Pinwurm t1_je6rv4n wrote on March 29, 2023 at 8:33 PM

> Inman Square area or the area around Boston College

Inman Square is closer to fun & games. You'll be about a 10 minute walk from two Red Line stops (Harvard Square or Central Square).

I should warn you that the Red Line is currently the least reliable subway line (kind of an embarrassment, really), but it's fine if you're not in a rush or don't mind walking. Uber/Lyft is usually pretty inexpensive cause distances are short here.

> if there’s good public links to and from the city

Cambridge (which has Inman Square) is considered a de-facto neighborhood of Boston. For your purposes, you don't need to think of it as independent city.

> history, so museum or historical tour

Walk the Freedom Trail, check out the USS Constitution. If you have 10 days, maybe worth it to take a commuter rail to Salem - which is famous for the Witch Trails.

For museums with a ton of history, I really like the Museum of Fine Arts and Gardner Museum. I would also recommend taking a walk through Mount Auburn Cemetery, which is a national landmark and arboretum. Some famous burials there, most locals treat it more like a 'sculpture garden' than a graveyard, ya know.

> closing times

Early by US Standards. But if you're from the UK, you're used to 11PM I think.
Bars here close between 11PM and 1:30AM here. If you need something later, the nearby Encore Casino (it's identical to it's Vegas counterpart, and a 10 minute Uber Ride away) serves alcohol until 4AM and is open 24/7.

> are there lots of bars and clubs on offer further out too

Best bars are scattered. The stuff downtown like Bell in Hand, Green Dragon, White Bull.. not really my scene. Mostly frequented by tourists.

As far as pubs, the Druid right in Inman Square is a favorite. Lord Hobo is also great (the one in Cambridge, not Seaport). Other places I like include Delux Cafe and Bukowskis (on Dalton).

I'm more of a cocktail/whiskey person, so I recommend Drink, Saloon, The Quiet Few, BackBar, Brick & Mortar. If you can get in, I love OffSuit (it's a speakeasy in a Chinatown backalley, they might do reservations now).

If you like Dive Bars, hard to go wrong with The Tam, Sligo or Biddy Early's. Those place are always fun.

DONT FORGET TO TIP! ~18% or $1 a drink, whatever is more.

> make use of my Love Actually charm

It wont work as well as an Irish accent, to be honest. But it will give you an advantage for opening. The effect tends to wear thin after a few minutes and you have to rely on your personality. Foreign accents are common here, so you'd have better sway in less 'international' cities inland.

You could expect some gentle & friendly banter regarding the American Revolution. "How do you like your tea?" "In the harbor, Redcoat!" kinda thing.

> I’m assuming tshirt and jeans/shorts will suffice in May/June

Should be fine.

Ieatflowers68 OP t1_je6ykz2 wrote on March 29, 2023 at 9:17 PM

Wow there's alot to unpack here!

>Inman Square is closer to fun & games. You'll be about a 10 minute walk from two Red Line stops (Harvard Square or Central Square).

You and a few other commenters have recommended Inman Square, so I'll probably go with that accommodation wise.

>Walk the Freedom Trail, check out the USS Constitution. If you have 10 days, maybe worth it to take a commuter rail to Salem - which is famous for the Witch Trails.

Salem definitely interests me. USS Constitution I had never heard of, but now that I've looked it up I want to go. I'll definitely check out the cemetery too, even if just for a nice morning run.

>Early by US Standards. But if you're from the UK, you're used to 11PM I think.

Bars here close between 11PM and 1:30AM here. If you need something later, the nearby Encore Casino (it's identical to it's Vegas counterpart, and a 10 minute Uber Ride away) serves alcohol until 4AM and is open 24/7.

Yeah I mean 2am close certainly wouldn't be considered early by UK standards and is fine for me. Most pubs tend to shut by 11 on weeknights and midnight latest on weekends, but many clubs are open until 3/4/5pm. I don't really fancy losing loads of money in a casino, but might be cool to check out anyway, purely for the Vegas-esque experience, and to watch other people loose lots of money aha!

>Best bars are scattered. The stuff downtown like Bell in Hand, Green Dragon, White Bull.. not really my scene. Mostly frequented by tourists.

As far as pubs, the Druid right in Inman Square is a favorite. Lord Hobo is also great (the one in Cambridge, not Seaport). Other places I like include Delux Cafe and Bukowskis (on Dalton).

If you like Dive Bars, hard to go wrong with The Tam, Sligo or Biddy Early's. Those place are always fun.

You're doing God's work here son! I'll be sure to check out some of these. I've always been interested in the idea of Dive bars too. They seem to pop up in alot of the US films I watch.

>DONT FORGET TO TIP! ~18% or $1 a drink, whatever is more.

Ah yes. That's going to be a strange one for me to adapt too, since we hardly tip in the UK for anything (typically just 5-15% at a restaurant, and sometimes niche things like tour guides too. Thanks for the reminder. You've probably saved me from a couple dirty looks and watered down drinks :)

>It wont work as well as an Irish accent, to be honest. But it will give you an advantage for opening. The effect tends to wear thin after a few minutes and you have to rely on your personality. Foreign accents are common here, so you'd have better sway in less 'international' cities inland.

Yeah fair play. The whole accent thing is more like a minor bonus for me, so I'm not too fussed if nobody pays it any attention. Like I said, I'm mainly in Boston for the sites, the culture and the history.

>You could expect some gentle & friendly banter regarding the American Revolution. "How do you like your tea?" "In the harbor, Redcoat!" kinda thing.

Ah all the classics! I'll have to think of some witty comebacks for when the tenth person in a row asks me how I like tea, or when I last met the Queen.

Thanks for all the info mate, you've been a great help!

ketofauxtato t1_je7z2vy wrote on March 30, 2023 at 1:46 AM

The advice you’ve gotten above is generally great (particularly the list of pubs and bars - spot on!) but I would advise against spending any time at Encore. I suppose it’s fine if you’re really desperate but it’s pretty isolated from the rest of the city and rather sad - not much like Vegas honestly.

Pinwurm t1_je87k32 wrote on March 30, 2023 at 2:52 AM

> we hardly tip in the UK for anything

Yeah, it's a different approach. Tip for waiter service and bartenders. No tipping expectation for counter service (like Starbucks) or takeout.

Tipping a tour guide is pretty good practice anywhere, I'd think.

One thing you'll notice is that the US has comparatively liberal pours of liquor and wine. You'll pretty much never see measured liquor dispensers which are common in much of Europe. Especially at dive bars, you'll get a glass of alcohol and it's like.. 3 shots worth when you're paying for one. A lot of those places want to see you happy, so a tip can stretch far.

Measured pours are only common in fancy cocktail bars (since the drink requires balance) and places that attract tourists (cause the owners are cheap).

One other thing to remember is that a US Pint is slightly smaller than a UK Pint when ordering beer.

> Salem definitely interests me

I forgot to mentio, in lieu of the commuter rail - you should consider the Salem Ferry. It's $45 round trip and really lovely.

Another historic town is Plymouth, which is also commuter rail accessible. There's a lovely little walkable downtown area with some boutique shops and ocean views. And of course, Plymouth Rock. But don't go for the rock. The rock is bullshit. And it's not even the original rock. But it's free, I guess?

However, if you're looking to dive into American history, I would highly recommend the Plimouth Patuxet Musuems (formally Plimouth Plantation). It's a 17th Century 'living village', filled with period actors to interact with.
There is also a small area with some 17th century Native American (Wampanoag) structures and tribal ambassadors you can chat with. Also, just some good nature out there. It's a good way to spend a day.

If you need any other recommendations or anything, don't hesitate to message me. I clearly get bored a lot.