Going to Boston

SteveB wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

How far do you want to drive? If you get a chance the New England Air Museum at Bradley Internation Airport (Windsor Locks/Hartford, CT) is well worth it.

Alan

walk the freedom trail, go to the top of the pru, visit the fog museum, fine arts, walk harvard square, walk newbury street, go to fenway, pops, see if there's a hatch shell show, walk the diamond necklace, rowboat jamaica pons, take the orange line, visit a kenmore sq sushi house and walk the new downtown parks. oh yeah, visit the commons. ask about stuff for the second day. good hobby shop in medford square, hopt the t.

You could check in with my mother and father.....

Andy

Take the duck tour. A big-assed DUKW (some are WWII vintage) picks you up in front of the Museum of Science and takes you on an hour long tour of the city by street. Historical sites are pointed out as you go and eventually you end up driving into the Charles River where the prop is engaged and you head up-river. All the kids in our group got a turn at the wheel (helm?). One kid was 70+ years old. If you can, try to get on the bright purple "North End Norma". She's the real deal...not one of the newer ones. Captain Sven the Viking is resplendent in his horned helmet and fleece miniskirt. His sense of humor alone is worth the price of admission. I learned more Boston history in that hour and a half than in the rest of my 50 years. The museum ain't too shabby either! A monster Van de Graaff generator and an Imax. The nearby aquarium has a couple of Imax screens. Oh yeah, they have some fish too.

Doug Wagner

As far as modeling interests...

Visit the USS Constitution. There is also a Fletcher-class destroyer anchored next to her. And if you're going to the Constitution, you might as well walk up Bunker Hill (actually Breeds Hill) a few blocks away.

I stayed in a downtown hotel and took the T (subway) to Malden to visit The Hobby Bunker. Not a super hobby shop but more than adequate if you need a "hobby shop fix". Getting to the The Hobby Bunker was real easy on the T. It's about three blocks from the station. Call the shop (781-321-8855) for the T stop (I can't remember which one it is).

Martin

malden center. come out of the t, cut through city hall, right hand side. walk strait dowm street, last store on right. one block that way.

Spare Time is an awsome hobby shop !

And about 27 miles north of Boston there is Modeler's Junction Hobby Shop. Small but well stocked shop with a very friendly propriator (Wayne). He always has all kinds of estate collections and other odds and ends you'll never find anywhere else.

See:

Check the link I posted above - he is in Methuen.

i did after i hit send. no there's a nice little burg.

The New England Aquarium downtown on the wharf is world class.

There's a great hobby shop almost on the border of New Hampshire but it's a drive. hth

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

That shop is exact oposite from all those Hobbytown stores. Small, cozy and packed with bunch of usual and odd stuff. Creaky floors...

It is kind of like "Cheers" of Hobby Shop. Every time I visit I run into someone I know or into some interesting stranger. And usually there is at least one regular just "hanging around".

Peteski

when i saw the pic, i realised i was there in the late 70's, i believe. the guy was friendly and prices were ok. there was an antique store close by my gf went to.

Steve,

Others have given you many suggestions. If it is your first time in Boston, then I would walk the Freedom Trail, visit the USS Constitution and Caisson Young in Charlestown, take a Swan Boat ride in the Public Garden, have a slice of pizza or a meal in the North End, and visit the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium. Almost everything is within walking distance, or you could by a Visitor's T Pass to use the mass transit system over your stay.

If you are looking to go beyond Boston itself, you can take the Harbor Express water shuttle (adjacent to the Boston Marriot Long Warf) to Quincy and see the USS Salem. The Salem and the water shuttle share a pier in the old Fore River Shipyard, plus the trip gives you a water view of the Boston waterfront and the Boston Harbor Islands National Park on the way. You could spend a day in Quincy if you'd like to add the John Adams and John Quincy Adams birthplaces, mansion, and burial site to your trip. You could even have a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee in the original store (#1) on Southern Artery, right near the police station.

Have fun.

Larry Ouellette

Volunteer, USS Salem (CA 139)

United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum

Quincy, Massachusetts, USA

there used to be a model shop in quincy center. is it still there?

Location, location, location!

-- John The history of things that didn't happen has never been written. . - - - Henry Kissinger

Hee, hee, hee!

The Keeper (of too much crap!)

I'm not sure if he has been open that long. That place was a Pharmacy (he still sometimes uses the old stock of pharmacy bags). I think I recall him telling me that he started the hobby shop in mid or late 80s. I don't know of any antique store around - but I don't look for stuff like that, and it might have been there

Peteski

could be my memory. used to be a lot of small town stores in ma.