Left Portland, Maine: 1 p.m. Thursday
Arrive: 6 pm (after lots of turn-arounds!)
128.7 miles
30.00 Gas @ 2.65/ gal
31.7 MPG
I checked out of the Portland by the bay (reluctantly) at noon, and went again to the DogFish for a lunchtime Soup and Salad. Clam Chowder was the order of the day, as I enjoyed my meal while people watching outside the huge bay windows.
I got in my car, and made the trek to Boston in no particular hurry. Perhaps I should have been.
First, I had the wrong printed out directions for the wrong hotel. Over the course of the past year or so, I had changed my mind on several hotels, either because of cost or location. I had finally decided on the older, cheaper and better-located “Milner Hotel” right in the heart of the city.
The printed directions I had were for an earlier choice of hotels just outside the city. I had realized my mistake as I arrived at the wrong hotel. Flustered but not un-done, I decided to use my handy dandy laptop to lookup exactly where the heck I was supposed to be.
My laptop is the one I use for work, which is pretty useless considering the battery no longer holds a charge. Foreseeing such a problem, before I had left on my journey I went to the local Farm and Fleet store and purchased a DC to AC power inverter. This handy do-jiggy plugs into your cigarette lighter, and can power small electrical appliances, such as…um.. … a laptop! Yeah me! I was prepared!
After booting the computer, and getting a wireless source, I found the correct hotel and address, fed that into my handy GPS unit….and back on the road I went. When I arrived at the correct destination, there was NO hotel. Lots of old fashioned store fronts in brick and brownstone, but no grand hotel. I had to re-boot the laptop and again to gain the hotel phone number, which I did.
“78 Charles Street? Yes, that’s where we are located,” Said the pretty voice on the end of the phone. A pause. “OH!! THAT Charles Street! Oh, heavens no, we are on the OTHER Charles street across town! You’re looking for Charles Street South.” I must have rolled my eyes across the wire, or she could hear my irritation when I ask how I could find the other Charles Street across town.
The directions she gave me were useless, as I found out the grand old city of Boston is rife with one-way streets and roundabouts. Ah, we pause our story here to tell the story of the roundabout.
You know, near where I live, they have installed what is called a “roundabout” to supposedly increase safety and decrease traffic congestion. Now, I’ve heard it’s a sound and scientific principle, but frankly…. I don’t believe it for a second. The idea is that traffic goes around to the right, as other connecting roads join in and go to the right until you find the right “exit” out of the whirlpool. This way, traffic never really stops but slows down and everyone gets on to their correct connection, as it were. That’s the theory, anyway.
Now, add eight or ten connections and three lanes of traffic and instead of a roundabout you have what my friends back in high school loving called a “circle jerk”… I entered said roundabout and was not seen again for days. I just kept circling around and around, as there was just no way to break into the traffic mess that was all around me. I think I counted six times around the bend I went. Finally, some guy in a BMW must have felt sorry for the Wisconsin hick that was lost, and let me get ahead of him… and finally out of the tempest I came, back on the road to the lost hotel.
It took all I had to find the location of the hotel; maps, GPS, phone, Laptop and my own sometimes not-so common sense of direction. After circling the general area (and one more time through the roundabout AGAIN!), I parked my car a few blocks from where I believed the hotel should be located. I walked two blocks down and one over, and WHALLA!!! There she be!
The Milner Hotel was wedged between a parking ramp and some small shops in what I would characterize as an alleyway. The outside of the hotel was actually beautiful, with a carved stone front, and flower boxes outside the windows…it had the look of a very old, but grand hotel.
I parked my car in front (only a 10 minute limit and tow-away zone!!), and registered. I stood behind a very nicely dressed business lady who was having an argument with the front desk clerk. She was complaining her room was too small. She said she didn’t even have a place to put her computer. She asked if she could get a bigger room and the desk clerk lady (I’m assuming the one that gave me the bad directions) said there were no bigger rooms than hers. Angry, the woman skulked off.
I just thought she was being overly dramatic. I would find out she was not. My room was on the ground floor…room 104. Remember what I had written earlier about rooms on the ground floor?
Well, of course there was no place to park. Parking was “generously” provided across the street and part of the Park Plaza Hotel parking ramp. Parking was only 25 dollars per night. I’m beginning to see a pattern here… So, after parking the car, I checked into what can only be described as a closet…
After a quick shower and a catnap, I headed out on foot to discover Boston proper. The city itself was booming with people. I did make my way to the Boston Commons area, and there was the world-renowned pub, “Cheers”. The front looked just like the television show. Inside didn’t look anything like it. Actually, the inside was very touristy and expensive. After have one of their “house ales”, I decided I would find a better place to have dinner, as Cheers was a total disappointment. No Norm…No Coach. No Woody. No Dianne. No Dr. Crane.
Inside it looked just like a TGIFridays. Uhg. Spare me!
It was recommended by Natalie, the nice desk clerk to find a restaurant called “The Rock Bottom Brewery” just a couple of blocks off from the hotel. I found it, and had a great burger and fries. I found out they supposedly brewed the “best of Boston beers”, so I asked the waiter what he would recommend. He suggested I tried the “Rocktoberfest Lager”… I must say, it was even better than the “Wheelhouse” I had the night before. The meal and the three pints of local brew were pretty cheap and worth every penny.
I walked around a bit more, and headed back to the hotel. I was nervous about my impending road trip into New York City the next day…and I wanted to make sure I had a good night’s rest.
Didn’t happen.
When I entered my room…er….closet, the air conditioner (which was precariously hung above the window, above the bed) had been on all this time (On and OFF were it's only mode of operation), and the room was very chilly. I shut off the control for the air and made my way into the tiny bed in the corner of the room (which was pretty much every corner)…
I slept a whole hour before people talking loudly outside my window awaked me. With the air conditioner off, I realized I could hear pennies drop outside on the sidewalk. For the next several hours, I suffered another night of unending traffic, party-goers and one small argument between two drunken men fighting for the right to take some lady home.
Right around 3 a.m. I turned the air back on and made do with as many covers as I could manage. I awoke early in the morning to find that I could nearly see my breath in my room…my nose was cold and I had to pull my coat onto the bed to help in the cold. At least I couldn’t hear the street noises anymore….
Arrive: 6 pm (after lots of turn-arounds!)
128.7 miles
30.00 Gas @ 2.65/ gal
31.7 MPG
I checked out of the Portland by the bay (reluctantly) at noon, and went again to the DogFish for a lunchtime Soup and Salad. Clam Chowder was the order of the day, as I enjoyed my meal while people watching outside the huge bay windows.
I got in my car, and made the trek to Boston in no particular hurry. Perhaps I should have been.
First, I had the wrong printed out directions for the wrong hotel. Over the course of the past year or so, I had changed my mind on several hotels, either because of cost or location. I had finally decided on the older, cheaper and better-located “Milner Hotel” right in the heart of the city.
The printed directions I had were for an earlier choice of hotels just outside the city. I had realized my mistake as I arrived at the wrong hotel. Flustered but not un-done, I decided to use my handy dandy laptop to lookup exactly where the heck I was supposed to be.
My laptop is the one I use for work, which is pretty useless considering the battery no longer holds a charge. Foreseeing such a problem, before I had left on my journey I went to the local Farm and Fleet store and purchased a DC to AC power inverter. This handy do-jiggy plugs into your cigarette lighter, and can power small electrical appliances, such as…um.. … a laptop! Yeah me! I was prepared!
After booting the computer, and getting a wireless source, I found the correct hotel and address, fed that into my handy GPS unit….and back on the road I went. When I arrived at the correct destination, there was NO hotel. Lots of old fashioned store fronts in brick and brownstone, but no grand hotel. I had to re-boot the laptop and again to gain the hotel phone number, which I did.
“78 Charles Street? Yes, that’s where we are located,” Said the pretty voice on the end of the phone. A pause. “OH!! THAT Charles Street! Oh, heavens no, we are on the OTHER Charles street across town! You’re looking for Charles Street South.” I must have rolled my eyes across the wire, or she could hear my irritation when I ask how I could find the other Charles Street across town.
The directions she gave me were useless, as I found out the grand old city of Boston is rife with one-way streets and roundabouts. Ah, we pause our story here to tell the story of the roundabout.
You know, near where I live, they have installed what is called a “roundabout” to supposedly increase safety and decrease traffic congestion. Now, I’ve heard it’s a sound and scientific principle, but frankly…. I don’t believe it for a second. The idea is that traffic goes around to the right, as other connecting roads join in and go to the right until you find the right “exit” out of the whirlpool. This way, traffic never really stops but slows down and everyone gets on to their correct connection, as it were. That’s the theory, anyway.
Now, add eight or ten connections and three lanes of traffic and instead of a roundabout you have what my friends back in high school loving called a “circle jerk”… I entered said roundabout and was not seen again for days. I just kept circling around and around, as there was just no way to break into the traffic mess that was all around me. I think I counted six times around the bend I went. Finally, some guy in a BMW must have felt sorry for the Wisconsin hick that was lost, and let me get ahead of him… and finally out of the tempest I came, back on the road to the lost hotel.
It took all I had to find the location of the hotel; maps, GPS, phone, Laptop and my own sometimes not-so common sense of direction. After circling the general area (and one more time through the roundabout AGAIN!), I parked my car a few blocks from where I believed the hotel should be located. I walked two blocks down and one over, and WHALLA!!! There she be!
The Milner Hotel was wedged between a parking ramp and some small shops in what I would characterize as an alleyway. The outside of the hotel was actually beautiful, with a carved stone front, and flower boxes outside the windows…it had the look of a very old, but grand hotel.
I parked my car in front (only a 10 minute limit and tow-away zone!!), and registered. I stood behind a very nicely dressed business lady who was having an argument with the front desk clerk. She was complaining her room was too small. She said she didn’t even have a place to put her computer. She asked if she could get a bigger room and the desk clerk lady (I’m assuming the one that gave me the bad directions) said there were no bigger rooms than hers. Angry, the woman skulked off.
I just thought she was being overly dramatic. I would find out she was not. My room was on the ground floor…room 104. Remember what I had written earlier about rooms on the ground floor?
Well, of course there was no place to park. Parking was “generously” provided across the street and part of the Park Plaza Hotel parking ramp. Parking was only 25 dollars per night. I’m beginning to see a pattern here… So, after parking the car, I checked into what can only be described as a closet…
After a quick shower and a catnap, I headed out on foot to discover Boston proper. The city itself was booming with people. I did make my way to the Boston Commons area, and there was the world-renowned pub, “Cheers”. The front looked just like the television show. Inside didn’t look anything like it. Actually, the inside was very touristy and expensive. After have one of their “house ales”, I decided I would find a better place to have dinner, as Cheers was a total disappointment. No Norm…No Coach. No Woody. No Dianne. No Dr. Crane.
Inside it looked just like a TGIFridays. Uhg. Spare me!
It was recommended by Natalie, the nice desk clerk to find a restaurant called “The Rock Bottom Brewery” just a couple of blocks off from the hotel. I found it, and had a great burger and fries. I found out they supposedly brewed the “best of Boston beers”, so I asked the waiter what he would recommend. He suggested I tried the “Rocktoberfest Lager”… I must say, it was even better than the “Wheelhouse” I had the night before. The meal and the three pints of local brew were pretty cheap and worth every penny.
I walked around a bit more, and headed back to the hotel. I was nervous about my impending road trip into New York City the next day…and I wanted to make sure I had a good night’s rest.
Didn’t happen.
When I entered my room…er….closet, the air conditioner (which was precariously hung above the window, above the bed) had been on all this time (On and OFF were it's only mode of operation), and the room was very chilly. I shut off the control for the air and made my way into the tiny bed in the corner of the room (which was pretty much every corner)…
I slept a whole hour before people talking loudly outside my window awaked me. With the air conditioner off, I realized I could hear pennies drop outside on the sidewalk. For the next several hours, I suffered another night of unending traffic, party-goers and one small argument between two drunken men fighting for the right to take some lady home.
Right around 3 a.m. I turned the air back on and made do with as many covers as I could manage. I awoke early in the morning to find that I could nearly see my breath in my room…my nose was cold and I had to pull my coat onto the bed to help in the cold. At least I couldn’t hear the street noises anymore….
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