Early this year, we talked about where we wanted to go for our major trip for the year. The first thought we had was to fly to Newark and spend a couple days in NYC, and then take the train to Boston and spend some time there and finally head up the coast to Maine. We decided that was just too much to try to do in one trip, so we decided on NYC and Boston.
If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll remember that we went to Washington, DC and NYC back in 2023. You can find that post here: https://cathyathomeontheriver.com/2023/09/20/bright-lights-big-cities/
This time, we flew to Newark, NJ and then took the train to Penn Station and walked about 10 minutes to our hotel, The Refinery, which is located in the garment district. We got in late in the afternoon, so we checked in and got cleaned up and went to Le Tout Va Bien near the theatre where we were going to see a show later. The restaurant is in a generally residential area and looks like it’s been there for a while. As the name implies, it’s a French restaurant and it’s as charming as can be and the food is great. My husband had the red fish that was the special for the night and I had the duck confit, which was also a special. We shared a chocolate souffle for dessert–neither of us had ever had a chocolate souffle.
Then it was off to the Neil Simon theatre for the musical, MJ, which was a short walk away. The line was already forming when we arrived, but once they started letting people in, it moved really quickly. (This was a tip I shared from our last trip. The theaters aren’t playing around getting people in and out, so step lively.) The basic story of the musical is Michael Jackson’s preparation for the “Dangerous” tour with flashbacks from his childhood. The music covers most of his (and the Jackson 5’s) greatest hits. The kids in the show definitely stole the spotlight, but it was really good. Some of the staging tricks they used were extremely effective.
The next morning we got up and wandered around a little bit. We were in the garment district, so there were some fantastic shops selling all kinds of things for making clothes. We went into one store that had 4 aisles of zippers–all the colors and all the lengths. The number and variety of trims they had was jaw dropping.
Our first stop for the day was the NYC Public library on 5th Avenue. They had a special exhibit for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the country.
The interior of the library is amazing.
We found this cool building while we were wandering around waiting for The Reading Room to open for lunch. It reminded me of the Guardian building in Detroit.
We left the restaurant and went to get tickets for the tour of Grand Central Terminal–my husband’s favorite thing from the trip. They didn’t have any tickets till the afternoon, so we went back to the hotel and rested and on our way back to Grand Central, we stopped into this button store (LouLou Buttons) that was right next to our hotel. This is only a fraction of the buttons they had there. If you need specialty items to make some clothes, you simply have to go to NYC.
Grand Central Terminal is simply AMAZING, and we had a great tour guide. On this tour, they gave us ear pieces so we could hear everything that he said which was really nice.
I should have taken more photos.
We left Grand Central Terminal and headed to dinner at Buena Vista Restaurant and Bar in Hell’s Kitchen. They had just reopened after a modest renovation, so we couldn’t have Paella, so we had Tapas. It was all really good. Then we went to Schoenfeld Theatre to Buena Vista Social Club. This show is based on the revolution in Cuba in the late fifties. The music is from an album called the Buena Vista Social Club that came out in the 1990s. It was really great. We liked it just slightly better than MJ.
The next morning, we packed up and headed to Penn Station and took the train to Boston’s South Station which was conveniently located just a few blocks from our hotel, Godfrey Hotel, on Washington Street. We were too early to check in, so we walked over Quincy Market and had a late lunch outside on an absolutely perfect fall day. After lunch, we went to Boston Common and took in the sights along the way.
We checked in to the hotel, and cleaned up and went to Bricco in the North end for dinner. Neither of us were very hungry, so we got something small. The restaurant is so cute and the food was good.
Saturday was our art museum day. We had a light breakfast at the restaurant in the hotel and then headed out. On our way, we came across the Boston Public Library (on Copley Square), and we went in even though it wasn’t on the list for Saturday. The art in this building is WONDERFUL and FREE.
From there, we went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This museum features items that Isabella Stewart Gardner collected during her lifetime. She built the building to house them and her will requires that the 18,000 items remain just as she placed them. It is a fascinating and intriguing museum and well worth a visit. If you’re going to go, I highly recommend reading The Lioness of Boston–an historical novel based on her life. We were hungry when we finished so we ate lunch at the restaurant at the museum. It was quite good and we sat outside on the patio.
We were getting really tired, but we pressed on to the Museum of Fine Art which is just across the street from Isabella Stewart Gardner. Admission was free on the day we went, so we didn’t feel bad about not staying long. We spent our time in the American Impressionist gallery. They have a beautiful collection of John Singer Sargent, and other notable American Impressionists. Unfortunately, their Mary Cassat paintings were away at another exhibition.
We were dead on our feet, so we took the train back. We went to a little restaurant in Chinatown (just down the street from us) for dumplings. It was packed with locals. We took ours to go and it was really good.
We had mostly beautiful weather during our trip, but it rained on Sunday. We decided to take the train out to the JFK Presidential Library. It was really interesting and sobering to think what he might have accomplished if he hadn’t been assassinated. We were a little hungry, so we had a muffin and a drink at the museum. There isn’t a proper restaurant there, so plan accordingly.
It was still raining when we finished, so we went next door to the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. This organization focuses on the Senate and we learned a lot. It only takes about an hour to go through and worth it.
We took the UMass–Boston bus back to the train station. We picked up falafel on our way back to the hotel. We were beat.
On Monday, most museums are closed so we decided to walk the Freedom Trail. My husband found a self-guided audio tour on the National Park Service website which was really good and provides lots of supplementary information if you want to take a deeper dive and read more. But first, we fortified ourselves with canoli from Mike’s Pastries. Their canoli are huge and there’s no line first thing in the morning.
Our favorite guided tour was at the King’s Chapel. We went through the Paul Revere house which felt very touristy and we didn’t learn much. We went to lunch at Galleria Umberto (cash only) where we had Arrancini and a spinach and sausage stromboli–we split both because we were still full from cannoli. (There were so many locals here, so we were sure it was going to be good, and it was.) We were pretty tired after we finished the Freedom Trail, so we found a cute bar in the North End and had a few drinks and then went across the street to Lucca and had a light dinner–salad and an appetizer.
Tuesday was our last full day in Boston, so we went out to see the USS Constitution. We got to that side of the river too early to see the ship, so we went to Bunker Hill. There’s a museum there and you can go up into the monument, but neither was open that day. We went to Tatte for a quick breakfast and coffee. Then we made our way to the Boston Shipyard. It was really interesting. We saw the Constitution first, but I think you’d appreciate it more if you went through the museum first.
We went to lunch and then took the ferry back to the other side of the river. We decided to go on a short (60 minute) harbor tour. We highly recommend it. However, it is WINDY, so bring a jacket. Even with jackets, we were COLD.
When we returned, we weren’t that hungry, so we decided to go to Bova’s in the North End and get some dessert to go. I got coconut cake and my husband got a cannoli and we split a lobster tail. It was the best coconut cake I’ve ever had and my husband like their cannoli better than Mike’s Pastries. We went back to the hotel and got our things organized for an early departure on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, we walked to South station to catch the Silver Line (a bus) to the airport. You board underground in the terminal–just follow the signs. I highly recommend going this way–it’s $2.40/person and they drop you off right in front of the airport. The Boston airport is surprisingly not crowded, at least when we were there, but we try to travel on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. They don’t have as many restaurants as some airports do, so if you’re a picky eater, keep that in mind.
We connected through LaGuardia and that went smoothly. Our plane wasn’t full and it was only about a 2 hour flight to Chattanooga. We arrived back in Chattanooga to 93 degree weather (a big shock after the beautiful fall weather in Boston). When we got off the plant, my husband went to get the car while I grabbed our bag and we were on the road 15 minutes or so after we deboarded. We made it home in time to pick up Pippa (our dog). We both really missed her.
A few notes:
–Don’t bother with a transit card in Boston. You can just tap your credit card and then you don’t have to worry about keeping up with another card.
–The trains in Boston will list their last stop (terminus) so you know which direction a train is heading. If we go again, we’ll get a subway map and a map of the city, at least the tourist areas.
–Many of the less fancy restaurants and the pastry shops in the North End don’t take credit cards so make sure you bring cash.
–Don’t stand under street signs while waiting for the light to change in NYC–you might get pooped on.
–NYC is CROWDED. Have a plan and your GPS running before you head out or you risk getting in the way and people don’t have time for that.
–Our experience in both cities is that the people are generally friendly and helpful if you approach them politely and respectfully.
–If you’re going to a show, arrive early and have your tickets ready. They don’t allow much time to get to your seat. When the show is over, they want you OUT, so follow their instructions and make your way out as quickly as possible.
Cathy At Home on the River 