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!

Have done:

Boston Duck Tours: Totally touristy, and also a total blast! We did the Duck Tour once when we were there in September, and it was so fun! Silly, yes. And it's hard to avoid the "Look at us tourists" deal when you're in a giant, "World War II amphibious landing vehicle." But yeah, completely worth it, especially at the beginning of a trip to get a feel for the layout of the city, and to note things you'd like to visit a bit more.

Boston Common: Boston Common was great to just wander around and chill out in. We spent hours here, just enjoying the feel of the area and hanging out.

Newbury & Boylston Streets: We walked along the posh shopping streets, and though we couldn't afford much, it was lots of fun to people watch and check out the awesome buildings along these two streets. We also went to Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library (AMAZING architecture) off of Boylston.

Trinity Church

The Freedom Trail: 2.5 mile walk led by a red brick (or red paint) trail. It's a fantastic way to explore the history of Boston, plus it takes you through many of the places you would've wanted to see anyway: the USS Constitution, the Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, etc.

Paul Revere House: We visited the Paul Revere house when we did a self tour of the Freedom Trail. It was pretty cool for people who are into history!

Fenway Park: We were lucky enough to get tickets to a game at Fenway in 2005. I don't think we'll be able to do this on our next trip, but we will probably still do the Fenway tour!

Marie and me at Fenway Park, 2005

Am planning:

The Boston Harborwalk
Sam Adams Brewery Tour
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Something we looked into for our upcoming trip is the Boston Explorer Pass. You choose three attractions (one "premiere" and two "signature"), and then use the pass to save some time and money on the things you want to do. If we were to get one today, we'd get it with the following items: New England Aquarium, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and Boston Harbor Cruises' USS Constitution Cruise. I doubt that we'll get them for this trip, since we'll only be in Boston for two days, but for a longer trip they would definitely be worth it.

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 Marie 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.

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!

- Beer & clams. We had them every day on our trip, and it was glorious. We have a new favorite restaurant in North Beach that has the absolute best steamed clam appetizer I've ever had! And I don't even like seafood most of the time!
- Volare Restaurant in North Beach. As mentioned above: Best. Clams. Ever.
- Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. I'm sure I've done this before, but I certainly don't remember it, so it was rad.

Sunset from Sausalito

- H&M & Zara. H&M is my favorite store, and I swear that the different geographical locations carry different things in their stores. I found a couple cute tops, and am better prepared for our trip to the East coast next month!
- Riding the cable cars. I could probably just ride those things back and forth for hours. They're so much fun, and the perfect place to people watch!
- Seeing our friend Cristina on the way home, then seeing horses and dolphins on the rest of the drive. We stopped to check the surf North of Ventura and there was a guy who was giving his horses a break from their long drive. They were just there, chillin out on the grass by the ocean. They were so sweet, and let me pet them while they chowed down on grass.

I highly recommend taking the 101 when driving north to San Francisco. Yes, it takes a bit longer than the more direct 5. But the extra time is worth it for all of the fantastic things you see on the way!