'plan a trip' - so you can plug in say the airport to Somerville or Somerville to Cambridge, etc, and it will tell you how to get there.
If your husband wants to see what being in the wholesale seafood biz is like in Boston, he should go down to the New Boston Seafood Center - where I mentioned to you before O'Haras is also located - I wouldn't tell just anyone to go in looking for a tour, etc -but someone 'in the biz' -who wouldn't be in the way and wanted to watch and see what the deal is here - as he would probably say, he wouldn't mind someone conversing with him about his either - these guys are all there from 3:30am until around somewhere between 1 and 3pm -
He would go past the Fleet Boston Pavillion, past the old Jimmy's Harborside, past the beer co, and then there are two new buildings, the New Boston Seafood Center, drive past it to the driveway, go down to the end, park and he can walk around and the building is full of wholesale seafood companies, I mention O'haras b/c I know them and they are very nice guys and he could just introduce himself - all the guys down there are nice, esp since he is in the biz and interested - he might like to do this.
They may also direct him to some special places on the north shore area.
If you want the Freedom Trail, I would go on their website and get a feel for what it entails, where it goes, what stops are more important to you.
Many people overlook the State House, it is a very interesting building - they have guided tours, but you can also do a self guided tour - check out this web page which provides the latter and maybe or maybe not an actual tour would interest you ; some interesting history and architecture.
http://www.sec.state.ma.us/trs/trsbok/trstour.htm
If you end up dividing the Freedom Trail, you might want to eat in the North End one night, and do the freedom trail sites there prior to dinner.
We were at the Prudential Skywalk Observatory with friends the other day. It was a glorious sunny day and you can see forever - fabulous views of Boston and beyond. It also has some history info - you might enjoy doing that -
My favorite Boston museum is the Isabella Stewart Gardner -
gardnermuseum.org
if you are only going to do one museum - small, gorgeous gardens and courtyard, might be a good choice.
Also, the Boston Public Library - bpl.org
it is a treasure, -the one in Copley Square- you can see the Sargent Murals and the rotating exhibits (the Adams historical exhibit will be gone and I am not sure what is replacing it)
also a lovely spot for lunch - look on their site and use the drop down menu to see about the murals and restaurant, courtyard, map room, etc.
Also, if you like the sea and history, go to
bostonislands.org and look at Georges island
(Spectacle is nice but doesn't open until 6/24)
and some of the other islands and see if any of them interest you. Fort Warren on georges is a popular destination and doing something like that one afternoon would get you on the water, out in Boston Harbor, anda view of the city from the water, which is spectacular.
There are tours of fenway if you don't have tix to a game, on their webiste is the info - I don't know that website but I'm sur eyou can find it online.
have fun. I'm sure your Somerville friend can direct you as to the best ddriving directions for you and when to wait depending on day of week, to avoid rush hour -
Mar 26th, 2007, 05:39 PM
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escargot - You are wonderful! Thank you ever so much for your help with itinerary! The DH will be thrilled to visit with fellow "Fish Guys". And your directions are great since the DH is directionally challenged
Your historical and museum links and advice are wonderful. Our Somerville buddy has only recently moved to the area from North Carolina so he is a newbie to the area. I am thrilled to be able to come to the Boston area and see some of the east coast. D.C. was the furthest north I have ever made it previously.
Your historical and museum links and advice are wonderful. Our Somerville buddy has only recently moved to the area from North Carolina so he is a newbie to the area. I am thrilled to be able to come to the Boston area and see some of the east coast. D.C. was the furthest north I have ever made it previously.
Jun 14th, 2007, 05:57 AM
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wholesale travel
iwas looking for some travel, finding prices, which some were to high. I finally did find some wholesale vacation prices, i found a treasure.I get to take many trips for one low price. I will share address with you. gocworldtravel.com I'm going on a crusise next week will share photos whwn i get back..
iwas looking for some travel, finding prices, which some were to high. I finally did find some wholesale vacation prices, i found a treasure.I get to take many trips for one low price. I will share address with you. gocworldtravel.com I'm going on a crusise next week will share photos whwn i get back..
