Boston 2017

It's been a while since I've written anything so I thought writing about my trip to Boston with my dad would be a good way to ease my way back into it. To be honest there is a lot I have been wanting to write about, but time and creative energy have been somewhat lacking since I started my job in January. 

This trip all started last July when my dad turned 60.  I sent him six "presents" for him to open via FaceTime and each gift had a theme of a trait my dad possesses. He has always had a traveling spirit and growing up I was fortunate to have been a passenger to this spirit. We traveled all over the US and to Europe twice before I graduated high school. People always thought I was weird (and I think adults thought my parents were weird) because I always went on these trips with my parents. "You aren't bringing a friend to hang out with?" "You're only going with your mom and dad?"  

Uh, yeah? My parents are the shit. I'm bad at sharing. Any other questions?

Anyways...back to July.  One of the gifts encapsulating his travel bug spirit was a '60/30 father/daughter trip' since I was 30 at the time. Wasn't really sure what that trip would look like at the time, but once we moved to NC, doing weekend trips together would become something that could actually happen versus being 4000 miles apart.

My dad is from upstate New York and has been a dedicated Yankees and Giants fan because of this. I hate NYC so I really didn't want to go to a Yankees game there...but I love Boston and have been wanting to go back ever since in went seven years ago. Just ask Ben- I think I've asked every time we have gone to Vermont "Do you think we can go to Boston this time?"

This led me to figure out when the Yankees and the Red Sox were playing at Fenway. And this is what led to our weekend in Beantown. 

When you arrive to Logan airport you immediately are aware you are in a major international airport. English is no longer assumed and there are all walks of life wandering around. We meander our way to baggage claim and pick up suitcase, navigate the public transit system comprised of shuttle buses and trains to our hotel downtown Boston. 

View from hotel room

After changing clothes to get the airport stench off we head out and about to find somewhere to eat. Dad found this great place from Yelp! that was a nice ten minute walk away.  Saltie Girl is a raw oyster bar as we all as sardine bar. Needless to say, dad and I expanded our palettes that day for lunch- but it was all worth it! Ok, maybe the sardines weren't exactly worth it...

 

Sardines!

Raw clam and oyster

Next on the adventure was the baseball game. We decide to walk the mile or so to Fenway and on the way there we encountered a man in a three piece suit coming out of the many financial district buildings. He saw dad's NY hat and simply said "you're a brave man".

Now up until this point, I had yet to hear a true Bostonian speak. Being in the airport and the hotel, most people were not speaking English, let alone English with a New England accent. 

Then I heard it. 

A scalper talking to his buddy about his recent luck with ticket sales. "I made two hundred fahty dollahs the othah day." 

Ahhhh.  Some people hate- no, loathe - Boston accents. I love em. Don't ask me why. Probably because a lot of my favorite movies are based in Boston- Good Will Hunting, The Town, The Departed, The Fighter, Boondocks Saints to name a few. 

That's when I started to get excited. You turn the cornah (sorry) and see the green metal structures, the "Welcome to Fenway Park" sign and then all the other senses start pouring in. The smells of fried food, hot dogs and cigarettes. The sounds of State Police laughing and BSing with the vendors and the loud call of scalpers selling last minute tickets. You feel the push and pull of fans pouring into the stadium and the steam from the street meat carts. 

 

 We make our way inside, grab some food and beer and find our seats behind third base.  I was told Fenway was small- the stadium is small and the seats are small but I was still surprised. I'm pretty sure the Durham Bulls stadium has more seating. I'm also more than sure that my femurs are longer than the distance between the back of my seat to the back of the seat in front of me. 

 

The Red Sox lost, but we had a great time- dad especially since he was rooting for the Yankees. Really good pitching on both sides made for a shorter than normal game, but it was the perfect experience in my book. 

After the game we walked across the street from the stadium for a slice of pizza and one last beer while we watched the crowd disperse from the open air seating before making our mile long walk back home. My mother in law recommended walking through the 'Back Bay' and I'm so glad we did- beautiful townhomes on either side separated by a nice greenway park down the middle. Was a peaceful walk home enjoying the flowers, cooler air and the more quiet city rustle on a Thursday night. 

 

Friday we head to Cambridge to check out some of the city's mediocre universities. After navigating the train successfully (this time sans a 44 pound rolling suitcase), we find ourselves in the middle of Harvard Square. We are politely approached by a young man as if he could read our minds in our attempt to figure out where to go next and he says "We offer student lead tours of the campus every half hour and one is about to start if you'd like to join us!". At $12/ ticket we said we would love to.   

Harvard Yard

Did you know Harvard predates the Revolutionary War?  

 

After finding lunch after the tour we walk along the Charles River to make our way to Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Again, not really sure what we are looking for we find ourselves heading towards the MIT Museum.  

This is a very, very cool museum. It isn't that big, but it has some amazing exhibits about robotics, kinetics, photography, holograms, etc. We probably could have spent all day there but we had to head back across the Charles to downtown towards Beacon Hill for our beer tour.

 This tour is the only other planned event of the trip besides the baseball game. Dad and I and 13 of our new best friends all piled into a 15 passenger van to start a tour of four breweries in Boston. The guide had us go around and say our names and where we were from. Naturally, a van full of beer drinkers were impressed with our Asheville aka Beer City USA address. 

The tour consisted of going into the brewing area of each brewery, learning a bit about the brewing process and sampling 3-4 beers from each location. We also had dinner at the third brewery which was aptly timed since my food to alcohol ratio was leaning heavily towards the latter by this point of the night. We had a really good time trying out several different varieties of beer as well as getting to know some new folks from all over the country. As is tradition, the more beer we drank, the more sociable we all became. 

Night Shift Brewery- our favorite of the night

Slumbrew Brewery in Somerville

Saturday became what we called the "food tour". We took the train to the North End which is heavily influenced/inhabited by Italian Americans to find some breakfast. The pastries did not disappoint. We found a nice park called Paul Revere Mall (along the Freedom Trail) to eat our breakfast, enjoy our coffee and people watch. Afterward we walked in and out various shops filled with homemade pasta, deli meat and older men talking to each other in Italian wearing wife beaters and gold chains. I seriously considered buying a couple raviolis and eating them raw once the lady said they were pumpkin filled and had been made only a few hours earlier...

 

Later we walked in and amongst a thriving farmer's market packed with vendors, buyers and fresh food as we made our way to Faneuil Hall and ultimately arriving to Boston Harbor. Dad found another Yelp! gem where we enjoyed a literal cup of chowder and shared some fresh clams.  

Once we finished our food and beer we check out the Boston Tea Party ship and museum (because it popped on on my Google maps when I was checking out where we were presently located- online marketing win for sure) which is, naturally, located in Boston Harbor. We thought it was a typical museum where we could read about the Boston tea party as well as see a replica ship, but it actually is a guided one hour tour given by actors portraying people involved in the Boston Tea Party (ie Samuel Adams). The performances and history telling were phenomenal and definitely worth the entry fare. Huzzah! 

We all were given a character to 'play'

To round out our food tour we ended with dinner at Oceanair restaurant and after arriving we learned the majority of their seafood comes from the 49th state of Alaska. Dad and I had to quiet our laughter at the effort from the waitress to sell us their $50 "immaculate halibut" special that "just so happens to be in season, which is incredible luck because it is such a fleeting season!"

I then asked where the tuna was from hoping it was local 'wicked tuna' but she replied Alaska and I said you're probably wrong. She then went to find out and came back to tell me Canada. Saying a fish is from Canada is equally as helpful as saying it is from America, but dad made me stop asking questions about the tuna at that time and we just decide to order it. 

Tuna poke, sherry lobster bisque, blackened Gloucester haddock over caramelized onions paired with two delicious mixed drinks and great company made for an incredible finale to the food tour. 

Oh, did I mention the double chocolate caramel cake a la mode?

We made the final walk back to the hotel after dinner, walking along the freedom trail and in Boston Gardens one more time. The freedom trail is the route Paul Revere rode to warn the people of Boston and elsewhere that "The British are coming" and is identified by a two brick wide trail in the road/sidewalk/parks. I can't not feel inspired by this city. The history and gravity of that history is everywhere.

I will admit I had a twinge of nervousness coming back to Boston. The last time I was here was in 2010 with my parents, pre-Alaska. Pre-Alaska Stephanie liked big cities well enough but wasn't really all that crazy about them. Post-Alaska Stephanie doe not like big cities and is a bona fide country mouse now. My least favorite cities on our six week trip last year were San Francisco and Las Vegas. I was afraid that my disdain for huge metropolis environments would cause me to remove some of the romantic and patriotic lust I have for Boston. I am happy to say that I have lost no love or lust for this town. I'm not quite sure what it is about it, but rather than feeling suffocated and overwhelmed with the hustle and chaos a major city of encompasses, I felt I was able to thrive and embrace all it had to offer. We had no agenda aside from the game and beer tour and yet we made the town our own. We went where the mood took us whether it was eating raw oysters, going into a museum showcasing some of the smartest minds in the world or deciding to hop on the train to the North End because we wanted Italian pastries for breakfast.

We are on our way home to Asheville and as I said coming home from Mexico, I'm not sad to be coming back. I miss Ben and the pups and my bed. Boston was an amazing trip and I'm so happy to have been able to share them with my dad. I look forward to going back again, hopefully with less time in between trips.