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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Weekend trip to Boston
So for my husband's birthday at the end of October i'm surprising him with a long weekend trip to Boston! I have always wanted to make the trip, and since my husband and I love to travel, explore new places and try new food- I thought Boston would be perfect.
What I was hoping for are some recommendations as to what areas we should check out, places we should eat and some neighborhoods we shouldn't miss. I already know I want to check out the SoWa market on Sunday but as for everything else I am totally clueless. Help!
And I know this sounds really silly but I figured we would stop in Salem along the way just to check out the Halloween festivities too.
Re: Weekend trip to Boston
Sounds like fun. Boston is nice in the fall. FYI, it's tough to "stop in" to Salem at the end of October. It's nuts out there and traffic is crazy on the weekends. If you are staying in Boston, the easiest thing to do would be to take the commuter rail to and from Salem and walk around once you are there. It would probably take up most of a day.
Neighborhoods to see are the North End (good Italian food) and Back Bay (lots of shopping). You may want to cross the river into Cambridge too to see Harvard square.
Yep, my long list of recommendations is below, though I did edit out my favorite splurge restaurants as it didn't sound like that poster was looking for those.
No. 9 Park - probably my favorite restaurant downtown. You must have the prune-stuffed gnocchi appetizer if you go. Just trust me.
O Ya Sushi - in the Leather District, which is right on the edge of Chinatown. The omakase is great, though very pricey.
Salts - in Cambridge. The honey lavendar whole-roasted duck for two is fantastic. Be sure to reserve it in advance if you're interested as they only serve a few each night.
Blue Ginger - this one is in the 'burbs in a town called Wellesley. It's Ming Tsai's restaurant (Asian Fusion) and is very good, though any of the others I listed will be easier to get to if you're staying anywhere downtown.
For breakfast, in addition to what I've listed in the other post, I've seen Geoffrey's Cafe and specifically their donut muffin raved about many times.
As for Salem, be forewarned that it's a madhouse during Halloween and you could have a hard time getting into town that day if you try to drive.
ETA: And my birthday is at the end of October too--October babies are the best
I just wanted to suggest that you set aside some time to do some leaf peeping too as that's a great time of year to see the colors. You might think this is an odd suggestion, but the Mt. Auburn Cemetery is a great place to see foliage that's still relatively easy to get to. I'd probably just cab it there, but there's probably some subway/bus combo that you could do too if you wanted to (www.mbta.com). It's a beautifully manicured and maintained space and DH and I enjoyed a great walk on the grounds a couple of Autumns ago.
SoWa is a blast. I live in the South End neighborhood and head over there every Sunday.
Hamersley's Bistro has an amazing Sunday brunch. It's just a few blocks from SOWA.
SO and I just went to The Citizen Public House and Oyster Bar for dinner. It was amazing! It's in the Fenway neighborhood, so if your and/or DH has an interest in seeing Fenway Park it would be perfect.
North End is fun... although for Italian food I highly recommend Giacomo's in the South End. They are also located in the North End, but it's a bit easier to get into the one in the South End
BTW... if you to the North End, skip Mikes Pastry and head over to Maria's OMG... they fill the cannoli to order and they are fabulous!
Petit Robert (any of their locations are good.)
Sel De La Terre, great burger, the SdlT on Boylston Street in Copley is a great place to go and sit at the bar, have a nice cocktail, order off the bar menu.
Fancy Pants restaurants. Menton, No. 9 Park are both run by Barbara Lynch and are supposed to be lovely. (Menton is my Birthday restaurant this year!) Troquet (one of my favorite Birthday dinner restaurants!) L'espalier (the same people who do Sel de la Terre, in fact they share an entrance on Boylston Street.)
Things to do.. I would consider go to the top of the Prudential. I took my father up there a few weeks ago, and was pleasantly surprised by how cool it was. Check it out if you have time...
Duck tours are fun.
If it's a rainy day, the MFA is beautiful.
Cheap eats: Tasty Burger in Fenway, Anna's Taqueria Formaggio Kitchen in the South End has nice sandwiches, or just grab some cheese, salami, pate and some bread and enjoy!
Do you know where you would like to stay? I recommend the Copley are because it's very centrally located. Easy access to the "T" (our subway.) The Charlesmark Hotel often has good deals and it's a nice, small boutique hotel. The rooms are tiny, but I've gotten rates between 99-149 per night, and that's really affordable for any Boston hotel!
Have fun!