Planning our trip to Boston

We went on a roadtrip to Arizona last August and decided our trip this year would be Boston over spring break. We’re flying out April 9th and coming back the 20th so we’ll be missing Easter with family. I’ve only been to the east coast in the middle of the summer so it should be a little more enjoyable temperature wise. We’re flying in and out of Logan so we’ll be Downtown for about half the trip. We’ll rent a car for the middle half and head up to Maine and then down to Cape Code and Martha’s Vineyard, but that all needs to be planned still.

The only snag we hit so far is that the Boston marathon happens to be on the day we leave. I went to book a hotel for the 17th-20th a couple weeks ago, found out about the marathon and fell over when I saw hotel rates. Nothing under $250 to be found. Your average Hilton or Raddisson were $300 and the nicer places were even more. For our first 3 nights in Downtown I booked a nice King room at the Omni Parker House for $150 a night and the 3rd night free on a Spring special. The next weekend before the marathon that same room was about $400. The only affordable option in Downtown would be a bed and breakfast. Emailed some B&B management companies to see if there was anything available and found a nice affordable room with private bath just a couple blocks south of Back Bay and the marathon route. Much better than the Holiday Inn Express, pretty much the cheapest hotel that whole weekend at $250 a night.

So all we have planned is that we’ll be in Downtown Boston for our first three nights, Maine/Cape Code/Martha’s Vineyard the next 4 nights and back to Boston for 3 nights. I got tickets to see the Presidents of the United States of America at the House of Blues on the 17th, but that’s really all we have set in stone. Just some of the things we’re looking at doing:

  • Boston Red Sox vs Baltimore Orioles on 4/18 at 7:30pm
  • Demetri Martin at the Wilbur Theater
  • Samuel Adams Brewery tour
  • Freedom Trail
  • Duck Tour
  • Paul Revere’s house
  • Harvard
  • USS Constitution
  • Lobster for dinner in Maine
  • Walden’s pond
  • Fenway Park tour

If you’ve been to Boston and the surrounding area before post a comment with suggestions of stuff to see and places to eat. Anybody stayed on Martha’s Vineyard before? Debating if we should spend the night there or just go for the day.

13 Replies to “Planning our trip to Boston”

  1. hey andrew –

    we stayed at the airport hilton, which was quiet, nice, and cheap on hotwire. the first night we were there was actually the day of the marathon. i think it was 70ish a night. check out biddingfortravel.com and betterbidding.com – and you can reverse generate the hotwire/priceline stuff hotels.

    if you haven’t seen a game at fenway, i’d recommend it. it’s easily the nicest ballpark in baseball.

    otherwise, we ran through everything we wanted to see in boston in an afternoon. not to say our tastes are the same as yours, but – if you have a car and want to head out and explore, there’s plenty within a few hours of there.

    i’m sure you guys will have a blast.

  2. I was going to Priceline stuff, but there was nothing coming up the weekend of the marathon. The B2G1 deal at the Omni Parker is close to what it would have cost for 3 nights at a 4-star through Priceline. Rest of the time we’ll be driving around between Maine and Cape Code so have to figure out where to stay those nights.

    Forgot to check when the baseball season starts. There’s 2 games against the Orioles we can make. I’ll watch ebay for some tickets and see if any cheap bleacher seats.

    We like the tourist site stuff and museums so that should keep us busy. I also want to have enough time to kind of explore the city.

  3. I don’t know what bleacher seats at Fenway are like, but I know what bleacher seats at Dodger stadium are like. Sometimes the extra bucks are worth it to get a little better crowd.

    From our Boston trip…Cape Cod was cool, and all the lighthouses that come with it. The freedom trail stuff was cool too.

  4. Bleacher seats at Fenway are like $40. Anything even close to 1st or 3rd base is up around $75-100. There’s some bleacher seats on ebay that are in 2 rows right behind each other, if they stay really cheap I can get those. They even sell “standing room only” tickets where you get to watch the game standing up in designated areas.

  5. Definitely drive out the freedom trail. When you get to Walden pond, take the time to really go for a walk around it. Also, hit up Concord for lunch (the town near the lake–also where the Louisa May Alcott house is).

  6. I know, I’ve been slacking on the photo taking lately. Good news is my 35mm f/1.8 shipped today so I’ll be putting that through it’s paces before the trip.

  7. We did our rooms through Hotwire, pegging down what we were buying through betterbidding.com. The Sox tickets we got off Stub Hub. We had pretty decent seats, but certainly paid through the nose for them. It’s super ‘intimate’ for a baseball stadium. I didn’t notice any raucous crowd problems during the game anyplace, but – it’s a little rowdy afterward, but mostly all jovial. Those people take their baseball seriously.

    Taking a subway to the game is pretty easy if you go early, but don’t even try taking it back unless you leave in the 6th or 7th inning.

    You guys should have a blast, no matter what. The weather should be pretty nice then, too.

  8. Holy moly, you guys are going to be gone a long time! That sounds like an awesome vacation! Boston is amazing, and I recommend stopping by the Boston Museum of Fine Art. It was fantastic. Give a hug to Sam Adams for us, and make sure to get yourselves some fresh roasted nuts downtown!

  9. While visiting Harvard, stop by the MIT campus. Gotta see that famous prank-dome. You should also head to South Boston and see the JFK Presidential Library. It has some amazing history. When I went out there, I stayed way out in Brighton at a Best Western Suites. With the Subway system everything is easily accessible.

  10. Just sniped an auction for Red Sox bleacher seats 12 rows back from the Red Sox bullpen. 2 tickets for $76 shipped sounds like a deal compared to what I’ve seen other seats going for. The worst bleacher seats on broker sites like StubHub and CheapMLBTickets were $45 plus shipping and service charges, so really more like $60 a ticket. Looking forward to the game.

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