Monday, July 26, 2010

#17 The Sam Adams Brewery

The Sam Adam Brewery Tour
30 Germania Street, Boston 02130

Travel Time: 10 min MBTA Orange Line to Stony Brook, 5 min walk to the brewery

Cost: Free, however they do ask for a donation for one of their local charities.


Tours Start at 10:00am and go to approximately 3:00pm, and they are every 45 min, and last for about an hour. I say approximately to 3:00pm because we were able to hop on the 3:20pm tour, aka they are liars, although I would say that these tours dont go past 4pm.

We arrived to wait in line at about 1:30pm, I would not suggest this if you want to do anything else! Get there early and plan to wait! I know drinking beer ea
rlier than 12 sounds odd, but think of it as a Keggs and Eggs morning breakfast! It was also hot out and waiting in line was brutal, and after about a good half an hour wait we were allowed on the 3:20pm tour. NOTE: They do check ID's if you want to participate in the tasting portion at the end of the tour.

With about an hour and a half to kill we took the free party bus to Doyle's. This guy is loud, obnoxious and unmissable. If you are waiting in line you will see him. The bus ride was something else, he gave you a brief history of Sam Adams, and everything else in between. I must say they have got to pay this guy well betwee
n the brewery and Doyles.

Anyway, Doyle's is the first pub in Boston that sold the Sam Adams Brew, and they have a sweet deal, if you order any Sam's at Doyle's you can keep the Sam Adams Perfect Beer Glass. (so in reality your paying $4.50 for a glass). Doyle's has great pub food, and its about a 5-10 min party bus ride, if you have the time, go!

We got back to the brewery just in time to make our tour. The inside of the brewery is super small, and not what I expected at all. But this location is really just used for research and development, so they do not need such a large facility as if they were bottling. Also, there was no A/C so if its hot out, its hot in the brewery.

We started out in a corner of the brewery, in a built stage. Our tour guide went on a very long explanation of how to make beer and the main 4 ingredients! (here is your cheat sheet for future reference: water, yeast, barley, hops). He passed around different samples of what each one looks like, minus water. And then we moved to the brewing section of the brewery, and we were able to see and hear all about the fancy machineries and processes of how to make Sam Adam
s. Note: Please do not be that person, the drunk obnoxious, loud, insulting, and has to comment on every other word that the tour guide says, person. You will elongate your tour and infuriate everyone around you, with very ugly results.

Once the whole speech is over, you finally get what you came there for, the tasting! You are brought into another room, with a bar, tables, and not enough chairs for everyone, and given a free 5oz sampling glass to hear your tour guide talk even more. However, this was the more interesting part of the tour, and I may have even learned a thing or two.

First it is how to taste the beer, and some stories and blah blah blah. Then you get the original Sam Adams beer, this was really interesting and after this
tasting I really appreciated and enjoyed Sam's, which I guess is the whole point. The 2nd beer is the Sam's Seasonal, which in this case is the Sam's Summer, and one of my favorite beers, so I clearly enjoyed that. The third beer was the coolest beer, and I say that because it is the beer that supports the Sam Adams Brewing the American Dream. Which is an operation started by the Boston Beer Co, to give about $250,000 in micro-loans every year to small food/drink companies. It was a called a Boston Brick Red, which unfortunately is only available in the Northeast Region, but for every purchase of the Brick Red, additional funds are donated by Sam Adams. So if you ever see that beer on tap, I would suggest ordering a pint.

With all this being said, the tour took close to an hour to complete, thanks to that person, but I would do it again in a heartbeat! If you're over 21, make sure you do this!!!

Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website: http://www.samueladams.com/share-passion/tours.aspx

Saturday, July 24, 2010

#21 Harpoon Brewery

The Harpoon Brewery
306 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210

Travel Time : 30min Mbta Orange to Downtown crossing, Change to Red, to South Station, Change to Silver Line, too Harbor Street.

Cost: $5.00

Tour Times: From 11 to 5pm (6) every half an hour, the tour is half an hour, with a half an hour tasting at the end.

So to get to Harpoon it is an extreme trek through Boston, but I feel its totally worth it. This tour begins in the brewery with an explanation of how to make beer, the yeast and water and all that jazz. I did learn a new vocabulary word, wort, which is the liquid good stuff produced during the primary stages of brewing. This tour had two guides, that were extremely informative, and a lot of fun.

After the explanation of how to make beer, while we were at the top level of the brewery looking down at all the tanks, we were actually brought down onto the main floor. Now this is a craft brewery that actually brews and bottles in the facility so everything was on and brewing away. We were given the 5 oz tasting glasses at the beginning of the tour, and halfway through we were allowed to taste a beer that was almost done, but not quite there yet. This was still in the process and I believe they said it was still unfiltered, which explained the murky looking amber color. It also tasted a tad different, and was not something I really enjoyed, but was definitely a cool and different experience.

We then went on to the bottle and storage facility. I find these things interesting mainly because I love different packaging and labels. Thats me in the warehouse, with floor to ceiling full packages of beer. It quite possibly was the most amount of beer I've seen in my life. And that was the end of the tour, it was quick informative and fun, the way a tour should be especially with the promise of beer at the end.

So the tasting room was cool, it had a bar vibe to it (and a full gift shop of course) and it had every single Harpoon brew on tap, this included the UFO and even seasonal. You were allowed to try as many and as much as you wanted within the half an hour time frame. In the beginning they explained the different types of beer they had on tap, and then it was free game. And when that half an hour was up, they rang a bell, said last call and you were allowed one more 5oz sample. I was able to try the cider, the dark, the traditional IPA, the raspberry, which is my favorite beer, at least for now, and an interesting combination of the darkest and the cider which they labeled a snake bite, and was really quite good.

I did end up taking a 6 pack of raspberry home, mainly because it was cheaper there than at the local liquor store. But they do offer the growler, a big jug for relatively cheap, with a bottle deposit, which you can fill up with anything on tap.

I have to say, I can not wait to go back! This is a must do!

Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website: http://www.harpoonbrewery.com/

Monday, July 19, 2010

#40 The South Street Diner


The South Street Diner
178 Kneeland Street
Boston, MA 02111-2733


Travel Time: 20 MBTA Orange Line to Downtown Crossing, to change to the Red Line. Get off at South Station. 5 min walk from South Station.

Cost: BLT with Sweet Potato Fries and Water: $8.00

So, I am from Long Island home of the always open diners, hell home of the Diner, and moving to Boston was a shock to me in more ways than one. That shocked included the fact that there are no Diners, anywhere in this city, and needless to say they are NOT open to 4am.

BUT I have found the exception, The South Street Diner, this is a true old fashion diner, small and tiny, but with the awesome breakfast all day menu. The only thing lacking about the menu is the extensive options that are commonplace on the Island. South Street does have this one though, it is open 24 HOURS! yup, somewhere in this city is actually open after the bars close and you want your greasy fix.

This diner has been featured in numerous movies and things of that nature, is a favorite location of the local stars, but despite all that still serves great food. I devoured my BLT and fries quickly, which is a feat for me. The staff is great, local, and really friendly. And another plus they serve beer, at least until 2am, with PBR Tall Boys for only $2.50.

Finding this diner made my day, and I need to come back here....ASAP!

Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website at:
http://southstreetdiner.com/

#30 The Bunker Hill Monument

The Bunker Hill Monument

Monument Square,

Charlestown, MA 02129


open daily from 9 A.M. to 5 p.m. Last climb at 4:30 PM. Summer (July - August) open, 9:00 a.m. to 6 p.m. Last climb at 5:30 PM

Travel Time: 10 min walk from the USS Constitution, following the Freedom Trail! or It is about a 20-30 min MBTA Orange Line T ride to Community College, and then a 10-15 min walk to Monument Square.

Cost: Free!

As you can probably tell from the picture, tho
se red lattice looking structures means that the monument is under construction, and therefore not open for the public to climb, until summer 2011. I am striking out on a few the historical things that make Boston such a great city. But thats ok, going to the monument was enough to at least cross it off the list.

This place is really cool, and a great place to hang out on a sunny day, many locals where lounging in the park, on the green, a few were even picnicking. Which is such a great idea.

I would suggest visiting both this monument and the USS Constitution in the same day, as I did, that way your not making the same long trek twice, and basically going to stare at a mini Washington Monument. This is a really cool piece of American history though, with that being said, and the site of the battle of "Bunker" Hill (this is actually Breeds Hill, but they call it the Bunker Hill memorial anyway, go figure).

Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website at: http://www.nps.gov/bost/historyculture/bhm.htm

#13 The USS Constitution

The USS Constitution
22 1st Avenue
Charlestown, MA 02129
(Charlestown Navy Yard)


Travel Time: 20 min MBTA Orange Line T to Community College Stop. 15 min walk to the Navy Yard.

Cost: Free! to get on the boat, and that is even with a guided tour. To go into the museum is by donation only, suggested donation is $4.00-$5.00.


The Tours leave every half an hour, guided by the ships navy members, or you can have access to the top deck only every 10 min or so.

So we decided to stick around and check out the whole boat on a guided t
our of the USS Constitution. While we waited for our tour to leave, there was a very young navy officer, who was chatting and taking any and all questions (such as how old he was. which by the way is 19!) He was informing us about the Ship, not a boat! and About the navy in general. After about 15 min of waiting another officer came to give us a tour of the first three levels of this ship.

This ship is also under construction so there were other levels and sections of the ship that were off limits, but you really didn't need to see them in order to get the feel of how old this ship is, and what an amazing thing that it is still floating, and with almost all its original materials. The USS Constitution, is still a war ship, and would be ready to sail at a moments notice if need be, so they kept reminding us.

The ship itself showed the harsh life of American Sailors way back when, the tight quarters, barely any sleep, food, or personal space, unless of course you were a captain or first mate. Now I get a tad sea sick, so once we hit the bottom layer I was beginning to feel it, however, up on the top of the deck, you felt nothing, It was as if the ship was sitting on land. It was totally strange. Fashion advice, if you are going here, please were backed shoes, my mom wore flip flops, and almost lost one getting of the gang way.

This was a fun and enjoyable time in the sun, and if you're spending some time here, something worth seeing!


Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website: http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/

#5 The Museum of Science


The Museum of Science
1 Science Park, Boston, MA 02114

Travel Time: 20 min
MBTA Green Line
to Science park, and a 5 min walk.

Cost: $21.00 for an Adult ticket (includes Exhibit halls). However, if you want to see the Omni, thats an extra $9.00 and if you want to go to the 3-D movie or the Butterfly gardens thats another $5.00. There's no student discount here, unfortunately. But there are member discount and city pass discount for those tourists.

In general the MoS is a great way to spend an afternoon, there is a lot to see and do here, and I must say its not just for children. Both my parents and I enjoyed ourselves walking around and through all the exhibits. We were able to see the Whales and the MC Escher exhibit, they were both different and informative. The MC Escher exhibit brought me back to my middle school days when I was forced to sit at a computer and make tessellation's in the style of MC Escher for an hour everyday. I still have not been to the Omni here, and hopefully I will before I leave, but they were not playing anything worth while for me and my parents to see. (My cousins went this past week and saw a movie on the underwater dinosaurs, and apparently fell asleep, so pick a good movie, especially for that price! )

I thought the Whales exhibit was really something different. It was really cool to see the skeleton and try to wrap my
mind around the size of these creatures.

We also took the time to look at the eggs in the incubator, two had just hatched, and one was doing work. My mother sat down for about a half an hour to try and see the chick leave its shell. Note: These birds take forever to hatch, dont waste your time like that.

We saw the lightening show while there, and we had prime spots in the middle of the theatre. This overall was a tad disappointing, while informative about lightening and safety, as I'm sure the point is, it wasn't enough lightening sparks. I wanted a big grand finale, and it fell way short.

On our way out, around 3ish the Museum was beginning to get really crowded, so like most places I suggest an early arrival. You can spend a whole afternoon here, and not even noticed how many hours have really passed by.
Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website: http://www.mos.org/

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

#44 The Southend Buttery

The South End Buttery
314 Shawmut Avenue
Boston, MA 02118

Trip: 20 Min walk from the NEU Campus into the South End. However, the MBTA Silver Line does run through this area.

Cost: $3.00 for a Red Velvet Cupcake
$2.00 for an Iced Double Espresso

So, we went here to try the cupcakes, and of course in the policy of consistency, I went with the Red Velvet and cream cheese frosting. However, The South End Buttery has been voted the best Coffee Shop by numerous magazines and websites for the past 2 or so years, and about 3 years ago they had the best cupcakes in town.

With a tour detour from the main posting, this is a great Cafe`, and is crowded on a weekend morning, there was not an empty table inside or out. My espresso was delish, and fairly priced. I would always come back here for a morning coffee, if I did not live so far away. The only negative is if there is no space anywhere to sit, its hard to find anywhere around the block to sit and enjoy.

With all that being said, the cupcake: it was a moist cupcake, with the
proper coloring all around. The cream cheese frosting was sweet, it seemed like it might have been like a cream cheese butter cream? Im not sure, I don't know my baking terms like I should. But over all the combination of the icing and cake were very nice. A super sweet combination, and the cupcake itself was a tad large, two people can easily split it. And since we all had one to ourselves, no one had finished the poor sad cupcake.

Out of the three cupcake places in Boston, this has the #2 ranking.

Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website:
http://www.southendbuttery.com/site/

Monday, July 12, 2010

#31 The Boston Tea Party Ship


Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum
Congress Street Bridge, Boston, Ma 02127

Unfortunately this will not be completed before I leave Boston in September. The tea party ship and museum are under construction until 2011, and are not open to the public. So this is one thing that will always be on the list.


Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website at:
http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/

#26 The Skywalk Observatory at the Prudential Center

The Skywalk Observatory at the Prudential Center
800 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02199-8001

Cost: $10.00, with a student ID.

Travel Time: 5 min on MBTA Green Line to the Prudential Stop



This was a really cool tourist thing, the time spent there just
depends on who you are with. I think we may have spent at most a half an hour observing the Boston Skyline. The top of the Pru has a view of the entire city of Boston. I think my favorite part was the ability to see all of Northeastern Campus, it was also kinda surreal to be able to see every building from a new and different perspective.

This is an interactive skywalk if you will, and on the inside walls there are different exhibits you can connect with, they include some interesting facts about well known Bostonians. Different perspectives on historical events that happened in Boston. As well as a trip down memory lane for all those great Boston Sports teams.

If you have out of towners visiting, this is a great place to take them for a quick cool down, especially in this summer's heat.

Side note: This place is also an even hall, so there are some days where it will be closed, you should check their website or call ahead to make sure its
open. When we went it was closing early at 3 for a private affair.

Don't Forget to Check Out Their Website at: http://www.prudentialcenter.com/shop/shop_detail.php?id=64

Monday, July 5, 2010

#000 Harbor Fest


HarborFest!
Government Center
45 School Street
Boston, MA 02108-3206

Cost: $10.00

Travel Time: 15 min MBTA Green Line to Government Center


This is a special edition post! So on July 5th, on my way to Quincy Market, I walked out of the Government Center T Station, to a huge sign that said HARBORFEST! And the Chowderfest was going on! This had totally made my day.

So what chowderfest is, is a competition between local Boston Restaurants (7 of them) to see who has the best clam chowder, and is a part of HarborFest, which is held every July 4th weekend in downtown Boston.

Now, unfortunately this was outside, and eating hot clam chowder in 90 degree heat may not have been the smartest thing, but it was totally worth it. The 2010 competitors were: Yankee Lobster Fish Market, Fish Pier Restaurant & Market, Parker's Restaurant at the Omni Parker Hotel, Oceana at the Marriott Long Wharf, Farmer Brown's, Anthem Kitchen and Bar, Mr.
Dooley's.

I have to say, I was most surprised that I did not like some of the competitors chowder at all, however, my two favorite did place 1st and 2nd, and those were Anthem and Mr.Dooley's respectively. Anthem's chowder had a great creamy texture with really interesting and delicious spices, the only downside was the scarcity of clams! Mr. Dooley's chowder was classic and a tad on the chunky side, with lots and lots of clams.

Outside the even there were Drink and Food companies giving out free samples, such as Ocean Spray, JuicyJuice, Rice Chip Company, and Fruit2O. Love me some Ocean Spray Blueberry Cran.

This was a great experience and I am really excited that I was able to take part in it. If you ever stumble upon this awesome "Fest" like I did, do not hesitate and take advantage of the opportunity for a great time, and good food!


Don't Forget to Check out Their Website at: http://www.bostonharborfest.com/
The band was a swinging all day long!

#12 Quincy Market and Faneuil hall


Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall
N Market St
Boston, Massachusetts
02109

Travel Time: 15 min MBTA Green Line to Government Center.

Cost: Whatever you end up purchasing!

So Quincy market ant Faneuil Hall, are really
interchangeable, because they are at the same location, just depends on what you would want to call them. But nevertheless they share an interesting history, going all the way back to the founding of this country. These locations were not only marketplaces, but once meeting locations were the great minds would gather in order to discuss such matters, like the Boston Tea Party or the Declaration of Independence, just to name a few.

Nowadays, this spot has changed, inside the Faneuil Hall, there are now shops. Additionally, surrounding both Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market are lines of more modern stores, which include the likes of Abercrombie and Fitch, Coach, Ann Taylor, and Build a Bear workshop, just to name a few. Inside Quincy Market there are now food booths, where you are able to get some great bites to eat. Along the
edge of Quincy market there are also more little shops, that carry everything from the quintessential Boston tour gifts, to handmade jewelry or purses completely made of zippers.

There are also a lot of great sit-down restaurants within Quincy Market, they include a version of Cheers, the famous TV bar, where everyone knows your name. And a real riot of a restaurant called Dicks Last Resort, this is not a place for those without a sense of humor.

Besides the great food and shopping this destination in Boston has to offer, there are the street performers that use the numerous quads of empty space to put on a great show. They vary from magicians, street dancers, musicians and even a few comedians.

This is a great place to do a little shopping, get some food, or just even people watch!

Dont Forget to check out their website! http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/

Sunday, July 4, 2010

#001 Fourth of July Special


The Fourth of July Fireworks
The Esplanade on the Charles

Travel Time: 20 min walk to the Mass Ave/Sm
oot Bridge. OR Orange Line MBTA to downtown crossing to change to the Red Line MBTA To MGH.

Cost: Free!

This is one of the most popular attractions in Boston on July 4th. Almost everyone and their grandmother is out on the esplanade. So be prepared for
everything, the drunken college and high school students, little old ladies, and even the special few who think its a great idea to have a bicycle in a mass group of people. If you have personal space or people issues, you may want to move far away from the river, so not to have to confront these issues.

Now the Boston Pop's will begin at 9, the actual fireworks will not begin until about 10 or 10:30pm. So be prepared for a long night, there are some crazies out there that will get to the esplanade around 8am on the 4th, in order to get the best seats of the house, in the DCR Hatch Shell, so they can see the Pops perform, while I'm sure this is cool and all, I dont think it's necessary. We arrived maybe between 8pm and 815pm there was plenty of good seating still available, although the crowds were quickly filing in and by 8:45pm there was barely any standing room available, nor was there any room to walk. If you are trying to meet people it was a pain, mainly because the cell service was super shotty, since everyone was trying to use their phone in the same small radius.

The show did also feature Kenny Chesney, which was because CBS, yes the television studio, took over this production of the fireworks, but we won
't go there.

The fireworks started on time, and they were awesome! They lasted between 45
-60 min, and featured every kind of firework available, colored ones, shaped ones, loud ones, silently but deadly ones. It was awesome, my favorite, and probably always will be, are the white ones that look like weeping willows, its the
only way I know how to describe them. Please see picture!

Now, once the show was over, and its not like a concert, there's no inkling of an encore. There is a mass exodus, and there is no way to escape it. Even if you wait a couple of minutes, so if half the crowd, the only good thing is that the MBTA T is free after the show! So you might as well bite the bullet, join the crowds and wait in line to go to where ever your next July 4th destination is.

If you are ever in Boston on July 4th, this
is a must see/do, even with ALL the other Bostonians and tourists around.

Dont Forget to Check Out Their Website at:
http://www.july4th.org/

Saturday, July 3, 2010

#37 Diesel Cafe`

Diesel Cafe
Davis Square
257 Elm St
Somerville, MA 02144

Travel Time: 45 min. MBTA Orange to Downtown Crossing, change to MBTA Red to Davis Square.

Cost: Small Iced Raspberry Coffee: $2.00

I went to Diesel Cafe after a less than stellar performance at Kickass Cupcakes, and i was amazingly surprised. I went in with no prior knowledge of this cafe, and assumed like most within Downtown Boston, it would be on the small side, but boy was I wrong. This place was HUGE! It had seating that went on for miles (not really, but you get the picture), as well as a front seating area without any windows, so on a nice day, you get that al fresco vibe. There was also at least two pool tables hanging in the middle of the cafe, and an old school black and white photo booth, which is cute if you take a date there.

The menu was also expansive there are a lot of options, for both drink and food. I just went with my typical summer beverage, but I would love to go back there for a quick bite one day.

There were a lot of funky, and staff made artwork hanging on the walls, and a lot of customers with laptops doing work and accessing the wifi networks that were available, this is a great place to study, but alas its SUMMER! and who really does anything?

Great vibe, cool staff, even cooler drinks. LOVE to go back!


Dont Forget to Check Out Their Website: http://www.diesel-cafe.com/