PM2, Wow. I brought up my googlemap of nurseries, and all of them are a distance from 90...even Andrew's Greenhouse and Bay State Perennials (both in amherst). (not sure if they are *true* destination nurseries, especially now) Suggestions: (*relatively* close) is Variegated Foliage in Eastford, CT. Logees Greenhouse in Danielson, CT, and Quacking Grass Nursery in Brooklyn, CT ARE destination nurseries, but lead you farther off your trail...the good news, is that they are close to each other. Ah, boston...it's so nice to have all resources right at your fingertips...wish all locations were like that...:P Here is a link that might be useful: Variegated Foliage

I have to disagree with much of the above advice..... I feel very qualified for comment, I own a Welding Supply Company and have been selling these products since the late 70's. I have through the years been a distributor for Air Products, Liquid Carbonics, Air Gas, BOC, and Puritan Bennett. I sell to small individual customers, and commercial accounts from one man operations through large corporate accounts. I sell in Pa, Md, Va, Washington D.C., Delaware. We sell most gasses, and all cylinder sizes. Purchasing your cylinders is your best overall deal, many companies try to not sell you cylinders but try and talk you into renting, either monthly, yearly or a longer term lease.......First in doing this, they lock you into them, it is their cylinders, you are their captive customer. 2nd They are making lots of money from you on these charges, the prices of the long term lease for example more than covers their cost to purchase the cylinders If you renew your lease, it is 100% profit, if you turn your cylinders back in and end your lease, they have the cylinders to lease again to someone else As far as testing on the cylinders, their are two general categories of test for high pressure cylinders, 5 year and 10 year test cycles, and if the cylinder qualifies for a 10% overfill. The format for a retest marking is: Month Facility  Year  Plus Rating  Star Stamp. The + symbol indicates that the cylinder qualifies for 10% overfill.  A Star Stamp indicates that the cylinder meets the requirements for 10-year retest, instead of a 5-year retest. Acetylene cylinders generally do not require periodic retesting, unless a problem develops with the cylinder. Testing charges vary I have seen retail pricing from 20.00 to 50.00 for the retest, or more........So if you had to pay a test charge once in a blue moon, it would still be much cheaper than cylinder rental , or lease charges (and as it is your own cylinder you have the freedom to go to any supplier you wish for your product***) For our customers that purchase cylinders from us, we generally exchange empty for full (Unless the customer wants to keep the exact cylinder they purchased) If the cylinder is sized correctly for the customer and their needs, We usually see the customer at least once a year (Some much more often , others a little less often) Volume users turning once a month or more, seldom if ever get charged any rental, or have to take leases, they are just paying for product used. If they are a regular customer, we maintain cylinders and do not charge for the retests, how ever if the customer wishes to keep the exact cylinder they purchased, or If they are an extreme slow turner seeing them once in five or more years, then we do charge for a retest. Our current test charge is about 30.00 *** A side note on suppliers. Some companies will only deal in certain sized cylinders for non commercial customers. Some places will only rent or lease and will not deal in sold type cylinders. If you find this is a stores policy, remember they are wanting to lock you into them as a customer, through the money you tie up in rent or lease charges.....My personal store, we sell cylinders and hope our customer service and care as well as reasonable pricing helps assure the customer will return, we feel no need to contractually bind them to us. Yes Please talk with your local gas supplier, how ever, if they try to talk you into lease or rental of cylinders, I would suggest looking for a different supplier To the above poster, you say, "I trade mine about every 2 years empty or full to stay in the good graces of my gas supplier." No disrespect, this is silly practice on your part. You are trying to preach about the money saving doing it your way and yet you are willing to turn in partially full cylinders, to stay in good graces with your supplier. Of course they will love this it is money ahead for them, getting money from you before it is time! There is no reason to do this, none what so ever! If it is something you actually do, You are only throwing dollars away with this practice. I was young when I started my business, I actually had a competitor come and visit me, and put his arm on my shoulder as if he was trying to give me fatherly advice, he stated the virtues of not selling cylinders, instead offering leases......I politely let him speak, when he was done I said, I do not feel a need to lock my customers in with this kind of practice, I like to give them free choice, I think you can do it your way, I will continue to do it mine! (The guy never paid me another "friendly visit") I wish you were in my area, I would help you out. Talk to local welding supplies You can get cylinders off Craig's List, BUT Make sure you have a supplier that will work with you and fill them/exchange them before you pull the trigger and spend your money! Some will be very willing to work with foreign to their system cylinders, others will not.

I second the South End suggestion. Also, as long as you're in the Boston Design Center area, you might also visit Machine Age, especially if you like Mid-Century Modern. You can check out examples of what they have on their website (machineage.com). To find them, you have to drive into what looks like an industrial area parking lot. But keep going! While in the area, you could eat at Yankee Lobster (on Northern). Not at all fancy, but very, very fresh seafood. Their fried clams are tender, sweet and tasty. Of course, so is the lobster. Nearly next door is Harpoon Brewery. Both both places, parking is right there and free - unusual in Boston! Another lunch option is the Legal Seafood Test Kitchen. There also is a "regular" Legal Seafood restaurant, but we prefer the Test Kitchen. Finally, a bit further away is a Flour Bakery Cafe. Yum! Have a good visit.

In 1965 my husband to be and I stayed two weeks in the Hotel Royal Bretagne at 11bis rue de la Gaîté in Paris. Years after I read in Simone de Beauvoir's memoirs that she'd stayed in this hotel for several months in 1937, commuting from her teaching post in Passy. She describes it as a very decent hotel and it still was in 1965 and also in 2000 when my husband was given a room there purely by chance when he attended a conference. A room then cost much more than the 17 francs we paid and was much improved. On this same visit we looked at the nearby Hotel Orfila in rue d'Assas where the Swedish author August Strindberg experienced the psychosis he described in his book Inferno. Another literary place I've actively sought out was Jane Austen's Chawton in Hampshire, on our way from Mottisfont Abbey. We arrived too late to see the inside but the outside loo was open, to our relief. The greatest disappointment was the long detour we made to Little House in the Big Woods near Pepin, Wisconsin, where we had hoped to show our children Laura Ingalls Wilder's childhood home. It was a shiny new replica with hardly a tree in sight. 29 years later it looks more weathered in internet photos.