Just back from a terrific week in Boston!

I drove there with my daughter, helped her get settled into her first apartment as she starts a summer internship there. Then left the car with her (do not try to drive in Boston proper!) for several more days on my own for Lipstick Getaways research.

I’m just about to dig in to writing some detailed Boston content (so keep checking back in the Plan A Trip section), but thought I’d post a few quick notes here first.

In no particular order:

• Excuse me while I gush: I discovered San Miguel shoes on Beacon Hill!

  These are the most amazing shoes I’ve ever worn! Incredibly comfortable (I wore mine right away, and every day the rest of the trip!) … genuinely stylish (I had several women ask me about them) … AND affordable (under $100).I had never heard of San Miguel shoes, but apparently they have a cult following, and … wait, you know what? I just realized I have way too much to say about these shoes. I’ll need to write a separate post about ‘em asap.
  
  For now, let me just say I found my San Miguel shoes at Core de Vie, a wellness movement studio at 40 Charles Street in Beacon Hill, which had just opened up a retail shop, selling a variety of “things we are passionate about” (said the owner): favorite yoga-type apparel, lovely body care products, candles, etc., as well as the glass art work of the owner’s husband.

  You can also order a wide range of San Miguel shoes online from Outersoul.com (I just ordered three more pairs!).

• The South End, just a few blocks south of the Back Bay, is my new favorite neighborhood.

  For a stroll, cobblestone streets (see “San Miguel shoes” below), beautiful, well-tended brownstones, excellent dining, a little fun shopping, great people-watching. Fun, hip area which is still very friendly and “neighborhood-y,” and way less crowded and hectic than Newbury Street (which I still like too!)

• The North End

  A lively, genuine Italian neighborhood, is definitely worth a visit at least for dinner, the bakeries, and gelato; plus a few cute shops.

• Boston Duck Tour

  You see ‘em all over, so I finally checked out this narrated historical tour of the city in WWII amphibious vehicles. I can report that yeah, it’s touristy, but still well worth doing! Not a must-do, but you won’t regret it either. (However, if the weather is fine and you are able to walk, I’d go for a guided Freedom Trail tour instead. A little more history, a little less show-biz.

• Faneuil Hall: Don’t bother.

  Mentioned in a recent MSN Travel article on “The World’s Worst Tourist Traps”, so I thought I should see for myself. (Times Square was listed in the same article, and I do think it’s fun to go there at least once at night, just to gawk.) Gotta say, they were right. It was awful. Faneuil Hall may be where the American Revolution was plotted, but now it’s just a crowded outdoor mall, food court, and tacky souvenir shop. I have no idea why everyone goes there.

• Harvard Square in Cambridge

  Spent a few hours there with my daughter on a Sunday afternoon. Easy to get to by subway, definitely worth a visit (but not a must-do) for some interesting shops and restaurants, or if you want to do a walking tour of Harvard.

• Beacon Hill

  Another great neighborhood for a stroll, a little shopping (that’s where I found those shoes!), and dining. Liked it last trip, still liked it this trip.

• Newbury Street

  Folks say it’s getting too crowded and expensive … and yes, I suppose it is … but still worth checking out, especially if you haven’t been.

More details on all the above, and more, coming soon. I will write them up and post them for you in the Plan A Trip section.

In fact, going to get started on that right away, after lunch!

Carol

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Just back from a terrific long weekend in Boston! My daughter is a student there, and my sister flew up from Florida so that we could have a “girls’ weekend.” What a great time we had talking, catching up, shopping, dining, and a soaking up a little history and culture.

I’ll get to work on organizing some terrific Boston trip-planning info for you, and post it under Travel Planning asap. In the meantime, here are some brief comments:

Boston is a perfect destination for Big City Fun — especially when the weather is fine, as it was this weekend. The city is compact, so that you can easily walk most places, or hop on the “T” (the subway) for a short ride. There’s plenty to do, and somehow the city is stimulating without being overwhelming.

1. Getting from the airport to your hotel: While excellent transportation is available via the subway and commuter rail, you are probably best off just forking over the $30 or so for a taxi to take you straight to the door. That way you won’t have to worry about transfers, hauling your luggage up and down several stairwells, on and off the trains, and down the streets to your hotel.

2. Definitely try to include a guided tour of the Freedom Trail. It sounds trite, but this sort of thing really does bring history to life. Our lively, informative, costumed guide from The Freedom Trail Foundation packed a fascinating 90-minute history course in to our $12 tour. Then after the tour, feeling noble that we had “done” our history bit, we were free to go shopping!

3. Speaking of shopping … Newbury Street is the main shopping drag, and was pulsing with music and thronged with shoppers on this first-nice-spring-day-Saturday. Try to shop here on a weekday; if you have to go on Saturday, just mentally prepare yourself for an intense, thirsty experience, carry a bottle of water, go with the flow, maybe take a break on a side street — you’ll still have fun. We did a little damage here — I’ll write up a section on Newbury Street shopping soon. Other than Newbury Street, we did stop in at Filene’s Basement, but found we were not in the mood for digging; found an an amazing selection of “comfy-yet-cute” shoes at The Tannery, 402 Boylston (parallel to Newbury, between Arlington and Berkeley). Don’t mind the slick and somewhat pushy staff — the quality of the shoes is excellent, and the prices fairly reasonable — especially during the frequent sales.

4. Dining: We enjoyed a variety of terrific dining, and can recommend any of the following: B & G Oysters (South End) for oysters — I had no idea there were so many varieties! — and a small seafood-focused menu with delightful wine pairings; Figs (Beacon Hill), by celebrity chef Todd English, for gourmet thin-crust pizzas, plus inventive appetizers, salads, and entrees (to avoid what can be an insane wait, try to stop for a late lunch — we got right in); Sel de la Terre (Downtown/Waterfront), for wonderful French/Bistro/Provencal cuisine (lunch, afternoon, dinner, late night, and brunch) in an elegant but low-key restaurant/boulangerie; and the fun, casual Parish Cafe and Bar (Back Bay) which serves imaginative sandwiches and entrees inspired by local chefs.

Ok that’s it for now. Like I said, I’ll get to work asap on more detailed Boston info asap, and post it under Travel Planning. But now, back to work on figuring out how to do the newsletter … expecting a call on that this afternoon.

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