Oh, and all washed down with some local beer: Bunker pils. 

The lobster roll is great, but the real treat here is all the raw seafood: oysters, mackerel, tuna, fluke. We've had seafood in every which way so far – fried, steamed, in soups, in pasta – now we're having it straight up.

Eventide is centred around a big slab of Maine granite, which is filled with ice and oysters. They typically have 15-20 oysters on the board, of which half are from Maine. There's a good indie soundtrack in the background – plenty of the Smiths and Interpol. We're trying to think if there are any famous musicians from Portland. (Jump in if you know one.)

"There's something timeless about the American oyster bar," says Arlin, the owner of Eventide as he talks us through the menu. He and his partners already had a restaurant in Portland, Hugo's, next door, and they were looking for a new venture. They felt the city was lacking a locally sourced oyster bar, so here it is. 

Damn, just realised in all our mad dashes across Boston, we forgot – or rather ran out of time for – the Museum of Bad Art. Shame. I have always wanted to go there. 

[Alan here – we're all too sad to have missed this museum. Even the usually fussy New York Times had a blast, quoted below, and you can check out more of the looney exhibits here.]

No venture into the world of bad art is complete without a trip to the Museum of Bad Art (called MoBA for short), currently with three sites in the Boston area. … The museum’s volunteer curator, Michael Frank, said most of the art on display was donated by patrons, genre enthusiasts and sometimes artists themselves. 

“They were things that I’m convinced were created in all seriousness, but clearly something has gone wrong, either in the execution or in the concept,” said Mr. Frank, who pays the bills by working as a musician and balloon artist named Mike the Hatman. “Sometimes we’ll have poor technique that results in a compelling image. But a painting that shows poor technique isn’t necessarily bad art.”

Comments in the museum’s guest book summed up the genre’s dark appeal. “This collection is disturbing, yet I can’t seem to look away,” wrote Voyeur From Canada. “Just like a hideous car accident.”

Another wrote: “Her nipples follow you around the room. Creepy!”

Maine may seem like all beautiful coastlines, lobster rolls, forests and blueberries, but any quick glance at its role on film reveals a scenic state of crime, supernatural occurrences, and intrepid heroes.

A lot of this is due to Portland's own Stephen King, the author of too many classics to summarize here. King's influence has shown no signs of letting up, either: he's just released a sequel to The Shining, and is responsible for the show Under the Dome. Carrie – that classic about the hazards of bullying telepathic high schoolers – is being remade this fall, and was set in Maine, as was The Shawshank Redemption.

(Spoilers in this clip! If you're among the handful of people who've never seen Shawshank, that is …)

Bonus: King recently sat down with the Guardian's Emma Brockes to talk about his works, his family, and his long struggle with alcoholism. The long profile/interview is as fun, interesting and inspiring as you'd expect, and worth a read.

And then there's Murder She Wrote, the long-running mystery show starring another living legend, Angela Lansbury. The small (fictional) town of Cabot Cove, Maine, was apparently populated almost entirely by criminals, but the good news is that Jessica Fletcher was around to take names and turn them into weekly books. Possibly even better news is that the show broke barriers for its time, as Lansbury would be first to note.

We're following a tip by @woolybucket to try Eventide. We're here right now and they have lobster roll. We're in business.

And, of course, honoring your musical requests below the line (even though they're still in Portland), it's No Regrets and Rockport Sunday, by the witty "New England folkie legend [of] about fohty (no typo: dialect) years".

Maine's identity has become as tightly bound up by big blue lobsters as the crustaceans' claws are by big rubber bands. We've received tip after tip after tip about where to eat lobsters. Until Vicky actually tries a Maine lobster though, we'll have to be content with an excerpt from David Foster Wallace's classic Gourmet review of the Maine Lobster Festival.

Lobsters are basically giant sea-insects. Like most arthropods, they date from the Jurassic period, biologically so much older than mammalia that they might as well be from another planet. And they are – particularly in their natural brown-green state, brandishing their claws like weapons and with thick antennae awhip—not nice to look at. 

But they are themselves good eating. Or so we think now. Up until sometime in the 1800s, though, lobster was literally low-class food, eaten only by the poor and institutionalized. Even in the harsh penal environment of early America, some colonies had laws against feeding lobsters to inmates more than once a week because it was thought to be cruel and unusual, like making people eat rats. One reason for their low status was how plentiful lobsters were in old New England. “Unbelievable abundance” is how one source describes the situation, including accounts of Plymouth pilgrims wading out and capturing all they wanted by hand, and of early Boston’s seashore being littered with lobsters after hard storms – these latter were treated as a smelly nuisance and ground up for fertilizer. 

Now, of course, lobster is posh, a delicacy, only a step or two down from caviar. The meat is richer and more substantial than most fish, its taste subtle compared to the marine-gaminess of mussels and clams. In the US pop-food imagination, lobster is now the seafood analog to steak, with which it’s so often twinned as Surf ’n’ Turf on the really expensive part of the chain steak house menu. 

In a good year, the US industry produces around 80 million pounds of lobster, and Maine accounts for more than half that total.

Built in 1897, The Inn at St John is the city’s oldest continuously operating historic Victorian Inn, apparently. It's very chintzy. I like it. With the trends to make things all sleek and boutique, you don't get many places like this anymore. 

Under threat of Greta's veto power, Vicky and Kylie are deciding where to head for a late dinner in Portland – in other words – think you can surprise the team's Maine native?

 There's decidedly a theme to the top tippage thus far …

safburrows: "Highly recommend J's Oyster Bar on the waterfront in downtown Portland, Maine. Get there early as it's s small place but SO worth it, especially if you dress warmly right now and sit outside!"

NationalDisgrace: "Fisherman's Grill for the kindest service and freshest seafood."

NotaSeed: "Fore Street in Portland – get the mussels – pretty much the best ever."

Richard Owens: "Becky's Diner on Commercial Street as well as Gilbert's Chowder House, which is also on Commercial Street *and* on the waterfront."

Any non-seafood options in New England? Yes, apparently. Pie.

aeausa: "BTW, one of the true signs of a native New Englanders is that we can eat apple pie for breakfast without any qualms. If you find a good apple pie, have it in the morning. You'll see."

We'll see, indeed.

This tip just in …

I'm glad we didn't go for Greta's other suggestion now: a cabin in the woods on the outskirts of town.

Don't forget: Greta lives in Portland, so she gets final call tonight on where we eat. She's really interested to see what other people flag up. Maybe somewhere she's never tried.

We made it. Phew. That was quite a journey. Now where shall we go for dinner? Have had some great tips over the last few days. Just going to go back through them and pull out a winner.

There must be a lot of leaf peepers in town, because getting a hotel isn't easy. Many are booked up until the end of October. Also, no one understands my accent. "Miss Crater? And what's that email address? D Guardian? V Guardian?"

Poor phone reception isn't helping either. But finally we've found one – the Inn at St John – and we're all set for a night in Portland. 

Too late for sunset and too dark for much of a view, wanderingbutnotlost's tip for Portland Head Light, in Cape Elizabeth and just south of Portland, won't be possible tonight. Wiki tells us that the historic lighthouse was built over 200 years ago, under the orders of George Washington. It still functions – so at the very least Vicky might catch a glimpse of the light at the top casting out to sea.

The team has bid Massachusetts a fond farewell, though they were sad to leave with so much of Boston and its seafood untried. They're heartened, though, by memories of a place that never forgets – if only because of syndication. Yes, that home of Mayday Malone, the Boston Brahmin, Carla, Cliff, Woody and Norm. So what if Vicky, Greta and Kylie didn't make it to the actual bar?

So every time you clink drinks, says thanks in British English, or hear Frasier on the airwaves, it's a little homage to the bay's most beloved bar.

To celebrate the crossing into Maine, it's part three of Zach Nugent's epic New England playlist. Tell us what songs to play below the line and we'll put them on the next list … and tell Vicky, Greta and Kylie where to go in Maine @VickyBaker, @GuardianTravel, or in the comments!

We made it. Just crossed the state line. Getting ever closer to Portland.

Clams are deep fried and served in a packed paper bag, with tartar sauce on the side. Our pack costs $22 – pricey for fried fare. There's a $4 surcharge at this time year because rain forced the local clam flats to close and means they have to get their supplies elsewhere. It happens every year, they say. 

We've stopped off at the Clam Box in Ipswich. It's a cute little wooden place, painted red and white, and dating back to the 1930s. Inside are red-cushioned booths, while the walls are decorated with maritime paraphernalia (fishing nets, plastic lobsters, a ship's wheel). 

As much as 12-year-old me wants to go door-knocking to find that mystery member of NKOTB, we're off to get some clams. 

Also in Gloucester are the recommendations of Richard Owens on Witness – too far afield for the team to make, but worthy nonetheless, especially considering all the tips for Cape Ann.

If you're going to Gloucester and want to explore more than the waterfront, a trip to Our Lady of Good Voyage is most definitely worthwhile. It's a Catholic church that has catered to the families of working class fishermen of Portuguese, Italian, Scandinavian and Irish descent since 1893 (the stained glass is extraordinary and lining the entire chapel are literally dozens of gorgeous handmade miniature fishing boats; stunning images of vessels at sea and related biblical narratives are built into the stained glass).

And the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester is a must! An astounding collection of twentieth century art.

scooter94705 also sings a shanty of praise for the town and Cape Ann:

It's a little out of the way but worth the trip. It's a fishing town in transition but retains a lot of its original character. You can get there via the various towns along Rt 127, a great ocean-side drive.

Go to the Lone Gull Coffee shop in downtown to get your day started and get some immersion in the local color. Rocky Neck, off to the east, is an old artist-intensive area that can be fun to explore.

Afterward, head up the coast to Rockport; the ring road around Cape Ann is an amazing drive. Rockport can be crowded on weekends but is very manageable during the week. Finally, when you are heading up towards New Hampshire (hopefully not on I-95 but rather on the coast roads), stop in downtown Portsmouth for lunch. It's got lots of colorful locals and some good food and coffee Then you'll be ready to take on the great state of Maine.

Not far from Essex is the town of Gloucester, reachable by Highway 128 – a road most known for being the subject of Jonathan Richman's song, Roadrunner. The Guardian's Laura Barton feels rather strongly about it:

“Roadrunner is one of the most magical songs in existence. It is a song about what it means to be young, and behind the wheel of an automobile, with the radio on and the night and the highway stretched out before you. It is a paean to the modern world, to the urban landscape, to the Plymouth Roadrunner car, to roadside restaurants, neon lights, suburbia, the highway, the darkness, pine trees and supermarkets.”

They're telling us about the unusual make-up of its small 3,200 population. Plenty of clammers and shipbuilders, but also execs who commute into Boston, sports stars and one of New Kids On the Block. We're not sure which one.

No sign of fake tan and vajazzles here. Essex, Massachusetts is a picturesque harbour town, full of typical New England wooden houses. We're down at the water's edge talking to the shipbuilders.

Too far a detour and of contention among commenters, Cape Cod was scratched off Vicky's schedule long ago. The famous beaches – and great white shark destination – were supported by Gummibarchen, Rich Wilson and Don Schaefer, among others. With presidential vacation spot Martha's Vineyard nearby, the views must be stunning; we only have Wiki to help confirm this.

Rhyacian tells us to forget about it, though and head to Cape Ann, north of Boston. 

Noted whale spotter Herman Melville, meanwhile, tells us to ship off to another little island nearby: Nantucket.

Nantucket! Take out your map and look at it … a mere hillock, and elbow of sand; all beach, without a background. There is more sand there than you would use in twenty years as a substitute for blotting paper. Some gamesome wights will tell you that … they import Canada thistles … that pieces of wood in Nantucket are carried about like bits of the true cross in Rome; that people there plant toadstools before their houses, to get under the shade in summer time; that one blade of grass makes an oasis, … that to the very chairs and tables small clams will sometimes be found adhering as to the backs of sea turtles. But these extravaganzas only show that Nantucket is no Illinois.

With the landless gull, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep between billows; so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out of sight of land, furls his sails, and lays him to his rest, while under his very pillow rush herds of walruses and whales.

If only Yelp had such reviews.

Literally. There's too little time and too many mixed reviews to trek off to the famous witching town. 

Here's the reader roundup and the Wiki lowdown.

On Witness, we had mixed messages:

"If you must go to Salem, have lunch at Gulu-Gulu! great food, great selection of beers"

oh_cailin: "Visit spooky Salem … the place of the infamous witchcraft trials, and go to Nathaniel Hawthorne's birthplace." 

Below the line, however, Sarah Heineman Belfort, boleyngroupie, and aeausa "echo dodging the Hallowe'en kitsch at Salem." Only whith measures the criticism: 

"Spot on about Salem. It is such a nice little town once you clear away the witchy nonsense and Halloween gimcrack. Full of lovely buildings in between car parks and tat. PEM is one of my favorite museums anywhere, more beautiful objects than paintings by its very nature with an honest to god Chinese house attached."

Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter and House of the Seven Gables, was none too proud of his Salem ancestor, aka the judge who never repented for, you know, damning innocent people as witches. William supposedly added the 'w' to his name to get away from the legacy. And what's the kitschy fuss?

Welp, in 1692, two little girls had what seem to have been epileptic seizures, and accusations promptly started flying of witchery and collusion with the devil. There may have been some small town, family feud politics afoot, but whatever the case, the town's extremely Puritan leaders got into the fray, and by the end of it had condemned 28 people, most of whom died. The story of mass hysteria and madness became famous as word got out of the killings, and eventually Arthur Miller turned it into a play, and Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Ryder turned it into a movie. 

Salem, apparently, turned it into a cash cow.

We're heading there now. We love the sound of those coastal clam shacks. The traffic is actually not so bad. We're about 25 minutes away.

To Woodman's, per boleyngroupie? 

Or Farnham's, per aeausa?

I'm joking because it is bang on 5.45 as we get into the car to leave. Timing is not our strong point. Hope we're not hit to badly. Our day in Boston went too quick. We're off to Portland, Maine tonight. Where should we stay? 

Drop us your picks below the line, or tweet me @vickybaker or @GuardianTravel!

Last stop: Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. The latter has got a not exactly complimentary review from whith below the line. It's certainly tourist central, and there's a Starbucks at the entrance. We don't have much time to spare anyway. We've got to hit the road before the notoriously bad rush hour we've been warned about. 

Seemingly out of nowhere, the thoughtful, unique and extremely pretty Boston Holocaust memorial.

One of the oldest cities in America, Boston has lots and lots of history to keep its historical re-enactors very busy. The US may have been invented in Philadelphia, but Boston took the heat. Here's a very, very condensed timeline of the big events.

Boston Massacre – 1770 – Protesting taxes, five men were killed by British soldiers, and the event went down in contemporary propaganda as a symbol of royal oppression.

The Destruction of the Tea in Boston – 1773 – Future president John Adams didn't go in for "the Tea Party" moniker, but was all in favor of dumping tea into the bay to protest tariffs. He wrote: "This Destruction of the Tea is so bold, so daring, so firm, intrepid and inflexible, and it must have so important Consequences, and so lasting, that I cant but consider it as an Epocha in History". Little did he know that some 21st century Americans think as much, too.

"The shot heard round the world" – 1775 – A stray skirmish in Lexington, just outside Boston, turns into the first fight of the Revolutionary War, which Ralph Waldo Emerson immortalized in his poem "Concord Hymn".

Midnight Ride – 1775 – Paul Revere rides out to save his beer-loving, philosopher buddy Sam Adams – yes, that Sam Adams – and "Sign me up first" John Hancock from capture by the British.

Bunker Hill – 1775 – A "pyrrhic victory" for the British, it was during this fight that the order "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes" became famous, though who said it is anybody's guess.

Of course, as the years went on Hancock, the Adams men and a whole crew of others got together to write a pair of constitutions and various other declarations and bills. There are plenty of historical tours, if you're interested; though you may learn more about Boston by simply heading to Fenway and thinking of Sam Adams as the lager of choice.

For Pigtown and aeausa down below the line, who point us to the Kingston Trio and explain that the reason Boston's metro system card is called the Charlie Card … it's all about Boston rebelling against taxes. Of course.

Vicky's just passed by the site of an especially tempting tip, from boleyngroupie: "there's one restaurant that may be worth it for clam chowder: Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the US."

Newsbellglobal and Gummibarchen, meanwhile, recommend Neptune Oysters, noting "It's a little bit pricey for a lobster roll, but *so worth it*. The dressing is unusual for the Boston area (I've heard it's more common in Connecticut); lobster rolls are usually served cold with a mayonnaise-based sauce in these parts."

Gary/William should be at work right now, but he's called his boss for permission to give a one-off alternative tour (sitting down in the Rose Kennedy park for a condensed-but-gripping account of the Boston Massacre).

 "Three women feeding me cannoli. This is the greatest day of my life," he says, chomping through the icing sugar. That's the affect of cannoli on Bostonians. 

"Excuse me," says a girl passing by the park. "I'm from California and I'm seeing these white boxes everywhere. What are they?" Now she's part of the taste test too. The verdict? It's a tough one. Gary/William is the expert, of course. He votes for Mike's, as, it seems, do many of our commenters.

Gary/William is giving us a crash course in Boston's history. He's technically off duty, so switching between tenses as he tells it. We're trying to keep up. 

Look who has come to join us for our taste test. It's Gary, or William – the boss of one of the North End gangs – as is his character name. He's a Freedom Trail guide for a non-profit company. We just saw him walk by and we had to ask him to join us.

Henry James, the American novelist who preferred Victorian Britain to his native New York, wrote an odd politico-picaresque-romance of a novel called The Bostonians in 1886. These winding little lanes are unlike any other American city street scene, which is to say those with usual "eternal equidistances, with their quadrilateral scheme of life", in James' words. Boston reminded James of Europe, and he saw it as a "bigger, louder, braver" place than the rest of New England, with "a scant but adequate cluster of 'nooks'", and full of "small happy accidents".

The original heart of the town is a tangled web of cobbled streets rising up from the Common. This is the Beacon Hill district - a grand pile of 19th-century red-brick houses that comprises some of the most expensive real estate in the US. But it was in these narrow hills with their gaslamps and grill works, their stained-glass windows and their fanlights that James' contemporaries fought for feminism and, a century before, inside more colonial trappings, in which Bostonians voiced angry opinions about tariffs and tea.

North Shore shots.

Oh, and Maria's opinion of cannoli back in Italy? "Lousy." 

This is the place for it, she says. We've got three boxes of the stuff from across the neighbourhood; we're about to put it to the test. 

We're in Maria's, meeting Maria herself. She's worked on this spot for 43 years and has been the owner for the last 32 of those, after renaming it. Originally from Naples, she came over to the States when she was 14 and retains the strong accent. 

She recently picked up a prize from Boston Magazine for the best cannoli in town 2013. So what's the secret? Maria's a fully hands-on owner. She works seven days a week. "A lot of places have employees, following things from a book. It's not like that here." Everything here has to have her touch.

"Everyone cooks differently. My mother had three daughters and we all cook in our own way. I have daughters too and you come to my house and you always know who made the gravy. You can't teach cooking. You either feel it or you don't."

Mmm...

But with so many good cannoli tips coming in, which one do we choose? We don't. We're hitting us the three biggest names: Mike's (universally tipped), Modern and Maria's. It's the Boston cannoli challenge.

Cannoli are at the heart of Italian-American culture. Remember the line in the Godfather: "Take the gun, leave the cannoli."

Cannoli

Sicilian pastry desserts. The singular is cannolo  (in Sicilian cannolu), meaning "little tube". Basically, fried pastry dough tubes with a sweet, creamy filling usually of ricotta cheese. The independent movie Teacakes or Cannoli, directed by Francine Pellegrino in 2000, is about a 16-year-old boy growing up in Boston's north side, focusing on Boston-Italian heritage in the neighbourhood.

Overheard on the streets of North End

"Are you in heaven with the smell of all this garlic?"

It's Italian restaurant after Italian restaurant round here.

On that note, we're of to try some of the famous Boston cannoli.

@grtnotion is playing catch-up. Offering great breakfast tips, but a little too late. We love the sound of Charlie's Sandwich Shoppe* in the South End, an all-American diner dating back to the 1920s with a dozen types of omelette on the menu. That's where we'd go tomorrow if we didn't have to move on.

* When the South End of Boston was jazz central in the 1950s, Charlie's was known for serving African-American jazz musicians during the era of segregation. The walls of the diner are adorned with pictures of the greats. As a child, Sammy Davis, Jr used to tap dance in front of the restaurant for change.

Panza is open-fronted so we can look right out on to the street. It's a busy neighbourhood with a constant stream of people passing by. No lobster here, but we'll get enough of that in Maine, all being well. They do, however, have linguine with littleneck clams. That'll do the job. We're ticking the box for Italian Boston.

A waiter preparing the tables sees our disappointment.

"Hey, just go opposite. Panza. It's the same owner."

#Saved!

Giacomo's - here it is. Varnished wood frontage and a gold clam shell above the door. All the tables are laid with starched napkins and sparkling wine glasses. But it's empty. Is this the right place?

"We don't open until 4," says the chef from behind the open kitchen.

Foiled again.

We're in the North End, Boston's Italian quarter, following Sara Derfus' tip to Giacomos and the promise of lobster linguine. We've been warned we might have to queue.

The Italian connection: The first wave of Italians arrived in the North End in the 1860s, escaping hardship in the old country. Enclaves of residents lived together on streets segregated by the region of Italy they came from - Sicily, Milan, Naples, and Genoa - and preserving each's language and customs. By 1900, Italians had firmly established themselves in the North End, and by 1930, the North End was almost 100% Italian. In recent years, the Italian population in the North End has dwindled due to rocketing property prices, forcing many of the less affluent residents to move elsewhere. Although Italians now make up less than half of the population of the North End, its old world Italian flavour is preserved in the cafes and restaurants. (The North End blog)

Greta ordered an Uber car ( an unmarked car service ordered via an app). It turns up promptly. Blacked out windows, so we feel like celebrities. And even more so when Scotty becomes our impromptu tour guide. He's from Roxbury, about a mile from Southie. Over to Scotty...

This is one of Boston's signature neighbourhoods. It was the city's Irish catholic heart and the big Irish parade still takes place here. It was poor, working class and there was a stigma attached to that for years. There were riots here in the 70s and lots of crime. But it's been gentrified now.

We pass the projects and hit a stretch of triple-decker row houses, perfectly painted in pastel colours.

We also get to practice out Boston accents with Scotty. "Pahk the cahr in Hahvahd Yahd."

So, the people of Boston (Alwick, 999Jasper) are telling us to skip Southie and head north. We will for lunch, but things down south are just getting interesting. We're on the trail of Whitey Bulger's* bar: Triple Os. Where he used to collect his debts. It's not there anymore but we see the spot.

* Whitey Bulger ran a protection racket in Boston. He was an informant for the FBI but went on the run for 16 years until he was arrested in Santa Monica in 2011. On August 12 this year, he was found guilty on 31 counts, including racketeering charges, and was found to have been involved in 11 murders

Over on the Guardian's Facebook page, some tips coming in. Sara Derfus seconds Alwick's earlier shout in the comments for Harpoon in the Seaport District and adds a couple for Southie and the North End:

Lived in Boston for 2 years and it has to be the Harpoon brewery at the seaport district. Also Giacamo's in the North End, not the South end one. Get the lobster linguine, amazing and less than $30, the line can be something but it is worth it. Also in the South End Geoffrey's Cafe does the best bloody Mary, just $5, really great small place, it was one of my Boston salvations.

While Vicky, Greta and Kylie hit the T, we'll hit the tracks. This playlist is by our friends at Boston music blog AllstonPudding.com.

We're taking requests, so send us your tunes to: @VickyBaker, @GuardianTravel, #TwiTrips, via GuardianWitness or in the comments below.

"The next orange line train is now approaching." At Massachusetts Avenue, about to board the T.

Useful T tip from Alwick below the line: "When riding the T you will need to purchase a Charlie Card at any station, like an Oyster Card."

Not a fan of Southie:

Southie is really just an average working class neighborhood with a very checkered past, made unduly famous by movies and crime. There is nothing particularly interesting about it at all. I don't hate it, I just have no need to ever go.

But more positive about:

The waterfront (aka "The Seaport") is nice, and walkable. Take the Silver Line from South Station to the World Trade Center stop, get off and walk around. If you want some really good, inexpensive and no-frills, fresh seafood, go to The Yankee Lobster Company on Northern Ave. They also serve Harpoon beer, from the brewery right next door.

Frank was great, but sport is clearly the way to his heart.

We asked him about the neighbourhood first and drew a bit of a blank.

"Well, y'know, I've worked these streets for a couple of years, but I don't tend to bounce around here. So, erm..."

He lives in Foxborough, the team's base. As soon as the conversation switches to football, he springs to life. Tough game coming up against Atlanta, apparently.

That's typical New England, says Greta, as we walk away. Sport is everything here.

On our way, we've met Frank, a South End postman.

He's a massive New England Patriots fan, and he gives us a top tip. Tickets are really hard to come by, but the best time to buy them online is on a Wednesday between 10.10am and 10.45am, because that's when players post the ones they have been allocated but can't use themselves.

"It's worked for me," he says.

Boston public transport comes highly recommended in the tips (thanks @Menardo, @aeausa) so we're heading for the T, the city's metro system. We're going to check out Southie as per Sarah Heineman Belfort's tip in the comments:

If you do want to see Southie, head over to Castle Island (not a real island). You willdrive through the residential neighborhood on your way over, then walk around the park (surrounding an old fort), and look out across Boston Harbor.

We're on foot, heading to the station, passing gorgeous South End brownstone houses, skyscrapers peaking up over the top of some of them.

Another reason Flour was a good tip: it's their birthday today and that means free cupcakes, apparently. Thirteen years today.*

I've picked the twice-baked brioche, dipped in almonds.

"It's out-of-control-good," says the server.

"Just look at it. Isn't beautiful?"

It sure is. But, hold on, Greta has just taken it outside to photograph it. Hey, come back with that!

* (Actually, I'm not sure Flour is 13 years old, despite what the waitress just told me - just the "bread starter". Not sure what that means actually.)

Shout out of thanks to @loganpass for some great food tips. She recommended Flour Bakery, where we are right now (just walked in the door) and plenty of other places for Boston and our continuing journey to Maine.
She also said road trips are all about food - and we couldn't agree more.

Our taxi driver has a thick accent.

"Italian?" we ask.

No, Portuguese. Manuel is originally from Cape Verde, although he has been in Boston for 36 years.

"Living in this city is a privilege," he says. "But expensive." He exhales emphatically at the thought of it.

We pass a building site, the old Boston Herald HQ being turned into condos.

"No one wanted to live downtown here 10 or 15 years ago, now everyone does."

And does he like living her?

"It's a privilege!" he says again, gesticulating wildly over the steering wheel, as if I should know that by now. He's a fan of the mayor, Thomas Menino, who is about step down after five consecutive terms. Elections will be held in November.

South End

The neighbourhood is built on a former tidal marsh, a part of a larger project of the filling of Boston's Back Bay in the mid-19th century to relieve the crowded downtown and Beacon Hill. It went from being poor to middle-class and back to poor again. Then in the 50s came aperiod of slum clearances and redevelopment, until today's reincarnation as one of Boston's main restaurant districts with "a growing retail presence, much of it aimed primarily at upper-middle class shoppers".

Not Southie - der!

The cab's here - after a long wait. Crossing the Charles River. Correction from our taxi driver: Flour Bakery is in SOUTH END, not Southie. We're trying to get our head around Boston neighbourhoods. 

[* Ed's note: Consider the post below on Southie an opportunity to get acquainted, if you don't already know it, with Mystic River, the critically-acclaimed movie that won Sean Penn an Oscar based on the Dennis Lehane novel]

Southie.

One of the oldest and most historic neighbourhoods in the US, known for its row houses and working-class Irish-Americans roots. According to Wiki:

While the Southie lifestyle depicted in recent films like Mystic River and The Departed persists, the neighborhood is quite different from how it used to be. Gentrification has come to several areas, particularly the waterfront, which is now home to the new Boston convention center, several nearby hotels and upscale restaurants, and the Institute for Contemporary Art.

However, the gentrification trend may be somewhat overstated, according to a Boston Magazine article this summer that mocked the New York Times for referring to South Boston as SoBo:

yes, technically some people who are invested in the rising price of real estate in South Boston have, in the past, referred to it as SoBo. You are not wrong there, New York Times. But there’s a fairly good sign that while there may be pockets of yuppies trying to make it happen, it hasn’t quite caught on in Boston

Lots of good breakfast options coming in but we're making an executive decision and opting for Flour Bakery. We're keen to get over to South Boston, or Southie as they call it, to see what's going on there. Any other tips for while we are there?

anthea1234

26 September 2013 4:26am

If you head over to Harvard Square tomorrow try Tory Row for breakfast (although if you managed also to stop at Meadhall after the CBC and feel like staying local the breakfast at the Kendall hotel is pretty good). Then go see the Glass Flowers at the Harvard Natural History Museum.