After a LONG drive and a quick checkin to our hotel in Waltham. Our first stop was the Back Bay section of town. It was late in the afternoon but we did get a bit of site seeing done. Boston is a beautiful city and I enjoyed the visit a lot. One of the first places we saw was Copley Square. This is Trinity Church nearby.

Along Commonwealth Avenue, there were sculptures and memorials. I especially liked this one.

The next day we walked along the Freedom Trail. This is a path along the ground that takes you by all the major historical sites in Boston. From Boston Common to the Old North Church. It was really interesting to see all the American history that took place in this city. Along the way, we passed the Irish Famine memorial.

As you can see from this next picture, Boston does a really nice job of blending the old right in with the new.

Near the Little Italy section of town is Paul Revere’s house. The streets in this area are very narrow and old. There were lots of interesting shops and restaurants along the way. We stopped in an Italian Bakery that was really good! This was taken very near Paul Revere’s house.

From there we walked up to the Old North Church and saw a very interesting presentation on what happened (“The British are coming”). And then we headed over the river and went to check out the USS Constitution. This is a very old ship still moored in Boston Harbor. I like this shot of the cannons.

Mom enjoyed the ferry ride back!

The next day we went on a whale watching excursion! This was a real treat for both me and mom. I couldn’t believe how many whales we saw!!! It was a really fun experience and I highly recommend it. We went out of Gloucester, which is located about a hour northeast of Boston. Here are a few pics.

Here are some pretty boats in the harbor on our return.

The evening we spent some time in the area around Fanueil Hall, which is a fun area with lots of shopping, dining, and entertainment. We had lots of fun!

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This restaurant, located in the Back Bay section of Boston, is a good choice for mid-range fare in the Boston area. The menu had a wide range of choices to choose from.

I booked this hotel as a cheap last-minute option for a post July 4th trip to the Boston area. It is a very decent hotel and especially if you need to be in the Waltham area on business, it will work out fine.

We arrived around 3pm in the afternoon and after a small wait (~15 minutes), were given a room with two double beds. It was a decent sized room, although not huge by any stretch. It was certainly adequate for the two of us, however. I thought the beds were a little on the soft side (you kindof “sink” down into them). There is a thermostat on the wall, which was nice for keeping the room nice and cool. It had a relatively new TV with an adequate selection of channels. I will point out that they seemed to be having AC troubles in the hallways but our room was fine.

We did try the buffet one morning and my recommendation is that if you don’t have to, skip it. It is nothing special. Yes, they have omelettes and (supposedly) french toast. The self-serve waffle makers were better than usual fare at continental breakfast. This is not included in the room and probably not worth the $10.95 that they charge for it. We only did it to save some time in the morning. Personally, I wish we had just waited until we got to Boston where there were tons of good choices for food. I also want to add that there is pretty much NOTHING in the vicinity of the hotel. There was a relatively nice looking restaurant across the street, and a bunch of hotels in the area. And there is a Costco not far away. But you have to drive a bit to find any kind of selection of services. Not recommended if you don’t have a car!

Getting to Boston itself was so-so. We drove to the “T” station at Alewife, which was about 15 minutes away. This gave us full access to the subway system and got us to downtown Boston in less than an hour (from our hotel). We purchased one-day passes for $9/each. I think we could have saved some money by paying as we went (individual rides were $1.75). Personally, if I were to go back, I’d try to stay slightly closer to the city. Getting around Boston by car is rather inconvenient and time consuming. But for the price I paid, I was happy with my choice.

Overall, this is a fine mid-range choice for the Waltham area, especially if one has to be there on business. It is certainly clean and comfortable and sometimes that is all you can really ask for in a hotel.