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Things to Do in BostonHere are a few of our favorite suggestions for ways to enjoy your free time during the rest of that Labor Day weekend. All are easily accessible by public transportation. MuseumsMy highest two recommendations are the MIT Museum and the Harvard Museum of Natural History. In fact these were the two places I really, really wanted to have the reception; unfortunately, both seem to have recently adopted policies forbidding dancing. The MIT Museum has gems like the kinetic sculptures of Arthur Ganson, a spectacular holography collection (including the full holdings of the former Museum of Holography in New York City), the Metafield Maze (like playing Labyrinth by standing on the board), and Claude Shannon's juggling machines. The HMNH has the incredible Glass Flowers collection, and is in general stuffed full of ridiculously high-quality fossils and gemstones and taxidermied animals with little cards on them noting "This is the only complete specimen of this extinct bird in the world." The MIT Museum is an easy walk from the hotel or Central Square; the HMNH is walkable from either, or a short walk from Harvard Square. Also of particular note is the New England Aquarium. Apparently I'm less overflowing with enthusiasm for it, but I definitely recommend it to visitors. The Museum of Science, located over the Charles River between Cambridge and Boston, is a great (and kid-friendly) place to spend an afternoon. The Theater of Electricity alone is worth the price of admission. The Museum of Fine Arts is world-class, but for a real Bostonian experience, you might check out the nearby Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum instead. ShoppingFaneuil Hall and Harvard Square are famous places to shop, and often in the warmer months have great street performers (especially Faneuil Hall). The only full-scale shopping mall in Cambridge is the Cambridgeside Galleria (with free shuttle service from the Kendall T stop on the Red Line). Closer to the hotel, Central Square has coffee shops, many decent restaurants, grocery stores, a 24-hour drugstore, and other useful destinations. Attractions
The Freedom Trail
is the information superhighway of Boston sightseeing. Take the Red Line to Park Street and look for the
red line paved or painted into the sidewalk. Or, take a detour across the Boston Common and walk around
the Boston Public Garden,
home of the famous swan boats.
Another attraction you might consider for its novelty is Tomb. It's a sort of immersive interactive multimedia puzzle experience, of a sort I've never seen anywhere else. The puzzles are of unreliable quality and the presentation could be improved (and perhaps has been -- we were there on the day it opened, in 2004), so this is a less strong recommendation than the others above, but it has some memorable high points and is certainly worth mentioning. (Also, it's where Erica and I went on the day we first really started dating.)
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