Boston, then whatever….
Well, arrived in Boston after a great flight. Got the usual grilling from Customs & Border Protection though! Met friends in Logan airport in and then headed to our hotel. They had warm chocolate chip cookies for us at reception, very nice indeed! Didn’t get up to much as it was about 8 by the time we got sorted, so just headed to an Irish bar close by and then went for a steak at Flemings. Between three of us, we had one side and didn’t actually finish it – the onion rings were enormous.
Yesterday was Superbowl sunday, and we made a very early start…we were out wandering by 8am. We walked the ‘Freedom Trail’, which is a great way to see the city, and it’s all free! There are lots of communities in Boston; we stopped and had a coffee in a shop in Little Italy. It reminded me of more civilised scenes from gangster films.
After several hours of wandering about we stopped off for a drink in the Cheers bar, which just seemed totally aimed at tourists, which isn’t really surprising I suppose. On the way out you are directed via gift shop! We did get a tip from the barman for where to watch the Superbowl though, so that saved us the effort.
So after yet more wandering we had a quick rest in the hotel, and then made for the sports bar which was about a 15 minute walk for the hotel. We arrived, and then were immediately asked for I.D…but they wouldn’t take our driving licenses so we had to get a taxi back to the hotel to get our passports, and the cheeky driver reset the meter while he was waiting for us!! So…if you want to drink in Massachusetts, you need your passport.
Superbowl was good, but there wasn’t really much atmosphere in the bar we were in, which was a bit disappointing. I did enjoy pigging out on hot wings though, and several pints of Sam Adams, which is a great beer. Went to a few other bars after that, and then got a huge slice of pizza before heading back to the hotel just after midnight.
This morning we went for breakfast at the Quincy Market. Loads of little food places. I just went for the standard eggs and bacon combo! Jumped on a subway to the airport to pick up our hire car after that, and then got onto the I-90 Massachusetts Pike road heading west on our way to up-state New York, with the planned first stop of Springfield! Lots of tolls….
There wasn’t a fixed plan for today…we did intend to get up to Lake George and stay there for the night, but warnings of 1 inch of snow per hour, plus a crash further along the I-90, made us all agree that taking an unscheduled stop in Albany for the night was a good bet. So that’s were I am now, the state capital of New York. Great drive here, typical big landscape, only with snow so it’s great for driving views. We’ve planned a bit of sightseeing for tomorrow, and then we’re hoping to get to Lake George later in the day. After taking a very wrong turn (even though we followed signs for the entertainment district) and ending up in a really run down area full of boarded up houses, we ended up downtown in a cafe where we checked out hotels. The Best Western a few miles out of the centre is just $95 for the night, so works out well split 3 ways. It’s pretty great heading out of a major city in the US without knowing where you will be by the end of the day.
Just had a good steak and a few beers, will probably catch an early night!
