Category Archives: Touring Boston with Kids

Touring Boston – The Go-getter’s Guide to the Garment District

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Boston on the cheap.  So if you’re new to the area and like me married to a full time student chances are that money is tight.  One clothing option for the slightly more adventurous is a place called the Garment District.  This place has been around for thirty or so year and they have new and used clothing, mostly used.

There are two floors worth of clothing.  The top floor is where you’ll find some new stuff and used/vintage clothing that has been sorted by style (men, women, shirts, dresses, pants etc.)  I was able to by a really nice wrap dress there (Banana Republic Brand) that had been slightly used, still in great condition for about $10.

However the real adventure is the clothing by the pound area.  This takes place on the bottom level of the store and it’s a little bit of great deal madness.  It cost $1.50 a pound. I had seen it advertised and I was curious to see what it actually was.

I walked in and they handed me a clear plastic garbage bag a motioned to the mounds of clothing covering the floor.  It was a foot deep, wall to wall, carpet of clothes, there were no aisles and no order.  You had to walk across and into the clothing piles to reach things and then just rifle through it looking for something of interest to you.  

Tons of people just squatted down and started looking through the things around them.  It took a few minutes for me to come to terms with this madness, but I decided we had walked there and I should give it a fair try.  It was fun in a really weird way, I think a couple of my crazy cousins would have loved it, but my husband wasn’t ready to dive into this hipster dumpster life style so he checked out the sweaters upstairs until I was finished.

Things to note:

1)  The garment district is mostly used clothing
Some of it is sorted by kind and style, those pieces tend to me more expensive (a few dollars a piece) and then there is clothing by the pound where there is absolutely no order, but the clothing you find there is really inexpensive and there are still high quality brands and fashionable pieces in the clothing by the pound… you just have to sort to find them.

2) Half of this store is a costume store (Boston Costume)
This means you can also find a bunch of random things there and during the month of October the clothing by the pound section is closed and the upstairs regular clothing section is compressed so they can fit more costumes.

3) Clothing by the pound can be a great deal
I’ve found a number of high quality sweaters, there are often coats, and if you look hard enough you can find children’s clothing, which is really light = inexpensive.

4) Odd Hours
The hours seem to be on a collage timeline, they open at 11am-midnight, every day but Saturday.  Saturday they open at 9am.

Summary and Rating: ★★★☆☆

This place was very odd to me and it took some time for me to wrap my head around sorting through old clothing in piles on the floor.  With that said, I found some great deals and going through it with the mindset that it was part of the adventure made it fun.  To each their own.

If you’ve been to the Garment District I’d love to hear your thoughts and feelings about it.  Feel free to share them with me in the comments below.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Garment District

200 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02139

Phone: 617.876.5230
Website: http://garmentdistrict.com/
Hours:
Sunday through Friday: 11am – 12am
Saturday: 9am – 12am

Touring Boston – The Unexpected Awesomeness of Candle Pin Bowling

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Until I moved to Boston I didn’t know such a thing as Candle Pin Bowling existed, but I’m so glad we’ve discovered it!

Candle Pin bowling is similar to the usual ten pin bowling in the sense that your sending a ball down a lane to hit over pins, but the pins are tall and slender (hence the name candle pin) and the ball is also small, about the size of a grapefruit and much lighter than the ten pin bowling balls.  This makes it awesome for kids!  For once they can actually hold the ball without being toppled over by it!

However don’t think that just because the balls are lighter and that kids have a blast that you, as an adult, wont be challenged by this sport.  It’s surprisingly difficult to knock over those little pins with your little ball, and there are no perfect games in recorded history.

Wikipedia’s input on the subject – The main differences between candlepin bowling and the predominant ten-pin bowling style are that each player uses three balls per frame, the balls are much smaller (11.43 cm, or 4.5″ diameter) and do not have holes. Also, the downed pins (known as ‘wood’) are not cleared away between balls during a player’s turn and the pins are thinner, and thus harder to knock down. Because of these differences, scoring points is considerably more difficult than in ten-pin bowling, and the highest officially sanctioned score ever recorded is 245 out of a possible 300 points.

We went to the FlatBread Company/Sacco’s Bowl Haven for our bowling and enjoyed some wood fire pizza while we waited for a lane to open. We didn’t have a vehicle so it was nice to be able to reach this place by public transportation with only a little bit of walking.

As far as bowling went…  I loved it! I think it’s much more fun than regular bowling and much faster! You don’t have to wait for your ball to be returned every round or for the pins to be cleared each time. You just grab three light little balls and roll them down the lane as quickly as possible. The downed pins are helpful in knocking over some of the standing pins.

On the other hand keeping your own score on a piece of paper was a bit confusing initially.  I had the benefit of competing with two MIT students and they got it figured out pretty well. All in all we had a blast and I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting or living in New England.

Rating: 

★★★★★
Five Stars.  I like bowling, and I loved candle pin bowling.  Perfect for both kids and adults.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 

Sacco’s Bowl Haven / FlatBread Company (Candle Pin Bowling)
45 Day Street
Somerville, MA

Phone: 617.776.0552
Website: http://flatbreadcompany.com/FlatbreadDirectionsSomerville%20MA%202010.html 

OPEN 7 Days a Week
Baking Hours: 11:30AM -11:30PM
Sundays close at 10:30PM

Bowling Hours 9:00AM – Midnight
Sundays close at 10:30PM

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting the Boston Public Library with Kids

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The Boston Public Library is amazing!  It’s the second largest public library in the US (second to the library of congress) and the building itself is jaw dropping.  Whenever friends or family come out to visit me this is one attraction I always make sure is on our list of things to see.

It starts with a gorgeous building complete with Gothic looking metal work on the outside, then you walk through the doors and are greeted by a wrapping marble staircase, giant lions, a courtyard view and breath taking floor to ceiling paintings. This library feels more like a museum (at least the front half) than a modern day library.  I love walking through it and seeing the art works and exhibits, and when it’s all said and done I usually end up checking out a book or two.

Things to Note:

1) Price
Free.  It’s a public library, but it feels like you’re getting to walk through an amazing museum for free.

2) Stroller Friendliness
You can certainly bring a stroller here and there are elevators to help you get around, but if you can stand to leave it behind I would suggest it since the elevators are out of the way and not super easy to get to.

3) Child Friendliness
This place is child friendly.  You can walk around, enjoy the courtyards, pick up some books, see the art and the things that shouldn’t be touched are generally safely tucked away behind glass cases.

4) Check out Books
You have to be a resident of the Boston area to be able to check out books.  We live in Cambridge and I have a Cambridge library card, but I needed to get another greater city of Boston type card before I could check out books here.

5) Getting There
This is right off the Green Line, Copley “T” stop, seriously.  You walk out of the “T” station and you are on the library steps, however if you’re planning on driving you’ll be right in the middle of the city and parking can be both expensive and hard to find.  I would highly suggest getting here via public transportation.

Summary & Rating ★★★★★

Five Stars.  I’m a sucker for books in the first place, which makes me a sucker for libraries, but this is one of the most amazing libraries I have ever set foot in.  It huge, elegant and historic, it’s free and it has tons of material to check out.  It makes a great outing on cold days and if you bring children and they end up getting bored of the museum like aspects you can always retreat to the children’s book area.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have for touring it with children in the comments section below. 

Boston Public Library
700 Boylston St.
Boston MA 02116

Phone: 617-536-5400
Website: http://www.bpl.org/

Hours:
Monday–Thursday
9 a.m.–9 p.m.

Friday & Saturday
9 a.m.–5 p.m.

Sunday
1 p.m.–5 p.m.

Touring Boston – What to Know About Union Square Donuts (Delicious Eats)

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If you’re looking for a good and unique food experience you should check out Union Square Donuts.  It’s a small donut shop, but it’s been named Boston’s Best Donuts by Boston Magazine… so, I’m just saying… if you like donuts you really ought to try some of these.

These donuts are handmade, unique, and totally delicious.  The shop for them is pretty small and they often sell out, so if you’ve got a favorite (like maybe the maple bacon donut) that you’re dying to try you had better get there at least by mid-morning.

Someone brought in a box of these donuts to my husbands lab and since that day he’s been super excited about going back with us so that we could enjoy some crazy donuts with him.  We went and ended up bring home half dozen which included the following donuts: two Maple Bacon, a Birthday Cake, a Carrot Cake, a Chocolate Covered, and a Vanilla.

Maple Bacon was surprisingly not disgusting, it’s got the sweet salty thing going for it and is kind of like kettle corn, however the favorite by far was the Birthday Cake. … Ha, it was the one we got for our toddler to try since it was covered with sprinkles, but the Birthday Cake donut was still warm and super soft on the inside, but a little bit crisp on the outside and full of goodness.  My husband spent the rest of the day marveling that he had fallen in love with a sprinkle donut that looked like it was made for a two year old. 🙂

Things to Note:

1. Price
These are fancy gourmet donuts, and you pay for it.  They are about a million times better than Dunkin Donuts, but for us they are more of a special occasion food.  They run between $3 – $3.50/donut

2. Location
You’ll probably want to drive here.  I didn’t look up public transportation, and I’m sure at least a bus goes near it… but it seems like it could be a lot of effort to take a bus for a donut… on the other hand, these were amazing, so it might be worth it.  They are also sold at a handful of farmers markets around the city.

3. Flavors
They have a whole bunch of flavors to choose from, most of them are pretty unique, and they change all the time.  If you fall in love with a donut buy another asap because there is no guarantee that it will be there next time.

Summary and Rating: ★★★★☆

Four Stars.  These donuts are amazing, mouthwatering works of art… but their brick and mortar store is pretty out of the way and the donuts are fairly pricey.

Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know what you think of their crazy flavors in the comments section below. 

Union Square Donuts
20 Bow St
Somerville, MA 02143

Phone: 617.209.2257
Website: http://unionsquaredonuts.com/ 

Hours:
Tuesday-Friday 7AM – 1PM
Saturday-Sunday 7AM – 3PM

Touring Boston – What to Know About Visiting the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum with Children

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Before moving to Boston I participated in a book challenge at my local library and as part of it I ended up reading “The Gardner Heist” a book about an unsolved major art heist.  The book was interesting but hearing about how the museum responded to the heist was even more facilitating.  

I’ll summarize:    
Two people broke into the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum one evening dressed as police officers. They did a smash and grab and stole a total of 13 art works from various rooms in the museum before escaping.  To this day they haven’t been found. 
What I found even more interesting is that in Isabella’s will she said she wanted her estate to become a museum, but because she had put so much time and effort into each of the rooms of her estate nothing was to be moved or changed.  Ever.  If there were changes made then she would no longer allow her house to be opened as a museum.
What that means is that while walking in the museum you will occasionally see empty picture frames on the wall. Since the curators are not allowed to change anything they have simply left the empty frames in their spots on the wall awaiting the day when the paintings might be recovered.  
I thought it made the walk through the museum so much more fun having read the book first and slowly dawning on the realization that this was the museum I had read about and then looking for the empty frames.  Some are fairly subtle and some are impossible to miss, but it makes for a unique viewing experience for sure.  

Things to Note: 

1) Price 
$15/Adult (Students with ID $5)
18 and under Free
2) Stroller Friendliness 
Stroller are permitted… kind of.  You can bring a single stroller, but double and oversized strollers are not allowed and can be checked in at the coat check.  This is unfortunate, but necessary because some of the entry ways are fairly tight and your not going to be able to fit through them with a huge stroller. 
3) Kid Friendliness
Semi kid friendly.  In the sense that children of all ages are welcome and encouraged to come and learn more about art, but there are a lot of things that might be tempting for little hands to touch that aren’t suppose to be touched.  

Summary & Rating ★★★★☆

Four Stars.  If I was just going as an adult I would have given this a solid five stars because I thought the price was fair (especially since we’re students) and the museum was gorgeous. Plus having the additional background from my heist book made the whole thing a bonus as we saw the empty frames and the realization that this was the place I had read so much about dawned on me.  However, keeping little hands away from delicate works of art is not an easy feat and it’s something you should certainly keep in mind if you want to go with little ones.   
Have you been here before?  If so I’d love to know more about your experience and any tips or tricks you have in the comments section below. 
Isabella Steward Gardner Museum 

25 Evans Way
Boston, MA 02115

Phone:
General Information: 617 566 1401
Box Office: 617 278 5156
Website: http://www.gardnermuseum.org/

Hours:
Open daily from 11 am to 5 pm
Thursday until 9 pm
Closed Tuesday