Former Rhode Island resident here, and I concur with Gee's list. Some other things that come to mind for me...
- Get yourself a map for the T and some daily or weekly passes, depending on what you think you need. If you don't mind walking a bit, it's the easiest way to get around the city. The traffic pretty much always sucks.
- Boston has a good science museum and a kid's museum. I can't remember if they're separate buildings or one structure, but I visited both multiple times on school field trips, and they're both fun. The science museum I visited a couple times as an adult and enjoyed, because they have special exhibits on interesting things.
- The Gardner Museum (art) is interesting, plus there is a Netflix series about the art heist now. You can check that out, and then go visit the museum, haha.
- Most of New England has a thriving local brewery scene, so don't confine yourself to Sam Adams and Harpoon. Trillium is a great spot in the Boston area, and if you have a car, Treehouse is widely regarded as the best brewery in New England, with some seriously drinkable stuff. However, that's in the Sturbridge (Worcester Hills) area, about a 60 to 90 minute drive depending on traffic. (My wedding ceremony is in Sturbridge in late July, so we've done a trip or two to that area to scout things out.) There are a ton of local breweries in the Boston area though. Oh, for phone apps - Untapped : beer :: Yelp : restaurants. You can log your beers, and it does a good job of showing you breweries (or bars, or liquor stores) that are local, which can be in issue in Boston at times.
- My wife is really into pastries, and Mike's Pastry is one of those Boston touristy things that's popular, but still good. Same thing goes with Pizzeria Regina, although you want to go to the original location on Thacher Street if you're going to go. If you ask locals though, they probably have places they like better.
- It's worse because of the pandemic, but even before that, the night life scene skews more toward loud and drunk 20somethings at the bar. There's some smaller comedy clubs, but I imagine the larger acts aren't going to be back until 2022. (Looking just now, it was just open mic nights, that kind of thing.)
- I'm guessing you've probably already booked a flight, but if you haven't, you might want to check TF Green (Warwick, RI) and Manchester (NH) for rates as well. We live in Houston now, and on our three flights back to visit, we've used Logan once and TF Green twice. The price difference on the tickets was $50/each, and the rental car was also cheaper - just make sure your hotel provides parking. If it doesn't, there is a commuter rail from Warwick to Boston. Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont all have cool stuff that's within a couple hours of Boston as well, but unless you're spending a whole week or more there, the city itself and the suburbs should keep you plenty occupied.
