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American Airlines Flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Boston (BOS)
Orbitz is pleased to offer airline tickets on American Airlines, which operates 3 regularly scheduled daily non-stop flights from Los Angeles (LAX) to Boston (BOS), departing between 7:05am and 9:55pm. Usually a Boeing 757 or Boeing 767-300 is flown for this route, with in-seat power sources available. Generally, a movie is offered on this route, as well as audio programming. The average travel time from Los Angeles, CA to Boston, MA is 5 hours and 19 minutes.
During your Boston vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Mary Baker Eddy Library/Mapparium
The Mary Baker Eddy Library, a research center with two floors of interactive and multimedia exhibits, opened in 2002. Its mission is to explore ideas of liberty, spirituality, and the like throughout history. A central role is reserved for Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. The library's most intriguing exhibit is the Mapparium, a unique hollow globe 30 feet across. Both a work of art and an illustration of political history, the globe consists of a bronze framework that connects 608 stained-glass panels. Because sound bounces off the nonporous surfaces, the acoustics are as unusual as the aesthetics. As you cross the glass bridge just south of the equator, you'll see the political divisions of the world from 1932 to 1935, when the globe was constructed.
New England Aquarium
This complex is home to more than 15,000 fish and aquatic mammals, and at busy times, it seems to contain at least that many people -- in July and August, try to make this your first stop of the morning, especially on weekends. You'll want to spend at least half a day here, and huge afternoon crowds can make getting around painfully slow. Also consider investing in a Boston CityPass; it allows you to skip the ticket line, which can be uncomfortably long, and may represent a savings on the steep admission charge. The Simons IMAX Theatre, which has its own building, hours, and admission fees, is worth planning ahead for too. Its 85-foot-by-65-foot screen shows 3-D films with digital sound that concentrate on the natural world. It's a dizzying experience.The focal point of the main building is the four-story, 200,000-gallon Giant Ocean Tank. A four-story spiral ramp encircles the tank, which contains a replica of a Caribbean coral reef and an assortment of sea creatures that seem to coexist amazingly well. Part of the reason for the peace might be that scuba divers feed the sharks twice a day. Other exhibits show off freshwater and tropical specimens, a wide variety of jellyfish, denizens of the Amazon, and the ecology of Boston Harbor. The floating marine mammal pavilion, Discovery, is home to performing sea lions. At the Edge of the Sea exhibit, visitors can touch the sea stars, sea urchins, and horseshoe crabs in the tide pool. The Aquarium Medical Center is especially involving -- it's a working veterinary hospital.Naturalist-led harbor tours that teach "Science at Sea" run daily in the spring, summer, and fall. Discounts are available when you combine a visit to the aquarium with an IMAX film, harbor tour, or whale watch.
Boston Public Library
The central branch of the city's library system is an architectural and intellectual monument. The original 1895 building, a National Historic Landmark designed by Charles F. McKim, is an Italian Renaissance-style masterpiece that fairly drips with art. The lobby doors are the work of Daniel Chester French (who also designed the Abraham Lincoln statue in the memorial in Washington, the Minute Man statue in Concord, and the John Harvard statue in Cambridge). The murals are by John Singer Sargent and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, among others. Visit the lovely courtyard or peek at it from a window on the stairs. The adjoining addition, of the same height and material (pink granite), was designed by Philip Johnson and opened in 1972. The lobby holds changing exhibits. Novel serves lunch and afternoon tea Monday through Friday, and Sebastian's Map Room Café is open for snacks 9am to 5pm Monday through Saturday.Free Art & Architecture Tours (www.bpl.org/guides/tours.htm) begin Monday at 2:30pm, Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm, Friday and Saturday at 11am, with an additional tour October through May on Sunday at 2pm. Call tel. 617/536-5400, ext. 2216, to arrange group tours.
Make your reservations for discount hotel rooms in the
Boston area, including:
YWCA Boston, Berkeley Residence
This pleasant, convenient women-only hotel and residence offers a dining room, patio garden, piano, and library. The well-kept public areas also include a TV lounge. The dorm-style guest rooms are basic, containing little more than beds, but they're well maintained and comfortable -- not plush, but not cells either. That description might not seem to justify the prices, but check around a little before you turn up your nose.
The Colonnade Hotel
The seasonal "rooftop resort" and swimming pool are probably this hotel's best-known features, with excellent service a close runner-up. Adjacent to Copley Place and the Prudential Center, the independently owned Colonnade is a slice of Europe in the all-American shopping paradise of the Back Bay. It caters to working travelers, to visitors engaging in retail therapy, and to children of all ages with the "VIKids" program and a rubber ducky in every bathroom. You'll likely hear at least a dozen languages spoken by the guests and the friendly, professional staff of this 11-story concrete-and-glass hotel.The elegance of the quiet, high-ceilinged public spaces here carries over to the large guest rooms, which were spruced up in 2000. All have contemporary oak or mahogany furnishings and marble bathrooms (each with its own phone). Units on the Huntington Avenue side overlook the bustling Prudential Center complex, while rooms at the back survey the pleasant patchwork of the South End. Suites have dining rooms and sitting areas, and the "author's suite" contains autographed copies of the work of celebrated (or at least published) literary guests.Facilities: Restaurant; bar; heated outdoor rooftop pool; state-of-the-art fitness center; concierge; 24-hr. business center; 24-hr. room service; in-room massage; babysitting; laundry service; same-day dry cleaning. Rooms for travelers with disabilities are available.
Hyatt Harborside
This striking 14-story waterfront hotel offers unobstructed views of the harbor and city skyline. It caters to the convention and business trade. Sightseers whose budget for transportation doesn't include a fair amount of time (on the shuttle bus and subway) or money (on ferries, parking, or cabs) will be better off closer to downtown. The Airport Water Shuttle leaves from the ferry dock behind the hotel.The good-size guest rooms, which were renovated in 2000, afford dramatic views from the higher floors. They have all the features you'd expect at a deluxe hotel, including oversize work desks. The surprises here are in the public areas; the lobby is a work of art, with a map inlaid in the floor and the "sky" on the rotunda ceiling. And the building's tower is a lighthouse -- the airport control tower manages the beacon so that it doesn't interfere with runway lights.Facilities: Restaurant (New England); lounge; 40-ft. indoor pool; exercise room; Jacuzzi; sauna; concierge; 24-hr. airport shuttle service; business center; room service until midnight; laundry service; same-day dry cleaning; executive-level rooms. Ferries to Rowes Wharf and Long Wharf dock outside. Rooms for travelers with disabilities are available.
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