Accomodations
We’ve arranged for a block of rooms at the Residence Inn in Needham, MA. When you call to make reservations, mention NNZ Bnai Mitzvah. The rate for a 1 bedroom studio suite is $139 . This room has a king size bed, full size sleeper sofa, and a kitchen; free WiFi and a hot breakfast buffet is included. On property they have a gorgeous indoor salt-water pool, 24 hour fitness, and lounge area. Also of note, there is a free shuttle service within a three-mile radius.
The hotel is a 10 minute (3 mile) drive from our house and Hebrew College, the location of the services and the party.
Hotel Details
Residence Inn by Marriott Boston-Needham
80 B Street | Needham, MA 02494
Phone: (781)-444-5750
Link: http://www.residenceinnbostonneedham.com/
What to do in and around Boston
There are lots of fun things to do around Boston and in New England. Check out Living Social and Groupon for special deals.
Some things we like
Boat rides in the Boston Harbor
Visit the public garden where you can ride on the swan boats and see the Make way for Ducklings sculpture
Walk through the North End, the Italian section of the city, and eat pizza at Reginas and cannolis at Mike’s Pastries
Walk around other areas including The Back Bay, Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market, the waterfront, and Harvard Square.
Ice cream … eat lots of homemade ice cream at JP Licks, Emack and Bolio’s, Toscaninis, and Rancatores. Or try the vegan ice cream shop named FoMu. My favorite is Toscanini’s, but JP Licks is certified Kosher and very convenient with many locations. I wonder what the flavors of the month at JP’s will be in August…. you can tell who wrote this page; no recommendations for frozen yogurt. The frozen yogurt national chains are well represented.
Art and Museums
Boston Children’s Museum:
Most children have so much fun here that they don’t realize they’re also learning. Creative hands-on exhibits demonstrate scientific laws, cultural diversity, and problem solving. After completing a massive 23,000-square-foot expansion in 2007, the museum has updated a lot of its old exhibitions and added new ones. Some of the most popular stops are also the simplest, like the bubble-making machinery and the two-story climbing maze. At the Japanese House you’re invited to take off your shoes and step inside a two-story silk merchant’s home from Kyoto.
Boston Tea Party Ships And Museum:
Experience and relive the world’s most famous tea party as you explore ships and exhibits, meet with re-enactors, and sip a cup of tea in the Tea Room. The Beaver II, a reproduction of one of the ships forcibly boarded and unloaded the night Boston Harbor became a swirling teapot, is joined by two tall ships, the Dartmouth and the Eleanor.
Institute Of Contemporary Art:
The waterfront location and modern design are reason enough to visit the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, which screens avant-garde art flicks, award-winning foreign films, experimental movies, and documentaries.
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum:
Visitors to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are greeted by the visual splendor of the courtyard garden and surrounding galleries—a feast for the senses. A renovation and addition has created a new space for the museum’s excellent music programming. The new Calderwood Hall stages young artist showcases, live chamber music every Sunday, and an “after hours” series the third Thursday of each month.
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum:
This library-museum is both a center for serious scholarship and a focus for Boston’s nostalgia for her native son. The stark, white, modernist building (designed by I. M. Pei) at this harbor-front site pays homage to the life and presidency of John F. Kennedy and also to members of his family, including his wife, Jacqueline, and brother Robert.
New England Aquarium:
This aquarium challenges you to imagine life under and around the sea. Seals bark outside the West Wing, whose glass-and-steel exterior is designed to mimic fish scales. Inside the main facility you can see penguins, sea otters, sharks, and other exotic sea creatures—more than 2,000 species in all.
Museum Of Science:
With 15-foot lightning bolts in the Theater of Electricity and a 20-foot-long Tyrannosaurus rex model, this is just the place to ignite any child’s scientific curiosity. Occupying a compound of buildings north of Massachusetts General Hospital, the museum sits astride the Charles River Dam. More than 550 exhibits cover astronomy, astrophysics, anthropology, medical progress, computers, the organic and inorganic earth sciences, and much more.
USS Constitution Museum:
Artifacts and hands-on exhibits include firearms, logs, and instruments. One section takes you step by step through the ship’s most important battles. Centuries old battles are relived in a video-game battle “fought” at the helm of a ship.
Misc items
Kosher resources for travel to boston.
Crystal Lake, a beautiful lake near our home
The ocean is nearby with beaches north and south of the city. A little further is Cape Cod and the beaches of Southern Maine and the beaches of Rhode Island.