Northeast Trip: A Day and a Half in Boston, Massachusetts

After we left the house in Maine, we drove 4 hours south to Boston, Massachusetts; checked into our hotel; and then made a quick drive into the city for some sight-seeing and dinner at Abbey Lane.

Boston Commons

Just to the north east side of the Boston Common was a fried dough cart, Daddy’s Fried Dough, that we saw Duff from Charm City Cakes tour. Fried goodies covered in sauce is pretty much my favorite thing ever so we had to stop!

But then we walked more through the park… looking back, it reminds me of Central Park quite a bit. Sprawling lawns with old architecture found throughout.

New favorite photo of me and the mister! 🙂

Boston City Sights and Sites

We had some more time to kill before our dinner reservation at Abbey Lane so we walked from the Boston Common to the area between the Back Bay and the Theater District… my dad and I became quite obsessed with the sunset rays coming through the pillars of Trinity Church…

Following the Freedom Trail

The next day we drove to the subway station and took the subway into Boston. We took the subway to the station that they sold trolley tickets (City View Trolley Tours) and then we took the trolley around the city all day. For just $20 (we had a coupon from our hotel), it was totally worth getting around the city and gave our aching feet some rest. It also took us out to the U.S.S. Constitution—which was quite out of the way from the main route of the Freedom Trail. And in case you don’t know what the Freedom Trail is (I totally didn’t and had no idea what it was when people kept recommending it!)…

a 2.5-mile, brick-lined route that leads you to 16 historically significant sites — each one an authentic treasure. Explore museums and meetinghouses, churches, and burying grounds. Learn about the brave people who shaped our nation. Discover the rich history of the American Revolution, as it began in Boston, where every step tells a story.

By the way, it totally did not feel like only 2.5 miles… and we took the trolley for the majority!

Lunch at The Barking Crab

We took the trolley for about half the route, which drove by quite a few sites like the original state house. We hopped off down by the Boston Tea Party ship and walked across the bridge to eat at The Barking Crab.

This photo in no way shows who likes or dislikes the Barking Crab but more shows who likes seafood versus who doesn’t. I would have been a thumbs up if I hadn’t been behind the camera. 🙂

P.S. You can get crab in mass quantity here, like family style to the extreme. They had one platter that was over $200! By accident we all (the pro-seafoodies) ordered the crab cake sliders so there wasn’t much variety to compare food but the sliders were good… And the clam chowder was my favorite ever!

The U.S.S. Constitution

After lunch we walked up to the next trolley stop which took us up to the U.S.S. Constitution. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect!

I have to take these semi-stalker-esque photos of my hubby… and he’ll probably make me delete this after seeing it like in my Maine post… ole’ crabby pants.

More of the Boston City Sights and Sites

After one last trolley ride back down into the heart of the city, we walked around the Fanueil Hall (great tourist gift shops and coffee/ice cream/snacks stop), walked through the Holocaust memorial, stopped in a couple of the pubs that were so enriched with history (one of which was where the Revolution was planned in), and then walked up to the North End to see Paul Revere’s house, waited out the afternoon rain storm in CHURCH and then finally got some pastries in Little Italy.

This memorial is pretty neat… we didn’t know about it until the tour guide pointed it out, but it runs parallel to the 1700’s pubs so its in a pretty central location.

It was designed and built right over the subway grates… the glass is etched with numbers—1,000,000 each column—to represent all those lost during the Holocaust. Quotes and stories are then etched on the inside of the glass… and at night, the steam from the subway along with lights, illuminate the pillars giving it a rather eerie but beautiful look.

If you can’t make it to Pauly’s house, its really not worth the walk out of the way… however, if you’re going to the North End anyway, you know, to gorge yourself on pastries and pasta, then it would be worth it as its just a block or two south from the main street.

This was another spot we knew absolutely nothing about, but after seeing the rather small shop filled to the brim with people…my mom and I had to follow the herd and see what the fuss was about. I just had to order enough to get one of those darling boxes! (Hi, my name is Sam, and I am a tourist)

May I point out that my mom’s box is bigger than mine!! She even got a bag to carry it in… 🙂

What a day that was, getting tired just thinking about it! Now onto New York City!

P.S. Here’s a video of our trip of the cities, from Boston to New York including Philadelphia!