Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Boston - What To Do

I was going to write about food and drink as the follow up to my Boston hotel entry and the next installment for Demonic Blonde (and Alex), but DB has requested places to go. Again, no Boston expert or anything, but here are some places I've been and things I've done while there, and some more I'm wanting to go and do!


Trinity Church

Monday, September 22, 2008

Boston - Where To Stay

Recently, my friend Demonic Blonde requested a travel post about Boston, since she and some friends will be traveling there in November. Now, I am no expert on Boston by any means. But, I have been there several times and it's my favorite East Coast city by far.

I love Boston. I love the feel of the city, the people, the transportation, pretty much everything except for the fact that my delicate California-born-and-raised self cannot survive in cold weather. In fact, I would love to live there at some point, if it weren't for said issue. Anyway. I'll be traveling there again next month for my own trip, but I figured I'd post a few blogs with some of the places I've been and will be planning to go. Here is the first, about hotels.

I've only stayed in two hotels in Boston on my trips thus far. The first time I went, my friend Miss M and I were a little late in reserving a hotel room (we were traveling at the same time as Harvard's graduation, oops), and the best we could find was the Holiday Inn Express. This hotel? Not recommended. The hotel itself is fine, exactly what you'd expect from a Holiday Inn Express. There's a Target within walking distance and a little diner next door that has good pie. But the neighborhood is hardly ideal for tourists. The T stop is a 5-10 minute walk, and not particularly appealing to two young women after dark.

Every time since then, I've stayed at the Boston Marriott Cambridge. Which rocks as a hotel as well as a location. It's on the pricier side, but if you get it at the right time of year you can get good deals. Basically, it's a dream come true - soft, heavenly beds, comfortable rooms, and the Kendall Square T stop is literally steps from the hotel. A close T stop is my biggest "pro" for a hotel in Boston - because with that, you can get anywhere around the city with ease (and a few minutes walk).

For this upcoming trip, we're staying at a new hotel that I've not been to. Again, we waited far too long to book our hotel, and my favorite was over $300/night, well out of my price range for this trip. If we were only going to Boston, I may have sprung for it (it's THAT good of a hotel), but since we'll have an additional 7 nights in hotels after Boston, we had to stick with our budget of under $200/night. So, with very little available and our departure looming, we turned to Priceline. We named the hotel we wanted (four stars), our location (Downtown, Waterfront, etc) and our price ($175/night). And then we rolled the dice. We are booked at the Seaport Hotel on the waterfront, and from the looks of the reviews on tripadvisor, I am super excited about our good fortune.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Style

Coming home from our road trip to San Francisco, I couldn't help but think about how much our trip demonstrated how different BF's and my "travel styles" are.

I like to plan. (Like that's a surprise.) Hotels, activities, places to eat, etc. I like having the details worked out, often months ahead of time, before I go somewhere. It's less stressful for me, and it makes traveling more enjoyable, plus, I love to do it.

BF likes to fly by the seat of his pants. He doesn't like having anything planned - he wants to be completely flexible with everything. And he's totally last minute.

I'll admit it. Most of the time, I "win" when it comes to travel. Because if I don't? I drive him crazy being all stressed out and wondering where I'm going to sleep.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

California Road Trip: Monterey Bay & Santa Cruz

Hmmm... where did I leave off? Oh yes, it was still Saturday and we were still driving. We drove for a LONG TIME on Saturday. After Cambria, we drove all through Big Sur on Highway 1, enjoying the spectacular views and the windy roads until we got to Monterey. Our main goal? The Monterey Bay Aquarium! We love the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And Monterey is a super cute place. Too many tourists in spring and summer, but what can you do?

Outer Bay exhibit - do you see the size of that tuna???

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

California Road Trip: Morro Bay

Our road trip to San Francisco had lots of little stops and side trips - so I'm going to break up the blog about it a little into smaller, easier to digest blogs. Cause I love you people, and don't want your eyes to start to bleed!

We left our place super early - 6:40am early - and headed up the 101. None of this "5 freeway" deal for us - what's the point of taking a road trip if you're going to be bored out of your mind and see nothing but cows the entire drive? You can see cows on the 101, too, and horses, and sheep, and even ostriches!

We stopped in Santa Maria for breakfast around 8am and then called our buddy in Morro Bay - we hadn't seen him since Christmas, so we couldn't pass up an opportunity to hang out with him! Got to Morro Bay around 10am and he took us to Montana de Oro State Park for a very awesome nature walk.

I love eucalyptus trees.

Monday, September 15, 2008

CA 101 Road Trip to San Francisco

BF and I recently went on a trip to San Francisco, and it was awesome. We had such a nice time, and it was so great to hang out, spend time together, and be super goofy. We left on Thursday night, stayed in Pismo Beach, then leisurely finished the drive on Friday. Here are some of the highlights to our trip!

- The GIANT artichoke in Castroville, CA. It's the world's largest, and I had no idea it even existed prior to this trip, so it was awesome to stumble upon! I wanted to eat at the Giant Artichoke Restaurant, but we'd just had breakfast. Next time, maybe.
- Stopping at Pizza My Heart and the Pacific Cookie Company in Santa Cruz! The PCC had a lemon drop sugar cookie that was soooooo good.


This was the chocolate dipped chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie! Delicious!