Boston Part V - Huzzah, Fie, and Ni Hao

We went to Chinatown, kind of expecting it to be like the one in Montreal.  Lots of neat restaurants, hokey stores, fruit stands, etc.  This one was....kind of lame in that regard.  It was there to sell Chinese food, and whole ducks and chickens in their windows.  Which is totally fine, just not what we were expecting. 

We did stumble upon a whole little park dedicated to playing checkers.  It was PACKED and every table was full of spectators.  This table was the least packed of the group.  We watched for a few minutes and only one turn was taken.  They took the game pretty seriously.  :)

 

This neat gate was by the park.

 

Self explanatory.  I'm a nerd.

 

 I had read online about the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, and it sounded pretty cool, so we headed down to the south of Boston to check it out.  And we were so glad we did!

 

 It was an interactive kind of show/play at first.  We were all given parts to play (real people who participated in the Boston Tea Party) and a feather as a "disguise."  There are actors who portray different people who guide you through the museum and ship.  It was really cool, and although I thought I would think it was a little weird to pretend to be in the town meeting, etc it was actually really fun.  Everyone got into it, shouting "Aye Aye!" or "Boo!" or whatever seemed right at the time. 

 

 Mike's part was my son, and I was his father.  That was a little weird, especially when he kept asking me for fatherly advice.  :)

 

 This actor was with us during the whole tour, while others were only there for part of the time.  He did a really good job.  They all did, really.  They never broke character, but did enough ad lib and jokes to make it interesting.  (i.e. the actor on the ship was saying that we hadn't brought any weapons or anything, then saw my camera in my hands and said, "Expect maybe that mini cannon there.") 

 

Father and son.  Aren't we cute?  :)

 

I really thought "Sam Adams" did a great job.  I was getting pretty caught up in what he had to say.  He was very exuberant, without being too cheesy or hokey.

 

Here we are on a replica of the ship.  It was really neat.

 

I look a little shifty-eyed here.  I think the sun was in my eyes.  Either that, or I was really ready to defy the British.

 

 And he's just cute.

 

We totally recommend the museum, and if you're looking for Chinese food,  a duck's head, or to sit around for hours watching someone play checkers, we recommend Chinatown.

Boston Part IV - On the Move

Getting around Boston is really not difficult.  We chose to use the subway and walk for the most part, except for the first day when we went to Rockport and rented a car.  If you're going to get a car in Boston on a Monday, be advised that they will all be rented already from the airport.  Every last one.  But with a short subway ride, you can rent one in the city and save yourself close to a hundred dollars.  It's only about $50 a day.  Not bad.

 

We stayed at a hotel outside of the city to save money, and they had a shuttle that you could take to a subway stop, so that was convenient.  It only came on the hour, so there were a couple times when we had a bit of a wait on our hands.  Luckily we had good company.

 

Walking the city was one of our favorite parts of the trip.  Being in a big city is fun anyway, but there's also the little pockets of town that are so unique.  The financial district was full of tall beautiful buildings, gorgeous flowers, and wide pathways.  It was a neat area of town!

 

 We walked down to the North End and got amazing cannoli and eggplant rollatini.  It was such a fun part of town, and we met a nice couple who took our picture and then we took theirs.  It was a gorgeous day, too.

 

 Taking the subway was such a blast from the past for both of us.  There were times when we could have sworn we were back in Montreal or Paris. 

 

Walking around town was pretty normal.  Just the usual.  People, buildings, bears playing the keytar... He's apparently quite popular.  He even has his own facebook page and was featured in Boston Magazine. 

 

Our week pass also covered a ferry from Boston to Charlestown.  It was awesome to be on the ocean, even for just a short while.

 

Boston Part III - Follow Your Nose

We made a pact not to eat anything in Boston that we could get where we are (or in St. Louis, etc).  And we made it!  We did eat at an Uno Pizza, although it's a chain, because there isn't one anywhere near us anymore, and because it's amazing!!!!  We also tried some Greek style pizza that was pretty good, but we were so hungry I didn't worry about taking pictures of it.  :)  We also ate other things that were great, but also didn't get documented.  I know, you're all so disappointed.  Sorry.  :)

 

We tried a cannoli once at a restaurant in Springfield Illinois and it was NASTY.  After our friend Christine explained that what we had was indeed disgusting, but that cannoli themselves were amazing, we decided to give it a try.  We asked the locals where to get cannoli and all of them said Mike's Pastry.  We went and tried it, and BOY was it amazing!!!  Someone told us very emphatically the next day that Modern Pastry was better, so we had to have a taste-off.  The result?  It was a complete tie.  We really couldn't make up our minds which was better.  And it made a great dinner, along with something healthy - a Boston Crème Pie cupcake.  OH my gosh.  We were a little wired after that, but it was worth it.

And we had fun pretending that "Mike" and "Modern" were twin brothers with a vengeance against each other.  Because we are weird.

 

 

 We searched high and low for both Indian Pudding and traditional Boston Baked Beans.  We found it at a place near Faneuil Hall called Durgin Park.  It was...weird.  Mike liked the Indian Pudding better than I did, and the beans were okay, but nothing amazing.  We were glad to have tried them both, though!

 

The Omni Parker House claims they invented Boston Crème Pie, so we had to try it.  It was quite an adventure, as we accidently walked all the way from one end of the city to the other (literally) to get there due to some navigational errors and because we were enjoying seeing the city so much.  It was okay, but NOT worth the $8.50 sticker price.  Holy smokes.  The cupcake from Modern Pastry was much cheaper and we thought it was more delicious.  Lesson learned.  At least we walked off the calories trying to get there.  :)

 

I was determined to really try seafood while we were there.  The first thing I ordered in the city was Clam Chowder.  I ate a bite, and couldn't get over the grit of the sand in the clam or the taste, but Mike loved it.  I tried Mike's lobster and....wasn't a huge fan.  The crab cake from Legal Sea Foods was good, but I think I learned that I just truly don't enjoy seafood.

 The North End of Boston is basically a Little Italy.  It was so fun to walk around hearing little Italian women speaking to each other and everyone calling out, everyone speaking Italian.  The streets are lined with restaurants just begging you to come in and try what they have to offer.  It was the most incredible smelling street ever!    It smelled of garlic, bread, tomato sauce, and pure heaven.  :)  We were told you really couldn't go wrong anywhere there, so we stopped at Benevento's and got the eggplant rollatini.  It was just an appetizer but filled us both up.  It was simple, but super delicious!  Our one food regret in Boston is that we didn't get a chance to go back up and eat a big dinner there.  So if you travel to Boston, definitely visit the North End when you're very hungry! 

 

We ate at a restaurant called the Seaport Grille in Gloucester on both Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon.  The reason?  The onion rings.  For some reason we ended up ordering some, and they were in such a large quanitity and our waitress waited to come get our order until we were super stuffed with those delectably, gloriously fried beauties that all we had appetites for was a small cookie with ice cream and whipped cream.  We had NO idea it was going to be as big as our heads.  Let's just say we didn't finish it.  :)  BUT we did go back the next day because not only were we obsessed with the onion rings, but because everything everyone else had looked so good.  Plus it was right by the ocean, so the view was absolutely incredible.

 

This waitress was so excited for Mike to try his first full lobster.  We loved her.  :)

I was brave and tried it.  And then told him he could have the rest.  :)

 

We ate at a place called the Summer Shack.  Mike tried fried clams and a lobster roll while I went the kid's meal route with a corn dog.  I totally scored on that one!  It was seriously amazingly delicious.  I would totally go back there just to eat another corn dog. 

 

 Our last foodie experience was actually in the Chicago airport.  We ate there during our three hour layover and it was really good.  The restaurant's claim to fame is their 4 cheese pesto pizza.  And it  was incredible.  I got the Italian Bistro sandwich.  Also delicious.

 

We had such a fun time trying new things and spending time together.

Boston - Part II - Take Me to the Sea

Our first day in Massachusetts was in Rockport and Gloucester.  We stayed at a B&B in Rockport called the Captain's House.  We completely recommend it.  It was right on the seaside, the breakfast was good, and the bed was the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on.  It was like pillows of happiness.  :)  Such a gorgeous house, gorgeous view, gorgeous area.  Perfect for gorgeous people like ourselves.

 

 

 Hearing people talk about the ocean, I always thought they were exaggerating.  The moment we stepped out of the car and the salty sea air hit me, I closed my eyes and surrendered.  Midwest Karen was gone - hook, line, and sinker.  The sea life is for me.

 

 

 

 

 

We spent an extremely relaxing day full of naps, reading, climbing the rocks, watching the sea, and walking around the quaint little shops and streets downtown.  My next dream vacation is definitely visiting towns along the coast.  We were lucky the next morning was cold or we wouldn't have been able to pull ourselves away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boston Part I - The Beginning

Here's an oh so attractive 4 a.m. shot of us getting ready to drive to the airport (thanks for the lift, Callie!)  We were so tired, but so excited!

 

And we're off!!

 

 And we're there!  Mike and I were reliving our mission days by bus and subway surfing.  Basically you just stand there without holding onto anything.  The first person who falls over or has to move their feet loses.  Fun is where you find it.  :)

 

I have to say that the best part of the vacation was spending time with the guy I love.  We had so much fun together and it was nice to have so much time to him all myself.  I felt like I got to know him so much more on the trip.  The man I sat with on the plane over was kind of a complete stranger to me compared to the man sitting next to me on the way back.  Wait, that's because he was.  They separated us during the first leg of the flight so I was sitting next to a stranger.  That's right.  :)  But really, it was the best being with Mike for so long.

 

The second best part of the vacation was that I didn't have to change a single diaper for 5 1/2 days.  It was glorious. 

 

(It might have been the best part of the trip, but don't tell Michael.)