Boston, day 1

When your husband says, let's go somewhere, you jump on it!
Especially when it will be just the 2 of you.

My absolute favorite thing!!

We threw out some ideas like Newport and Chicago.
We had just come from the beach, so no Newport.
It was October and I was craving a Fall trip. 

Covid and riots were still putting a damper on travel.
So Chicago was out. Too dangerous at the time. 

We were wanting to go the following week.
 Usually back East trips are super expensive or all booked up so last minute.

I was thinking it was a small possibility it would happen.
What do you know, cheap available flights and hotel rooms.

Done deal.

Boston, here we come!!

We left Thursday around noon. 
With the time difference we gained 3 hours, so no time to see anything Thursday.
Our flight home was Sunday night so we had 2.5 days to cram
as much in as we could!
Both of us have never been to New England so I was super giddy. 
The whole flight over I was brainstorming what we could do.
Umm, way to much!
But I got a generally plan in order.

Our first flight with masks.
Eek. 
I bought an xl one to switch out once we were
seated to give me extra breathing room.
a 5.5 hour flight with a mask was sounding terrible.
Honestly, they weren't as strict as I thought they would be.
Many times I had it down and walking by flight attendants didn't bat an eye. 

We got in pretty late, around 10.
We got our rental car and headed to the hotel.

It was our first taste of the CRAZY Boston streets!
Luckily there was little to no traffic because it was so late.
I could not imagine trying to navigate those windy, no structured streets

on a daily basis. Woof. 

We started to get into the city and the skinny, stacked Boston houses
started coming at you.
Just like what you see in the movies.

I was getting the chills.

I'm here! In Boston!!

I couldn't wait for day light.

We made it to our hotel.
I'm so glad my research paid off.
There are a ton of hotels to choose from and I feel like its always
 a gamble picking the right one. 

We loved it at the Boston Park Plaza!

Great location, and great price.  Plus clean.

We were STARVING, and striking out with everything being closed. 
Luckily the lady at the front desk while checking in had a list of places
that were open late.
We walked down the street to a pub that served food and had our

first delicious meal of the trip!

Starting out with wins all the way around.
We went back to the hotel and got some shut eye.

Before we knew it, it was time to hit the ground running!

We saw a common cafe that dotted almost every street corner, much like Starbucks.

It was called Tatte Bakery. Must be good.
  We went in to grab some breakfast on the go.

Umm, this place was DARLING!

I felt like I was in Waco at Magnolia market.

We picked a breakfast sandwich to share, and a smorgasbord of pastries.

How could we ever choose?!!

Picture perfect pie.

And magazine worthy pear tartlets! 
Tartlet...tartlet...
(thanks, Friends, for ruining the word tartlet for me. haha)

We devoured our food then started the Freedom Trail.
Today we were on foot.
That's what we heard was best.

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile-long path through Boston that passes
by 16 locations significant to the history of the United States. 

The trail is marked with 2 rows of red bricks (follow the red brick road:)
 to keep you on track.

There really isn't a starting spot.

I figured we would start wherever we were closest to.
We asked a worker in Tattes where to hop on the Freedom Trail and he said
20 feet outside this door.

Voila, it was right across the street from Boston Common!
How convenient. 

Boston Common is comparable to Central Park in NYC.
Definitely not as big though.

There are special markers implanted in the sidewalk in front of each 16 locations.

They have guided tours you can take, but I didn't want to
be at the mercy of someone else.
With pinterest and the internet, we were fine on information. 

At some of the bigger landmarks, they have individual
tours you can purchase as well.
We never did. No time to spare!

This is the Granary burying grounds.
Many notable Revolutionary war patriots are buried here.
Along with Paul Revere, and 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence:
Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Robert Treat Paine.

Mother Gooses head stone!

I got chills seeing the sun beaming through the trees onto the American flag.
The very charged and controversial Presidential election was in a couple of weeks.

Emotions have been at an all time HIGH. 
Lots of uncertainty awaits us.

And here I was, in a cemetery and city filled with American history.
 With the men that sacrificed and made our constitution and freedoms possible.
It brought me peace and hope that all with be alright. 
 

Hi, Ben!

I thought the kids would like this since their school is named after him.

The Old South Meeting House.
It is a historic church building.
It gained fame as the organizing point for the Boston Tea Party.

I love that most of the Freedom Trail is nestled inside the surrounding busy city.

You can see it's  history, with the modern sky scrapes behind it. 
I wondered what it felt like back in the 1700's. 

Faneuil Hall.

It is a market and meeting hall where several speeches occurred  by 
Samuel Adams, James Otis and others encouraging independence from Great Britain.

Behind Faneuil Hass was Quincy Market!
It is an indoor/outdoor mall and food eatery. 

This was speaking Casey's name!
Poor guy doesn't love to sight see, but food on the other hand... 

We walked into the building lined with different restaurants. 

Not knowing, this ended up being our lunch since we were
 hustling from one place to the other. 

Good thing we made sure to check out each food stop!

Pizza, cookies. 
I made sure to sample each clam chowder place!

We got the kids some souvenirs.
Boston Baked Beans, of course:)
Lobster shaped suckers and stickers for their water bottles. 

Not the best picture, but to the right you can see the glass lined
walls where the vendors were in Quincy market. 

I was dying over the picturesque Fall trees
 and ground littered in autumn leaves. 

Back on the trail!
You can see it under all of the golden foliage.  

Lucky for us, we hit the weather jackpot.

They say they don't know why Chicago is known as the windy city,

because Boston can up them 10 fold. 
I was confused because the wind seemed as calm as could be.

The guy selling us the stickers said, see, everyone has weights or rubber bands to

hold their inventory down because most days things get blown every where.

He was right, they did!

I guess the week prior was super cold.

The current weather seemed comparable to our winters, which is nothing!

And the day after we were to leave it dropped 20 degrees and was to pour rain.

No complaining here!

Paul Reveres house!
You could buy tickets to see the inside.

Up the street from his house was the iconic Mikes Pastry!
Home of the cannoli.
I guess this is a must in Boston.
Every time I researched Boston it said don't miss out.

Well, it was a flop for us.

Then again we are not big Italian eaters.

Fun, non the less!

Old North Church is where Paul Revere put the
lighted lanterns and had his midnight ride.
 "One if by land, two if by sea"

Loved this mural along the trail.

I was starting to feel all the walking by the time we made it to 
the USS Constitution. 

Ain't she a beaut!

She is the worlds oldest commissioned navy vessel still afloat.
Because of that, the officers and crew are all active-duty.

You had to go through security before entering the ship.

Which ended up being a pretty interesting, very informational tour!
And only 15 minutes, the way all tours should be;)

I could see Bunker Hill up yonder from the ship.

The last stop on the Freedom Trail.

It was just far enough away to say, eh, good enough. lol!

My dogs were barking.

 With that, we ordered an uber to take us back to where we started.

Only instead of going through Boston Common again,
 we went across the street to the Public Garden. 

Wowzers!

Going through the gates took you instantly into a magical place, dripping of pure beauty.
It was breathtakingly beautiful!

Pictures cannot do it justice. 

Fall was showing off big time with the trees and plants. 

This is the lake where they have the famous swan boat rides.

Only they were put away until spring.

While we walked around we saw a couple getting married!

Soaking in all the scenery.

I had a good laugh at myself, gathering leaves and throwing them in the air
while making Casey take jumping picture after jumping picture of me.

I wondered of this is how instagramer husbands felt.

Daily photo shoots for their wives content!

These cute ducks all dressed up.

Somebody styles them for every season.

After we got our fill of the Garden, we rented some bikes to take us on our

next adventure!

The original Cheers bar from the show!

We biked our way to Beacon Hill.
It's one of Boston's most picturesque areas.

It has steep streets lined with Victorian brick row
 houses, gaslit by antique lanterns. 

My jaw was dropping with every turn.

Gorgeous neighborhood! And very chic.

I could have explored those streets for hours.

I mean come on!
These front porches are what dreams are made of!
I can only imagine what they looked like for Christmas. 

Inside Beacon Hill is Acorn Street. 

One of the most photographed streets in the city.
It's reminiscent of colonial Boston, and still has it's original cobblestoned street. 
In the 19th century artisans and trades people lived their. 

Now, its a prestigious place to live. 
I zillowed an address, yowza!!

We rode down and hit up all the other landmarks in the Back Bay area. 

We cruised down Newbury Street.
Known for its expensive retail stores.
Much like Rodeo Drive in LA. 

Boston Public Library!
I really wanted to go in and see the famous reading room with the wood
desks and green reading lamps. 

It was closed due to Covid.
Boo.
Probably the only thing closed that we encountered. 

The Boston Marathon finish line!

It was crazy to think this is where the bombing happened. 

Had to get a little taste of running over it.

Since this will never happen for reals, lol!

Dodging traffic was a mini marathon in itself!

Saw Copley Tower.
A high rise tower where all the fancy people live.

Then we went into Copley Place Mall.

Used the bathroom, then somehow did some shopping.

Casey bought me my very first designer pair of shoes, Golden Goose!
Very spoiled indeed.
The experience was fun in itself. 

A girl walked up to me, which I assumed was a worker.
She talked to me and told me all about how wonderful the shoes were.
She was a cute, animated girl. 
Gave me details on everything down to comfort, size, styles/color options.
She said they are her favorite shoe and has multiple herself.
Basically sold the deal for us.

After 20 minutes of conversing with her, I found out she didn't even work there!

She was just buying some shoe laces!

The 2 guys who actually worked there were thanking her for doing their job.

It was hilarious.

But she was right, I LOVE them and will keep them forever.

It sounds super weird, but buying these shoes will be a treasured memory.

 

It was starting to get late, and we were starving.
We parked the bikes and took an urber to the Seaport for dinner.

Not a bad view.

Barking Crab is legendary.

I was excited to eat all the seafood!

Poor Casey is such a trooper.

They did have non fish items, but when in Rome!
He said the fish tacos were pretty good!
I think having fries on the side helped:)

He even tried my lobster roll!
And of course I had a bowl of clam chowder.

Give me all the chowda!

I wish I had taken a picture in the day light, but across the water was 
the Boston Tea Party merchant ships. 

With full tummies, we ubered back to the hotel.

It was an amazing day!!