Boston

I've been slacking this year on travels and decided to head out to Boston for a long weekend. Checked into the Westin Los Angeles Airport the night before for a park and fly package. The lobby area was nice and the bar was packed. I was actually surprised how much activity there was at the Westin. The bar was nice and a Daily Grill restaurant is inside. The pork chop at Daily Grill is excellent and they give you 10% discount if you are a SPG member regardless if you are staying at the hotel. The hotel also offers a decent parking package for airport parking - $30 for three days.

Flew on United Airlines to Boston with a brief layover in Denver. Even with the delayed takeoff, the flight arrived on time and I was able to grab some McDonalds in the food court. Although there were plenty of people ordering, I felt the food had been out for a bit and the staff seemed out of sorts. Jumped back on the same plane and landed into Logan International Airport. 

Since it was such a late arrival into Boston, I opted to stay the night at Four Points Boston Logan Airport. The hotel does require you to call to get a pick up as it wasn't in the immediate vicinity of the airport. The hotel met my needs and it is the first Four Point that offered breakfast to all guests. I'm beginning to realize how much I like the Hampton Inn and Hilton Garden Inn brand. Maybe the Hilton Garden Inn is the true counterpart but HGI still wins over the Four Points for consistency. On a side note, the breakfast is your basic breakfast buffet which didn't entice me to eat much.



The next day, checked into the Le Meridien Cambridge MIT. I took the T and found out that if you take the silver line, it is free and you can transfer to the other lines without having to pay a fare. Pretty cool, I don't think any other US airport allows free transit to the city.



Atwood Tavern Open Faced Boar Bratwurst Sandwich at bottom

Lunched at Atwood's Tavern and had a wild boar open faced bratwurst sandwich with a hefeweizen. The food was great and the ambience was fairly relaxed. Afterwards, wandered around Prudential Center in hopes to find a light rain jacket given the inclimate weather. After some wanderings, the Center is generally mid to high end stores and I was able to get something from a kiosk. 

I attended a football game at Boston College. The walk from the T to the stadium wasn't too bad but the food concessions are fairly limited to basic offerings of hot dogs and pretzels. 

The next day, brunched at Saus. On the plane, I watched an episode of Diners Dives & Drive-Ins and the restaurant was featured. I felt it only appropriate to try the restaurant. I ordered the frik which reminds me of falafel but in sausage form. The sloppy Jacques (Joe) had a sweet note but tasty. The Belgium style fries were tasty too. I also ordered a Belgium waffle sundae and the salted caramel sauce was great. Afterwards, wandered over to the Charleston Navy Yard and visit the USS Cassin Young. One of the smaller ships I've visited, it was interesting to see how small quarters are on ships. Walked over to Bunker Hill and caught a guide starting a gun presentation back when rifles were first mass produced. The guide was even dressed in historical times.



Saus Belgium Waffle Sundae

After realizing that Massachusetts sales tax is lower than my home state, I went by CambridgeSide Galleria to do some shopping. Clothes are exempt from sales tax but I didn't find anything to take back with me. After walking all day, I ended up taking a nap and missed dinner time. Still full from lunch, I opted to grab ice cream from Toscanini's Ice Cream. I tried the B3-brown sugar ice cream with blondie brownies and butterscotch chips. Totally the bomb. Don't order the coffee though.

The next morning, I grabbed breakfast at Petsi's Pies. I had wanted to eat at Tupelo but never made it. In looking at their menu, they feature desserts from Petsi's. Out of curiosity, I wanted to try the bakery. I had the breakfast sandwich which was a typical sandwich but pricey. The ginger pumpkin scone was very good. Coffee was better here than last night's. 

Cambridge City Hall

Grabbed a taxi to the airport and was able to enjoy the new United terminal. It looks like United is trying to change the ambience and had a modern open layout throughout the area. I liked that the chairs have either power ports or cup holders. The gate counters were small podiums rather than a long tall counters. 

United Terminal at Logan Airport

United Terminal at Logan Airport