STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Eurodaisy · Dooney & Bourke

Boston

Christine · Coach

Boston's infamous for its abundance of 1-way streets and its poor road layout. The T, however, will take you anywhere in the city you could want to go, and even if you wanted to head out to a suburb, you can take a connection from the T to the commuter rail.

So, I would say that you DON'T need a car if A) your Nantucket friends will come and pick you up, or B) you are willing to take the short flight from Boston to Nantucket via Cape Air/Nantucket Airlines (www.flycapeair.com), or C) you are willing to take ferry #1 from Boston to the Cape, and then Ferry #2 from the Cape to Nantucket. The 2nd ferry (to Nantucket) leaves from Hyannis (on the Cape) which is about a 70 mile drive from Boston.

If you do decide to rent a car, make sure you find a hotel with a parking garage with rates that you are willing to pay. There's always on-street parking, and on most streets the meters are free from 6pm-7 or 8am, but it can be very tough to find a spot. There are also random parking lots, but their rates might be high if you're anywhere near Fenway at that time of year.

Ok, now on to the fun stuff! I don't know all your interests, but I can assume that shopping is one of them. Definitely hit up Newbury street for shopping, if your DH is game! It's kind of like the monopoly board - one end has inexpensive stores (Newbury Comics, Urban Outfitters), and the other end of the street has high-end designer boutiques (burberry, etc.) This street is loaded with cute little cafes and it's perfect for grabbing a drink/appetizer and people watching in between shopping. For touristy things, the Duck Tour is fun and informative -- it departs from the Prudential center (the Pru and Copley shopping center is also a good place to go if your hubby is willing, and has a great mix of mid- to high-end stores) and it goes from land to water (into the Charles river.) Also at the Pru (Boston's 2nd highest building) you can go up to the top and get a great view of the city. There's also a very nice, but expensive restaurant here called Top of the Hub which is a nice romantic place to eat. The Boston Aquarium and Science Museum are good, there's also the freedom trail which you can walk if you're into history, and that's free. The Museum of Fine arts is really incredible, and many people also like the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which is beautiful inside.

As for weather (sorry if you already know this!) August can be super humid in Boston, but September's weather is really perfect, so keep that in mind when packing clothes! Nantucket is much less humid, obviously.

Sorry to ramble on -- let me know if you want more info or if I left anything out! hth!

Eurodaisy · Dooney & Bourke

Dear lord, Christine, you are better than a guide book any ol' day! Thank you so much for your post... it will really help us with our planning.

I went out on a limb and bought 4 tickets on eBay for the Sox (bleacher seats) for Sept. 5. I also made a reservation at the Charlesmark Hotel (near Copley Square) for the couple days before/after game day. We're still not positive that the 1st week of September is when we're going to go, but if we change our minds I can just turn around and resell the Sox tickets and change (hopefully) the hotel reservations.

I've heard the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is cool, so I'd really like to see that. All of the other activities you mentioned sound awesome, too. Seems like there's lots of different types of things to do around town, which is what DH and I like in a vacation! (And yes, he's agree to let me to some shopping... whoopee!!)

As for getting to Nantucket... I checked the Cape Air site, and they're quoting flights to/from Nantucket at $250 a head, which is a little steep for us (since we'll already be flying up there). Do you know if they run ever run deals (last minute fares and otherwise), and have you had any experiences with their flights?

We're OK with getting there by ferry (even though it takes longer) if that's the cheapest by a lot. Does some public authority run the ferry? Is there a website to check for schedules and rates?

Sorry I'm just asking more and more questions...

Thanks again for responding!

e_doli · Dooney & Bourke

Here's a site with ferry info:
http://www.massvacation.com/jsp/transportation/islands.jsp?cat=67&level=3&g=g#nantucket

To get to Nantucket from Boston, you have to take a ferry to Provincetown, and then get down to Hyannis (about an hour south) to get the ferry over to Nantucket. It looks like there is bus service from Ptown to Hyannis, so you could do it without a car, but would need to coordinate the ferry times if you wanted to get from Boston to ACK in one day.

It might be worth looking into how much it would cost to rent a car and drive from Boston to Hyannis -- it's about a 2.5 hr drive (maybe less), and it might make it easier and faster to get to the ACK ferry depending on how many people are traveling. The fast ferry to Ptown is 1.5hr trip and $44 one way/$69 RT per person, so that adds up.

While you're in Boston, something different to do is visit the Boston Harbor Islands.

http://www.bostonislands.org/visithome.html

-- Edited by e_doli at 15:04, 2007-02-08

shopboston · Nine West

I'd recommend either driving to Hyannis and taking the ferry. There are buses that go to Hyannis if you don't want to rent a car. Flights have gotten expensive.
http://www.nantucketchamber.org/visitor/gethere.html#car

DO IN BOSTON:

Public Garden/Boston Common
T stop: Park or Boylston on green line (B, C, D, E)
In the center of the city, very nice to walk around. There's a pond with the famous Swan boats, brides, flowers etc.

RE: BOSTON
From the Boston Common/Public Garden you can:

1. Walk north onto Charles Street into Beacon hill (or start at the Charles MGH T stop on the red line and walk south to the common). Beacon Hill is the former most posh area of Boston. It is all brick paved with beautiful homes, upscale one of a kind boutiques, a few cafes and nice restaurants. Ends near Charles River and MGH hospital.

2. Walk east on Newberry Street or Boyston Street
This is the area called Back Bay - you see shots of it on Ally McBeal
(or take T to Arlington or Hynes-ICA stop on Green line B, C, D, E)
Newbury street is like the 5th ave of Boston. It is about 10-15 blocks of very trendy boutiques (e.g. Banana, Armani, French Connection, Nine West, Betsy Johnson, Gap, Cartier, Kate Spade, Longchamps...) It kind of goes from most $$ (near common and Ritz) to less $$ (near Mass Ave). There are many restaurants that range in price with patio seating.
Kashmir - good but $ Indian, Tapeo - excellent tapas and fun atmosphere but long lines, Stephanie's - sandwich and brunch place.

Boylston street is less trendy and has bigger dept stores like Crate and Barrel, Marshalls.

In between Boylston and Newbury street towards Massachusetts ave will be the big Dept stores - Lord and Taylor, Saks Fifth ave... There are 2 upscale malls that connect, Copley place and the Prudencial Center... they have stores that are on Newbury st (only unique ones are JCrew, Tiffany's)

3. Walk south to Downtown Crossing (Downtown Crossing stop on Red or Orange line)
This is the location of the famous Filene's basement - it is very hit or miss. There is a huge Macy's and Filene's Basement. Also there is a DSW shoe warehouse 3 floors of discounted shoes. There are also other various big brand name stores for music, Barnes and Nobles etc.
From Downtown Crossing you can walk 2-3 blocks east to get to Chinatown. Chinatown is small, standard.
FYI - excellent and affordable Malaysian restaurant - Penang 685 Washington St corner Kneeland (Chinatown stop on Orange line).

4. Walk south west to Government Center/Quincy Market (Green line B,C, D, E to Goverment Center or Orange/green line to Haymarket)
Government center has city hall (ugly) and spaces that often have free concerts or food in the summer. You can walk south through the gov building area to Quincy Market. Quincy Market is a big tourist area, there are stores with Abercrombie and Vic secret and a large bld that is the market but is basically a glorified food court where you'll find clam chowder and typical fast food. There are restaurants that are there like a Cheers where the inside looks like the set of the show... It's all cobbled and charming.

From Quincy Market you can walk east past the big highway (there is a lot of construction but many pedistrian signs) to the North End and the Habour.

The North End is a very charming little Italy. (North station T stop on Green E line). Lots of restaurants. Mike's pastry stop is v. popular and also packed.

THe Habour area has many docks, restaurants, parks, hotels and the Aquarium (Aquarium stop on the blue line).

CAMBRIDGE:
Across the river from Boston.
1. Harvard Square (Harvard stop on Red line)
See the campus, the area around the campus used to be funkier but now is pretty yuppified with some boutiques (jasmin sola, urban outfitters, the gap, and the tannery. There are lots of restaurants inc a second branch of Penang (on JFK st above the Staples store). Very popular is Pho Pasteur (vietnamese) and Jonh Harvard's (pub), Finale (they specialize in gourmet desserts; in fact the desserts are all more $$ than the meals).
Pho Pasteur 35 Dunster (mt Auburn st)
Jonh Harvard's (next to Pho Pasteur)
Finale (1/2 block down from Pho Pasteur in the student union bld)
2. MIT campus - red line to Kendal MIT

SOUTH END
"The village".... but very, very gentrified! Walk from Back Bay station on orange line down Clarendon street to Tremont streeet. Lots of quaint but upscale boutiques, restaurants. The whole area has brick and brownstone buildings and is v. charming.
Lots of cute/trendy restaurants along Tremont b/w Berkeley-Dartmouth & beyond
Addis Red Sea 544 tremont (clarendon) - affordable and really good ethiopian food.

BROOKLINE
An adjacent subsurb of boston with lots of students and medical residents! Coolidge Corner (Coolidge Corner stop on Green C line) is a quaint little area with little shops, restaurants....
Lemongrass - amazing vietnamese food (from coolidge corner T stop walk 1 block south along Harvard st).

WALKING
You can walk along the Esplanade... (Get off at Charles MGH on Red line and walk towards river). A few miles of grass, bike and jobbing paths on this stip of land that's adjacent to the river... there are various parks along the way. You can rent bikes....

If you're interested in fancier restaurants, let me know...
Have fun!!