Two of us from the office have just come back from a whistle-stop trip to Boston and Cape Cod – as part of our regular visits to the US to keep up to date. We arrived early evening on Friday and managed to retrieve our bags, clear immigration and arrive at our hotel by taxi within half an hour of landing!! Is that a record?? We were staying in the Midtown Hotel, in the funky Back Bay area which is a real mix of Brownstone homes, restaurants, hotels, the Prudential Center and Copley Place shopping malls and shops on Newbury and Boylston Streets. The Red-Sox were playing when we were there so their fans were adding to the mix! The Midtown is a good standard ”no frills” hotel with clean and comfortable rooms and very helpful and friendly staff.
Saturday morning and we were awake early; breakfast at the local “Thornton’s Cafe” then off to pick up the “Duck Tour” of the city. Duck Tours use converted WW2 Amphibian Vehicles – each one decorated in a different colour . You can’t miss them around the city! We toured the historic sites of the city with the usual running commentary from the driver being a mix of many interesting facts and figures and corny jokes! The vehicle then leaves the roads and goes onto the Charles River which gives you a different view of the city! An hour and a half later and we are back where we started – at the Prudential Centre. A quick dash to the loo to beat the queues (or “lines” as they say in the US) and then to Boylston Street, specifically the Apple shop where my colleague bought an Ipad for quite a lot less than it is at home! Boston is a very walkable city – in fact it is known as ”the walking city”. A walk from the Prudential Center up to Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market took about half an hour, along bustling Boylston Street and past the historic Boston Common. ( On another occasion we took the “T” subway system and did the same route in about 5 minutes for $2.00. ) Fanueil Hall was our next stop – walking up and down the aisles trying to decide between the multitude of food outlets offering just about every food type imaginable! There was a huge cross section of street entertainment happening all around us…from men doing very dangerous looking stunts with a ladder and a rope…to enactment of the revolutionary years… a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon!
Sunday morning and we were booked to go the the premium outlet shops at Wrentham. The driver picked us up at our hotel on time and after a couple of stops at other hotels we were on our way. As always with outlet malls, it is pot luck as to what you are going to find…but we both did quite well and more than recouped the cost of the trip ($37.00 each, bookable at the hotel)!!
Monday morning and we had a long list of appointments to look round the hotels we use. Things change so quickly in the hotel industry so we like to try and keep on top so we can let our clients have the latest info! We look at the room decor and size, the facilities on offer as well as general ambience, value for money and location!
We then drove for about 90 minutes to Hyannis and the Holiday Inn there which was our base on Cape Cod for a couple of nights. It is a standard hotel just just off the freeway but a good base if you have a car and want value for money. Cape Cod is the quintessential New England destination..picturesque little towns with character and individual shops and houses and inns in the pastel, yellows, blues and creams that you associate with the area! Bustling harbors offering boat trips, whale-watching, trips to the romatic sounding Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The National Seashore is incredibly beautiful and unspoilt with miles of golden beaches and tufted sand dunes. More hotel and inn inspections…the length and breadth of the Cape – from Falmouth to Provincetown..each with something unique to offer. We had a fab seafood lunch in the highly recommended Fanizzis Restaurant in the heart of Provincetown with spectacular views of Cape Cod Bay. You feel like you are a million miles from the hustle and bustle of everyday life…. Sadly the days went too quickly and we were soon on our way back to Boston and our flight home!
Rosy and Alex