New England Sep 17! Day 1 - Travelling to Boston & Skywalk Observatory

[Lolly90]

Index

Pre-Trip Report

Friday 1st September 2017

Today was the first day of our New England Road Trip and we were off to Boston We stayed in the Premier Inn Bath Road at Heathrow the night before, as usual. Our flight was at 09:40, so we were up pretty early this morning at 05:30. We got ourselves ready and were heading down to reception around 06:30 to buy tickets for the airport shuttle, costing £4.50 each. A shuttle was just pulling up as we got our tickets, so we managed to get straight on. Soon enough we were pulling up at Terminal 3.

I'd already checked us in online the day before but as were flying with Delta we had to go through an additional security process, were they asked us several questions about our trip and what we had planned. We were then able to drop our luggage off. Together our suitcases came to 25kg, so we still had plenty left for shopping. We were through security shortly after and into duty free by 07:15.

We decided to grab some breakfast first. Usually we go to Bridge Bar & Grill but we couldn't find it, not sure if it has been changed into something else. Instead we headed to Strada. Mark had the Strada Breakfast and I had Poached Eggs with Salmon, both with a latte. Total cost was £23.50.

Next we went to WHSmith for magazines, newspaper & some waters and Duty Free so Mark could pick up his usual Hermes aftershave. We were then able to head over to our gate. Shortly after getting here, we were told the flight was delayed as there was a problem with the plane that they were trying to fix. We were then told we had to change planes and had to wait for one to arrive. As we were delayed, they gave each of us a £10 voucher to spend on food/drink in the airport. We got a coffee each, a croissant and a fruit pot.

Eventually we were able to board the plane and ended up taking off around 12:10 - two and a half hours later than planned

The flight wasn't too bad, it went fairly quickly and the food was OK. We were given pretzels and a coffee a short while into the flight and had a lunch of pasta, crackers & cheese and an orange mousse. Not long before landing sandwiches were handed out but we unable to have one as there was somebody with a nut allergy a few rows in front of us.

I watched Moana and Manchester by the Sea, both were very good. The flight ended up being just over 7 hours long; we landed at 14:30 - two hours later than planned.

There was a long queue at customs, so it took us over an hour to get through. Once we'd got our suitcases, we got a taxi from the airport to our hotel, which was The Westin Copley Place in the back bay area of Boston. We arrived 25 minutes later, around 16:30. We paid $40 for the taxi, including tip.

Our hotel room was very nice, a good size and we had a lovely view of Boston. The location was ideal and I'd definitely recommend it. We unpacked the things we would be needing for the next 3 nights before getting ready to head out.

As it was a sunny afternoon, we decided it would be fine to head over to the Skywalk Observatory at the Prudential Center. This cost $19 each.

It was very quiet, we were able to head straight in and had no trouble getting to the windows to enjoy the views. It was a lovely clear day and the views were amazing. I'm glad we decided to do this first, as it gave us a good overview of the city we would be exploring over the next couple of days.

We eventually decided to head out and get some dinner before we got too tired. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in the Prudential Center. It was very busy but we only had to wait 15 minutes to get seated. I went for the Smokehouse Burger with a strawberry lemonade and Mark had the Mushroom Burger with a diet coke. We both really enjoyed our meals and were so happy to be back eating here.

We were both starting to get tired, so decided to get a Key Lime Pie Cheesecake to takeaway. I'm not exactly sure when we got round to eating this but I remember it being very good - one of the best I've tried. Total cost was $47.13 plus tip.

We headed back to the hotel and watched some TV back in the hotel room before falling asleep some time after 21:00. After having a fairly bad impression when we arrived in San Francisco 2 years ago, I was so happy our first impressions of Boston was so good. I was definitely looking forward to exploring over the next couple of days!

Next: Day 2 - Harvard University & The Freedom Trail

[MariaLynda]

Following along! X

[mick]

Good travel day

Joan

[P&S]

Following this Great travel day.

[Melbatb]

You managed a lot once you got there!

I love Key Lime Pie! The photo is making me hungry!

[dreamadream]

Fab start! We are off to Boston in November, same flights as you, hope we don't have such a delay! But at least you still arrived in sunlight to enjoy the view

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by MariaLynda

Following along! X

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Thank you for following

Originally Posted by mick

Good travel day

Joan

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Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by P&S

Following this Great travel day.

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Thank you for reading/following along. Day 2 is now up

Originally Posted by Melbatb

You managed a lot once you got there!

I love Key Lime Pie! The photo is making me hungry!

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I wasn't sure if we'd manage anything more than a bit of dinner when we got there but glad we managed to see what we did

Isn't it the best?!

Originally Posted by dreamadream

Fab start! We are off to Boston in November, same flights as you, hope we don't have such a delay! But at least you still arrived in sunlight to enjoy the view

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Have you been to Boston before? Hope you have an amazing time! I'm sure you won't, I think we were just unlucky

[dreamadream]

No so finally making it! We adore NYC but just wanted a slower pace and to see the fall leaves!

[Lolly90]

Originally Posted by dreamadream

No so finally making it! We adore NYC but just wanted a slower pace and to see the fall leaves!

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It's definitely a lot more relaxed. We both actually preferred Boston to NYC

[MichelleS]

Fab travel day ,hotel looks lovely