Getting to Treehouse from Boston without car

Feel like ride sharing is a long shot at the best of times. In the midst of COVID who knows. You may get lucky though. Otherwise if public transport and/or taxis don’t work, then a car rental looks a little inevitable. As a Brit who’s lived here for 13 years (although admittedly I’ve driven on the other side of the road beforehand in France, Spain, etc) I’d say you’ll be fine to rent something. Driving on the other side is pretty intuitive, especially given most cars (and likely all rentals unless you’re planning on renting a Ferrari) are automatic. Just be prepared for the very libertarianistic approach to driving here. The roads are generally a low speed free-for-all compared to what you’re used to. Actions that would prompt a brawl in most of Europe are de rigueur here.

 

Welcome to the US, where our public transit is worse than that of almost any other industrialized country. It's frustrating for us, too, but too many people here just love their cars and won't support spending money on any transit infrastructure, even as the planet burns.

There are a couple of challenges you'll have to deal with. First is finding transport. Second is making sure the mode of transport you choose makes it possible to carry the amount of beer you want to bring back from TH.

If you have enough time, one option would be to take a train from Boston to Worcester, then a cab from Worcester to Tree House (Charlton). The train takes about 90 minutes each way, then it's about a thirty minute cab ride. So you're looking at two hours each direction, not including time waiting for train/cab and/or getting to/from a Boston train station.

The other disadvantage to this method is that carrying more than a few beers onto the train will be a challenge; you're limited to what can fit in whatever bag you bring, and you can't keep them cold.

Presumably, you've spent a lot of money getting to Boston, and you'll spend a lot more on beer. I'd suggest biting the bullet and paying for a cab, or a rental car if you're comfortable, to take you all the way to/from Charlton. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration.

 

Practically speaking if you don't rent a car then you should just go to trillium in downtown Boston. May not be the answer you want to hear but public transport doesn't make sense and Uber/Lyft is not as reliable. Alternatively if you don't care about visiting and just want the beer, I'm sure someone can help you out as a proxy and meet in downtown in exchange for thank you beers.

 

If you decide not to rent a car someone on that FB group will probably hook you up either out of the goodness of their heart or for TY beers or other con$iderations

 

There's the Cape Flyer and Greyhound busses to Bourne. If you can get a bike rental down there it's a lesurely 30 minute ride up the canal to the Sandwich site. Would probably don't want to haul a case back on the bike, but you could probably schlep 4-8 back with you.

 

If you drive from Logan to Charlton most of your route will be on the Mass Pike, and one major highway comprises most of the rest. As long as you don't try driving during rush hour or around the city streets of Boston it should be a fairly easy trip.

 

Like Rozzom I also learned to drive in the UK. Swapping to the other side of the road is pretty easy. You hardly notice after 10 minutes.

I will say driving in Boston can be a fairly lively experience though. Nobody GAF about other drivers and the underground tunnels send GPS a bit screwy.

 

Do you just want cans to enjoy in your hotel room / take home, or do you want to visit? If it's the latter, Charlton is the best option I think. If you just want stuff to enjoy but don't need to go there, hopefully someone who goes there regularly can pick something up for you. Or give you a ride. Either way, good luck!

 

see if you can set up an IP trade in Boston for some Tree House. assuming you can get some good stuff there might be a lot of interest. i for one would be interested in some Cloudwater.

had a similar set-up with some guys from Denmark who would visit Philly and send me links to their local beer shops and bring over stuff to swap so they wouldn't have to drive around hunting beer.

 

Hahah we got that part. With this turn of phrase:

and a username of Manunitedwill, we definitely didn’t think you were coming from Japan.

 

Some breweries explicitly allow one person to place the order and pay, and other person to pick up (that's a proxy). Tree House lets you do that (see below), so if you found someone who was going there already and was willing to pick up your order, you could arrange for them to pick up your beers and meet up later.

FAQ — Tree House Brewing Company

+ I placed an order - can someone pick it up for me?
Yes - the individual picking up your order must have your name and order confirmation and abide by the process laid out on this site. The maximum number of orders one person can pick up in one day is four.

 

The term beer mule existed way before ordering beer online became the norm. It's slang for someone who would buy beer for you and either deliver it to you or ship it to you. This is usually done for a fee. This is essentially what you're asking for since you want someone to bring beer from Tree House to Boston. I'm not sure what you mean by "legit", but it's certainly something that breweries are aware exists. If they cared about it, they wouldn't allow proxy pickups imo.

 

To be honest I rarely trade and don’t know the latest in terms of all the dos / donts, but as far as I can understand it essentially you’re not allowed to negotiate pick up for $ (muling) on here, but can do so when it comes to pick up for other beer/good vibes (proxy). I’m sure all sorts of gray area shit happens.

 

You can try posting here and offer them X cans from treehouse/trillium/etc as a thank you for bringing your order to Boston. You may have to go to them in Boston or agree on a spot but that's significantly easier than getting to treehouse.