New England Travel and Vacation Gazette and Other Wicked Good Content

Charley Manning featured a great topic yesterday afternoon on his WRKO Boston radio talk show, focusing on the challenges restaurants face in today's tough economy. I caught a few segments where many callers and restaurant employers felt  that good service was as important  as the food. I don't know about you, but too many restaurants I've been to have average service, at best. It seems like either the management is too busy to pay attention to its customers, the often transient wait staff disinterested and lacking good listening skills -- or both.  Several restaurants, however, come to mind when thinking of offering a pattern of excellent service. This includes waitress or waiter friendliness from start to finish, bringing the food out on time, and a host or manager that interacts well with the customer.  In no particular order, here are some New England dining spot where we have found a  general commitment to excellence when it comes to "service with a smile...

If you enjoy the Boston and New England of yesteryear, we think you'll enjoy our newest VisitingNewEngland publishing network blog addition, Old School Boston . Here, we will take a reflective and sometimes humorous look at some of the Boston restaurants, retail stores, local media, television and radio commercials, travel attractions and events, town and city icons, etc., that warmed our hearts and minds when growing up in the 1960s and 1970s.  Some subject matter you'll find in our first several articles include Rex Trailer, Willie Whistle, Grover Cronin's Department Store, the Cottage Crest restaurant, the "Famous Jim Sands" radio show,  legendary sports anchor Don Gillis, the Dave Dinger Ford radio jingle and the Zayre retail chain. Much more is on the way!  As always, feel feel to contribute your Boston and New England memories to this new Blog!

It takes some getting used to, but Putnam, Conn., ultimately grows on you. The old Montgomery Ward building (pictured here; Montgomery Ward, however, is long gone), the many locally-owned antique stores, head-on parking, a leisurely pace and a growing restaurant and retail scene help make Putnam unique, serviceable and with a rough-around-the-edges but pleasant personality.  We recently spent some time here and really enjoyed the antique stores and the modest but nice Christmas decorations around the downtown area.  If you need some other place to shop than the big box stores, Putnam is surely a worthy New England destination. For more information on this small New England town located in the northeast sector of Connecticut, please visit read our Putnam CT travel article at VisitingNewEngland.com.

The southwest Boston suburban town of Wrentham, Mass., always comes up with a fantastic Christmas lights display at its beautiful town common. Although the look of this town common is classic New England year-round, things just seem to come alive even more during the holiday season. With a gazebo all decked out in white lights, big trees with multi-colored lights and places to stroll along this multi-acre open space, the holiday spirit is always alive and well at this pleasant, little downtown spot. We'd love to hear your comments on the Wrentham town common Christmas lights display, or any other holiday travel attraction that you enjoy in New England!