| Our Pilgrimage to Fenway Park. We travelled to Boston
from our home in Prince Edward Island on July 2001. The trip was with our travel
buddies Rob and Rhonda who we had previously travelled to Punta Cana with in October, 2000. Since we had
remained friends after a week of living, eating, partying and flying together in Punta
Cana. It was time to test our friendship again in a car for 11 hours of driving,
share a hotel room for 2 nights in Boston and then drive 11 hours back
home. Rob is a BIG Red Sox's fan and wanted to see Fenway before it was
taken down and replaced with a new stadium. So we made the plans for our first trip
to Boston. I had driven past Boston many times on the way to other destinations but
had never been in the downtown area. Rob and Rhonda had been to Boston in the Winter
for a Bruins game, so they were the guides for this trip. We left at 5:30 am, Wednesday, July 25 in Rob's new Nissan Maxima. The entire trip turned out to be exactly 72 hours as we drove back in our driveway Saturday morning at 5:30 am. The drive to Boston turned out to be perfect driving weather, a beautiful sunny day. The drive from PEI took us across the Confederation Bridge, through New Brunswick, across the US-Canada Border, through Maine, New Hampshire and finally to Massachusetts. We arrived in the suburbs North of Boston around 3 pm and it took until 4:30 pm to travel the last 15 or 20 miles due to the traffic caused by the massive construction going on because of "The Big Dig". It looks and sounds like it is going to be very beneficial for Boston when it is completed in 2005 but in the mean time the traffic is crazy. We crossed the Charles River on the I-93, taking us past the FleetCenter, and in to Boston. We putted along as Rob maneuvered his way through the under and overpasses and drove in circles until we were finally off the Interstate and in Boston on State Street. The slow driving had provided a great opportunity for pictures and video of the city as we moved along (Not because of the Nissan, the traffic). I was struck by how compact the downtown area of Boston is. I had read that the city is excellent for walking around, the Freedom Trail, etc. As we came across the Charles River we were looking for an exit number in the Financial District and even putting along we missed it and almost made it as far South as the Chinatown area before realizing we must have missed the exit and turned off and entered the Southern part of the Financial District. The thing with Boston that caught my attention right away was how the city blended together 300 year old buildings and cobble stone streets with modern Sky Scrapers throughout the downtown area. After some street sign watching and map scouring we found or way to our Hotel. We stayed downtown at the Holiday Inn Select Government Center on 5 Blossom Street on the corner of Cambridge Street in the West End. Rob and I had searched the Internet mainly using HotelDiscount.com, Expedia.ca and Travelocity.com for hotel information and rates. We were down to the Omni and this Holiday Inn as it was slightly cheaper. The rates we were able to find on the Internet were much less then when Rob tried calling a few places like the Omni directly. We ended up booking with Expedia for $175.95US a night plus tax for a nightly total of $197.86. Which sounds not too bad for a major center like Boston, but we are from Canada so it turned out to be about $310 per night in Canadian dollars. So for 2 nights the bill was $620 Canadian just for the hotel, and that's why we were sharing a room with Rob and Rhonda. Besides we realized we would only be in the room for the 2 nights to have a sleep and be gone each day and evening. The entire trip door to door took us 12 hours, not to bad considering the
traffic we had run in to in the Boston area. We checked in and had a room on the
third floor, the building is a lot higher but Rhonda is not keen on heights so it worked
out well. Unfortunately this did not work in her favor as later in the trip we made
our way up to the top of the John Hancock Building to the observatory, more on that
later. The Hotel is a typical Holiday Inn, with clean normal size rooms. The Hotel
has a small restaurant (we never ate there, looked nice though) and an outdoor pool (went
and looked at it but never swam in it). We only had 2 days, I had better things to
do in Boston then swim in the pool. However, when we left PEI it was typical summer
weather, temperatures around 24 degrees Celsius with very little humidity.
I think we stayed in the air conditioned bar for about an hour sipping our beers, margarita's and nibbling on our food while we cooled off and regained some energy. The entire building is part of the money making tourist attraction now. In the upper floors there is more restaurant seating for the overflow and large groups. Of course there is a store for whatever you need with the Cheers logo on it. The place was packed with people coming and going constantly. The bar itself is nothing like the bar on the show after you come in from the street. It is a small, dark narrow bar with hallways leading in to the back area with a small souvenir shop and more seating. However, what would a trip be to Boston without getting a picture in front of Cheers. After we re-charged we went for a walk up Beacon Street towards the State House.
Unfortunately it was completely covered and undergoing extensive renovations. From
what we could see it looked to be a very impressive building, maybe we will see it next
time. We made our way around the more modern Financial/Government area of the city
and back down Cambridge Street to a pub called the Hill Tavern. It was across the
street from the hotel, so we had a few drinks, another snack and off to bed. After
being up at 4:30 in the morning, driving for 12 hours, then walking for 3 or 4 hours and
enjoying a few drinks it didn't take long to drift off into a slight coma. I
have the ability (I like to think of it as a talent) to have a good night sleep where ever
I am and this came in handy as Thursday was going to be a long tourist day. |
I had done some reading on the Internet
before going to Boston, but it was mainly about attractions and places to stay. I
was completely caught off guard and amazed at the entire Beacon Hill area. It is a
300 year old town in the heart of Boston. From our Hotel we had to walk directly
through Beacon Hill to Beacon Street where Cheers is located. It only took about 30
minutes but it is up a hill (hence the name Beacon Hill I would imagine) and then back
down in the heat and humidity. By the time we arrived at Cheers, took the tourist
pictures standing outside the bar and made our way inside to a table in the back area, we
were drained. The 12 hour drive probably didn't help matters.
