City Exploration: Boston!

Yes, I crossed off a Kick the Bucket list item with this vacation. Proudly… after 15 years.

And no, we did NOT do the Duck Tour. I can do that shit in Pittsburgh.

I really want to upload pictures, but you know, the whole sideways iPhone glitch annoys me to no end. I’ll won’t let that pesky problem delay the publishing of this post any longer.

The first two nights, we stayed at the Parker House Omni downtown (Financial District, if there is such a thing) and the second two nights, were spent at the Copley Square Fairmont. Both are gorgeous old hotels, but having an amazing suite at the Fairmont made it decidedly the “winner” of our stay (hoo-ray, points!). Plus, the latter location seemed better — especially in proximity to subway stations (but then again, perhaps it just appeared more convenient).

On that note, public transportation was extremely easy to figure out in Boston. We started out with cabs, then gradually migrated to using the T system. We even rented a female pedicab driver for an hour to grab beers from a local Shaw’s and see the city in a different manner. All with the view of a fantastic ass.

Moving on…

Also? Vacation headaches suck balls. I had a MAJOR on our first day, which likely is contributed to my drinking at 6 am to fly, sobering up, then trying to drink again all within an 8 hour time span.

Boston is definitely a tourist city, that’s for sure. It never felt over-crowded or annoying, save for someone always finding a way to step on my right big toe that’s already bruised. And we participated in many of those sort of activities — enough so that it rendered any future trips to Boston unnecessary. I was disappointed in that I didn’t hear a lot of the typical Boston accents. I’m making this generalization based on my dating two guys from Boston who had a distinct east coast thing.

On that note, I could totally live there. But that’s another story altogether. With or without the sexy voice.

In five days, we went to: the harbor, “Little Italy,” the Rose Kennedy Rose Garden, Boston Commons / Public Gardens, Fenway, the New England Aquarium, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, Paul Revere’s House, a few cemeteries (which were by far my favorite thing), a lot of other historical crap on the Freedom Trail, Emerson College (we didn’t make it to Harvard, but saw the MIT campus while in Cambridge), most of the popular neighborhoods, Samuel Adams Brewery Tour/Tasting… we even caught an awesome vintage/art show a couple of blocks away from our Sunday brunch place that was cute as hell (Boyfriend says, “Boring.”) in the SOWA neighborhood. I’m sure there is a shit-ton of stuff that I forgot already because I was so happy to not be carrying my laptop for notes on vacation. Also, iPhone = worthless, if we haven’t established that through Twitter. I brought home two Boston t-shirts and a bunch of beer glasses because I’m an awesome souvenir gatherer like that.

We couldn’t find the damn Tea Party ship, even if the map kept telling us we were practically ON the boat. So, perhaps it was the site, and there’s no vessel. No clue. Bostonians?

The JFK Library and Museum is sincerely one of the BEST museums in which I have visited. The building was amazing, laid out perfectly with chronological information commingled with film, photographs and relics of his many successes while President. It is brilliantly done (and of course, incredibly humbling when leaving with his assassination and all). Also, thank you for the free shuttle to the far, far away subway station.

I am in total heart with Samuel Adams Brick Red, and there are definitely more brews from Sam Adams locally in Boston than what we can buy back home. We bought a couple sixers for the room: Ipswich Ale was largely unimpressive — a good everyday beer, but nothing special. I enjoyed the Harpoon Leviathan Imperial IPA, even if I felt the pings of headache almost immediately upon drinking it. Perhaps it was excitement.

A lot of restaurants (save for the lame Legal Seafoods chain) downtown weren’t open on Saturday and Sunday, which pissed me off, but I suppose I should be used to that by now. Regardless, I missed a much-wanted lunch trip to Chacarero because of this. We went to the Union Oyster House, so AB could have his oysters. I settled for a soup and salad because, well everything was shellfish and/or fried on the menu. That’s fine.

I love me some Boston cream pies, and my midnight room service special from the Parker House did not disappoint. I was exceptionally pleased with the concern from servers (and their knowledge) of my shellfish allergy — I just wanted to eat well and not have to worry about how lobster and crab seemed to be in EVERYTHING. Regardless, the several meals I had with fish were uber-fresh and almost life-changing. Want: Cobia fish every day, prepared exactly as I had at Craigies on Main (recommended by Ellis of AMP150 — thanks, Chef!). Our entire six-course meal at CoM was freaking fantastic. New love: veal tongue. YES, tongue. Om nom nom nom.

I came home with a few packages of goodness from Hotel chocolat on Newbury. Barking Crab is highly recommended if you want $80 lunches of 2 pounds of crustaceans (AB, not me, obvs). If you have a shellfish allergy, the Mahi Mahi sandwich is a probably-better alternative to the fried Cod variety. Urbanspoon was also helpful in selecting dinner for our first night’s dinner: 747 Tremont (love it — in the “gay-borhood”) was delicious and voted in one of those “best restaurants” surveys. I was just happy not to wait an hour for food in what I thought would be a “big” city.

We were told last call in Boston was at midnight, but didn’t really find that to be true. That said, we didn’t really go and “whoop” it up, which made the trip incredibly relaxing and well-paced (read: sans hangovers). We hit: Miracle of Science (on MIT’s campus) and the Parrish Cafe (which had a super-awesome beer fridge). Samuel Adams took us via Party Bus to Doyle’s, the location of the first Sam Adams sold. I drank a lot of beer on this trip. And a little Sazarec Rye with my dinner at Craigies on Main. Boston Beer Works did good by me with a massive chili burger and sour cream and chives fries — the beer was meh.

On our last night, we rented a DVD from the redbox to unwind with room service popcorn and the cheese plate. Yes, our hotel suite had TWO DVD players. Alas, Boston was a great vacation to take (and an opportunity to reconnect) before all the move stress hits (TOO LATE) — and my life (and this blog) is consumed by roller derby.

And Pittsburgh.

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