Boston Commons
Posted on July 10, 2011 by Ching under Travel.
Here are some pictures we took while walking through the park…
They had lots of statues of guys on horses everywhere. 😉
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Traveling with the Dills
Posted on July 10, 2011 by Ching under Travel.
Traveling with the Dills was interesting. Here are pictures of us getting there…
Breakfast at the Milwaukee airport…
Getting on the plane…
Wakey, wakey!
Getting around…
Riding around in the subway…
We got to know the MBTA pretty well. After a couple of days, I felt like a local.
This is when we were on our way to Fenway for the ballgame…
Charles/MGH is one of our favorite stops!
We got to try all modes of transportation. 🙂
Went through several tunnels on the way to the airport…
We didn’t travel together on the way home… Our flights were supposed to be around the same time, but we were flying with Frontier while the Dills were flying with Delta. Their flight was so delayed they ended up getting re-routed so they flew back in to Wichita on July 8 instead.
Brian and I had an exciting time at MCI. When we got back to our car, the battery was completely dead because the dome light was left in the on position. None of us noticed it when we left. Brian didn’t even notice it when he went back to make sure that all the doors were locked. I think it was because we were parked under a light.
Anyway, the lot attendant couldn’t get the car jump started. We ended up calling Phillips 66. Thank God they were still open. The Phillips 66 guy said that he would come out to try and jump start the car, but it would cost $35 no matter what. Even if the car would not start, we’d still owe the fee. At this point we were praying that it would work because we really didn’t want to buy a new battery (Bebot’s battery was just replaced last year so it’s still pretty new). The guy arrived and was able to get the car started. We were so happy that we gave him $40!
The drive home was interesting because both of our phones were dead and Brian wouldn’t let me plug in the charger for fear that it might drain the battery. When we got gas, he didn’t even turn the car off because he was afraid that it might not start back up again. It was an interesting drive home with no radio, no phones and no AC. At least it was a nice night so we were able to just roll the windows down.
I think it was almost 3 AM by the time we arrived home. So glad I didn’t have to go to work the next day!
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Cheers & Boston Gliders Segway Tour
Posted on July 10, 2011 by Ching under Travel.
After our delicious breakfast at The Paramount, we had a little bit of time before our Segway tour so we walked around Beacon Hill a bit. That’s how we ended up at Cheers aka Bull & Finch.
They have the regular bar downstairs and the “set” bar upstairs.
Cheers is okay. I wouldn’t consider it a “must see” in Boston. It didn’t even make our trip itinerary. Honestly, we just kind of happened by the place on accident. It worked out great because we were able to take some photos. And, Brian and Jay can now say they both used the bathroom at Cheers. LOL.
Next up is the Segway tour, which was a lot of fun and definitely a trip highlight!
You all definitely have to do this before the city decides that Segways will no longer be allowed on the sidewalks. It was super fun gliding around the harbor!
Our guide, Captain Nick, was good and was really nice, but he was a terrible photographer. Out of all of the photos he took, these were the only good ones! =P It’s a shame that they don’t let you take your own photos. I understand that it can be a safety concern, though.
Jeff took some photos with his iPhone anyway and was busted a few times. He got some really good photos and videos. I’m going to see if I can find them on Facebook and share them with you guys.
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Day 1 in Boston
Posted on July 10, 2011 by Ching under Travel.
After we checked in to our hotel in Cambridge, we drove to Boston to drop off the rental car. The drop off location is pretty close to Quincy Market so we decided to walk over. There were a ton of people there that weekend. Not sure if it is your typical weekend crowd or if there are more people because of 4th of July weekend. Probably the latter.
There are lots of really good street performers in Boston. They’re even better than the street performers you see in San Francisco or Las Vegas. We got to watch The Red Trouser Show (that’s what they call their act) in front of Quincy Market and these guys were really good.
Here’s a video of part of their act (sorry it’s sideways)…
Anyway, I would have taken more pictures at Quincy Market but my phone was out of juice. I did get to take some pictures at Dick’s Last Resort, though. Then my phone finally died. But it’s okay because you can’t really capture Quincy Market in pictures. It’s something that you have to experience in person — no words can describe the sights, the sounds, and the smells! They have every kind of food imaginable represented. It’s like a food court (more like food alley, though) on steriods!
We walked around for a bit and Becca got fried dough, which I got to try for the first time, before we headed back to the hotel. Sans the rental car that we already returned, the four of us walked over to the nearest MBTA station. They’re everywhere really.
I think the best advice I can give for making the most out of your Boston trip is to ditch your car. This worked out really well for us. Parking is expensive and can range between $30-$40 per day. We met this one guy who told us that he paid $20 for four hours of parking. If you’re lucky and can eat cheaply for about $80, that still brings your total to $100. You’re not even counting miscellaneous expenses like tour fees, tips and souvenirs. Who can afford to do that everyday?
Our best move was to get a 7-day MBTA pass. I think we were looking at spending $17 each for 10 fares (already discounted because I think fares are normally $2 each) on a Charlie Card. The helpful MBTA employee asked us how long we were staying and, when we told him 4-5 days, he recommended that we get a 7-day MBTA pass instead which would give us unlimited fares for only $15 each. He punched some buttons on the ticket machine, we each got one (you can’t really share these because they can’t be reused for 15 minutes), and off we went. There are subway stations everywhere so used the heck out of the T (this is what everyone calls the subway trains) while we were there. This was definitely a good value. The pass saved us a lot of money not just in fares, but in parking fees too (which we would have had to deal with had we decided to keep the rental car).
The only thing about the T is that you have to know your way around somewhat. The lady at the hotel concierge desk told us that the hotel was about a 15-minute walk from the nearest T station. Well, we couldn’t remember which T station she said so on our way home we got off at Kendall — one stop too early. We didn’t realize this of course.
We were walking around for about 20 minutes when Becca was like, “I thought she said it was only a 15-minute walk?” The weather was nice and the walk was pleasant so I didn’t really mind. She, Jay and Brian all had to pee really badly, though, so they sort of felt differently. We found out that night that Kendall is the MIT stop so we got to know the MIT campus pretty well that evening. Brian and Jay got to know it better than Becca and I did. They actually peed on MIT property. LOL. Good thing it was night time and they didn’t get busted.
After Brian and Jay got the relief they needed, I think we probably could have walked the rest of the way back to the hotel. Everything was just so interesting to look at and the weather was so nice, I probably could have walked for hours and not even realized it (until the next day). Becca didn’t get her relief, though, so we ended up hailing a cab. We were literally just around the corner from the hotel. I think we would have gotten there in another 10-15 minutes.
It was a good way to gauge cab fare, though, which is way more expensive than the MBTA. We just have to remember to get off at the correct stop next time.
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Courtyard Marriott on the Charles
Posted on July 10, 2011 by Ching under Travel.
Becca picked a great hotel for us in Boston. The hotel is actually located across the river on the Cambridge side, but you’re pretty much in Boston. Check out the great views of the river and the Boston skyline…
This is what I woke up to each morning… It was awesome! We were actually thinking that we’d be able to watch the fireworks from the fifth floor patio next to the swimming pool but, because of the way that the river bends, we couldn’t. We ended up having to walk a little over a mile along the river to get a decent spot/view.
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