Thursday, May 7, 2015

Date 148 - Boston Break!

Date: Friday, May 1, 2015 - Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Type: Travel
Cost: $$$$$$$$$$$$
Planned By: All of us

Every May we try to take a little or big trip for our anniversary. Four years ago we took our honeymoon cruise, three years ago we went over to Sandusky and stayed at Kalahari, two years ago we took a cruise to Bermuda and last year we went down to Miami and the Florida Keys to visit Alicia and Fonzi. We've found that May is a great time to travel and we like to celebrate by spending extra time together and also traveling for our anniversary. So for year number four we took a short vacation to a new city.

Our good friend, Allyson, from OU just finished her master's degree at Boston University. We really wanted to visit her while she was still there and when JetBlue announced they were coming to Cleveland and having direct flights we jumped on the opportunity. Neither of us had been to Boston so we wanted to make the most out of our trip and see everything we could.

May 1st Highlights:
  • Got to the Cleveland airport after driving 1.5 hours to the airport (thanks stupid rush hour traffic for tripling our normal drive). 
  • Flew in to Boston on JetBlue - which I definitely recommend. JetBlue was awesome!
  • Took the Subway all the way to Allyson's stop where she picked us up and took us over to her house. 
  • We were all tired by that time so we sat on the couch, had a beer and watched a little bit of Harry Potter - then went to bed.

May 2nd Highlights- 
  • Took the Subway to downtown for our 9:30AM Duck Boat Tour. We got a great guided tour of the city on land and water. During the water portion of the tour I got to drive the boat! It was awesome.
  • Walked around Boston Common and Boston Public Garden
  • Checked out the Boston Public Library - but didn't check out any books
  • Took the Samuel Adam's Brewery tour. With the tour we got a beer brewing lesson, a free glass and a tasting of three of their beers. It was very informative and the beer was good!
  • We walked over to Doyle's Cafe after the tour for a late lunch. Had a couple more Sam Adam's beers and burgers. It was packed, mostly because the brewery practically sends everyone there!
  • Then we decided to go to Harvard. Checked out some of the buildings and watched a couple short performances for their Art Festival. 
  • We were all exhausted by this time so we went back to Allyson's
  • We ordered Thai food for dinner and watched TV. Then went to bed. 

May 3rd Highlights- 
  • Today was all about the Freedom Trail. We started at Boston Common and went around the entire city. There are about 17 stops, the last one being Bunker Hill Monument. Adam and I climbed up to the top of the monument for a great view of Boston. Allyson had already done it before so she opted out of the 294 stair journey to the top. Other highlights of the Freedom Trail include the USS Constitution, Burying Grounds, Site of the Boston Massacre, etc.


  • We stopped for a cannoli in the North End at Maria's Pastry shop and it was so so so so good.  
  • Added a Boston Hard Rock Cafe shot glass to our collection.
  • Shared a pitcher of margarita, tortilla chips, salsa and chile con queso at Zuma Tex Mex.
  • We returned to Allyson's for some rest. 
  • Adam and I went out for dinner and drinks at Tavern In The Square. Then tried some New England beers at The Draft and the White Horse Tavern. Then Allyson picked us up!
May 4th Highlights - 
  • Walked over to Cafenation for coffee and breakfast. I had a Mint Chip Latte and it was delicious. 
  • Took the bus/subway in to the city.
  • We started out at the Public Garden where Adam and I rode the Swan Boat! It had great views of the gardens and a dog kept jumping in and chasing the geese!
  • Then we walked over to get a picture of the Cheers bar - like from the show! 
  • Next we walked over 2 miles to the Harpoon Brewery for their tour. Their facility is huge, especially compared to Sam Adams.
  • We got to play a game called Drink the Beer in the tasting room where we got about 12 minutes to try as many 2oz samples as we could. They had 12 different beers to try. Adam ended up getting all 12 plus an extra sample that he liked. I think I tried 10 and skipped 2 of them. Can't remember how many Allyson had. We hung out in their beer hall for a couple more drinks before walking back to South Station to hitch a ride over to Kenmore Station.
  • We had dinner and pre-game drinks at Boston Beer Works Brewery. We tried some of their own beers which were quite good - especially the Bunker Hill Bluebeery.
  • After dinner we walked over to Fenway for the Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Game. 
  • We saw someone hit a homer over the Green Monster which was very exciting. The ball park was much smaller and older than Progressive Field, but we had a great time checking out America's Oldest Ball Park. We left at the 6th inning because, well, we didn't care too much about the teams that were playing.

May 5th Highlights - 
  • Woke up at 4:40AM. Got to the Airport at 5:20AM. Landed in Cleveland at 8:30AM. Got to work at 10:45AM. It was a long long day.
By the end of the trip were were pretty tired. We had a great time hanging out with Allyson for more than just a couple hours like we normally get to. We got to see everything we wanted too, but we'll probably have to go back someday to see a lot more. Boston is a very pretty city, with great public transportation (that I can't see myself doing everyday but overall convenient) and a ton of historical sites to see. If you have a chance to go, I'd recommend it!