NY and Boston trip tips

[VaPaL]

Hi all! i'm planning a trip to New and Boston later this year, besides the Intrepid Museum (already planned) in NY, do you have any tips related to engineering and technology for this region (there's a remote possibility to extend the trip to Washington DC, but probably not )?

Thanks a lot!

[Geonovast]

Lucky.  I would kill to be able to go see one of the Space Shuttles (Although they could rename the one at Intrepid a "High Altitude Atmospheric Shuttle" or "Plane")

My wife's from Rhode Island, I'll have to see is she knows about anywhere neat to check out.

 

[Cheif Operations Director]

4 hours ago, VaPaL said:

Hi all! i'm planning a trip to New and Boston later this year, besides the Intrepid Museum (already planned) in NY, do you have any tips related to engineering and technology for this region (there's a remote possibility to extend the trip to Washington DC, but probably not )?

Thanks a lot!

If your interested in engineering, battleship cove is sort of interesting. It is definitely military but also having the simple fact of them being ships... 

Honestly Boston is fun to go to but not for engineering. Lexington and Concord (especially if you come for patriots day) and in general the historic sites are pretty fun. If I had to give any random suggestions for boston it would be history for before  Science and Engineering. The Science museum has some fun things if your 8 but if you understand science more than the average grade student then most likely not.

[invision]

i live next to boston.  its dirty, filled with bums and rude people. they dont call us mamazing persons for nothing. we will run you off the road for not going 50 over the speed limit. 

[tater]

USS Constitution (a sailing warship) is in Boston, as well as a WW2 DD next to it. The aquarium is nice there.

I grew up outside NYC, and while I have suggestions, few are tech related. The American Museum of Natural History is of course great.

How much time do you have, what transport are you using, etc?

[Cheif Operations Director]

Tea Party museum is ok but a little kid ish.

[Derb]

On 3/13/2018 at 7:30 AM, VaPaL said:

Hi all! i'm planning a trip to New and Boston later this year, besides the Intrepid Museum (already planned) in NY, do you have any tips related to engineering and technology for this region (there's a remote possibility to extend the trip to Washington DC, but probably not )?

Thanks a lot!

Boston has the Museum of Science. Nearby is the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which to my knowledge still keeps their doors open to the public - you can also find student led tours there, provided by both the university and outside companies I believe. So long as you aren't there at night, you can pretty much wander the campus on your own, save any locked doors or restricted areas, but many labs have windows adjoining the hallways, so you can get a look at what is being worked on. Among other things, their Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics has a compression space suit and a wind tunnel on site. The Dept. of Material Science has lots of labs off the main hallway of the main group buildings, and there is a glassblowing lab off the basement hallway. Oh, there is also a nuclear reactor on campus - you'd need a tour to get inside, but you can see the outside from Massachusetts Ave. Tons and tons of biomedical research goes on at the campus too, if that's your thing.

Whatever you do, don't be afraid to look around there - nobody is going to run you off if you aren't causing trouble, and a lot of public areas look like they should be restricted because of the utilitarian feel of the place. For whatever reason, there are always some more obtrusive tour groups around who will literally take pictures of random students, and they put up with that just fine. If you talk to them instead of snapping pics most students who have a moment of free time are more than happy to tell you what they work on and where you can see it.

[LordFerret]

If you are a kid, or are bringing kids with you, the Liberty Science Center over the river in NJ might be interesting. Geared towards kids, pretty much everything there is hands-on. It's a place where you'll spend the entire day, there's that much to see and do. The Statue of Liberty is over that way too.

Plenty to see and do in NYC also. There's the One World Observatory (sort of the replacement for Windows on the World), and THE MET and MoMA if that's your kind of thing ... there's a whole bunch of galleries in the SOHO district. Some other ideas here.

'go ahead, bite the big apple, don't mind the maggots'

[VaPaL]

@Cheif Operations Director The Boston part of the trip will actually be more historic related we also intend to go for some trips to the interior of the state to see a bit of nature, since we're going during Fall and I heard that the region is very beautiful. But I think we will have a little bit of "free" time. Battleship cove looks great, adding to the list!

@tater Also adding USS Constitution to the list! In NY we still don't know if we'll rent a car or use taxi/uber and metro. NY-Boston probably by plane, but maybe by car or train. And in Boston we will rent a car. We are planning 6 days in each city, but nothing really decided yet.

@Derb Very cool, didn't know it was that open! Definitely going!

@LordFerret One World Observatory looks pretty cool! Going there for sure!

Thanks for the tips everybody!!

[tater]

NY-Boston is even possible by train, BTW.

If you were to drive, I-95 is sorta nasty, but Mystic, CT is pretty cool (old seaport museum). Seemed like the end of the universe when I was a kid in Connecticut... The mansions in newport, RI are also pretty cool (beach houses of NYC bazillionaires from 100 years ago, now museums). All those are en route from NYC-Boston (closer to Boston).

Depending on the actual date in the fall, a favorite place of mine is a hour or so north of NYC up the Hudson. The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. WW1 era planes (some real, some replicas) fly an airshow. Barnstorming Saturdays, and ww1 on Sundays Spring til mid October. Grass field, they fly mock dogfights, shoot blanks, have smoke charges, etc. Love it.

In NYC, 2 places I haunted as a kid were the Strand Bookstore on Broadway (it's been a while, but Broadway a little south of Union Square), and across the street, the Forbidden Planet book/toy store. As a space geek, you'll likely appreciate both for your nerd shopping needs. FP had all the japanese toys/models that I saw sometimes in Hobby Japan, but otherwise were mysterious.

The usual NYC museums are all great, and worth a go (Met, Guggenheim, MOMA, etc). As a kid we'd be in the city most Sundays, and if my parents had some plan I wasn't keen on (shopping, etc) they'd just drop me at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I'd turn right, and rarely get out of the Egyptian section, lol, or I'd immediately head for the arms and armor. I was there enough that I saw the important paintings/sculptures over time, but I was way more into the historical stuff. That place can easily eat a day. They have a roof cafe/bar that has an awesome view, BTW. Smallish, and gets crowded, though, but a pretty view of the buildings popping up from around the Park.

 

[Cheif Operations Director]

6 hours ago, VaPaL said:

@Cheif Operations Director The Boston part of the trip will actually be more historic related we also intend to go for some trips to the interior of the state to see a bit of nature, since we're going during Fall and I heard that the region is very beautiful. But I think we will have a little bit of "free" time. Battleship cove looks great, adding to the list!

@tater Also adding USS Constitution to the list! In NY we still don't know if we'll rent a car or use taxi/uber and metro. NY-Boston probably by plane, but maybe by car or train. And in Boston we will rent a car. We are planning 6 days in each city, but nothing really decided yet.

@Derb Very cool, didn't know it was that open! Definitely going!

@LordFerret One World Observatory looks pretty cool! Going there for sure!

Thanks for the tips everybody!!

Historic, 

Ok here is the two day list of you like that:

Paul Reveres House.

Boston Tea Party.

Lexington AND concord.

Fanuiel Hall 

Battleship cove 

That, could be done in one day.

[VaPaL]

@tater that's a lot of tips! Thanks a lot! Probably won't be possible to go to the Old Rhinebeck Areodrome, but will do my best efforts to, really willing to go. The Forbidden Planet looks great! Stopping there for shure! MET em Natural History museums are already on the list =P

Won't go by car or train to Boston, ended up deciding to go by plane, but we'll get a car in Boston, so maybe we'll be able to go to some of theses places!

 

@Cheif Operations Director Thanks a lot for the tips! all added to the list! We'll stay 5/6 days in Boston, so we'll travel a bit on the region. Maybe going as far as Vermont or Maine, will see. How is the region and its roads for driving at night?

[tater]

18 minutes ago, VaPaL said:

Thanks a lot for the tips! all added to the list! We'll stay 5/6 days in Boston, so we'll travel a bit on the region. Maybe going as far as Vermont or Maine, will see. How is the region and its roads for driving at night?

Unless it's during a blizzard, travel by car is easy once out of Boston itself (which is it's own kind of nightmare, brush up on roundabouts if you are not used to them). If the trip is in the summer, there are often events on the Commons in Boston. The first Shakespeare play my kids ever saw was live, sitting on a blanket under the stars one night when we were there. Pretty awesome (and free, though we bought the blanket as a donation).

[Cheif Operations Director]

On ‎3‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 11:55 AM, tater said:

Unless it's during a blizzard, travel by car is easy once out of Boston itself (which is it's own kind of nightmare, brush up on roundabouts if you are not used to them). If the trip is in the summer, there are often events on the Commons in Boston. The first Shakespeare play my kids ever saw was live, sitting on a blanket under the stars one night when we were there. Pretty awesome (and free, though we bought the blanket as a donation).

Kind of.... HAHAHA Its 2 and a half hour over 40 miles.

If your lucky

[tater]

2 hours ago, Cheif Operations Director said:

Kind of.... HAHAHA Its 2 and a half hour over 40 miles.

If your lucky

Yeah, on commuter routes (or just I-95), or towards the Cape. I meant well outside Boston.

[Kerbinchaser]

On 3/13/2018 at 7:30 AM, VaPaL said:

Hi all! i'm planning a trip to New and Boston later this year, besides the Intrepid Museum (already planned) in NY, do you have any tips related to engineering and technology for this region (there's a remote possibility to extend the trip to Washington DC, but probably not )?

Thanks a lot!

Bro, I'm gong to the Intrepid museum in 3 days, with a 1:350th scale LEGO replica of the USS Intrepid!!  

I'm taking Amtrak's high speed Acela service up.

 

Besides that, if you EVER need tips on D.C, let me know. I live about an hour away, and I visit all the time.  

Edited March 30, 2018 by Lo Var Lachland

[VaPaL]

@tater @Cheif Operations Director I'm still planning what to do and where to go in and around Boston, but I'll take this in consideration, thanks!

 

@Lo Var Lachland Unfortunately I won't go to D.C.  But if a have another opportunity to visit the US in the future, it is in the list, together with KSC 

On 30/03/2018 at 1:21 AM, Lo Var Lachland said:

Bro, I'm gong to the Intrepid museum in 3 days, with a 1:350th scale LEGO replica of the USS Intrepid!!  

Very cool! Tell me how it went afterwards, this is one of the trips I'm most excited for! 

[kerbiloid]

Spoiler

Diamond City

 

[Kerbinchaser]

39 minutes ago, VaPaL said:

@tater @Cheif Operations Director I'm still planning what to do and where to go in and around Boston, but I'll take this in consideration, thanks!

 

@Lo Var Lachland Unfortunately I won't go to D.C.  But if a have another opportunity to visit the US in the future, it is in the list, together with KSC 

Very cool! Tell me how it went afterwards, this is one of the trips I'm most excited for! 

Awesome. Will do. PICTURES AROUND THE HORN!!

[Jeb1969]

It has been a long time since I was last in Boston. I remember I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor, which is a pretty decent hotel. The thing I remember about that hotel is that one side of the hotel overlooks the harbor Towards downtown whereas the other Half overlooks the tarmac at Boston Logan International Airport. My advice for visiting Boston is take the Subway or any forms of public transportation the streets in Old Town can be a jumbled mess which can easily lead to  navigational problems.

As for New York City travel tips I do not have any because I have not been to New York City, Yet.