Good food and/or music stores in Boston.... invading next week.

Visited Boston 2 summers back, so hopefully these are still there.
About 1/2 way between the MIT Museum (well worth a visit) and Harvard Yard, on Massachusetts Ave, we found a funky cafe called Life Alive.
Very colourful room, cool staff, and a decent selection of soups and sandwiches.
A little further on is Mike's Monster Guitar, which had some cool old guitars and basses. I almost bought a Danelectro there!
There's also, if memory serves, a couple of decent bookstores and a record store.
Some dodgy looking folks wandering around, but keep an eye on the girls and you should be fine.
Enjoy!

 

Someone is making a strong run for Father-of-the-Year!

For lunch near the Aquarium, consider Galleria Umberto - Galleria Umberto Its all good, but remember it is cash-only. I used to go there every week or two when I worked downtown, you line up, tell the guy what you want, he puts it on plates and trays and adds up the bill in his head. With a family, make sure you get at least one of everything but beware of the calzones - one might fill you up and you might not have room for the arancini or panzarotti.

For local flavor - Mr. Music in Allston. One of the Guitar Centers is across the street from Fenway Park on Boylston and the other is a short walk to Mass Ave across from Berklee.

First game at Fenway is always a great experience. I was 9 or 10 when I first went - it was a day game against the Orioles that went 15-16 (ETA-it was only 14 innings) (the Sox lost ) and the bus that took us home broke down on the 90 mile drive back home. I hope you and your family will bring them more luck than I did back then.

 

The Guitar Center by Fenway is incredible. I played one of the Custom Shop Pino
Palladino basses there and began contemplating dropping out of college to pay for it. There are also some really interesting music instrument shops across the street from Berklee, too.

In terms of food, Back Bay is probably your best bet. If you like Middle Eastern/Kabobs there's a place called Caffe Jafa off of Newbury Street. IIRC it's a block and a half away from the original Newbury Comics. The bars on Landsdowne Street are fun if you get there early and there's a really good Mexican place past the House of Blues.

I miss that city so much...

 

Take the train up to Gloucester, go on a whale watching tour. Lots of good, if not great, restaurants. Superb local seafood.

 

Park the car and take the T, if you can. Aquarium is right on the red line, IIRC.

 

I hear you about touristy stuff, but I think you should at least take 10 minutes at the harbor to tell the girls about some guys that threw off the bonds of servitude and set about making a country they could call their own.

 

It is a beautiful day here, have a good flight.

 

When my wife and I visited we really enjoyed the Harpoon brewery. They have awesome giant pretzels that hit the spot for an afternoon snack after the brewery tour.

 

I'll be watching the game along with you. The Red Sox are on a little streak of playing good ball. I hope you bring them good luck.

 

Alas, the evil White Sox triumphed......

(I grew to dislike the While Sox fans many years ago when they'd come up to Milwaukee to witness the White Sox / Brewers games. Very nasty folks. But on the other hand I really, really liked Bil Veeck. So what's a boy to do?)

I hope y'all are enjoying the Land o' Cod.

 

Great seats, glad you enjoyed the game, if not the result.

 

I was about to mention the Science Museum - our kids loved it back in the day - see you got it covered. There also used to be a Kids’ Museum down on the waterfront - it’s been a while, I guess. We used to gig in Central Sq and a place called Doyle’s. You can’t go wrong there! PS - grew up a White Sox fan on Chicago’s South Side. Go Sox ??