Could you please critique my itinerary?

We will be arriving at Marriott Custom House on Friday, May 30 for a one week stay. We have the Go Boston cards and have a 2 and 6 year old.

Saturday, May 31

Mass Bay Lines Whale Watch.

New England Aquarium or TOMB at 5WITS

Sunday, June 1

Theater-On-Wheels Movie Tour.

Boston Harbor Cruise to USS Constitution. See

the Constitution and Constitution museum

Monday, June 2

New England Aquarium if didn%26#39;t do yet.

Freedom Trail. Includes Old South Meeting House, Old State House, Paul Revere House, Old North Church

Tuesday, June 3

Boston Duck Tours Museum of Science location ONLY. Museum of Science

Samuel Adams brewery tour

Wednesday, June 4

Children%26#39;s Museum.

Liberty Fleet Tall Ship Adventures. Sail from 3-5PM.

Thursday, June 5

Harvard Museum of Natural History.

The MIT Museum.

Peabody Museum.

If time, visit Otis House, Nichols House %26amp; Gibson house museums

Samuel Adams brewery if didn%26#39;t do yet

Friday, June 6

Drive home and pass out, lol.

Thanks!

Could you please critique my itinerary?

The first thing I did was yawn. I%26#39;m tired just from reading your ambitious itinerary, lol. The Whale Watch Saturday won%26#39;t return until 2:30. That won%26#39;t leave you much time (3 hours) to see the Aquarium. If you feel that 3 hours is enough time, then do the Aquarium then. I think 3 hours will be plenty, since the whale watch will have them pretty wiped out.

Forget 5 Wits. It%26#39;s more for teenagers and kids that young won%26#39;t get it at all. It requires problem solving and what not. Just not designed for youngsters.

Sunday looks good. You might even have some free time depending on when the Movie Tour is and how much time you spend at the Constitution and Museum.

Monday, take your time and walk around the Public Garden and take a ride on the Swanboats since it%26#39;s free with your go card. Then walk over to the Common and start your tour of the Freedom Trail.

Tuesday looks good.

Wednesday, visit Harvard Square and tour the Peabody Museum and Museum of Natural History. That should be plenty. Head back to Boston for the Tall Ship.

Thursday, all day long at the Children%26#39;s Museum.

Friday, drive home and pass out!

Could you please critique my itinerary?

Sounds like fun. Lots of sailing!

I echo the Common/ Public Garden suggestion. Strange as it may seem, kids LOVE the playground on the Common in addition to the Swan Boats. Get a copy of ';Make Way for Ducklings'; and be sure to visit the ducklings statues on the Common!

The other thought is to have backups in case of bad weather or choppy seas, especially on Whale Watch Day. You don%26#39;t want to take little ones on a long boat ride if it will be bumpy. However nice it is on shore, be sure to bring sweaters.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History will be a HIT. Trust me. The little ones love the stuffed animals there. And they are stuffed animals. The MIT museum is more for grown ups (and brainy ones at that) but it%26#39;s small enough not to bore kids silly if you go. MIT has a crazy building that kids will like to see. It%26#39;s called the Stata Center

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stata_Center

not worth going wildly out of your way but if you%26#39;re in the area...I think it%26#39;s funny.

Central and Harvard Square have lots of cheap eats/informal places to eat--ice cream places too--plus a toy store.

One cool thing about takig the train over into Cambridge is that the Longfellow Bridge part of theRed Line is very pretty and fun for kids to look out thewindow... riding from Park Street,there%26#39;s tunnel...tunnel...tunnel... and then outside over this fantastic bridge (and over the river theDuck boats take them on) and then back into thetunnel.

Another thing little kids like is looking out the front window of the Green Line train. Don%26#39;t try this at rush hour or you%26#39;ll drive people nuts,but on an uncrowded train, stand up front and let the kids see the tracks and if you look around, the green line tunnels are kind of cool, with lots of tracks. There%26#39;s also the';zoo'; at Park Street---mice running through the Red Line pit, but you have to hold onto the kids tight so they don%26#39;t fall in! Safety first! If you hold them,they can see the little critters zipping around down there...

...by ';strange as it may seem'; I mean that it%26#39;s an ordinary playground,no great attraction, but...it%26#39;s familiar I suppose. The cool thing is that there are rich kids from Beacon Hill, poorer kids from other parts of the city and visting kids from all over using that playground and they all get along and have fun. Very cool. And for parents, there%26#39;s a Dunkies at Park St and a Starbucks over at Charles, so you can take your pick, get something and recharge while the kids play.

Wow!!! That is a packed itinery. I agree, 5 Wits isn%26#39;t all that exciting for adults or little kids. My kids (9 and 11) liked it.

Get a copy of Robert McCloskey%26#39;s Make Way for Duckings (amazon.com/Ducklings-Viking-Kestrel-Picture-鈥?/a>) and then %26#39;live it%26#39; by riding the Swan Boats in the public garden

Also you said ';Harbor Cruise'; to see USS Constitution ... do you mean water shuttle or is this a longer cruise that ends at the Constitution.

Queen%26#39;s Lace ... I should have hit ';refresh'; by before posting ... I read the post, walked away, came back MUCH later and answered ... pretty much repeating what you said.

Sorry all ... don%26#39;t mean to sound like a broken record!!!

Hi all,

Thanks for all the great advice. The Harbour cruise is a 45 minute cruise to the Constitution.

One poster suggested I switch Wednesday and Thursday. Just wondering why?

Thanks again!

Hi,

The only reason I switched days was to give you a itinerary free day for the Children%26#39;s Museum. It%26#39;s a wonderful place and many kids spend the whole day there. This way, you can let them play until they%26#39;re ready to go, not when you tell them they have to go. I%26#39;ve seen firsthand, kids throwing major temper tantrums when it%26#39;s ';time to go';, lol. You can do it your way as well. It was just a suggestion. To be back over to Long Wharf for the sail, your looking at leaving the Children%26#39;s Museum by 1:30, 2:00 the absolute latest. I figured giving them more ';play time'; might be better.

I agree with Will - that sounds like a bit much. Definitely want to do the Children%26#39;s museum. Not sure about a brewery tour with kids although my mother took us one day to see the Carlings Black Label brewery in Framingham and they let us drink all the beer we wanted for free - I think I was probably 7 at the time. Good times.

I%26#39;m also not sure I would take really little kids on a whale watch. We did ours before our son was born - frankly never occurred to me to take him on one (he%26#39;s 20 now).

I would just do the Harvard Museum of Natural History, not the MIT and the Peabody (which is what we used to call what is now called the HMNH, apparently). The old Peabody had great stuff for kids, things like shrunken heads, unwrapped mummies, and a pickled gorilla head and hand - I think all the really gruesome stuff was hidden away years ago, although it%26#39;s possible you can see them where the ';peabody'; is now housed. Maybe somebody here knows: can you still see the glass case of shrunken heads anywhere in the Harvard museums?

Taking a cruise from the Aquarium is a really great way to see the Constitution (something my wife and I did on our first date). You get off at the Constitution, tour the ship, and get back on another cruise boat for the return to the Aquarium.