Just got back from 2 days in Boston. Dont want to write full TR as we didn't do too much of the touristy stuff. Much Thanks to @Zow and @henche for their assistance in making this trip really enjoyable.
I drove. Flew the wife and 4 kids one way with Avios LGA-BOS (Total 22.5k). They had a good time in Admirals Club on both ends (Citi Executive Card). I picked them up on the BOS side.
We wanted to do the Duck Tour within the hour of us getting there. I had pre-paid with the Boston Go Card (gave me a 20% discount if i chose another attraction, so I chose the Paul Revere House which cost about $15 extra to save $30). They suggested that we arrive early or call in the morning and pay $3.50 (net, after another full charge and refund) to reserve spots on the tour of our choice. I called at 10am and was told that there was no need to reserve and they were pretty much empty for the entire day. We got there at 1pm and wanted to take the 2pm tour. They said they were booked solid until 4pm. Lesson learned, dont trust them, just make the reservations.
The tour was very interesting and gives you a decent overview of the city. Its a bit pricey, but a must do experience. The kids got to steer the Duck when it turned into a boat and went into the Charles River.
We stayed at the Newton Riverside Hotel Indigo. I had 2 rooms for 2 nights (120k IHG points 100k purchased at .05625 when they had the promotion and 20k purchased for .07 under "points and cash" option ) The Rooms were going for $235-250 each per night so i basically ended up with a 25% discount using the points. The Hotel rooms were tiny. We had one room with a King and one with two doubles. The King was more like a queen. Rooms had showers only and great views of the Riverside "T" station and I-95.
The one saving grace of this hotel is its outdoor pool. There is a childrens pool and decent size adult pool. We basically had the pool to ourselves as most of the hotel occupants were there for college move-in week. The lounge chairs (beds) were excellent. Spent 6 hours over 2 days at the pool. Obviously the pool is only open for summer months.
The second day, on the suggestion of someone I met we went to the aquarium. It was interesting for the kids, but for the adults, once you've seen a seal/sea lion show, youve pretty much seen them all. The 3 storey fish tank in the middle was pretty cool with the divers feeding the fish in the tank. But its still an aquarium.
Between parking ($37 Harbor Garage) and admission, the Duck tour and the museum cost us $200 for each attraction.
The first night we took out from Taam China. I tried some of the dishes that Dan suggested and found that every dish tasted the same. Any dish that has battered chicken tasted the same as the other dish (i.e. Szechuan chicken, was the same as sweet and sour with the sauce on the side instead of the chicken mixed in, Hunan chicken and Chicken with Broccoli tasted exactly the same). They were more on the bland side. Had the chicken dumplings, which were ok. Had Egg drop/Wonton soup which was bland and taseless. Kosher Chinese Family in Flatbush is any time better. Fed the family with 5 dishes, 1 appetizer and 1 soup for about $85.
The second night we went out to Rami's. The food was delicious. Had Shwarma, Ami's special, which is the middle eastern version of a pu pu platter, chicken nuggets (frozen ground chicken shaped like nuggets) and a burger ( they were out of burger buns?!?!) and fries. The service was fast efficient and good. Was a bit pricey and wasnt sure if i needed to tip as we were semi-served (I did anyway). The only real complaint is that we were rushed out. The place is small and he wanted to get us in and out.
Gotta run will try to finish up later.
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