I definitely like the consistency and impersonality of hotel chains. Reliable internet, comfortable rooms, clean bathrooms, little bowls of hotel soaps and shampoos, a mini-coffee pot, a mini-fridge, and sometimes other amenities as well (DVD player, Playstation 2, etc.) The continental breakfasts are hit or miss, but for the most part we had good breakfasts at the Best Westerns at which we stayed last week. They tended to end a little early, for us, though. We tended to be late getting out of the room (Lynn’s Mom takes two hours in the bathroom, getting up sometimes at six or six thirty to start her loooooong bathroom routines), and often I went down in advance of the women and carted a heaping tray of food back to the room, just so we could get something to eat before the breakfast ended.

And overall, I’m a cheapass. Bed and breakfasts are more expensive. I’d almost prefer consistency and impersonal.

Lynn’s Mom wanted to stay in Bed and Breakfasts. She was adamant about that, until we showed her the price of one night in a typical B&B. Then, Best Western sounded much better. If we had stuck with the B&B idea, the trip would have been exorbitantly expensive, I think.

Also, personally, I don’t see B&B’s as anything particularly great. They are way overpriced for the relatively meagre accomodations one gets. It’s all about the “atmosphere,” and once we convinced Lynn’s mom that the atmosphere was not worth $200.00 a night, the trip became much more affordable.

But that’s a damn good price for the minivan. In my day, you could only get an Escort for that price, retail rental, for a week. Next time, in case you didn’t do this this time, to ensure another really good rate like that, you should see if your employer has a corporate rate with whatever rental company you use. Some of them honor corporate rates for employees, and it doesn’t matter if that particular rental is for company business or no.

But back on topic, this trip did sound very kickass in a very literary, nerdy way. Maybe I should try more of New England some day. There’s so much there that was the historical and literary foundation for this country. It’s a completely different dynamic than the history of the West.

The tours were not cheap, either. I already mentioned that the trolley tour in Boston cost about a hundred dollars for the three of us. But I was also shocked at how much we were charged for a tour of a historic home, often as much as $20.00 per person. Washington definitely has the rest of the U.S. beat in that regard. Almost every site in Washington is free, making it a great vacation value. In Boston, the only thing that was free was the tour of the U.S.S. Constitution…naturally, because it is still owned by the U.S. government. People who complain about taxes should consider one of the benefits of that money: free tours of wonderful museums and exhibits in Washington and elsewhere.