A Savvy Visitor's Guide to Enjoying Boston in a Day (or Two)
by Wilson F. Fang
Wags refer to Boston as "The Hub of the Universe", or simply, "The Hub." While that may be a slight exaggeration, the staid, patrician city that Henry James and others chronicled has long been supplanted by a hip, happening metropolis embracing a plethora of places offering cutting-edge cuisine, world-class artistic facilities and entertainment options, and shopping that is second to none.
If the preceding sounds like a press release from the Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, well, that's 'cause yours truly is one very satisfied visitor. In the half-dozen or so times I've visited the Hub in the last six months, I have never been bereft of places to see, events to attend, and things to do. It ain't easy for any burg to engross this seemingly Attention Deficit Disorder-addled, dyed-in-the-wool San Franciscan for long. But, by golly, methinks Boston has done it.
Indeed, the sheer surfeit of ways to amuse oneself seems almost daunting sometimes. Even for someone who's here as often as I am (thanks to a long-distance relationship that has this now-frequent flyer on transcontinental flights every couple of weeks). So say you're someone who has but one free day to enjoy Boston. What to do? Well, you can sit in your hotel room wallowing in grief and bemoaning the misfortune of your tight schedule. Or you can pick the cream of an excellent crop, put on your most comfortable walking shoes, and get ready to see the city as a local (and this frequent guest) would. I suggest the latter, as wallowing in grief is tres last millenium.
To help you through your whirlwind tour of Boston, I've ripped out a page from one of my diaries, and am letting you in on some of the town's best (or worst) kept secrets. (Okay, so they're really entries from my trusty Palm IIIx. Ripping pages out of a diary seemed so much more poetic…)
9:00 AM: Breakfast at the Paramount Café. This little eatery, on tony Charles St., is beloved by locals in the know. They serve filling, mouthwatering breakfast fare at reasonable prices, with service that is fast and courteous. Order the banana pancakes with the side of ham. Slather it with the syrup from the bottles they leave on the table for you. Yummy. And damn the calories--full speed ahead! You are on vacation, after all. Sit at one of the tall tables adjacent to the open cooking area, and you can further whet your appetite by watching your breakfast being prepared. One of the best things about the place is its location, Charles St. being plenteous with delightful shops selling all manner of merchandise from cute little tchotchkes to beautiful antique furniture, perhaps sourced from a down-on-his-or-her-luck resident of the next stop, Beacon Hill.10:00 AM: Walk Around Beacon Hill. This area would be the Beverly Hills of Boston. If Beverly Hills were a couple of hundred years older, and had more charm than crass. To stroll down Beacon Hill's cobblestoned streets, past row after row of stately brick and brownstone buildings, is to step back in time to the gilded age of the Boston Brahmin, where, as one writer put it, "The Cabots only talk to the Lowells. And the Lowells talk only to God." Don't miss lovely Louisburg Square, where some of the most illustrious residents of the City (indeed, of this country), such as Senator John Kerry, have homes. This is the perfect place to daydream of winning the lottery so you too can pay a few million dollars for a nice house that unfortunately, since most of the structures here predate the automobile, will be bereft of parking. But hey, if you're rich enough to afford to live here, what's a few extra thousand a month to hire a chauffeur, yes?
11:00 AM: Shopping at Downtown Crossing. As you leave Beacon Hill via Park Street, take a few minutes to stop at the imposing Massachusetts State House, on Beacon St., where the governor holds office, and enjoy the sight of this grand structure topped by a gilded dome. Suitably impressed? Taken a few pictures? Good, it's time to start walking. When you get to Tremont, take a short detour to your left, where you will see the Granary Burial Ground, the final resting place of such distinguished citizens as Benjamin Franklin and Paul Revere, in quiet repose amongst assorted signers of the Declaration of Independence, former state governors, etc. Drink in a piece of this country's storied past. As soon as you have become drunk with history, cross Tremont Street and head off to the legendary Filene's Basement, source of many a story of intoxicating bargains had. A separate entity from the above-ground Filene's (your standard Macy's-type department store), Filene's Basement is renowned for their selection of designer goods and other upscale merchandise at rock-bottom prices. A particularly famous feature of the store is their "Automatic Markdown" policy, which knocks anywhere from 25% to 75% off an item's price, depending on how long it has been for sale. Be sure to budget at least an hour or two to go through all the racks and tables, lest you leave frustrated at not being able to shop til you drop. And if you still haven't dropped from exhaustion (and your credit cards are not maxed out), you can sate your acquisitive tendencies at any one of the dozens of other shops in the Downtown Crossing area. Your choices range from an outpost of the Macy's empire right across the street from Filene's, to the only Gap Outlet I know of that is located in a major metropolitan area.
1:00 PM: Lunch at Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall. A few minutes walk away from Downtown Crossing is the Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall area, consisting of two adjacent buildings that date back to the Revolutionary War, where some of the most momentous events in America's history have occurred. They have now been transformed into the biggest tourist traps this side of, well, each other. So why go here? The selection is pretty good, the people-watching excellent, and if you can get past the rather tacky atmosphere there is all that wonderful history about. Just do your best to ignore the chain stores all around you.
2:30 PM: Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. When you are done with lunch at Quincy Market/Faneuil Hall, walk through the haunting Holocaust memorial located adjacent to it on your way to the Haymarket T (what Bostonians call their subway system) stop. This will serve to purposes. One, it will enrich your soul to reflect on the horrors that were the Holocaust. Two, it will help you ignore the monstrosity that is the Boston City Hall across the street, a complex that looks like it was rejected from the set of Buck Rogers because it was too ugly. Once you are on the T (take the Green Line to the MFA stop), it should take about 20 minutes to get to the Gardner. The Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum was the home of eccentric, much-beloved Boston socialite Isabella Stuart Gardner, who between such hubbub-inducing activities as walking her pet tiger down city sidewalks managed to put together what was one of the turn of the century's most distinguished private collections of art. The collection is housed in a stunning, Venetian-palazzo-like edifice, where the many objets d'art, as specified in Mrs. Gardner's will, are displayed exactly as they were placed by the grand lady herself. Now why, a person in the know might ask, would I recommend the Gardner over the distinguished Boston Museum of Fine Art, located a five minute walk away? Well, simply because of the fact that the MFA, as it is otherwise known, has so much to see within its walls that one cannot possibly do justice to all it has to offer in one afternoon. And at the $12 admission it costs to get into the MFA, you better be damn sure you're getting your money's worth.
5:30 PM: Dinner on Newbury Street. Boston's answer to Rodeo Drive or Madison Avenue, Newbury Street is undoubtedly the city's ritziest commercial district. There are a number of fine restaurants, such as 29 Newbury, Stephanie's, and Davio's, located on Newbury, and weather permitting, ask for a sidewalk table so you can watch the parade of cell phone-toting, Prada- and Gucci-clad Beautiful People go past.
7:00 PM: Drinks at the Oak Bar. After dinner, take a walk on Newbury, past shops like Versace, Brooks Brothers, and the venerable Louis of Boston (the local version of Bendel's or Bergdorf Goodman) on your way to after-dinner drinks at the Fairmont Copley Plaza's famed Oak Bar. A cousin of the Plaza in New York and the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, the Copley's Oak Bar serves up some of the city's best martinis in one of the most awe-inspiring venues around. You will feel like you are the guest at some grand castle somewhere while you imbibe your choice of alcoholic beverage. You'll also feel like you're paying the mortgage on the castle when the bill comes, but hey, it's only money.
8:30 PM: Boston Symphony Orchestra Performance. The BSO, under the tutelage of the incomparable Seiji Ozawa, is one of the country's--no, one of the world's--best orchestras. And if one visits Boston one would be a fool to miss one of their performances at the renowned Symphony Hall, whose acoustics are said to be the best in the world. Tickets are surprisingly reasonable, and almost all the performances first-rate. So even if you hate classical music try this place on for size. You may just discover the latent culture vulture in you.
10:30 PM: Night out on Boylston Street. A few minutes away from Symphony Hall is Boylston Street, home to hip new establishments like Vox Populi and Bar Code, the latter distinguished by a sign that, instead of spelling out the club's name, has a bar code with the bar's phone number in it. You'll find yourself surrounded by cute girls and boys, many of whom are partying hearty no matter what night of the week it is. Practice your best lines and your most charming smile, and you may just make yourself a pretty new friend (or two).
12:30AM: Midnight Snack at Brasserie Jo's. One of the city's best choices for late-night dining, Brasserie Jo offers good food at a reasonable (by big city standards) price. The kitchen is open 'til 1 AM, and its cozy atmosphere will provide the perfect locale for you to get to know that erstwhile stranger you picked up at one of the Boylston Street bars.
1:30 AM: Fall into bed. Exhausted. As you drift off to sleep, you remember, "Wait, didn't the title of the article say "`24 Hours in the Hub?'" Yes indeedy, Virginia, it did. And what do you do with the remainder of the time you have? You fall asleep, and dream of what you'll find yourself doing on your next trip to Boston.
