I have been in my Pjs all day so far and I am not one bit ashamed of it. I guess I could get dressed and make my way around town but I felt like I deserve a lazy, do nothing day. There is always tomorrow for a day on the town! Did I mention that I ordered room service for breakfast, the best blueberry french toast I have ever had!!
Well I am excited to Blog on my Boston trip, it was absolutely amazing! Out of the many cities I have visited I put Boston at the top, it was a beautiful clean city with so much to see and do. The history and oldness of the city was so special. The whole time I was there I tried to picture everything from the 1600s - 1700s when all this was established. I know this is a long blog, so if you have time to do some reading and look at a lot of pictures, have fun and enjoy our little journey of Boston!
DAY 1 :
Our flight left at 7:25 so we had to be up pretty early. I always have to be up way earlier than Zach because I have to get ready and always have last minute packing to do! We arrived in Boston after our 3.5 hour flight and could feel the chilliness getting off the plane. I knew it would be cold but didn't realize just how cold it would be there. Boston is a really cool city/town. The city is made up of many different neighborhoods and each has such a unique and different style. We stayed in the Beacon Hill neighborhood and I must say it was stunning. Very nice neighborhood, and close to everything! We have been staying away from hotels whenever possible. We try to do B&Bs and this time we stayed at a studio apartment being rented out. It was on a very pretty street and for the most part was a great place to stay. It was small but we only used it to sleep in since we were always on the move, so it was perfect for us. We had a few complications but nothing to make our stay bad. Here is the great view from our door steps!
Our first day was very laid back, we did some walking around the area. Like I said Beacon Hill is a very nice area. It's very close to the parks, Boston Common and Boston Public Garden, both beautiful places to take amazing walks through. We ate lunch at a pizza place around the corner from where we were staying and had dinner at a Irish Pub not too far from us either, all in walking distance. I can't remember the names of either or I would show pictures and give my opinions.
I can't say it enough, it was cold ya'll! That night I had layers upon layers of clothes on. I even went by Eddie Bauer to buy a pair of new gloves and sure glad I did!
DAY 2:
We woke up pretty early on Day 2 to get an early start. We knew we were doing the Freedom Trail and knew it was a lot of walking and a lot to see, so the earlier the better. Like i said most things are within walking distance which is a big change from the Houston area. We found a really neat place to have breakfast, Capitol Coffee House. They had an amazing breakfast. Locally owned by authentic Bostonians. Great breakfast sandwiches and even better Hazelnut coffee. I saw lots of people getting pancakes which looked really yummy as well.
From here we headed to Boston Common, the start of the Freedom Trail. We decided we wanted to do our own tour. We bought a map, followed the red line around the city and stopped at each stop to take time to read the history of each site. They do have tours you can take with tour guides dressed in colonial outfits but figured it would be better for us to do it ourselves. The trail is pretty long. I would say 3-4 miles from Boston Common to Bunker Hill. But its totally worth it, all the sites are interesting and you get to go through all the different neighborhoods and see all the gorgeousness (Is this even a word??) of the city by foot.
First stop is Boston Common. Boston Common is Americas Oldest Park. Here the redcoats made camp during the British occupation of 1775. The repeal of the Stamp Act was celebrated here at the end of the Revolutionary War. The park is breath-taking. We actually walked through it everyday since we liked it so much.
Stop 3, Park Street Church. I found this church to be so interesting with its history. On July 4, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison gave his first major public speech against slavery from the Church Balcony. Also, "My country Tis of Thee" was sung on the steps of the church for the first time on July 4, 1831.
Stop 4, Granary Burying Ground. Cemeteries usually are not my thing, but this one was so old with so much history that we actually stayed for awhile walking around and taking it all in. Most of the tombstones are so old that you can't even see the names on them. Numerous people were buried here including, Paul Revere, Robert Treat Paine, John Hancock and Samuel Adams.
Stop 5, Kings Chapel. Its a beautiful church, we didn't spend too much time at it but was very pretty in passing.
Stop 6, Boston Latin School and Benjamin Franklin Statue. Founded Aprl 23, 1635 it's Americas oldest public school. Benjamin Franklin was actually a student here and thats why they have the statue of him out front, even through he was a dropout! Other notable attenders included, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Treat Paine, William Hooper.
Stop 7, Old Corner Bookstore. Here the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., and Louisa May Alcott were published. It was kinda weird because this building is now a Chipotle.
Stop 8, Old South Meeting House. This building looked like a church but wasn't a church at all but a meeting house for Puritans to gather. Lots of events occurred here and most notably the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party.
Stop 9, Old State House. Built in 1713, lots of events occurred here that sparked The American Revolution. On the balcony in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston. Below the balcony is the actual spot where the Boston Massacre took place.
Stop 10, Faneuil Hall/ Quincy Market, which is where Americas first Town Meeting took place. Now its a huge market with lots of restaurants and a place where people sell items in stores and from carts.
Stop 11, Paul Revere House. This was the home of Paul Revere which he left from on his famous notable ride to Lexington. This is in the North End neighborhood, with gorgeous roads and Italian Heritage.
Stop 12, Old North Church. Built in 1723, with a 191ft. steeple , its the oldest standing church in Boston.
Stop 13, Copps Hill Burying Ground. Boston's largest Colonial Burying Ground. Located in the beautiful North End!
Stop 14, the last stop, Bunker Hill and Bunker Hill Monument. The battle took place on June 17, 1775 and was the first major battle of the Revolutionary War.
Just a side note, Bunker Hill monument is located in Charlestown, MA, and it was such a cute and astonishing neighborhood. We loved just walking around in this part. It was like something out of a movie or TV show because it was just so perfect. Below are a few pictures I snapped of the town, I even got one of the fire station!
Our freedom trail adventure ended here at Bunker Hill. Lots and lots of walking but definitely worth it. We had so much fun walking up to each new site and standing and reading to each other the history and events that took place. At this time it was getting close to lunch and the ones that know my boyfriend, he has an internal clock to know when he has to eat, and when he is hungry, you have to find food fast!! We decided to take an Uber car to a restaurant that we wanted to try on the other side of the Harbor. This was our first time using Uber and its really great. We have used it so many times since then, we are becoming Uber experts! We headed over to a little local restaurant called Yankee Lobster Company on the water. I really wanted to go because they have authentic Boston eats! You can't just go to Boston and not try their known foods! With so much to try we ordered one Lobster Roll and an order of Lobster Mac and Cheese to share between the two of us. It was plenty of food to fill the both of us up and was very yummy! You also can't eat their food without having a nice cold glass of Sam Adams Beer to go along with it!
Located right next door to this restaurant is Harpoon Brewery. I have had the UFO White by them and was curious to try some of their other beers. My other half has a love for beer, he loves trying new ones and he absolutely loves seasonal beers so we definately had to make a stop in here. The brewery was very big! They also had a wide variety of beer that I havent seen before. In Houston we have only seen like 2 of their beers being offered at local craft beer bars. We tried a flight of different beers and in the end the Pumpkin Beer won my boyfriend over that he had to have a whole glass of it all to himself! I on the other hand loved the Raspberry Beer, RAZ. Now I know we just ate, but this brewery offered pretzels, and not just any pretzels, made fresh in house pretzels, yes I even saw the guy making them. These pretzels are made with Harpoon Beer, then boiled in Harpoon IPA then sprinkled with malted barley. It is served warm straight from being boiled and you can choose two sauces to go with it. We couldn't just not get one of these, And I am glad I did because it was so good ya'll!
From here we took the subway back towards where we were staying. The stop that was the closest to us is the one at Boston Common, where we started the freedom trail, so we couldn't just go back and not walk through the park again!! We also went to Boston Public Garden located right next to it, yet another fantastic park that we fell in love with. Now let me tell you about these Boston Squirrels, they are something else, these guys literally come right up to you, you could even pet them if you wanted to. There were so many of them!! They are just looking for food, if we had any to give we would have but it was still cute to see them running up to you like you did have food.
After our stroll through the parks we headed back to change from the long day for our evening in Cambridge. The subway took us all the way to Cambridge. What another gorgeous town! Home to Harvard and MIT. Our first stop here was to Mr. Bartley's Burgers. I had heard so many great things that I knew we had to try it out, and it was not disappointing! Walking up to it you could tell it was a staple in the town. Walking in you could see how old the place was and probably hadn't changed much from the day it first opened its doors. Its a very nostalgic place. The decor fits it well. Lots and lots of burger choices. We went with the Fiscal Cliff: crumbled bacon, bleu cheese, spinach and balsamic vinegar. We shared it with an order of fries. I even had one of their store own rootbeers, and it was very good! The one thing I loved about the place was there were signs at each table letting you know who has come in and sat there. We happened to sit in the table where Huggy Bear sat. Other people known to stop in for a burger included: Johnny Cash, Shaq, Jacqueline Onasis, Bob Dylan, Al Pacino, Adam Sandler, Katie Couric, and the list goes on! Guy Ferrari even had it on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. I highly recommend going if ever in the area.
From here we walked across the street a took a little stroll around the Harvard Campus. It made me feel young again and made me think of my college days many, many years ago! Wow, has it really been almost 10 years since I graduated college!!! Yikes!! There was only so much walking we could do, it was cold, and not just any cold, FREEZING COLD!! We hopped on to a bus that took us a little further down the street to a bar we wanted to try out because they had a bluegrass band on Monday nights and we were also trying to watch the Texans Game. Bluegrass in Boston, didn't know it was possible and it was possible! Atwoods Tavern was a cool place with a good mixture of locals, with college kids and young adults. Our bartender was a legit Bostonian. He kept us entertained the entire night. I don't know why people say that people from Boston are rude and not friendly, Every person we met were so nice and friendly! We had a few good local beers and amazing dessert, Housemade Chocolate Chip Cookies fresh from the oven with a side of Housemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, man oh man was it good!!! I didn't even have time to snap a picture of it because we devoured it so fast! The bluegrass band was very good as well. It was 4 guys who played together, they didn't have a band name just guys that got together there on Monday nights to play. From here we decided to take an Uber back to where we were staying and call it a night!
DAY 3:
We started Day 3 bright and early the same as Day 2 with breakfast at Capitol Coffee House. From there we made our way to the subway and took it to Fenway Park. Now we know baseball season isn't going on but you can take a tour of Fenway Park all year round and I was very curious to see it, built in 1912, its the oldest and most historic ballpark in MLB. Such a great tour, a little over an hour long. We walked through many areas on the ballpark learning all the history behind it. We saw the park from the bottom to the top. Even went into locker rooms, press box and even down to the field. We got to see the Green Monster, The Lone Red Seat, Pesky's Pole, and the little history museum located in the ballpark. One of the most interesting things I found about the place was the garden they had, they grow all their own vegetables and herbs that they use at the concession stands throughout the ballpark! Such a beautiful place and we even got to sit in the original wooden seats in the Grandstand section. The only downfall of this tour was the field was being turned into a football field for Boston College vs Notre Dame football game so it was kinda weird not seeing a home plate and all, but other than that such a great tour, definitely a must do while in Boston!
After Fenway we were pretty hungry, Wahlburgers was right down the street so we decided to give it a try and see if it was as good as all of its hype. Its a nice little restaurant and the burgers were very good. I had just a Basic Burger while Zach had the BBQ Bacon Burger and we split fries. Both burgers were delicious! I guess it did live up to its hype and we would go again!
After lunch we took the subway back towards Boston and to Copley Square. Copley Square area has some very historical pretty buildings including Boston Public Library, Trinity Church and Old South Church. The Square had a Farmers Market going on so we shopped around and even bought a huge cookie from a vendor and shared it, and yes it was very good!! Right by Boston Public Library is the site of the Boston Marathon Finish Line where on April 15, 2013 two bombs went off, one near the finish line and the other one block west of it. It was very sad walking by the site and couldn't imagine the type of terror people felt on that day.
From here we headed back toward Boston Common on the subway and made our way over to the famous Cheers. Well nobody knew our name but I am sure they were glad we came! It was a small little bar with mostly tourist, Im guessing many locals stay away. We both had a Sam Adams Winter Lager and took in the atmosphere of the bar/restaurant. It was old, smelled and looked old but it was a place we knew we had to visit while in Boston. The bottom section is the working bar and restaurant. The top level is where the show was filmed and you can walk in and take a look around. You can eat there but we just stopped in for drinks, then afterwards still had enough daytime to walk around the parks that we loved so much!
After the long 2 days we had we were exhausted. The sun went down starting around 4 while in Boston and was completely dark by 4:30, so we tried to always get as much done with the sunlight out as possible. After walking in the park and sun going down we headed back to the studio apartment where we stayed the rest of the night resting. Zach walked around the corner and got us a pizza and we just relaxed together. We had plans to go try out a restaurant and a bar, but since we were so tired and the fact that it was like 29 degrees outside we just couldn't bring ourselves to venture out for the night.
Day 4:
Today is the day we pack up and head back. We had to be out of the Apartment by 10 so really didn't leave time to do anything but pack up and head to the airport. This was a long day!! And very frustrating!! We get to the airport early, and by early I mean really early! Our flight was leaving at 3:15, and we were there before 11! We couldn't even check our luggage until 4 hours before the flight, so we had to wait a little bit before even getting to the gate terminals. We were able to get some Dunkin' Donuts and wait until time to check in. We had planned to take the subway to do something but we were still tired and didn't want to take a chance missing our flight even though we had quite a bit of time. Our terminal had a Harpoon Bar so we hung out there ate lunch, had a few beers, watched some TV and just relaxed until time to board. Our flight to Boston was direct, but all the flights back had layovers. Our flight was suppose to go from Boston to Atlanta then Atlanta to Houston. Well, by the time our flight got to Atlanta there were really bad storms, and tornado warnings so our flight couldn't land. We actually turned around and landed in Charlotte, NC until we got the go that it was OK to land in Atlanta, luckily at that time our Houston flight from Atlanta had been delayed so we figured we still had a chance to catch our flight. As soon as we landed in Atlanta I checked our Houston flight and they were boarding the plane then within a few minutes departed! We missed our flight!!! Ugh!! What a nightmare!! At this time its almost 8 eastern time, and we were expected to land in Houston at 9, central time. There were no more flights from Atlanta to Houston that night. Our options were to stay in Atlanta and then get a flight at 6 in the morning to Dallas then Dallas to Houston or a flight that night to Austin then take a rental car to Houston. We would have stayed a night in Atlanta or Austin but all the hotels anywhere near the airports were all booked due to nasty weather!! We decided to take the flight to Austin. We arrived in Austin close to midnight. Rented a car then drove to Houston! Talk about tired! I had to work the next night so I knew I needed to get home and get some sleep. We arrived at our house around 3:00 am! On top of all that if we were to stay anywhere we would of had no luggage because our luggage was being held and put on the Atlanta to Dallas then Dallas to Houston flight. So i just wanted to get home no matter what time just to have clothes to change into and be able to get rest before work. Talk about a long stressful day!!!
Boston was absolutely gorgeous and just an amazing vacation. We definately will be going back. We want to try to get there more like the end of September when its not as cold but fall is still taking its toll on the trees. I know this was a long blog but I love explaining the fun adventures I have and hopefully help out others who may go to Boston and need ideas on what to do and try. Below I added some extra photos of the city. The pictures are pretty but still doesn't do the city justice on just how pretty it really is!
