A buddy and I are heading to Beantown (driving from Toronto) to catch a couple of games at Fenway (before that great vandal "progress" has his wicked way with her).

We don't particularly want to stay in Boston itself; rather we would prefer to stay on the outskirts and make day trips in. Can anyone recommend some nearby towns that have a relatively short commute (either by car or train)?

Thanks

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), August 02, 2000

Answers

Stay in the city itself. Neat place, at least it used to be. Worth the extra bucks. Why spend all that money and time to stay in some boring motel on Rte 128 that could be at any Xway exit in North America?

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), August 02, 2000.

Lars,

Them extra dollars are "murcan" dollars. Cost me lots of my puny Northern Pesos.

Kidding aside, we may well decide to stay downtown. But I was warned about Boston's one-way street maze and "interesting" drivers.

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), August 02, 2000.

As a fellow Canuck I can sympathize on the conversion costs...

Boston hotels are pretty expensive. I had the added fun of visiting there last September while the Ryder Cup was on - availability was very low and the costs were even higher.

I ended up staying outside Boston at the Days Inn in Davers (near Salem, just north of Boston). It's a short drive to the city or you can also drive into Salem and take the train/public transit to go wherever you need to go in Boston.

BTW, driving in Boston has been made even more fun now thanks to The Big Dig which is currently ripping up the roads.

-- The Toner (The_Toner@home.com), August 02, 2000.

Johnny--

Yeah, you can't bust your budget but maybe you can stay intown for an affordable premium. Certainly worth checking on it with a travel agent. Remember you would save the cost of commuting to Fenway. Boston has good public transportation--trolleys, busses and subways. And like Toronto, it's a good walking city. The waterfront, the North End, the Freedom Trail, Harvard Square are all to be walked.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), August 02, 2000.

Johnny, you might consider staying in Concord. They have some great little B&Bs out there and you can take the MTA into Boston, which is a nice ride by itself. Been awhile since Ive been back there so check it out in advance. Fenway Park is a national treasure! I remember the good old days when we would take the train up to Young street from Motor City to see the Wings and Leaf brawls at the Garden. I also saw Ali fight George Chavalo up there. Great town Toronto!!

-- Ra (tion@l.1), August 02, 2000.

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out places in Concord and Salem. The "big dig" is really putting me off trying to drive downtown. (It sounds like Toronto; there are only 2 seasons: winter and construction.)

Ra,

Glad to hear that you made it up for the Wings-Leafs games at the Gardens. And brawling was right....Terrible Ted....Gordie's elbows etc. I'm just about old enough that I was able to go to some games at the Gardens that weren't televised (usually the ones on Monday nights). Those non-televised games were definitely chippier and rougher than the Hockey Night in Canada Saturday games.

There are plans in the works to convert the old Gardens to offices and condos, while still retaining a 5000 seat arena.

George Chavalo has been dining out on that Ali fight for 30 years! He still has quite a high profile in this city, particularly for the 40+ crowd.

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), August 02, 2000.

Bid on the net at the assorted travel sites. Put on what you want to pay and where/when. Weekends in Boston in Summer are **discount time** because everyone is away from the colleges (1/3 the city's population) and.... the locals go to the Cape or Newport. I used the old Sheraton off the Boston Commons but all the hotels will discount. Forget "The Bostonian", over rated and over priced. The Ritz is a great deal if you can get a discount. You can walk to the game from there or the Copley Plaza.

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), August 02, 2000.

Well Johnny, Im in the 55+ crowd so I remember too damn much :>). I was actually born in Bolton when it was pure farmland (1943). My dad was in the military and overseas so Mom went up to the family farm to have me. I carry dual citizenship to this day. Although I grew up in Detroit my mother is Canadian. I come from a hockey family. My Dad was President of the Michigan Amateur Hockey Association for many years and my Moms second cousin is Terry Sawchuck. Dad was in business in Detroit with Ted Lindsey and Marty Pavelich for sometime. I was honored to know Gordie and his family very well.

That fight between Ali and Chavalo went the distance (15 rounds) and to this day I can see Ali coming out in the last round just fresh as a daisy, pounding on Georges head. To his everlasting credit, Chavalo never went down in that fight although his face looked like a sack of golf balls.

I spent my first two years on that farm in Bolton and I understand that that whole area is now yuppie paradise. Toronto has turned into the Crown Jewel of North America with costs of living to rival any large city in the world. In closing my friend, let me say this..Adios and good riddance Mondasi!!

-- Ra (tion@l.1), August 02, 2000.

Johnny Canuck, do not, I repeat, do not drive in Boston. It is a mess. Much easier to take the subway. Stay in Cambridge or Lexington. Or go to priceline.com and bid on a hotel.

Mar

-- Not now, not like this (AgentSmith0110@aol.com), August 03, 2000.

JC - no hurry on Fenway, it will be a few years (if it even goes through). Of course, worth seeing that ex-Cannuck, Pedo, do his magic.

Check www.mbta.com for maps and schedules of the public transportation routes. Concord is a cute little town, but I don't know that the train would run often enough for you. Boston hotels are tremendously expensive but you will miss out on a great deal of terrific nightlife if you don't stay in town. And it might limit you to day games at Fenway. Meanwhile, any of the communities along Route 128 (what is not referred to as Route 95, to the extent it forms a semi-circle around Greater Boston) sound like what you had in mind.

Ra, I think of Bolton as still being pretty rural.

-- just a (bos@ton.ian), August 03, 2000.

Does anyone know of a good place in or near Boston that permits dogs? TIA.

-- WD-40 (wd40@squeak.not), August 03, 2000.

Wd-40:

Nearest that I know is Fargo, ND.

DB

-- DB (Debunker@nomore.xxx), August 03, 2000.

Lube Job, are you referring to yourself or your date?

-- Ra (tion@l.1), August 03, 2000.

Just to let you know, I ended up booking a night at the Day's Inn suggested by "The Toner" (interesting handle by the way). Downtown was too expensive and we're going to a couple of day games anyway. My days of hitting the clubs til 3 am are behind me (until I have my mid life crisis and buy the red soft-top etc....)

Ra,

Bolton is a couple of towns over from where I work. I wouldn't describe it as "yuppie heaven" so much as "upscale suburban tract housing with hellishly little social infrastructure". (I live in the older part of Toronto - you don't have to consume a gallon of gas to purchase a gallon of milk.) The suburbs around Toronto are mushrooming in a helter-skelter way; I think the regional urban planners here must have gone to Phoenix for a conference on how to induce sprawl.....

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), August 03, 2000.

Johnny, have a great time in BeanTown and enjoy the games at Fenway. Hope you get to see Pedro pitchawesome!!!! BTW, my little Brother played 1 year of semi-pro for St Catherines at the same time I was working on an engineering contract at the GM plant. After taking many sticks up side the head, he decided a career in engineering was for him also.

-- Ra (tion@l.1), August 03, 2000.

Just as in 1999, one can always count on the pollies for infomative answers. Thanks, guys, I just KNOW you were trying...

-- WD-40 (wd40@squeak.not), August 03, 2000.