Boston Trip Recap!

Greetings and Happy Monday!  Life has been chaotic lately with lots of travel so I am finally getting around to posting about our Boston trip!  The craziness doesn't seem to be subsiding anytime soon as I fly to Mississippi today for some client meetings.  But I'll get to cross another state off the list of states I've visited - bringing the total to 3 over the past 2 weeks (Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Mississippi) bringing the total states visited to 36! 

But back to the subject at hand!  Our trip to Boston was so much fun. It was great to check out a new city!  We flew into Boston on Thursday morning and were picked up by our friend, Matt. His wife, Crystal, had classes at Harvard all day but the 3 of us headed into the city right away to do some exploring. We decided to do a duck boat tour to get a feel for the lay of the land.  Duck boat tours are pretty cheesy, but we thought it was really fun and we learned a ton about the history of the city of Boston!  Plus it was an unseasonably warm day as it was close to 70!

My love and I at the waterfront in Boston

Matt, Phil, and I on the duck boat

On Thursday night we stayed in and hung out with our friends in their apartment.  It was nice to have a low key evening in after a day of travel and exploring.

On Friday morning we headed back into Boston to check out the Freedom Trail. It was much cooler and very windy that day but still a beautiful day for exploring. I love how easy the city has made it to follow the freedom trail. There is a trail of bricks that weaves through the city and shows you the most famous sights.

The park in the Boston Commons area was beautiful!

In front of the Massachusetts State House. The dome is covered with real gold!

The Paul Revere Statue with the Old North Church in the background. The Old North Church is where the lanterns were hung to indicate if the British were coming by land or sea.

We worked up quite an appetite with all of that walking and enjoyed a late lunch in the North End, which is the Italian area of the city. This was definitely my favorite area of Boston. The streets were lined with Italian restaurants. We chose a place called La Famiglia Giorgio's that had an extensive gluten free menu as both Matt and I have a gluten intolerance. I had the most amazing gluten free pasta which was made with fresh pasta.  The portion was massive - I got 2.5 meals out of it!

Not pictured is the Italian sausages I had on the side

On Friday afternoon, Crystal had to go to Harvard for a group meeting so we went over there with her so we could see the Harvard campus. I failed to take any pictures, though!  That evening we stayed in and were treated to a delicious meal of grilled swordfish, squash and brussel sprouts. Phil and I get so burned out on eating out so we really appreciated the fact that we only ate one meal out each day during this trip.

On Saturday, Crystal had a conference to attend at Harvard, so the 3 of us hit the road and headed up to Salem.  We met up with Matt's coworker for lunch and her and her husband gave us a walking tour of the city.  I did not take many pictures in Salem but it was a very charming little town. It was swarmed with people, though, as Halloween is huge in this city.  I would like to go back again some day when it's less crowded but I am glad we got to check it out. I thought the memorial to the women who were hanged during 1692 witch trials was really interesting.  I want to read more about that time and luckily a new book on that period was released this week that's getting great reviews so I plan to check that out. 

At the water front in Salem

After saying goodbye to Matt's coworker, we headed further up the coast to the Rockport area to check out Halibut Point State Park. We only saw one other group of people while we were there so almost had the place to ourselves. It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Phil and I in front of the quarry

The fall colors provided a beautiful contrast!

My favorite photo of the day!  There is no filter on this photo!

On Saturday evening we had another low key evening in. We had leftovers and played a couple of games of Wits and Wagers, which is a favored game in our group of friends. Phil came down with a cold on Friday morning so these low key evenings in were good for him as he was really not feeling well.

On Sunday morning, we headed to Kelly's area of the city to meet up for Brunch.  It was so great to see Kelly and Eric and to meet their adorable son Max!  It had been over 3 years since we had seen each other which really boggles my mind!  I really hope we don't go 3 more years before we see each other again.  If only teleportation existed!

URL turned IRL friends!

I headed out that afternoon as I had to fly to New Jersey for work. I was sad to see the weekend come to an end!  We really miss our friends and hope that they will find their way back to Minnesota when Crystal finishes her program at Harvard.  I would love to return to this area of the country again, though, as I'd like to visit Cape Cod and I'd love to do a road trip from Boston to Maine and stop along the way at all the charming seaside towns!

Have you been to Boston?  When you travel, do you like to eat all of your meals out or do you prefer to have the option to eat in 1-2 meals a day?  Due to my sensitive stomach and gluten intolerance, I really prefer to limit meals out to once/day if possible!