So being a backwoods redneck that gets bent out of shape driving through Portland to get to Bissel Brothers and Foundation, I'm leery of the idea of driving in Boston to get to Trillium and Nightshift. I'm afraid I'll have a coronary trying to get into the correct lane or traversing some maze of one way streets, I mean the nearest stoplight is probably 3 miles from my house and traffic means waiting for a car to go by so I can turn. What are my options to get to the breweries without driving myself? (I'll have my wife and kids with me and the kids are still in car seats).
Nightshift has a parking lot (albeit small) and it's not technically in Boston so don't worry about that since you can pull right up and it's not anywhere as bad as inner city driving.
Based on the description, the rotary from Revere Beach Parkway to Santilli Highway might actually give him a heart attack. I live about 3 miles from both, for somebody concerned about Boston traffic IMO Trillium is the easier drive. Both are about half a mile from the T -- Night Shift from Wellington on the Orange Line, and Trillium from South Station on the Red Line. Once you start talking about dragging kids that distance though, I think you're best off just taking an Uber or doing the public transit route by yourself while the wife and kids do something else. Neither is in the maze of one-way streets part of Boston, if it's any comfort to push you toward driving. Strictly speaking, both are only I think 3 turns off I-93 (though one is that aforementioned rotary) so you could probably just plan your lane changes well in advance.
Yeah that's a multi-lane rotary with poor signage and mall-like shopping traffic, assuming coming from that direction. Not fun for someone who doesn't like city driving or traffic.
Boston driving is not that bad on the weekends, its not like NYC or larger cities combo of the T (orange line, Wellington for nightshift and red line, south station for trillium) and uber will be easy on the wallet and fairly stress free to get to those 2 breweries from within the city
Are you dead set on going to the breweries themselves or are you just looking to pick up their beer? I agree that driving across route 16 to Nightshift is a real mess. My advice is to drive to Redstone Liquors in Andover and grab Nightshift and Trillium there. It's very easy from 95 and you can park in a large mall lot instead of having to find parallel parking on the street. There's a Michael's next door, which might entertain the wife and kids and buy you a few extra minutes.
There's a brew bus tour in the city. I don't know anything about it, http://bostonbrewtours.com/ I would recommend taking an Uber around town, but the car seats might be an issue. Most Uber drivers are very accommodating. My friends sometimes order an UberXL if they are too drunk to bike home, and they'll usually let them throw their bike in the back of the SUV. Otherwise, if you go on a Sunday, driving is pretty easy. Trillium to Mystic (do it) to Nightshift is mostly on highways, not city roads. The rotaries near Nightshift can be a tough.
Thanks I'll have to stop in there. (My wife enjoys beer too, so she'll be looking for her own brews). I had just figured we could stop at the breweries since we are visiting friends in one of the Boston Suburbs.
Well you will certainly get better selections at the breweries. Almost no store will have every Night Shift beer all at the same time. Same with Trillium, plus if your plan is to load up the markup on Trillium might be significant. Getting to Night Shift can be a pain in the ass, but it's not what I consider city traffic. It's more like mall/shopping center traffic. Depends on what you're looking for as far as selection & pricing but I'd say just suck it up & hit the breweries. I hate traffic as well but you'll be happy you did.
Newton, usually they come up to Maine for some peace and quiet but my buddy is headed out for a new coast guard assignment on the Mississippi so we are going to go visit before he leaves.
Newton has its own Craft Beer Cellar that is worth making a brief trip to; they usually get Night Shift stuff on Thursdays if you end up not wanting to deal with driving to Everett (not city driving, as others have pointed out, but weird rotaries). They also get Trillium in stock regularly. For the breweries, you could always just Uber your way around. Uber drivers are everywhere in the greater Boston area, and I doubt Newton has a lot of surge pricing. Alternatively, you could jump on the Commuter Rail at West Newton - it'll take you to South Station, which is a ten minute walk from Trillium's Fort Point location. And then you could get on the Orange Line at Downtown Crossing (a 10 minute walk the other way from South Station), take it to Wellington, and walk to Night Shift (half a mile). If you get one of those rolling things you could put a box of Trillium bombers on it and drag around some great brews... you know, those foldable almost-a-dolly-but-not-quite things.
