Since it’s fall and the weather is lovely and getaways are really needed this time of year, my girlfriends and I decided to take a weekend trip up to Boston. We left with modest goals: see good friends and eat good food. And for only a 48 hour stay, we certainly achieved those goals.
We left Philly at 5am on a Friday, and despite stopping several times for the many things you stop for on a road trip, we arrived in Boston by noon. We were staying at the Westin Boston Waterfront. I was worried this would be a little out of the way, but Boston is not a big city. Everything was super easy to navigate to, and a lot of our stops actually were pretty close to our hotel.
Exhibit A: Yankee Lobster. had read great reviews ahead of time, so after we bought our tickets for our next activity, we popped in for our first taste of New England. We ordered some sandwiches (I split the lobster roll and scallop roll, my favorite) and the lobster mac and cheese. Everything was freaking delicious – the perfect way to start the trip.
After lunch, we walked a few feet to the doors of Harpoon Brewery. We knew we wanted to go to a brewery while in Boston, and Harpoon came highly recommended. You have to buy tickets the day of ($5/each), and they sell out quickly. We bought ours two hours in advance on a weekday, and they had already sold out for some tours. The tour itself was very interesting, but the best part, obviously, was the 20 minute tasting room adventure. Our tour guides went over all of the beers on tap, passed out glasses, and let us loose. The cider and stout were two of my favorites.
We wanted more, so after the tour, we spent some time in the beer hall. They had some special brews on tap, but we kept it pretty standard. I opted for the UFO Flight – amazing!
Later that evening, we made a reservation for a cute little place called Terramia Ristorante. The North End is Boston’s “Little Italy,” and it truly looked like a movie set to me. Dinner (with wine) was surprisingly affordable. I had the pappardelle with wild boar ragu. After dinner, we went out after to a nearby bar for lots of dancing.
The next morning, our group split up. While Colleen and Kelly went to tour Fenway Park, Brooke & I went to Newbury Street, Boston’s best shopping area. We made some purchases in MAC and Nordstrom Rack (In my search for more shirts to wear out when it’s cold, I purchased a simple “blouse” – I’m getting there). We then took a little stroll up to the Boston Public Garden, where we did a little people watching and enjoyed the nice weather.
We met up with my college roommate and current Bostonian, Jess, as we strolled through Boston Common on our way to lunch. Our destination was Faneuil Hall for, obviously, New England Clam Chowder in bread bowls. Faneuil Hall is similar to our own Reading Terminal, but without the grocery aspect. The Boston Chowda line was definitely the longest one in there, but it was so worth it. I wish all food came in bowls of bread.
Because eating was definitely a part of our agenda, we took a walk over to the Modern Pastry Shop for treats. The line was a pretty long, but you can customize your own cannoli (mine had pistachios, chocolate chips, and powdered sugar), so I did not complain.
We took our treats to a little park and sat for more people watching. Boston, like Philly, is really walkable. We trotted all over the city during our trip and it was no big deal. Also, my girlfriends are so beautiful, aren’t they?
When we got back to our hotel, we walked around the corner to check out The Lawn on D, an “adult playground.” It was a big space filled with swings, games, chairs, and a bar, and was actually really cool. I think something like this would be a nice addition to Philly.
For dinner, we added one more lady to our crew and went to Billy Tse’s Restaurant. The food and drinks were delish, and the staff accommodated our picture taking and the destruction we did to the table. (This is a judgement free zone.)
Our nighttime destination was a little up in the air, so thanks to the recommendation of a TInder man, we ended up at The Black Rose, a serious Irish pub. The night was so much fun, lots of drinking and laughing and bopping to the music – provided by the two gems below. Because trying a city’s drunk food is one of the best ways to feel like a local, we got sausages at 2am from a street cart. They were magical.
The next day, all that Irish music kept us snoozing way later than expected. We packed up our car and headed into Cambridge for a little sightseeing. We mainly bopped around Harvard, which was absolutely beautiful, but also stopped in some shops, like Black Ink (for early Christmas gifts) and J.P. Lick’s (for amazing ice cream).
We left on a Sunday afternoon and, naturally, hit some traffic on the way home. (It was definitely a little worse because we couldn’t get the Eagles game to play on our iPhone apps). Thanks to all of my girlfriends for a wonderful weekend, and thanks to Boston for showing us Philly ladies such a great time! I will be back! xx
