When we began our planning months ago we knew we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been before so we could discover it together. We were also in the market for more of an adventure this go round instead of spending the whole time lying on the beach. As the kids have gotten older, the work has gotten less physically exhausting so we finally felt ready to take a trip that would be a slightly more taxing than our last few oh-my-word-just-let-me-sit-in-this-beach-chair-and-don't-speak-to-me kind of trips.
After reading tons of articles, reviews, and information on attractions, we finally narrowed it down to Chicago or Boston and chose the latter because it was cheaper. Now that we had the "where" settled, we just had to figure out the "when".
It took some serious planning to find a time we could go in between Audrey's birthday and party, my triathlons, our trip to Florida with David's family, 4th of July, Father's Day, school letting out and starting back, etc. When I initially planned on leaving the Sunday after Audrey's party on Saturday, it seemed completely doable. After all, her party wasn't going to be at the house and there wasn't much to do for it. That part was true, but I kinda underestimated several other things: 1) Training for and doing two triathlons out of town with overnight stays in the weeks before 2) The amount of work it takes for me to prepare our house to host three different shifts of grandparents who would be coming in and keeping the kids 3) Timber Trek 5k work always kicks off for me in June and 4) How ridiculously hard it is to get anything done with kids at home all day. The week before we left I was thinking maybe we should've picked a beach destination after all!
Somehow it all came together and we left early Sunday morning for our flight. We landed at Boston Logan airport around 1pm and made our way to the subway. We got off the first bus and after looking fruitlessly for the next bus we were supposed to catch (we were still newbies at that point...it got better), we gave up and walked the 3/4 of a mile with our luggage through Chinatown. Along the way we saw some interesting sights, including a store front with live chickens and other birds you could buy to kill and cook. Now that's fresh!
When we arrived at the hotel our room was already available, so we dropped our bags there and headed out to explore Boston Commons and The Public Garden. The Commons were pretty, but nothing particularly noteworthy. It was just a large green space in the middle of the city full of people enjoying the pretty weather. The Public Garden, on the other hand, was really gorgeous. It had beautiful flowers and landscaping and of course the famous "Make Way for Ducklings" swan boats and statue. I loved that book as a child and have read it a hundred times to our kids over the years, so these sites were at the top of my list to see and they didn't disappoint. Though we probably would have if the kids were with us, we didn't pay the money to ride a swan boat. Instead we grabbed a hot fried dough pie from a street vendor and sat on the bench watching the boats and the ducks swim by. After we ate, we walked around the perimeter of the gardens and looked at all of the historical statues and fountains until we came to the statue of Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings. There were a bunch of children climbing all over it and I didn't want to shoo them out of the picture (okay I did, but decided against it), so I took the best shot I could and we moved along.
We passed the "Cheers" bar from the famous TV show (though there is apparently another one somewhere in the city and there is debate about which is the authentic one) and walked over to the Esplanade and Charles River. There were a ton of sailboats, kayaks, and even a gondola on the water though the sky threatened to unload at any minute. We figured if the locals were going to ignore the impending threat of storms, we would too and kept walking through the area and back along Charles Street. We ducked into a gift shop or two, but didn't find anything we couldn't live without. On the way back to the hotel, we strolled through the Public Garden one more time and crossed the bridge that spans the widest part of the pond.
Somehow we managed to make it back to the hotel without a drop of rain ever falling. We changed clothes and hurried down to the nearby subway station. We were just in time to catch our train and make it to the North End for our dinner reservations at an Italian restaurant. It was a small place, but as cute and authentic as could be. Though my chicken parmesan and "chef's choice" pasta (spaghetti that evening) wasn't great, the bread and salad were delicious and we certainly did not leave hungry. Taking our time, we strolled back around to a local comedy club where we'd purchased tickets for an improv show. We picked them up at Will Call and took our carefully-selected seats in the second row, hoping that would keep us safe from becoming unwilling participants in the act.
The show was hilarious. It ran nearly two hours long and while some of the jokes fell a little flat, the overall atmosphere and talent was great. David even threw out a hilarious suggestion when they asked the audience to contribute, which added to our fun. Not wanting to push our luck with safe public transportation at 10pm, we called for our very first Uber ride (slow adopters here) to take us back to the hotel and fell asleep quickly.
The next morning we got up and grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel Starbucks before hitting our self-guided tour of the Freedom Trail. The trail itself is about 2.5-3 miles long and takes you through 17 famous historical sites, including the graveyard where Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried; the site of the Massacre itself, The Old South Meeting House where the signal was given that started the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church where the lanterns that gave the "one if by land, two if by sea" signal were hung, the USS Constitution, and the Bunker Hill monument among others. Some places are open to the public (usually with a suggested donation), while others are paid admission only.
Once we got to the North End, we stopped by Modern Pastries to grab some famous dessert for lunch (adulthood is great that way) and then headed over to Paul Revere's house. I couldn't take pictures inside, but it was pretty unbelievable to be standing in the very rooms where he ate, slept, and lived. We walked onto the next stop of The North Church and then went into a nearby souvenir shop to look around and choose our traditional Christmas ornament for our travel tree. We hiked across the Charlestown Bridge and found bathrooms and an ice cream shop before psyching ourselves up for the last bit of the trail.
The USS Constitution was our next stop. We knew the ship itself was closed for tours on Mondays, but we did get a consolation prize of going aboard an old WWII Navy destroyer, the USS Cassin Young. It always amazes me to see how small those things are in person and think about the crew working, sleeping, and eating there together for months on end. After touring it and then the USS Constitution's museum, we hiked uphill to the Bunker Hill Monument.
When we arrived at the monument, I informed David that I'd read we could climb to the top. Turns out I should have been super sure that I wanted to climb the thing before I mentioned that tidbit. Oh well, at least some of that pastry and ice cream lunch was about to be worked off. As he headed back down the hill to procure us passes to climb up, I rested on a nearby bench. Nearly 300 stairs later, we stood inside the top of the tower and looked out the four sides at the stunning views of the city all around us. It was well worth the climb, just as David thought.
After making it safely to the bottom, we walked back down towards the water and caught a ferry over to the wharf and then a subway ride back to the hotel. We put our feet up for a few minutes, called to check on the kids, then caught a subway back down to the wharfs for dinner at Boston Sail Loft restaurant. We shared a cup of clam chowder, lobster mac and cheese, and a lobster roll. It was all very tasty, even for someone who doesn't love seafood. We just couldn't pass up having lobster while in Boston! After dinner we walked down to Christopher Columbus Park near the water's edge and watched the boats go in and out and the sun set. We finally tore ourselves away and made it back to the subway station then the hotel before 9pm and were asleep soon after. Even with the subway rides and water ferry, we logged nearly 11 miles on foot that day (including 300 stairs!) and saw some amazing and unforgettable sites. It was exhausting, but worth every step.
Both of us slept like rocks that night and woke up feeling refreshed the next morning. Our plan was to pick up a rental car and head to Cape Cod for the day. Even though this trip was an adventurous site-seeing one, we knew we needed to build in some down time or we'd end up feeling drained and cranky by the end. We got the car and programmed our destination into the Waze app. After making a quick stop at Walmart for some cheap beach chairs and an umbrella (since there wasn't anywhere near our beach that rented them, we decided $25 was well worth it to avoid David being scorched and our bums aching), we grabbed some bagels and headed towards "the cape."
We called back home to talk to the kids on the way over. Audrey was having a rough time missing us, so we tried to check in for a few minutes each morning and afternoon and text a trivia picture of a statue or famous site a couple of times a day to stay connected.
We made it to Mayflower Beach by 9:15am and dragged our gear down to the water's edge. I'm sure all of the locals up near the top were laughing at how many times we were going to have to move our stuff back as the tide was coming in, but we wanted to be where we could hear the very gentle waves lapping in. (Being on the cape side, there aren't many!) When the tide is out, there is a huge expanse of mostly hard sand beach with a few tide pools scattered around. The water was so cold that we only waded in up to our knees and then quickly retreated to dry off. We read and napped and talked for awhile before taking a stroll. When we returned, it was time to move our chairs out of the tide's way a little more and so the morning went until we packed up around 1pm. It was lovely and just the break we needed after the whirlwind tour of the previous day.
After researching the menus of a few local restaurants I had marked, we settled on a sandwich place in downtown Dennis. And I do use the word "downtown" very loosely. It was a quaint little area with a post office, a church, a candy and gift shop, and a library all on the same block. We split huge sandwiches and then walked over to the candy/gift store to look around. From there we drove to Scargo Tower and climbed up to the top (detecting a theme, yet?) It was only about 30 feet tall, though, so it was a much easier and quicker climb to its peak. From the top we looked out over Scargo Lake and, beyond that, the Cape Cod Bay. I took a few pictures before we climbed down and headed back into downtown Dennis to walk around the churchyard and grab some ice cream at The Ice Cream Smuggler, a beloved spot among locals.
After ensuring our blood sugar would carry us through, we visited a couple more shops and then hit Hwy. 6A/King's Hwy for an incredible scenic drive back towards Boston. The houses were exactly as you would imagine with their cedar plank siding and impressive gardens. Each one was cuter and cozier than the last. We pulled off to do a quick hike at the Murkwood Conservation Area in East Sandwich and then again at Boardwalk Beach to walk the long planks through the marshland and down to the ocean. It was very windy, but warm enough if you didn't get in the water.
Feeling confident we'd gotten a genuine taste of the Cape, we drove through traffic back into the city. We returned the car, leaving a nice donation of two beach chairs and an umbrella in its trunk, and walked back to our hotel just as they skies opened up with a fierce storm. It was after 8pm by the time we changed clothes and hurried out to the subway to head up to Beacon Hill for dinner. We'd picked out a couple of restaurant spots to check out in person, but ended up tossing those ideas aside and ducking into Harvard Gardens across from Mass General Hospital. With the live music going and the historic photographs lining the walls, it had just the feel we were looking for. We split some pizza and dessert while checking out the Boston Red Sox on the TVs. They kept stopping for rain delays, which we could see proof of outside the restaurant windows. We opted to call Uber to pick us up at the door and take us back to the hotel, safe and dry. We turned in for the night, a little sad that the next day would be our last but a lot satisfied at how amazing the trip had been so far.
In the morning we got ready and packed up. We dropped our bags at the hotel desk for them to keep and rode the subway up to a place called Thornton's for breakfast. It was cold (60 degrees, I think?) and windy, but I could not have been happier about having goosebumps in June. After filling up, we called the kids to say hello and then strolled over to the Boston Public Library. It is a huge building with both an older and newer section. The original area is full of amazing architecture: impressive murals and artwork, statues, marble floors and staircases, nooks, elaborately adorned ceilings, a fantastic reading hall, and a courtyard with beautiful landscaping and a fountain. I was awestruck walking through and taking in all of the unbelievable art and history. Though much newer of course, I imagine it to be on par with most any work you'd see in Italy...at least to this novice's eye.
Crossing the street we entered the Old South Church and looked at the beautiful stained glass scenes and gigantic organ. The woodwork and decor was much darker and the look was more traditional than the churches we had seen along the Freedom Trail a few days earlier. We walked back outside and headed down the street into the heart of Copley Square. After searching for a good souvenir store and finally figuring out the map was taking us inside a mall, we found it and bought a couple of t-shirts and some lobster suckers for the kids (thankfully they weren't flavored like lobsters...only shaped!) We had just enough time to walk the mile to Fenway Park. Since it wasn't peak lunch hour or game time, we got to go into the Bleacher Bar, which offers a view right into the stadium. Even though neither of us are big baseball fans, it was definitely cool to see the oldest ballpark in America where the likes of Babe Ruth, Cy Young, and Roger Clemens all played.
We caught the subway one last time back to our hotel to pick up our bags and then Ubered to the airport. We got there early and went through security without any problem. Once we'd redressed ourselves (seriously...being native Atlantans we have learned to basically just stand there in our underwear and follow the herd) we split a tasty burger and some onion rings at Wahlburgers. After lunch we found an empty gate to sit at and read. I could barely keep my eyes open and ended up taking a catnap on David's shoulder. He woke me up around 3pm to go get some Pinkberry frozen yogurt. I checked the flight status screen one more time and discovered that our flight had been delayed about thirty minutes. "Not too bad," we told each other, as if we were naive enough to believe that 30 minutes was all we would have to wait.
Sure enough, we didn't board until 5:15pm, an hour after our originally scheduled departure. Then we proceeded to sit on the runway for another 45 minutes. To me the journey to somewhere is part of the adventure and the experience...a leg of the trip to be enjoyed. The journey back is just about getting home as quickly and efficiently as possible. I tried hard to be patient, but there were a ton of kids on board that were about to put me over the edge. (I know, I know...as a parent I should be sympathetic. But if you have not brought ANY toys, entertainment, snacks, etc. and are letting your kid jump up and down in the seat, slam the tray up and down over and over again, and then proceed to change his pull-up IN THE DADGUM ROW, it makes me kinda want to slip your kid some Benadryl and then punch you in the face. Call me judgmental if you want.)
Anyway.
I somehow lived through the terrible turbulence without tossing my hamburger and we eventually landed safely, though shaken up. We high-tailed it to baggage claim and then ground transportation, where we rode our shuttle to our car and got home around 10:15pm. We caught up with David's parents for just a minute before they left and then made ourselves sandwiches and went to bed. After sneaking in to kiss the kids goodnight first, of course.
Not the best ending, but man oh man was it a fantastic trip. I can't explain what it felt like to stand on those hallowed grounds and imagine people like Paul Revere, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock standing there before us. It made me incredibly proud of their work and our American history, but also a little saddened by how far removed we must be from what they hoped for us. As I hang up a few 4th of July decorations this weekend, I do so with a little more appreciation for what it took to give us that independence. I dare anyone to visit Boston and not walk away with a renewed sense of patriotism.
On a personal relationship level, we had the best time discovering a new city and having so much consecutive uninterrupted time to ourselves. We laughed hard together, we figured out public transportation together, we tried new foods and new things together. We also came away with a bunch of just-for-us memories and, combined with all I shared here, the whole experience brought us closer. It was better than I imagined and we'll ride the high of it for quite some time. If you haven't traveled with just your spouse lately, I highly recommend it. Even if you have to eat ramen noodles for two months straight just to save enough for a weekend at the lake, DO IT.
Special thanks to the grandparents for taking such great care of the kids while we were away! We wouldn't have done it without you.
Now I'll leave you with a few pictures while I go start dreaming about our next adventure.
Boston Public Garden
"Make Way for Ducklings" Statue!
Charles River
Gravesite of the victims of the Boston Massacre
Old South Meeting House
Faneuil Hall
Paul Revere's House
Bunker Hill Monument
View from the top of the monument
View from the top of the monument
USS Cassin Young
Aboard the USS Cassin Young
USS Constitution
View from the ferry on the ride back to our side of town
Sunset by the water after a lobster dinner
Cape Cod
Mayflower Beach on Cape Cod
Marshland meets beach at Boardwalk Beach on Cape Cod
Hydrangeas (one of my favorite flowers) were everywhere on the cape
and they were gorgeous! I'd never seen so many color on one bush.
Nearly 11 miles of sightseeing in one day.
I think our other city days were closer to 9 miles.
Inside the Boston Public Library
The reading room in the Boston Public Library
Fenway Park
Complete album of pictures: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10103666980159387.1073741907.22619877&type=1&l=2313bd60f2
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