An edifying view.

Last weekend, I paid a very brief visit to Boston and Cambridge. We stayed just off of Harvard Square, and my run on Friday morning took me down to Memorial Drive, where the views of Harvard's distinguished buildings are only interrupted by crew teams rowing through the frame. Pretty idyllic, right?

And not a bit chilly, to be honest.

They have Manhattans in Boston, too.

And I highly recommend the one they pour at Drink, Barbara Lynch's cocktail bar on Congress Street. It was ridiculously well-balanced and satisfying.

Plus, they make sure you have plenty of water to go with your booze, which is, in my opinion, the mark of a place that wants you to enjoy your drink as opposed to wallow in it.

Drink
348 Congress Street
Boston, Massachusetts
617.695.1806

Queenie's Take: Boston ahoy!

This week's Queenie's Take comes to you straight from Twitter, where I asked people to send their most pressing food and travel questions. So, today we'll be talking travel to Boston, and next week it'll be shopping & cafes here in NYC. Without further ado...

We're in Boston Sunday through Tuesday. What should we do? - Danielle (@foodmomiac)

Good question, Danielle! As a former denizen of New England, I have some Boston favorites to share with you - and since I know you have kids, I'm going to try to focus on stuff that you can all enjoy together!

Boston is one of those towns that brings out my nerdy side - American history, academia, great art - for such a small city, Boston has an incredibly rich cornucopia of stuff to tickle your brain. One of favorite museums is the Boston Museum of Science, with its awesome mid-century-version-of-the-future architecture and its Leonard Nimoy-narrated planetarium welcome. They also have a butterfly garden exhibition right now - something Dylan is bound to love.

My other favorite is the Museum of Fine Arts, which has an absolutely magnificent collection of John Singer Sargent's works (though we have my favorite - Madame X - here in NYC). He's one of my favorite artists, and seeing so many of his pieces together in one space is truly awe-inspiring.

For the adults, a wander down Beacon Hill's Charles Street might be in order. Filled to bursting with great shopping (clothes, home design, and the like) and good restaurants, it's just down the hill from the State House, and makes a nice afternoon walk. My cousin and her husband live up near the top of the hill, and I'm falling a bit more in love with the neighborhood on each visit.

Finally, for me, there was nothing cooler about my early trips to Boston than walking the Freedom Trail. Along the way you can choose to visit Paul Revere's house, Old North Church (in whose steeple hung the two lanterns signaling the approach of the British soldiers), and the USS Constitution. If your kids are anywhere near as geeky as I was (er, AM), they'll be psyched.

As far as food goes, you can't beat Boston for seafood, and for that, there are two spots I'd recommend. First, Barking Crab, downtown. Awesome lobster rolls, great fried clams, and great grilled fish, too. And, of course, there's the all-time classic, Summer Shack. Voted best lobster roll in Boston two years in a row, it's worth the trek out to Cambridge to visit the original location of Jasper White's seafood mecca. We ate here when my brother graduated from college, and I still think about it.

We expect a full report!

Photos courtesy of Pear_Biter, Shooothead, mkrigsman and Dan4th on Flickr.