Massachusetts Trip

[Nikki28]

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Wow I lived in Sarasota I grew up in Venice.

we were neighbors!....very cool!....

...

What are the chances. We moved last year I do not miss it that's for sure! I have only been bit by a mosquito twice since coming out here and the lack of humidity is fabulous!

 

[redhen]

Wait till you see our beaches up here though!...

..after basically growing up in Florida...and then coming up here...the first time i went to a beach here i was sick!..the sand is dark..

....and the water is so cold!!...even in the middle of summer!...my husband always wants to go to the beach in the summer....i'm like..no thanks!..

....thats about the only thing i miss in Florida...the beaches!.....well..that and the Manatee river and the Manatees....

...

 

[Nikki28]

I loved the beaches but for the last 8 or so years they just keep getting more crowded and more of it is becoming "private access only" I LOVE the manatees did you ever see Snooty?


Dark sand?

Ewwww. I think I'll check out the beach if possible just to see that. I guess I will mostly just drink coffee and wear fancy winter scarfs since that is what I always see them doing in the pictures they send.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
OMG!..yes i have seen SNOOTY!..thats where i lived!.,.lol...is he still alive?...

 

[Nikki28]

Still kickin! He keeps the new rehab manatees company before they are released. He is completely blind now but still does his tricks (well his one trick anyway). Last I heard he is the oldest recorded manatee. Yay Snooty!

 

[redhen]

Quote:
So glad to hear that!...cripes!...i remember him from when i was a little kid!....they had him in a kinda pool..and had lettuce floating for him to eat..then i heard he died and they named the next one Snooty also...always wondered if he was really still alive...hope he is..

....

 

[Nikki28]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/article705955.ece

 

[Rosalind]

Ugh, February? That's sort of the worst time to be here. Late September - early October is much nicer. February is just a mess.

First rule: Take public transportation (MBTA, use the trains and subway mostly) everywhere you possibly can. The subway mostly drops you off within 3 blocks of anywhere you want to go anyway. Do not get a rental car. Do not drive. Boston area is just not for driving. The commuter rail can take you to outlying towns, and if you want to see the touristy stuff (although now is not a good time for touristy stuff) there are generally charter trolleys and buses and things that circulate or can be arranged. Really really do not drive. When friends and relatives visit, they persist in this notion that somehow, since I live here, I have the Secret Of Driving In Boston. I tell you, no. Take the train. No one around here drives if they can possibly avoid it. This time of year especially, you will want to stay indoors and see indoor things, which are all along the subway lines. Your friend can pick you up at the airport or the train station if need be.

There is no parking in Boston for less than $20/second. There never will be. The roads are narrow and confusing and there is nothing to be done about it. Pieces of the Big Dig could collapse on your car and kill you dead. Don't drive in Boston.

Indoor things to do: Museum of Fine Art on the Green E Line is quite nice. Quincy Market on the Green Line at Government Center is a big shopping/food thing and probably the only place you'll find a meal for less than $15. Prudential Center is another big shopping thing, also on the Green Line. Blue Man Group is perpetually playing at the Charles Playhouse (Green Line @ Boylston). The science museum is rather nice (Green Line @ Science Park). Looks like Haavaahd is giving a few concerts in Feb--a Mendelssohn organ recital, a gospel-style concert, plus they also have several art galleries that are open to the public (Red Line, Harvard).

Food: Lobsters are going pretty cheap right now, for lobster. Oysters, I am told, are also rather good around here, although I don't eat them raw.

If you absolutely insist on driving, against all advice to the contrary, then the best thing I can tell you is to not visit Boston itself and instead stay in the little Tourist Towns. We have oodles of these: Salem, Lexington, Concord, Wellesley, Ipswich, Gloucester, Marblehead, Hingham, you can't move without tripping over overpriced and adorable bits of architecture. They typically have at least one historical site where Paul Revere once hitched his horse or something, but they also have someplace to park for somewhat less than highway robbery. Salem has the Peabody-Essex Museum, which is rather nice and surprisingly large--it's mostly about boats and shipping trade with the Far East. They also have a big replica tall ship that you can tour, and a few colonial buildings that are open to the public for, hmm, I think it was $5 last time I went. For little bitty tourist towns with stuff to do, Salem is probably my favorite because everything there is pretty cheap, there is parking by the museum, their Visitor Center in the armory has a bunch of maps, they have a good microbrewery in the middle of town (Beer Works) and there are several things to do as well as the museum and house tours. And there's a candy shop across from the House of Seven Gables that sells the best saltwater taffy ever.

 

[Kathy1]

Rosalind said it all perfectly, I would just like to mention, that there are trolley tours that you can go on, I think it is $30.00 pp but they take you all over Boston and bring to to the main sights, you can get off the trolly where ever you want and poke around then get back on the next trolley

http://www.trolleytours.com/boston/


http://www.bostonsupertrolleytours.com/STT/TrolleyRoute

If you do decide to go to the museum of Science, get there early, or you will be outside in a along line. There are harbor lunch cruises that are very nice, and Fanuiel hall is right near the aqurium

http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/dining.html

It is a bit chilly now, it will be colder in Feb though.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:

Good Post!!!

My office is in South Easton although I don't go there a lot. Try driving
a service van into Boston. I'd rather drive in Manhattan. My rule for
Boston is stay on the outside of 495 or I QUIT!!!