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Curse Of The Bambino
Boston, Mass
By Ron Kapon
© 2004 Bonita Productions Inc.
Free E-zine of Travel Adventures
Flag of Massachusetts
Curse Of The Bambino
By Ron Kapon
The last time the Boston Red Sox won the Worlds Series was 1918 so the fans at Fenway Park were not too happy to see me sitting in a field box wearing my Yankee hat, especially as the Yankees weren’t even in town. I love the feel of Fenway just as I do with Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. The poor Cubbies last won a World Series in 1908. Both are great places to watch a ballgame and I would root for them if they were a New York team. I was in Boston as a guest of the Colonnade Hotel and I filled my 2 ½ days covering almost everything there was to see with the exception of the JFK Library which was a bit out of the way. Getting to Boston was half the fun. Do I fly/ drive/ train or bus? I really don’t enjoy driving alone for more than two hours. By the time one gets to the airport and clears security, fly and taxi to a hotel, it really does not save any time as the following options; train or bus? Amtrak’s Acela took 3 ½ hours and left me at the Back Bay Station, a 10 minute walk to the perfectly located Colonnade Hotel. A “T” (transit) station was directly outside to the left (I received a 3 day pass); the trolley tour had a stop five feet to the right. It makes 16 stops; get on and get off all day. The Duck Tour (1 ½ hours, no stops) was an amphibious land/water vehicle that was my first orientation to Boston. Second was the observation tower of the Prudential Center, 50 floors up, and directly across form my hotel. Remember, I told you how perfectly located it was. The VIP Card offers free admission to this and many museums and attractions, including the trolley tour & a harbor cruise.
My first day touring continued by foot to the First Church Of Christ Science, the home of the Christian Science movement and only two blocks away. After the tour of the church and the Mappaarium I walked down Newbury Street with its shops and restaurants toward Copley Square, and found myself back at the train station. An hour at the Colonnades rooftop swimming pool and 20 minutes in the Fitness Center and I was ready for dinner at Brasserie Jo, an Alsatian fine dining restaurant operated by the hotel.
Boston is a walking city with excellent public transportation as my next day was long and tiring. Out before 9AM and not back until after 7PM I tested two of the four T lines, plus the trolley which took me all the way to the Charles River and the Aquarium. Same place for the 1 ½ hour harbor cruise (it is included in your trolley price) where I disembarked at the USS Constitution & Bunker Hill monument stop, and caught the next boat back. The previous two stops were part of the 2 ½ mile walking trail known as the Freedom Trail covering 16 colonial and revolutionary sites and I saw every one of the 16. Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market are only a few blocks from the Aquarium/ harbor tours. Follow the red line along the sidewalk that marks the trail. Pick up an excellent and well illustrated brochure put out by the National Parks Service. Head northeast to Paul Revere’s House and the Old North Church or south and east to the Old State House and Boston Massacre Site. There is also the Old South Meeting House, several burial grounds, the First Public School Site, Park Street Church and then into Boston Common and the Massachusetts State House which is the conclusion of the Freedom Trail. Through the Boston Public Garden and its Swan Boats I arrived just in time at the flagship and largest Legal Sea Foods restaurant (over 800 wines) located in the theater district (30 totals in New York, Florida, Rhode Island and 15 in Massachusetts) and my interview with President and CEO Roger Berkowitz. This is a privately owned company founded as a fish market by his father in Cambridge’s Inman Square in 1950. The first Legal Sea Foods restaurant opened next door in 1968. I ended my long day at Fenway Park and, alas another Red Sox loss.
Sunday morning and it was off to Cambridge and a tour of Harvard using my T pass. On the way back I got off at the Fens, a park, lake and garden before heading back to New York by bus. I really should rephrase the word bus. The Limoliner is a 28 seat luxury bus with leather seats, internet access, DVD’s, desks for work and meetings, magazines, newspapers and light food and drink served by a hostess. It left two blocks from my Boston hotel and dropped me at the NY Hilton in midtown, all for $69 each way.
The weather was fabulous; food, hotel, and transportation the best and the history lessons were enlightening. Only Philadelphia and Washington DC have anything to compare to Boston’s historical sites. If only the Red Sox fans would stop complaining. But if they won, what would they have to talk about? The Celtics? I can’t wait until my next visit which will be for the Boston Wine Expo in late January 2005.
Ron Kapon
Worth checking out- www.legalseafoods.com
www.colonnadehotel.com
www.bostonusa.com – (888) See Boston
www.bostonducktours.com
www.bostonharborcruises.com
www.newenglandaquarium.org
www.citypass.com
www.nps.gov/bost
www.limoliner.com
www.tfccs.com
www.harvard.edu
www.usconstitutionmuseum.org
www.historictours.com
www.redsox.com
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