Boston Questions

Wife, 3 kids and I are taking 4 days and going to Boston. We are leaving from NW PA and heading across I90. Any must sees along the way?

Everyone's tastes are different, but my "must see" in this case would be getting off the interstate and driving the secondary road for the trip.
May hafta take a mask and some starting fluid in case the wife and kids get cranky tho :roll:
Enjoy the trip. I don't think 4 days would be enough for me in that area.

Boy...

I live here in central mass - along 90 - and for the life of me I can't think of a blessed thing I'd call a "must see" for a hundred miles in either direction.

Old Sturbridge Village is interesting, though can be boring for some kids (no rides or video games)- Not sure what they're charging for admission these days - but last time I was there I remember coming out about $150 poorer than I went in. (family of 4, between admission/food/gift shop)

It's like a small town from the early 1800's. Very well done - everyone there is dressed in period clothes and they talk about life in those days. They even use some of the 4H kids to play the kids roles taking care of the animals etc.
more info

Go west, not east.

Boston is a wonderful city..but expensive.

trip ideas:

Racing at Saratoga
Mystic CT
Music at Tanglewood
Fort Ticonderoga
Ocean in Rhode Island
Seafood on the Cape
Quincy Market
Italian Resturants in the North End

The route along the NY thruway/by the Mohawk Canal is a beautiful drive.

Hershey, kids will love it.

See the USS Constitution. Eat some seafood. Cape Cod Seashore...


I-90 sucks unless you are already in Erie county.

I-80 to I-81 to I-84 is much better if you are in Crawford or further south.

We have family up that way, tried many routes.

You never hear it talked about but both Buffalo and Rochester have some highly regarded museums. The Knox Gallery in Buffalo and the Strong Museum in Rochester. Of course you will have to get off of I90.
About 40 minutes south of exit 47 (Leroy) is Letchworth State Park which I always enjoy. Services have been cut back here in NY in the parks so you would be wise to find out the impact before you go.
Wine country here in the Finger Lakes. Cornell University in Ithaca at the south end of Cayuga Lake.
The Hall of Fame for MLB in Cooperstown.
It all depends how far off the Thruway you want to go.

We should send him to Kelley Sq in Worcester for the full Massachusetts driving experience.

LL Bean in Freeport, Maine is a spot to see.... a couple hours north of Boston.

Been in bean town once or twice but that was way back in the late 70s and the last time was in early 1980 when I was on the JFK CA67 and we tied up in Boston for some such thing. The one thing you have to go see is the older ship that is in the navy still to this day and that is the U.S.S. Constitution the old girl can not get under way on her own any more due to the mast being so very old so they tow her when the move the old girl. The Boston common can be a place to walk around also and see all sorts of odd stuff if it is still any thing like it was way back then

Lots of historey and interesting military exhibits where the legendary Springfield rifles were made.
Babe Ruth's ghost?

Old,

They have been raising the sails for some years now on the annual turn-around cruise every Fourth of July. I don't know the entire protocol but I assume weather plays into the equation as to how many sails get raised. I believe all the tow lines are cast away.

Last week the harbor played host to a Tall Ships convention. Don't know the exact number of ships but probably more that two dozen. I am sure that if one were to search on "tall ships boston" there would be a lot of hits including info on the Constitution. I am 25 miles from the harbor.

Yes, that is a wonderful on-board tour and parking should be available near the dock. If you are tall, wear a hard hat below the main deck. There is more to see at the Former Boston Navy Base.

If you enjoy pre-industrial life, go to Sturbridge Village a mile or so off of I-90. Actually there are some working industrial aspects such as a blacksmith shop, water powered up-and-down saw mill, and early textile mfg. Maybe a lot more as it's been 30 years since I have been there. Another similar, but smaller, site is Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth, MA.

I think I would look up the Mass tourism site. There must be a calendar listing all the activities for the time you are in the state as well as continuing points of interest.

The main events are already mentioned- depends what you like. Trains? Guns? Ships? Farm stuff? Sports? How far off 90 would you go? This is stuff I saw over the years just off the exits.

Kodak in Rochester, a couple Eire canal spots, am indian/religious themed site -Kateri Kataweta? a 'martered' Mohawk girl, near Fonda?

A unexpectedly cool New York State museum in Rockafeller plaza Albany, a WW2 distroyer escort downhill from there, actually under the highway. Used to have Henry Hudson's 'Half Moon' there, no longer I guess.
Shaker stuff into western Mass- Joseph Conrad's home- he wrote Moby Dick, Savage Arms museum in Westfield. 500 yards off exit 3!
The basketball hall of fame in Springfield, volleyball one in Holyoke, kinda in the ghettos tho, hey Springfield armory muesum, Doctor Suess stuff a block down the hill from the armory. Rolls Royce, Indian motorcylce collection and a GeeBee racing plane in the same building. Smith and Wesson shops, kind of a rip off unless you are into brand names on your polo shirts....
Yes! then the Sturbridge museum an hour? east, kinda really cool. Then you are in Revolutionary country, Lexington, Concord, the 'marathon route. How the British army could walk back that 26 miles while being shot at the whole time.. wow. But than is a bit north of 90 itself.
The north church and long walk 'freedom trail' in downtown Boston, but you are there for a look round right? Bunkerhill and old ironsides are northeast of downtown, but there are watertaxis and army ducks tours- which are cool, so you just leave your car in one spot for the day.
Kids into colleges? Harvard and MIT are a walk across a bride. X made me go into 'cheers! Bull and finch'? pub. Impossible to park near it, a wait to get a table... I was miserable at first.. but turned out kinda cool. Nice fish and chips. Buy a beer, they give you a boxed and padded glass. Kinda glad she made me do it! Always getting drug to Chinatown, but unless you are into gaudy decoration and extremely fresh fish...ugly squrming fish...
East of there? Water. But, north is Salem and Glouster, but traffic might be thick. South is Plymouth rock, might as well go there. There was the Edaville railroad and cranberry bog tours, don't know if that is all still there.
Cripe, go home southerly via 95, on and off- and see Mystic seaport, coast guard academy, sub base and Nautalus. Rout 1 is OK. But still in southeastern Mass is the USS Mass and Young, forgot the name of the sub and PT boat... up the hill from them is Lizzie Borden's house...used to go out with a chick like that...
If you are patient with traffic, go into Newport, see how the other half lives. hey, if in Rhode Island, go to Quahog and meet up with Peter Griffin, Quagmire and Shamus... you'll have a great time!

They may have dome some work to the old girl since I was there in 1980 and it I remember right when the JFK CA67 was there it was for the tall ships thing. We where told then that the Constitution could not handle having the sails up due to weak mast but as I said they may have fixed that at some point

"Joseph Conrad's home--he wrote "Moby Dick""....I'm betting Herman Melville would be interested to hear that, LOL! Otherwise, a good writeup--there's a lot of history in the area--enough to keep a family busy for a half a dozen summers!

Oh I don't know... there is a white whale on the sign!!!! That's right, Conrad was... the other guy.... hey I forgot to mention checking out the great white down on the cape!! I suppose someone will tell me Steven King don't live in Mass, or didn't write jaws... I'm so confused...

(quoted from post at 09:19:49 07/10/12) You never hear it talked about but both Buffalo and Rochester have some highly regarded museums. The Knox Gallery in Buffalo and the Strong Museum in Rochester. Of course you will have to get off of I90.
About 40 minutes south of exit 47 (Leroy) is Letchworth State Park which I always enjoy. Services have been cut back here in NY in the parks so you would be wise to find out the impact before you go.
Wine country here in the Finger Lakes. Cornell University in Ithaca at the south end of Cayuga Lake.
The Hall of Fame for MLB in Cooperstown.
It all depends how far off the Thruway you want to go.

Click to expand...

Could also checkout the Pirce Arrow museum in Buffalo.

Correction Police run Tony run LOL !!!, the museum is in the the Empire State Plaza, adjacent to the Corning Tower, the 43 story office building across the street, which once was all referred to as the South Mall. You mentioned some good places to see along the way, could easily spend a day on this one in Albany. I remember when they built that wooden (ship, boat?) a replica I believe. That was really something to look at, I believe the owner was killed somehow on it or during the building process, all kind of fuzzy, but there was for sure a new one built and moored there, trying to remember, been awhile !

Get off 90 in Albany and take the trail AKA rt 2 up over the hills it will take a few hours more but a bit more to see than 90 take mom to Yankee candle one exit down 91 from 2 always good for points The western part of mass is the part that inside 128 thinks is New York or Vermont except for wanting water or gravel and taxes Our votes don't seem to count

There are dozens of other things aside from what you and I have suggested. If they do not mind going a little ways off I90 they could do Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara at Lewiston (where the Niagara river meets Lake Ontario). The Chatauqua Institute I believe does a summer lecture series right about now. That's just outside Jamestown, NY. Anybody know if the tractor museum at Leicester is still running. I know years ago the hours were very limited and the owner has been gone a while now.

Macfadden's Rt 20 Sharon Springs NY, about 25 miles west of Albany. Over six acres of tractors being salvaged.

And we can get their early to watch!

See? I was sorta right... kinda. The 'newest' Dutch East Indies Company Half Moon is now moored in New York City... down hill from the other... rockerfeller plaza... and does day trips and ties up all along the river for school tours and local history events. As Shamus on family guy would say 'no barnacles growin' on her bottom'. Did you know the Half Moon weather vane on the old D&HRR building is the biggest weathervane in North AMerica? But that ain't the D&H building anymore either is it??? Suny own it now?
I used to go to the gun shows at the 'egg'. Then the black shirts got all super security 'do you have any weapons or firearms in the vehicle?' "Daaa, yaaaaa... ya got a gun show here today don't cha?'.... I suppose they stand there all day waiting for some one to lie about it?
I am waiting for someone to tell me I spelled 'nataulus' wrong... I know I did....

Been there twice. Love it.

yep, in Erie county. any ideas on best route.

LOL, you have a good sense of humor !!!!, I am not sure that I knew that about the weathervane, that old D&H building is an amazing structure, so is the capitol building they are still trying to waterproof, some of those old stone buildings are incredible, but leak like a sieve. I think SUNY is in there now or another state agency.

I was a young kid but I watched that museum get built, and the egg, the plaza buildings were completed before those, my father was a concrete superintendent on that 43 story building when it went up, not long after he was discharged from the army and was home from some far away places where some bad things were going on. I worked on the 33rd floor of that building for 1 year, what a view from your office, I could look north and see our land 12 miles away, our ridge of woods at 650 feet in elevation, was a great place to work, overlooking the river and all the buildings.

I used to go to the gun show too, buy and walk out with my purchase, bagged of course, things changed a lot down there since 9-11, security is tight, used to be relaxed. People were evacuated from the tower when 9-11 terrorist attacks hit, that building is a heavily reinforced concrete core with a massive steel superstructure around it, a proverbial brick sh$thouse, a lot heavier built than the WTC 1&2 was, those new ones are also similar, at least WTC 7 is and reminds me of this one in albany. Was always a good gun show and outdoor show, + all the other festivities that go on in the concourse level, outside and below. YOu may also not realize that in the bowels of that building is a lab that does all kinds of odd things, I have a good friend working in there, 7 stories below grade, really odd thing in there, a room 6" thick steel walls, set up to keep radiation out for experiments, plates were from an old ship prior to the nuclear era, I have seen it first hand, wonder if they also own any black helicopters, its a mysterious place that lab.

Ok, (me) open mouth insert foot ! Tony, we're both half correct, I looked on a letterhead of an appreciation letter in my resume file from a NYS agecny I worked with in that tower, the correct name, (that is if no one changed it again since '99) is the "Nelson A Rockefeller Empire State Plaza", building I worked in is the "Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd Tower", darned correction police need to get their facts straight LOL !!!!!!!!