The Second Life Community Convention 2010 will take place from August 13 – 15, 2010 at The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, conveniently in the heart of Boston’s historic Back Bay and is just steps from some of the city’s most popular Boston attractions. Love to shop? The hotel is 2 blocks from Newbury Street, known for its designer boutiques and 5 blocks from the upscale Prudential Center and Copley Place Mall, offering more than 200 shops and restaurants.
Local Attractions
There are tons of great things to do within minutes of the SLCC venue! Check the list below and their distance from The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers where SLCC is located.
• The Public Garden – Swan Boats 1 block
• Boston Freedom Trail 2 blocks
• Newbury Street 2 blocks
• Frog Pond 3 blocks
• Cheers Bar 0.16 km/0.1 miles
• Boston Duck Tours 0.8 km/0.5 miles
• State House 0.8 km/0.5 miles
• Prudential Tower Skywalk 0.8 km/0.5 miles
• Boston Harbor Cruises .8 km/.5 miles
• Downtown Crossing 0.8 km/0.5 miles
• Charles River 1.25 km/.78 miles
• Faneuil Hall – Quincy Market 1.6 km/1.0 miles
• Hynes Convention Center 1.6 km/ 1.0 miles
• Museum of Science 2.0 km/1.3 miles
• Boston Children’s Museum 2.14 km/1.33 miles
• New England Aquarium 2.57 km/1.6 miles
• BCEC 2.64 km/1.64 miles
• TD Bank Garden 2.6 km/1.65 miles
• Museum of Fine Arts 2.8 km/1.78 miles
• North End (Paul Revere House) 2.8 km/1.78 miles
• Fenway Park 3.2 km/2.0 miles
• USS Constitution (Old Iron Sides) 4.0 km/2.5 miles
• Bunker Hill Monument 4.2 km/2.6 miles
• Beaches 7.5 km/4.6 miles
Tips from Boston Second Life Residents
Have a travel trip or great must see attraction idea? Please post your suggestions in the comments below!
The Harpoon Brewery (on the waterfront at 306 Northern Ave, about three miles from the SLCC site and easily reached on the SL2 Silver Line bus) has free tastings at 2pm and 4pm Friday (something to do before SLCC starts if you arrive early!), and offers brewery tours ($5, with free tastings and a free souvenir glass) all day Saturday and Sunday (see harpoonbrewery.com for the schedule). They usually have about a dozen beers on tap (plus Harpoon Cider), sometimes including one that is not currently available in stores or in bars, and they’re generous with the samples. Driving is not currently recommended; the brewery parking lot is closed for construction.
If you aren’t planning on travelling outside the Boston environs, don’t bother renting a car. Public transportation is plentiful and not expensive. If you’re flying into Logan Airport take a cab to the hotel. If you want to be green about it and use public transportation, take the Airport Shuttle to the Airport Station on the Blue Line Inbound. Go to Government Center Station and switch to the Green Line Outbound (there are signs). Take any train to Arlington Street Station. Exit the station to ground level and it’s a short walk from there. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Arlington+Station&daddr=50+Park+Plaza,+Boston,+MA+02116+(The+Boston+Park+Plaza+Hotel+and+Towers)&geocode=FR49hgIdU4vD-ymVMZf-dHrjiTG8GnjtW2OwhA%3BFUw7hgId55LD-yHoAorwajUjSCnzAXxPdHrjiTFLB8eKFvUBfA&hl=en&mra=pe&mrcr=0&sll=42.351494,-71.069781&sspn=0.001314,0.002543&ie=UTF8&ll=42.351874,-71.069894&spn=0.001314,0.002543&z=19
The hotel has no parking (there is valet parking service there but the garage isn’t owned by the hotel), and parking near the Park Plaza is expensive. If you’re traveling lightly you might want to reconsider driving to SLCC; New Yorkers, for example, might want to consider one of the inexpensive bus lines that travel that route. A special recommendation for the Megabus; they’re clean, they have free WiFi service on the bus, and if you book early enough it can cost as little as $1 each way!
If you must park in the area and can deal with walking a couple of blocks, the best deal in the neighborhood is the lot underneath Boston Common.
Public transportation maps and schedules are available at the website listed in this comment.
(Just click my name.)
We have a guide to restaurants and a few other bits of important shopping available now: http://slconvention.org/docs/parkplaza_restaurant_guide.pdf