Day four found us waking up in Westfield, MA which is about an hour and a half outside of Boston. We started the day with "brunch" at the Friendly's which was next to our hotel and then got on the highway. Aside from some drizzle the drive was pretty uneventful until we got off of the freeway into downtown Boston. Driving downtown is nuts. Our hotel was right by the freeway exit so I ducked into the nearest parking garage trying to avoid driving around as much as possible. Well, that was a mistake. After two laps around the garage, no unoccupied spaces, and $9 later we thought we'd try our fortunes elsewhere. I decided to pull up in front of the hotel and unload our bags (and the girls). Of course the bellhop directed us to the Colonnade's garage which is right behind the hotel and I had no problems parking. Oh well, live and learn.
We went up to our room and it is ridiculously swanky with a great view of the city. So far we've had great luck with hotel rooms. The Colonnade was a Travelocity "Top Secret Hotel" so we got a four star room relatively inexpensively. It is one of the nicest rooms I've ever stayed in and it is really close to lots of sites in downtown Boston. More importantly it's within walking distance of Fenway Park!
After we settled in, we rested for a bit and organized our things. It was raining and we didn't really know what to do so we took a Boston Duck Tour which was really the only thing other than Fenway that was on our list of things to do while we were here. The photo above is the three of us in the rear view mirror of our duck, the "Red Sox Nathan." The "Red Sox Nathan" was the lead vehicle in the 2007 World series parade when Boston won the championship. Our guide, Captain AL (Amazing Lee) Courageous was the driver in the parade. The duck tour takes you by all of the historic and interesting locations in the downtown Boston area and being an amphibious vehicle, goes out on to the Charles River. It launches into the water right by the site of the forthcoming Charles River Skatepark (but we all know how that project has stalled out). Both Miranda and I had an opportunity to drive the duck while it was in the water. Of course I was the only "adult" to volunteer.
Later on that evening, we went for a walk up and down Boylston St. in search of dinner. We wanted to eat at McGreevy's but they are 21 and over after 8PM so we're going to try to have lunch there today (July 15). We ended up having dinner at Legal Seafood in the Prudential Center on the recommendation of Dan Michalec and he did NOT disappoint. The food was spectacular. Afterwards, we retired to the Colonnade for the evening for some much needed rest.
Today is Fenway Day, so I'm anxious to get out and get to it.
