Boston Duck Tours are a fun, family-friendly way to see the city the Paul Revere way: by both land and water.

You board a renovated WWII amphibious craft decked out with a fun name and your own ConDUCKtor who doubles as driver and tour guide. After sightseeing in downtown Boston, you plop off a ramp into the Charles River to enjoy the Beantown and Cambridge skylines from the water. At this point, children are allowed to take the wheel and “pilot” the craft with the ConDUCKtor by their side, treats at the ready.

The entire tour takes about 90 minutes. The DUCK tour covers many of the historical locations of Boston (one sees how compact it really is), and leaves from both the Prudential Center (shopper friendly), and the Museum of Science (kid friendly). The parking at the Museum of Science is reasonable and solves the problem of where to leave your car downtown.

During the summer months, a steady flow of DUCK boats make their way through the city streets and waters, the drivers supply cheers for the DUCKS to holler out as they pass each other. The DUCK boats have caught on in a big way; plans are afoot to bring them to Manhattan.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

Where else but Salem would Halloween become a month long event?

The city that has made a cottage industry of witchcraft pulls no punches this Halloween, as it launches its month of Haunted Happenings. It’s a combination of an autumn event, celebrating the changing leaves and cooler weather, with the spirit of Halloween, complete with accompanying ghosts, goblins, witches and folklore.

The Halloween events are all found in historic downtown Salem, and it’s easy to walk from one venue to the next. You can choose from museums, attractions, haunted houses, and a variety of tours, or decide to wander the streets enjoying the dramatic reenactments, psychic fairs, and shopping. Events have been designed to appeal to all age groups. There admission fees for entry to some of the events, others are free.

Here is a partial list of attractions: Salem Witch Museum, House of Seven Gables, Salem Trolley, Witch Dungeon, Witch History Museum, and the Pirate History Museum

And if a tour is more to your liking: Candlelit Ghostly Tours, Cemetery 101: Grave Matters (this sounded like one I’d enjoy), Haunted Footsteps Ghost Tour, 1692 Salem Village Trolley Tour, Salem Spirits Trolley Tour, Witchcraft Walk, and Spirit of Salem Seance.

That’s just a few of the things you can do in Salem this month, so be sure to check out the full schedule of events. There’s likely to be something to appeal to your spirited side.

Salem is located 16 miles north of Boston on the Atlantic coast. It is easily accessible by public transportation. In fact, this is the busy season for Salem, and traffic can be a nightmare, so public transportation is a very good idea.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

“Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks, when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.”

On August 4th, 1892, wealthy businessmen Andrew Borden, and his wife Abby, were discovered brutally murdered. In reality, Abby was killed with nine blows of an axe, and Andrew with 11. Their youngest daughter, Lizzie, stood trial for the brutal slayings, and was found not guilty. The crime, however, continues to draw speculation as to Lizzie’s actual guilt or innocence, and ranks at the top of unsolved crimes: If not Lizzie, who?

The Borden’s Greek revival home, located in Fall River, Massachusetts, has been beautifully restored into a bed and breakfast. You can stay in Lizzie’s bedroom (in photo), explore the house, and see if you become convinced of Lizzie’s guilt ““ or innocence. Don’t worry, the blood is all gone!

Special tours of the Borden house run daily, on the hour, from 11 am to 3 pm. Prices are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $5 for children ages 7-12. Crime scene reenactments are scheduled on occasion, as well.

The Lizzie Borden Bed & Breakfast is located at 92 Second Street, Fall River, Massachusetts. (508) 675-7333. Fall River is approximately 25 minutes from Providence (Rhode Island) and about one hour from Boston.

Post from: The Boston Traveler

Planning a family-friendly vacation in Boston doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, especially if a substantial portion of your itinerary focuses on enjoying the many nature-based attractions in and around the city. Since no matter where you go in Boston you’re never too far from a body of water, it’s fitting that one of the most popular activities in the area consists of hopping on a boat and taking a scenic tour of the region’s sights, many with deep historic ties.

The go-to company for a trip along the Charles River and Boston Harbor is the Charles Riverboat Company, which was founded in 1990 by Captain Russell Cushman. Intent on helping others appreciate the waterways to the fullest, Cushman had riverboats constructed capable of completing scenic cruises while also allowing passage under nine low bridges interspersed along the Charles.

Now a hugely popular cruise outlet, the company offers several very affordable trips each day, during the regular season from May until October. For the general price of $13 (adults), $10 (seniors), or $6 (children), riders can choose from tours of the Charles River or Boston Harbor, in addition to group tours, which include discounted fares for parties of 20 to 200 individuals, and special events, such as the U.S.S. Constitution Turn Around Cruise on the Fourth of July.

Daily sunset cruises at 6pm and 7:30pm, from June through August, feature the extra touch of cocktails at a full bar. Children are welcome on the trips, as well, but tickets must be purchased a week in advance.

Visit Charles Riverboat Company online to learn more about one of the biggest and most memorable bargains for vacationers in Boston. As the 60- to 75-minute cruises depart from Canal Park, mere feet from the entrance of East Cambridge’s CambridgeSide Galleria, it’s easy to extend a river tour into a day of shopping and/or dining at the mall’s numerous stores and eateries.

The company has even partnered with the mall and the world-famous restaurant the Cheesecake Factory to make special lunch and shopping packages available for tour participants. These currently include lunch and a cruise for $29.75 per person (includes one entrée, non-alcoholic beverage, and a cheesecake dessert) and savings coupons for various stores.

Canal Park at CambridgeSide Galleria: 100 CambridgeSide Place, Cambridge, 617-621-3001

Post from: The Boston Traveler

As I’ve previously mentioned, the Boston Marathon will be run for the 112th time next Monday, April 21. When someone says they’re going to give a 26.2-mile marathon their best shot, the number slightly larger than 25 doesn’t quite do the actual length of the race justice. That’s why it helps a great deal to have a realistic image of what the Marathon Monday journey from Hopkinton to Boston proper is all about before the annual event begins.

If you’ve ever wondered what the Boston Marathon course is like, but have no desire whatsoever to run it yourself, a few tools are available right online to provide as close to a front-row seat to the event as you’ll get without showing up along the route on Monday.

Boston.com has an entire section devoted to the Boston Marathon, including a nifty interactive map and a high-speed video tour that shows the course in a speedy 4-plus minutes. Yet, my favorite Internet resource for getting the big picture of what completing the marathon entails is a 16½-minute video posted on YouTube with the utilitarian title Boston Marathon Course Video.

Check it out after the jump to see the Boston Marathon route as you’ve probably never seen it before unless you’ve completed it, and you don’t even have to worry about thousands of other participants and onlookers jockeying for a better position around you or watching you closely as you persevere through the grueling pain (that’s right — because they only make it look easy).

Post from: The Boston Traveler

One of Boston’s biggest attractions is the Freedom Trail, a pedestrian walk along a red path, primarily constructed of bricks, that links sixteen historic locations in Boston. The trail begins on the Boston Common downtown and ends at Charlestown’s Bunker Hill Monument about 2.5 miles away.

During the journey, participants also encounter the Massachusetts State House, Park Street Church, Granary Burying Ground, King’s Chapel, King’s Chapel Burying Ground, the Benjamin Franklin statue, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, Old State House, the site where the Boston Massacre occurred, Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, Paul Revere House, Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, and the USS Constitution. The last is the United States Navy ship widely called Old Ironsides.

You can take your own electronic tour of the ever-popular Freedom Trail right now by watching the following seven-minute video created by a family who walked it on Easter weekend of this year. The footage isn’t professional quality, but it does give a real sense of the sights encountered as you reach various landmarks. All create an impression of awe that’s not easily transmitted via an artificial medium, which is actually a great motivation to visit Boston and enjoy the trail up close and personal.

Learn more about Boston’s Freedom Trail at the Freedom Trail Foundation, a provider of informative, 90-minute historical tours several times a day during relevant seasons.

NOTE: For your ears’ sake, I suggest turning the volume down low or off on the video. The audio is extremely poor and very unpleasant to hear.

Post from: The Boston Traveler