If you go to Boston you of course have to go to the Cheers Bar don’t you? Well at least Chris thought so. We didn’t actually go inside we just stood out front and fought the crowd for a moment of camera time underneath the famous sign. Chris and I flew back into Austin around 11 last night from our whirlwind trip and we are trying to get back into the groove of things today.
Last Friday we flew into Portland, Maine and drove a rental car to Bethel, Maine. We were attending my friend Leah’s wedding. Bethel was a quaint little town and we stayed at a super nice bed and breakfast called The Gideon Hastings House. Our bathtub was huge and Jacuzzi so that is all I gotta say! The wedding it’s self was across the street at The Bethel Inn. A good time was had by all, but since I only knew the bride it was a little socially awkward at times. Leah and I went to school for a semester in London in our early 20’s and that is where we met. Since then she has come to Texas twice and I have been to visit her in New York several times (She works for Lacoste and has worked for all kinds of awesome fashion houses). We also once drove from Chicago across to the Corn Palace and Mount Rushmore, over to Yellowstone, up to Seattle, down to San Francisco, up to Reno and Salt Lake City and then back to Madison Wisconsin. We were together with our other friend Amanda in a car for a month so we are pretty tight. The wedding was lovely and Bethel is a super cute town. We happened to be there during the fall harvest fest as well!
The Sunday after the wedding Chris and I drove our little rental car down to Salem, Massachusetts. We of course had to see all the witchy sites. We were meeting our friend from London Jeff in Boston, but he actually got a ride out to Salem to meet us. He is into all that Goth stuff so Salem was like his Mecca. From here we drove to Boston and returned the car and headed for our digs, the Hotel Buckminster. Little did we know we were a stones throw from Fenway Park and that same night there was a Yankees / Red Sox game. That added to the excitement a bit. We avoided the area and went over to Newberry street for some of best seafood I have ever had at the Atlantic Fish Company and drinks at Bukowski’s.
Monday we walked The Freedom Trail. This is actually a really nice walk through Boston that not only allows you to see all the historical sites but also the modern day city of Boston. We saw the sites like Old Ironsides and Bunker Hill and ate lunch at the Union Oyster House which is supposedly the oldest restaurant in Boston. It was a long walk on a lot of cobblestone and by the end mommy was pooped. That night we made a trek to a bar in South Boston called Delux which was a little disappointing (the Time Out Guide said it was a shrine to all things kitsch, but my standard is pretty high). We didn’t stay long because Jeff’s friend Eve and her girlfriend Vic rang us and wanted to meet in Cambridge. We got there a little early and popped into the B Side Lounge for a drink while we waited for the ladies. They came and whisked us away in Vic’s amazing 60’s Chrysler Newport and took us to this awesome restaurant called Cuchi Cuchi that they also lovingly referred to as Liberace’s. There were yummy tapas, the waitress wore wigs and dressed like flappers, mosaiced mermaids adorned the front of the building – it was kitschy heaven and I loved it. After dinner we headed to a bar called The People’s Republik and then home.
Jeff had to go to New York for the screening of his Beta Valentine Video on Tuesday morning so Chris and I kicked him to the curb and headed out for our day. I of course had to go shopping on Newberry street. Thom Brown shoes had come highly recommended but I have to say the sales girls were snotty when I tried on shoes and I promptly thought better of spending my money there. Well if they had had the knee high brown suede fringed moccasin boots in my size I would have gotten over it, but they didn’t. There was an H&M that made me quite happy since remember we don’t have those in Texas. I only walked out with a small bag which is unusual for me. We had lunch in the café portion of Sonsie and then made our way around some other Boston sites like The Cheers Bar, China Town and others. Tuesday was also Chris’s birthday and since he loves Italian food our mission was to have a nice dinner in the North End. We wanted to go to Bricco, but they were full so we went next door to Tresca. I was not impressed by the food here and since the hostess and another waitress who were right by our table were singing and being silly and our waiter kept going outside our window view of Hanover street to talk on his cell phone our romantic night out was a bit spoiled. After dinner we popped over to the Bell in Hand to watch some Karaoke and then across the street to The Green Dragon to watch a guy and his acoustic guitar.
Wednesday was the longest day ever. We had to be out of our hotel room at 11am so with all our suitcases we had nowhere to go but to the airport. We were so early for our flight that we could not even check in our luggage yet. We waited and waited and eventually at about 4 we started our journey home. There was a layover with dinner at Chili’s at O’Hare in Chicago and then home in Austin by 11.
I am so happy that I don’t have anymore trips planned for this year. Well there will be trips to Dallas to see my family, but that does not count. This year I have been to Vermont, California (San Francisco and Annehiem), Massachusetts (twice), Arizona, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vancouver, Maine and I am sure somewhere else I am forgetting. I am burnt out on traveling for a bit and it feels good to put my suitcase away and mean it this time.
Snookums Oysters rule at the Union Oyster House!
between work, family, and my love life, i must have flown at least 10 times last year. it gets old really fast, no matter how amazing the places you are going might be.
here’s to resting for a bit!