Boston & Cape Cod Educational Visit April 2019
On arrival in Boston we were greeted by glorious sunny weather, which was fabulous and then checked into the equally fabulous Four Seasons Hotel, overlooking Boston Common. We enjoyed a lovely dinner that evening and a site visit at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the rooms here were beautifully appointed and the dinner at the French inspired Bar Boulud Restaurant was a great introduction to Boston cuisine.
Our first full day in Boston started on a great note – yet again glorious sunshine. We took breakfast at a local `Deli` which served great home made artisan food, washed down with a coffee, before part of the group ventured off on a cycling journey around Boston, and the rest did a city tour by land and boat seeing the main sites – The Charles River, The State House, Boston Common, Botanical Gardens and the Faneuil Hall. We then did a trip up the Prudential Tower, constructed in 1960, this is the second tallest building in Boston. Great views can be had of Boston and surrounding areas from the 5th Floor Observation Deck.
The group then met to explore Quincy Market, where we had a late lunch. The choice for lunch here was endless, with many stalls all serving different cuisine – I of course opted for the Lobster Roll! We then followed lunch with some free time, where we meandered back to the hotel, but not before we dropped into the famous “Cheers Bar” for a beer or two.
In the evening we treated to the Blue Man Group Show, something I had previously heard about but had never seen and this was really entertaining. A site visit of the Four Seasons followed and then another beautiful dinner was hosted by the management of the hotel, where we served fresh seafood – oysters, crab, King prawns all beautifully presented on a towering platter over ice, and this was just the starter!
Day two and the weather took a serious turn freezing, icy rain, however this did not dampen our spirits as we had been fore warned to expect all weathers at this time of year. Our journey today would take us to the `Cape`, visiting en route The Sandwich Glass Museum founded in Sandwich by Deming Jarves back in 1825. This visit was followed by lunch in a local Cape Cod pub.
We arrived at our second hotel by the sea, the Sea Crest Hotel at North Falmouth. This is very much a beach side summer holiday property, all very quiet in April, but in the summer time would be bursting with visitors, taking advantage of the miles of beautiful, clean beaches and the lovely craft shops in the area, and of course the great food that they seem to have. Later in the day it was time to go and view another couple of properties in Falmouth, we saw the lovely Treehouse Lodge and The Woods Hole inn, both owned by the same family, with the latter being ideally placed for the town and the ferries across to Martha`s Vineyard.
The following day we left Sea Crest and headed to the picturesque town of Chatham, I was excited and pleased to be visiting the Chatham Bars Inn & Resort as I`d had clients recently stay and had clients due to visit in the summer. The property did not disappoint and had a wide range of accommodations from boutique style rooms in the main building, individual cottages, to stand alone houses large enough to take the biggest of families, all stylishly appointed. Lunch was hosted by the hotel and was another fine display of lovely food, and another few Ib`s gained by me! This area seems to have a food speciality – Brussels Sprouts, and they seem to appear on every menu as either roasted or crispy Brussels Sprouts and are delicious!
Our afternoon involved a visit to the Plimoth Plantation at Plymouth which is a living history museum founded in 1947. It attempts to replicate the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony, established in the 17th century by the English Colonists who became known as “The Pilgrims” – what an interesting place and an afternoon well spent.
Our last evening was to be spent at the Mirbeau Hotel & Spa in Plymouth, we were allocated beautiful rooms with feature fireplaces, all very cosy and were able to enjoy the hotels spa facilities before a final hosted dinner in the hotels restaurant – more Ibs gained!
Our final day dawned and before our flight home we took a tour of the Patriots Place and Patriots Hall of Fame, home to the New England Patriots Football team. A quick trip then to Wrentham Outlets for some retail therapy before being dropped at Boston Airport for our flights back to Manchester via Philadelphia.
This was a fabulous taster of what Boston and Cape Cod have to offer, Boston can be visited all year round as a city break, but of course is more widely used as the gateway to New England, especially during Autumn for “The Fall”. Cape Cod has some of the most beautiful, clean beaches and is a great summer time destination within easy driving distance of Boston.
