boston

phillip and kelsey do boston – day 3

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okay, i know, you’ve been on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear how our trip to boston ended (now two months ago).  well, i’ve been a little preoccupied with work and becoming an aunt and everything, so i think the delay can be excused.  🙂  our last day in boston did eventually arrive, so we packed up our bags and wandered around the financial district in search of some coffee.  since our flight didn’t leave until dinnertime, we had a lot of time to kill and ended up posting up in render coffee for a couple of hours.  true to form, phillip ordered a sweet mocha and i ordered a frothy latte and we enjoyed reading and just watching the locals.  it was pretty chilly outside, so the cozy mugs and soft leather chairs warmly welcomed us to stay, which we did.

gimme me dat espresso!

all hopped up on caffeine, we were ready to put some food in our stomachs, but not before we snagged a couple more classic boston pics.

now, had we had pizza the night before?  yes, but this next pizza place we went was meaningful to phillip.  when he and his family lived around boston, their parents would drive by regina’s to grab a few pies for the kiddos and scarf them down, and since phillip could eat pizza pretty much any day of the week, that is where we had lunch.

thank goodness we had the baby suitcase with us, because there is not a lot of extra space in regina’s.  tables are crammed together, booths line the walls, and the bathroom stalls are quite little.  regardless, it’s clear that regina pizzeria has been a boston institution for some time (since 1926 to be exact), so we ordered some beers and sat back and enjoyed.

olive oil, anyone?
team hydration!

the waitress recommended the giambotta pizza and the meat lover’s pizza, so that is exactly what we ordered.  i remember very specifically loving the crust and could easily picture myself ordering regina’s weekly if i lived anywhere nearby.  these pies were a good size, and with the appetites we had, only one slice remained.  but don’t worry, we took it to-go and ate it at the airport for dinner.  🙂  waste not want not!

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unfortunately, our visit to boston was coming to a close, so with our pizza in tow, we hopped on the blue line to the airport.  we were only a couple of quick stops away, and before we knew it, we had our boarding passes and were though security in no time at all.

but wait!  we had a surprise!  we couldn’t leave boston without one more trip to mike’s, so we had stopped there quickly after regina’s and took with us to the airport one peanut butter chocolate cannoli and one cookies’n’cream cannoli.  i savored every single bite as we watched the sun go down, the airplane arrive at the gate, and the line of passengers start to form.  although i would have loved a day or two more to explore some more, i thoroughly enjoyed our quick boston visit and highly recommend you give the city a try if you haven’t yet had the pleasure.

phillip and kelsey do boston – day 2

kdavis Leave a comment

day two in boston started with breakfast at, where else, dunkin’ donuts!  we had some coffees, donuts, and breakfast sandwiches as we planned out the rest of our day.  our first stop, and probably the most important stop of the trip, was to visit the hospital where phillip and his sisters were born.  so we caught the train and headed to dorchester.

now the st. mary’s center for women and children, st. margaret’s is were michele and kim spent several months delivering their miracle babies over thirty years ago.  since we were there on a weekend, we couldn’t get the full tour, but the receptionist charlotte was happy to show us around the grounds as much as she could.

phillip & charlotte.

as charlotte led us through some of the buildings, she was happy to give us some history of the grounds.  it turned out she has been working there for quite some time, so she was able to tell us all about the purpose of the center now, how some of the rooms were used when the grounds were still a hospital, and even where some of the original architecture and artwork is still maintained.  it was so special to watch as phillip took it all in, soaking up the place where his story began so many years ago.

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eventually charlotte did have to return to her desk, but she suggested we go sit in the garden since the weather was so nice out, and that is exactly what we did.  it was so pleasant to slow down, even if just for a few moments, and appreciate all the good things going on at this place.  🙂

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phillip and kelsey do boston – day 1

kdavis Leave a comment

our summertime travels continued with a trip up to boston.  phillip and his sisters were born there but none had been back since, and since i loved the city the last time i came with my friend vinh, i was all in, no doubt about it.

we were up bright and early that friday morning and landed at boston-logan international airport around eleven a.m.  seeing as how our trip would total to barely 48 hours, no humongous luggage bags were necessary (shocking, i know), so we deplaned, grabbed some local transit maps, and hopped on the free silver line bus to south station.  as my father would say, “if it’s free, it’s me!”  about ten minutes later we exited and began to roam the city streets.  we couldn’t check into our airbnb for a few hours, and since we were hungry for some local eats, we asked a friendly bostonian for directions to the original cheers restaurant.  i mean, when in boston, where else would you go?

it was easy to find the restaurant, just a few turns away and a gathered crowd.  there was a slight wait due to the start of the lunch rush, so while we waited we did what every good tourist would do and took a junk ton of pictures.  aren’t they fabulous?  🙂

once our buzzer buzzed, we took the stairs down and crammed ourselves and all our stuff into a cozy booth.  the restaurant was coming to life right before eyes, the energy was tangible, and it was a great way to begin our visit.

like all great day-time vacations, we were not on the clock and were quick to order a couple of adult beverages.  phillip had a local dark something and i stuck with a standard wheat beer – you know, easing myself into things.  both were crisp and cold and quite refreshing.

in no hurry at all, we also ordered ourselves a little appetizer to munch on while we looked over the rest of the menu.  per the waiter’s recommendation, we enjoyed the spinach artichoke dip.  what a classic!  the picture may not be doing it justice, but this popular dish was nice and hot with fluffy gobs of whipped cream cheese, hearty artichoke hunks, gooey cheese, and tasty spinach.  a bite here, a sip there, things were off to a good start indeed.

pretty satisfied with the dip, we decided splitting an entree would be the way to go next, and the kitchen gladly served us our reuben on two individual plates.  this sandwich is such comfort food to me, and the only thing it needed was more thousand island dressing.  i can never get enough!

with full bellies and a second wind, we killed some time on the self-guided freedom trail tour.  the map directed us through boston common, over to the old south meeting house, and, for us, ultimately to faneuil hall.  it could not have been a better sightseeing day, as the air was cool and the cloud coverage was substantial – a welcome change from the stifling georgia heat!

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at last we received word that our airbnb was ready for our arrival, so we navigated our way through the financial district to our studio apartment for the weekend.  the space was just perfect for our two-night stay and ended up being a great, central location for all our adventures.

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boston update

kdavis Leave a comment

very quickly, folks, while i have a few minutes on my lunch break!  first, vinh sent me his pictures from the weekend, so check out more snaps of our lunch at sakura.

second, look at how far we walked!  the weather had been so beautiful on sunday that we traveled far on foot through this little city.  vinh mapped out our trek, and thinking we had walked a modest six miles that day, we were shocked to see we had actually walked 10!  be sure to check out this past sunday’s post to get up-to-date on those whereabouts.

BOSTON WALK

boston – day 3

kdavis 2 Comments

okay, day three, it is my last day in boston, so i need to make the most of it.  monday, do you think you can deliver?  good!  it sounds like you are up to the challenge.  the day’s not getting any longer, so let’s get started!

after a solid night of sleep, the city was ours for the taking.  as we strolled to the fields corner metro stop, we munched on homemade egg rolls that vinh’s mother had given us before we dashed out the door.  those things were crispy and warm and gone in no time.  the perfect snack to get our metabolisms going.

we grabbed our charlie tickets and stepped aboard the redline, northbound to alewife.  when i take public transportation in other cities, i always wonder if i look like a tourist.  was i blending in because i was being accompanied (well, more like chaperoned, let’s be honest) by a local?  um, probably not, especially since i was so chatty and upbeat for a monday.  something i noticed very quickly about bostonians is that while they are not necessarily rude, they aren’t really pleasant either, at least to strangers.  i found that my polite “excuse me’s” and “pardon me’s” went unnoticed and seemed to not be appreciated one bit.  this much is true of pedestrians and even more severe for drivers.  i’m convinced no one’s blinkers work and that lane stripes are more like guidelines than actual restrictions.  cars seem to have no regard for those on foot, and the reverse seems to be quite the same.  there was more than just once when i thought i might be nudged into an intersection and made to fear for my life.  as they say, you can take the girl out of the south, but you cannot take the southern hospitality out of the girl.  okay, so maybe it isn’t an actual saying, but right here from yours truly is a first-hand testimony.  tell me it counts for something!

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boston – day 2

kdavis 6 Comments

well, we had the grand idea of being go-getters this morning, hopping out of bed early to get the day started and to begin the exploring.  i’d say all that was pretty much shot considering vinh had a little bit of work to do and i didn’t wake up until nearly ten o’clock.  oh well!  that just means with all this extra sleep we got, we’d be energized for an action-packed sunday.  i know sunday is a day of rest, but when you’re in a new city and on vacation, sometimes you just cannot help yourself!

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boston – day 1

kdavis 7 Comments

mm, who doesn’t love an 8:45 flight on a saturday morning after a night of fireball jell-o shots at the boss’ holiday party?  ah, i knew i wasn’t the only one!  this morning my coworker vinh and i hopped aboard delta flight 104 and shut our eyes on the two and half hour trip up to boston.  we arrived a little early, were picked up by his brother-in-law, and whisked away to his childhood home.

vinh was born and raised in boston, attended tufts university, and often comes back to visit his hometown.  the neighborhood of dorchester is his stomping grounds, and it was a treat to get to see the town where he grew up and spent his younger days making memories. i’ve never been to boston, and a few months ago i heard the band the 1975 was touring in the states.  i was going to miss their atlanta show because i was out of town, but i saw they were going to be performing in boston.  well, that about sealed the deal for me.  i called up vinh and asked him if he’d like to go to the concert with me and show me around his city.  his agreement was nearly instant, and so my boston adventures began!

so much to do and so little time in which to do it!

so much to do and so little time in which to do it!

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