CI Living January 16 - Endless Activities in Downtown Boston

I grew up in New York and Boston was a frequent vacation destination. I continued to go occasionally. It had been about 20 years since I had been there when I was recently given an opportunity to go back.

Boston has too much for me to cover it all in one story. I will have more at a later date on some other areas to explore. You’ll find more than enough below to start planning a spring break or summer vacation through the cobblestone streets, famous architecture, and many sites in this city.

 Must-See Sites Downtown

It’s not often a baseball stadium is considered a historical site, but Fenway Park is in that category. You can see a lot of it from the outside. There is a tour to take you through off season or wait for a game to get the best good look.

 

Take a walk-through scenic Boston Common, the oldest park in the United States, or Boston Public Garden, which has been around since 1837. One of the things about Boston I enjoyed is the historic statues throughout the city and its parks. Among them, I was partial to the one dedicated to Edgar Allan Poe, a native of the city.

 

The Museum of Fine Arts is deserving of hours, if not a full day, of your time. The collections encompass all types of art from around the world. I found the jewelry especially interesting. Their special exhibits are not to be missed. I saw “Power of the People: Art and Democracy” and “Georgia O’Keefe and Henry Moore.” There is a Van Gogh exhibition coming this spring through summer.

 

You can’t go to Boston without stopping by the Cheers Bar, which looks like it did when it inspired the long running television show. Although the bar is not operational, there is a restaurant where you can get drinks (in Cheers mugs) among the memorabilia, and eat from the large menu. There’s also a gift shop to visit on the way out.

 

The Prudential Center is filled with stores and restaurants, but you really need to head to the View. It has three floors filled with spectacular views of Boston. There is also a lot of displays and videos about the history of the city and facts about its importance now. The Stratus Bar, which has indoor and outdoor seating, is on the 51^st floor.

On the 50^th floor, you’ll find The Beacon Restaurant. The menu includes everything from sandwiches and salads to creative entrees. You can purchase a ticket that includes the meal with the View.

 

More Restaurants to Try

Treat yourself to a fine dining experience at Davio’s Italian Steakhouse. Watch the freshly made pasta and other specialties being cooked in the open kitchen and feast on such unique items such as roasted beets with yogurt, pistachio brittle, ricotta, and balsamic. You’ll also find a selection of seafood you’d expect in this city surrounded by water. Be sure to save room for dessert as the selection is beyond belief.

 

Tattes Bakery & Café is a Boston stable with more than a dozen locations. It’s a must visit for an unusual menu of coffees, teas, snacks, and meals. I had a Prosciutto & Fig Panini (with pear and fig jam) with a Pistachio Latte, and a Halva Brownie. It was all as good as it sounds.

 

For quick meals, Sal’s of Boston has pizza and subs. Stop by the Omni Parker House and order a Boston Cream Pie. It’s where the original came from, and you’ll be surprised at how different it tastes from what we have now.

 

Where to Stay

The Verb is directly in front of Fenway Park. Music is the theme here and it’s everywhere, even in the record player in every room, which you can choose albums for. This hotel has a pool in the courtyard heated all year round.

The Verb Hotelalso has one of the best complimentary breakfasts I’ve ever seen. It includes waffles, an assortment of fresh Danishes and muffins, fresh fruit smoothies, yogurts, and more. There is hot coffee, and always free cold brew—including a latte option—in the lobby.

The Hyatt Regecy Downtown has everything you need in a perfect location downtown near the Theater District and Chinatown. It’s walkable to just about everything and is directly connected to a train station. I had a junior suite which was extremely accessible, down to the pocket doors and bathroom mirror that moves for wheelchair viewing. The Hyatt also is very family-friendly, with connecting rooms,  and welcomes pets.

 

Making Your Way Around

Boston has a particularly good public train system. There are also taxis, Ubers, and Lyft, all of which have WAV (wheelchair accessible vehicles). For more personalized service, I tried Go Airport Shuttle. You can arrange it in advanced, for a group ride or to have a dedicated driver to pick you up, help you with your luggage, and take you where you need to go.

I highly recommend Old Town Trolley for getting around to the sites. I used it quite a bit and got to see a lot more than I would have on my own. The drivers are truly knowledgeable and filled with information and anecdotes on all spots Boston. You can even take the 13-mile tour around for two hours to get better acquainted with the city before hopping on and off one of the 18 stops.

 

I received some complimentary accommodation, activities,  and meals in Boston, but opinions are my own.

Discovering Skagway with Princess Cruises

Our first day in Alaska was special, but I thought about the one we were going to have as the Royal Princess pulled into the waters of Skagway early in the morning.

We had coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries at the International Café. Brittany was heading out early for her Animal Planet Exclusive Kroschel Wildlife Refuge excursion. I had a few hours and was anxiously waiting to see if my scooter could be repaired in time for me to go. The one the ship had let me borrow was too big to go on the tender.

I did use the loaner to take a ride in the scooter to the upper deck pool area.  It gave me a stunning view of Skagway despite the cloudy day.

I was told the scooter was ready and I took the tender to town. I knew it would be close and I did just miss my bus tour, however, a contingency plan was worked out. I would drive the scooter into town and spend the time looking around—and shopping for souvenirs—while I waited to catch up with my tour group.

Skagway is picturesque, with mountains peaking throughout the city. It also offers a lot to do just in the downtown, with small museums, many kinds of shops, and restaurants, including the infamous Red Onion Saloon. It was crowded and I didn’t have a lot of time to wait since I was going to meet my tour at the Days of 98 show.

I met the group at the theater downtown. The Days of 98 show was so much fun! There was a lot of comedy and some audience participation. Even the songs were hysterical. I could see why this show has been around since 1923.

When it was over, I got on the bus with my scooter and we took a short tour of Skagway on our way back to the port. 

                      

I took the tender back to the ship and rested for a bit. Brittany had been on a completely different Princess excursion. She took a boat to Mosquito Lake and then a bus to Haines, Alaska, to visit the Kroschel Films Wildlife Center.

At the refuge, Steve Kroschel homes orphaned wildlife, most of which are indigenous to Alaska and Canada. Creatures there include a snowy owl, silver and red foxes, a brown bear, and a lynx. They are accessible for guests to get up close with in small groups, while Kroschel tells them about each one.

She had stopped for lunch and a tasting at the Skagway Brewing company and some shopping before coming back to the ship. We arrived at about the same time.

We weren’t back on the ship long before it was time for a fun Princess Cruise exclusive, Puppies in the Piazza. A trainer comes onboard to explain mushing, which is more commonly known as dog sledding. He brought some of the puppies in training with him. Passengers were able to pet the dogs as they learned more about them.

As soon as the puppies left, the Royal Princess pulled out of Skagway. It was a short day and there was so much more that we didn’t get to do there, including the White Pass Railroad ride (Brittany got a  photo of it going by while she was in town) and Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park. I would definitely want to go back there on another trip to Alaska.

We were hungry and early for a special dinner. I had heard a lot of good things about Sabatini’s, the specialty  Italian restaurant on the Royal Princess, but it went beyond my expectations. Every dish was perfection, and that comes from a woman who is very particular about her Italian food.

We started with some bruschetta and cheese, arancini, and fresh warm rolls and focaccia, with glasses of Prosecco.  Then we went on to a four-course meal.

Antipasti
I had the Burrata and Brittany had Calamari and Shrimp

First Course
I had the Pappardelle Bolognese and Brittany had Lobster Tortelloni

Second Course
I had the Osso Bucco Milanese and Brittany had Lasagna Bolognese

Dessert
I had the Chocolate Bomb and Brittany chose an after-dinner drink

After we left Sabatini’s we spent a little time in the casino. There were no big wins, but we were too tired to play long. We were back to the cabin to crash early once again. We were both excited for our upcoming day going through Glacier Bay National Park. It was going to start bright and early, at 6:00 am. 

*Specialty restaurants are an extra charge unless you have the Premier Package, which includes two specialty restaurants per cruise.

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I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own. 

All Aboard the Royal Princess to Alaska

It had been lots of fun exploring Seattle all morning and into the early afternoon with the City Pass. It was time for us to do what Brittany and I came to the Emerald City for—to get on our Princess cruise to Alaska.

 

Brittany hopped on one of the e-bikes and kept up with my mobility scooter on the way back to the Homewood Downtown. We picked up our luggage and waited for the van to take us to Smith Cove Cruise Terminal at Pier 91. Since there are so many (mostly Alaska) cruises going out of Seattle there are two different piers in the city.

The van wasn’t set up for wheelchairs, but the driver was able to lift my lightweight scooter. into the back and then help me into the van. There were two other women in there who were as excited as we were about the upcoming cruise.

It was the first time I went on a cruise when you were allowed to embark whenever you wanted during a five-hour window. We were about in the middle and it wasn’t at all crowded. We checked in and made it on the ship in about 20 minutes.

It would have been even sooner if I hadn’t accidentally checked the bag I put our Princess Medallion bracelets in at the last minute. The bracelets are used for everything from check-in to opening your room and ordering food. We had to wait until we got our IDs checked and room keys before we were allowed on the Royal Princess. It still wasn’t very long.

I’m not usually a such a specific planner when I’m getting on a ship. This trip was so special to me as my bucket list journey and Brittany’s first cruise. I decided before we got to the pier that we would have lunch on the ship at Alfredo’s. I had heard nothing but good things about it.

The one thing I didn’t calculate was that we would be starving after an early breakfast and a later than expected boarding. We decided to forego dropping off our carry-ons and checking out our room and went straight to the restaurant.

I still wasn’t going to skip was a glass of bubbly to toast our trip. I ordered a prosecco and Brittany got a beer, and we devoured some bread as we ordered our lunch.

We chose the Antipasto and the Caprese for appetizers. Along with the fresh, warm bread, we quickly warded off hunger.

For a main course, I had the eggplant, rolled and stuffed with ricotta, then topped with sauce and more cheese. It was very good. Brittany decided to just go for the pizza. It was listed as something for one person, but it was quite big. It looked fantastic and I needed to taste it. As a New Yorker—with an Italian background—I am picky. I was quite impressed with this one.

We decided not to go for anything on the Alfredo’s dessert menu. Ever since we booked the cruise with Princess and found out we had the Princess Plus Package, we were curious about the Premier Desserts. These concoctions looked delicious. We were entitled to two free ones poor day. That seemed impossible, but we were each ready to try one.

 

We were not the only ones who were anxious to check out these massive desserts. There was quite a line at the Gelato Shop. We weren’t in a hurry to go anywhere so we ordered and found a table to relax at. We could see the Piazza from there and the music was playing as people were settling into the ship.

It was tough to make a choice on the Premium Dessert Menu, but we figured we had a week to try them all. I went with The Godfather, vanilla gelato topped with chocolate sauce and a fudge brownie. Brittany did The Michelangelo, a chocolate chip muffin with vanilla gelato and a topping of raspberry and chocolate sauces. It was finished with a big twister lollipop. Yes, they were both as good as they sound.

After we finished our sundaes, we went to our cabin. Our luggage hadn’t quite come yet. The room was bigger than I expected. There was plenty of room for my scooter to get around and for us to spread out. I had been prepared with lots of ideas to make use of the space.

Since we had an accessible bathroom with a shower seat, it was bigger than most. Our luggage arrived and I started unpacking in there.  I had brought an inexpensive door shoe organizer and unpacked cosmetics, hair products, sunblocks, makeup, and more so we didn’t have to fill up our tiny sink top.

I continued to unpack, and Brittany did some exploring around the ship. I was resting with my feet up when she returned. We decided to go to dinner a little early. I had made arrangements originally for 7:00 pm in the Concerto Main Dining Room. All the restaurants on the ship went by reservations, which could be made for whatever time you wanted.

Dinner was great starting with the first night. The Asparagus Risotto sounded great, but I was feeling a need for meat. I asked if I could have the risotto as an appetizer and was told it was no problem. Brittany got in the ocean mood with a prawn appetizer and fish main course.

For dessert, it was Vanilla Mascarpone Blueberry Cremieux for Brittany and Hazelnut Souffle for me. Brittany also tried out a hot chocolate cocktail. We were definitely going to enjoy the sweets on this trip.

We were both exhausted from the previous 24 hours and didn’t feel like doing much after dinner. I decided to take the elevator up to the pool deck. I had seen videos online of the light show over the pool each night. It was even more beautiful in person and the music matched perfectly.

 

I went up to the cabin soon after that. We would have the entire next day to see, do, relax, and eat around the Royal Princess.

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I was hosted on this trip, but opinions are my own.