Boston!

Bawston. Yes, we saw a magnet that actually was written out like a Bostonian would speak. Hurt my brain. ANYWAY, I will start out one our first venture to Boston, since our vacation really ended where it began, Logan International Airport. As you read previously, due to the storm, we flew in to Boston instead of NY. Everyone thought we were crazy, but we were going. We had no choice. We landed in Boston the day before the storm was supposed to hit to avoid any catastrophe, on a Saturday. It was raining, needless to say, but not really that bad. We spent a good amount of time in the airport and actually found all of the souvenirs we knew we wanted from Boston almost immediately (the magnet mentioned above almost made the list, but it was too confusing to read to really enjoy). After we made our way through the airport it was time to check in to our hotel. It wasn’t too far from the airport, and being that we made reservations with Holiday Inn Express, we had a shuttle to take us there. Score.

It was an eerie feeling in Boston that day. The roads were pretty empty and the air was pretty ominous. It was coming. Once we got into our hotel room and got comfy, we needed food, ASAP (besides, for some weird reason they closed the pool for fear it would flood). We grabbed as many booklets from the hotel lobby as possible to find what we could eat. We decided on Chinese food because we knew that take-out for Chinese would have good serving sizes and it was relatively cheap. OMG yummy! I got beef and mushrooms and Brandy got steamed veggies and shrimp. Also delish. Way too much food, but who cares, we are on vacation.

Watching the storm roll in that night was a blast. The wind got crazy first, and then you heard the rain pound the pavement. All in all, the storm in Boston that night wasn’t too bad. Off to bed for to get an early go in the morning.

Boston Part 2:

The morning we went to Boston was a busy one. After finishing packing, we got a ride to the airport from our hotel shuttle. We figured the airport was the most central location and somewhere that Emily, our ride could easily find us. Holy crap LaGuardia Airport is massive! We hung out and waited for Emily just inside the airport, who arrived not much later with her mother-in-law and baby!

The drive to Boston wasn’t too bad, that is, until we got to the outskirts of Boston. For some reason traffic was a nightmare and a half. Bostonian drivers are nuts, I tell ya. Once we got to Hotel Romney, aka Chase and Jenny’s house, it was getting late and just took it easy and went to an amazing Indian restaurant. So much food, and not too bad of price. After that, we watched Utah play Montana State. We actually found live streaming video online! Thank you PAC-12! Game wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. I guess.

Boston /Cambridge is absolutely beautiful. Cambridge is just on the outside of Boston, and is so quaint and pretty. I didn’t want to leave. The second day we were there, Brandy and I were on our own adventuring through Cambridge. We took our first subway trip. Wasn’t too bad, except someone was an idiot and forgot which exit to get off at so we had to get back on the train and try again. (Ok, Ok, it was my fault. Oops). The Freedom Trail is absolutely amazing. The history behind it is incredible to me. Some of the historical places we went to were hundreds of years older than the United States. Once we started the Freedom Trail, there is a wonderful yellow line we could follow. (God bless you whoever decided to help us poor tourists.) The Freedom Trail took you all around town, straight through downtown and took you to all of the historical places around Boston. Being a history buff, I was in love. Paul Revere’s house, Old North Church, the cemetary which contains signers of the Declaration of Independence, who could ask for more? PS, did you know Mother Goose was buried in the same cemetery as John Hancock? We wandered and wandered for what seemed ages, and finally came to Old North Church. The trail goes much further, however, for time constraints, we turned around. We did find an amazing cupcake place and bought a Double Chocolate Fudge cupcake. OMG…yummy.

We quickly walked back to the subway and headed back to Chase and Jenny’s house to freshen up, take a nap and get ready to go to dinner. Because our friends had done so much for us to help make our trip a blast, we decided to take them all out to dinner. We went to Maggianos. It was absolutely incredible. Cameron (Emily’s husband) was going to be stubborn and not let us pay for him, but we had other plans. Brandy informed the waiter that Cameron was not allowed to pay and to give us the check. Honestly, for 6 people, it was really well priced, and once again, OMG yummy! We had a blast just sitting and talking. Although I made a fool of myself because I am horrible with names and kept calling Cameron “Parker”. Hey it’s his last name, and also a first name, cut me some slack.

After dinner, Chase, Jenny, Brandy and I decided to take a walk around Cambridge and get cupcakes again. Hey why not, right? They were also delish and in a fun little diner that looked like it was stuck in the 50’s. We were absolutely exhausted after cupcakes, so we went home and crashed.

The next morning we were off to see historical Massachusetts. Lexington and Concord, two pivotal battles in our Revolutionary Way are just a short distance from Cambridge and so we decided to take a day trip and go see them. To stand on the same ground the American soldiers did was incredible. We saw a short video about the war and I learned things I never knew. It was awe inspiring. Also a fun fact: did you know that Paul Revere never actually got to where he was supposed to go? He was captured, detained and let go, but never fulfilled his duties.

In Lexington, we went to the Commons, and just across the street was one of the most sobering things I have seen in a long time. There was a sign on a house that read “House of Jonathan Harrington who wounded on the common April 19 1775 dragged himself to the door and died at his wife’s feet.” Wow…really? That’s intense.

We also drove out to Walden Pond, where Henry David Thoreau lived in solitude. It was breath-taking. But I do need to point out that they really need to re-evaluate what they call a pond out there. IT WAS MASSIVE!!!

After Walden Pond, we went home, dropped off Jenny as she had some papers to grade (ah the joy of being a teacher,) and Chase took us on a guided tour of Harvard. The old buildings were absolutely incredible. The campus was crazy big. I still think my favorite part was the freshman dining hall. It looks like Hogwarts. No one is allowed in but freshman (reminds me of The Skulls). The law library was probably the biggest building I have ever seen. Absolutely beautiful. Two of my other favorite landmarks at Harvard are the Statue of Three Lies, and Winnie the Pooh. That’s right, Winnie the Pooh. The statue of three lies is actually pretty entertaining. The year of Harvard’s founding is wrong, John Harvard is not the founder of Harvard, and the statue is not actually John Harvard. Apparently because of its’ infamy, no one has bothered to change it. It was a sight to see.

Well, that about rounds up our trip. It was a wild one, and the day following our tour of Harvard, we packed up and flew home. I had more fun than I could have ever imagined, and it will be something I will never forget.