Kid Critic took a trip into the city of Boston for a fourth of july patriotic blast weekend. He stayed at the famous Westin Waterfront with a cityview deluxe room. The hotel, modern, calm, relaxed and welcoming was luxurious in every way. It all started with the revolving door and the polite. kind staff, there are plenty of chairs in the lobby awaiting you with a warm modern welcome. The lobby gives away a nice scene. Apparently, there was a CANDANCE dance competition event going on during our stay which made the hotel very busy and hectic.  We headed up to our room to settle in.

We ate lunch at the popular M.J. O’Connor’s Irish Restaurant, I  ordered a Kids Grilled Cheese with Frites and Tomato Basil Soup. The grilled cheese was a different grilled bread of which I was not used to but enjoyed it, the cheese tasted like provolone and had tomatoes and some basil inside. The frites were very good and so was the tomato basil soup was just a little spicy with a bit too much basil, that’s all. M.J. O’Connor’s website is http://mjoconnors.com.

After our meal I went swimming with my father at the nice pool area which was shallow and only went up to 4.6 feet but was very crowded closer to midday afternoon.  In the hot tub, the upper jets were not working although the lower jets added a nice foot massage. I liked my swim and liked the sunroof which let much light in.

We went back up to our room and relaxed for a late night on the water with Entertainment Cruises’ Spirit of Boston Fireworks Dinner Cruise. We boarded the ship at about 7:30 and did not stop to take pictures considering the long line for it.  We were seated on the second, middle deck by the window in the special V.I.P. section. Our waitress quickly arrived with water and began listing off the drinks and information about the cruise and offered us drinks. I ordered a classic virgin non-alcoholic Shirley Temple came a little late but it’s okay since the cruise was packed with a crowd of people ready to party all night long. The waitress was very pleasant, nice and sweet. The DJ and entertainer of the night walked around providing us with information and introducing himself which was a nice gesture.  The buffet opened around 8:20 at the perfect time right before we sailed away, the lines were winding around the corner and were very long. To my surprise there were more options and selections than listed on the menu for perusal online. I was glad to see more kid-friendly and general classic choices, the critic is very picky about his food! I started off with a dinner roll/butter and got a good-sized portion of pasta salad which was actually very tasty, some atlantic salmon and green bean almandine. When I returned to our table my mother kindly gave me some ham (a new food favorite of mine) which I had not seen at the carving station. The DJ announced that the wait staff would be entertaining us for the night which to my surprise, the ship had a very talented amazing wait staff. One of the waiter’s had sung a song and danced to the rhythm of Thriller allowing us to guess the song.  He looked a lot like Michael Jackson (who recently passed away), had a great personality and just was very entertaining. Most of the wait staff had sung for the audience asking each time of how we were enjoying our cruise making sure we were happy (definitely).  I went back up to the buffet for another portion of pasta, the other side was not open. There were three decks on the ship and the first floor was playing some reggae hip music as ours and the 3rd deck listened to some classic americana music, pop, hip-hop a variety of many hits.  The DJ later began taking advantage of his music system, mixing songs which got some kids dancing. He played the Cha-Cha slide trying to increase the number of people on the dance floor which worked and then after began playing more hip-hop and pop music which began keeping the people on the dance floor. He also taught the dance crowd some moves from back when he was a kid,Blame it on the Boogie!  I enjoyed watching the dancers and was entertained by the dancing guests. We went in and out of the ship watching the panoramic amazing fantastic view of fireworks across Massachusetts as far as we could see. We liked Winthrop’s and other surrounding town’s fireworks and then ran outside around 10:30 for the eye-catching Boston fireworks spectacular being watched and broadcasted across the nation although our ship’s view was partially blocked by a building but most of the fireworks were visible. We were amazed by the great display presentation of colors and bright fireworks. The fireworks spectacular ended with a loud honking of boats in the water sharing their applause and enjoyment of the fireworks got the viewers laughing.  We walked back in the cruise and returned to our table to find dessert waiting for us, a chocolate cake with mousse-like icing and homemade whipped cream topped with a strawberry and classic cheesecake which was untouched by me, not a cheesecake fan... We watched a couple of fireworks continue to release and the party on the dance floor continued until the cruise ended back at the dock. The DJ made some special announcements of celebrations occurring in the ship (engagements, birthdays, honeymoons, e.t.c,.) and on our way out the wait staff held a plate of cookies topped with whipped cream to add a one last touch to our night on the water which made it more memorable as the cookie left a good aftertaste leaving you with a nice memory of your special night on the fourth of july with Entertainment Cruises. The reservation desk also offered a 50% off coupon for your next booking with Entertainment Cruises on any ship until the end of the year welcoming you back again. Entertainment Cruises also owns the Odyssey which is docked at the Boston Harbor Hotel, the Seaport Elite, a private charter boat available for rent a smaller ship good for parties docked at the World Trade Center (also where the Spirit of Boston is docked).  Their website is http://entertainmentcruises.com/. I loved the cruise and give it a five out of five for a great job and was very spirited.

I was very tired after a long night of partying, walked back to the hotel but made it to fall asleep around midnight, I have never slept so late in the morning. I enjoyed our stay at the hotel, our wonderful cruise.

I woke up and we took off to a breakfast place called The Bee-hive in South Boston near where we were staying to eat a late breakfast/brunch. We checked out the menu and decided to eat outside instead of eating inside for a dark Jazz brunch. They are famous for their Homemade Delicious Thick-Cut french toast so I ordered that and a cheese omelette. The orange juice did not taste freshly-squeezed. Our waitress arrived with our drinks without a straw, it took so long to retrieve I forgot I had even requested a straw!  A waiter brought over a big plate of french toast that looked incredible! The french toast was two thick-cut servings of the popular french toast and chantilly cream topped with a strawberry. I gave up one slice of french toast to my mother and gulped the delicious remainings of the french toast down, a 5 out of 5 for me, YUM! The omelette was good too but I am a fan of cheddar cheese (the orange kind) but the provolone cheese that it was served with was good anyway and the egg was well cooked. You should try their frites which come served with the omelette were good. I was a little disappointed with service but the meals were great! Overall, I give The Bee-hive in South Boston a 4 out of 4, one star short as a result of their service. The Beehive is located at: 541 Tremont Street Boston MA 02116. Their website is http://www.beehiveboston.com.

Boy, did I have a great patriotic weekend and I wonder what next year will be like... Stay tuned for more Kid Critic specials. ‘Over and out’