Zach hosted Thanksgiving for the Beulieu's and a few other folks. It was an awesome dinner, complete with turkey cooked with bacon, grand marnier stuffing, corn, brussel sprouts (my new favorite food...I never had them before), sweet potatoes, rolls, cranberry sauce, and rolls. The only thing missing was the pickles! Here is a picture of our host Zach and the next one is Corey cutting the juicy turkey.
So Boston is my new favorite city! Why, oh why, did Harvard reject Jeremy? I guess settling for Yale is alright…the architecture at Yale is much more grandiose than Harvard. Put that in your pipe and smoke it Harvard!
Corey and Caroline live right next to the Public Gardens and Boston Common. We stayed at a hotel in the theatre district (less than a mile away). Every morning we would get up, walk to Starbucks to start our day, and cut through the Commons and the Garden. Their place is a street away from Newbury Street which is where all the fancy schmancy stores are. Placed among Valentino, Cole Haan, and other expensive stores that I can’t name was a Filene’s Basement. I was so excited! We went in the day after Thanksgiving. It really wasn’t that crazy. I would compare it to a Marshall’s or TJ Maxx, but with some better designer stuff. I had self control and didn’t buy anything.
(Jeremy practicing his Tyra pose at the Public Gardens)
(me in front of Filene's)
(The State House)The great thing about Boston is that it is a big city, but it isn’t overwhelming. You can pretty much walk anywhere and the T is really easy to use. The day after Thanksgiving we avoided shopping (except for a quick morning stop at Filene’s) and opted for a tour of the city led by Jeremy’s brother. Corey was an awesome tour guide! We started walking towards Beacon Hill and took customary tourist photos in front of Cheers. Then we walked along the Freedom Trail to the grave of Samuel Adams. Side note: I was excited to go on the Freedom Trail, for some reason I thought it was going to be like a hiking trail with lots of trees, maybe a brook running through...I didn’t realize it was a red line that goes through the city. It was awesome and I’m not sure why I thought it was something more surrounded by nature, I guess the “trail” in the name through me off. Anyhoo, the graveyard was pretty interesting. The headstones were very intricate. There was another graveyard along the “trail”, but after traipsing though the first plot of dead people, we had seen enough. Next up on our whirlwind tour of Boston was Fanuil Hall. Outside of the hall we saw some street performers doing some break dancing. We walked around the shops that were outside, (unique shops like Ann Taylor and Urban Outfitters) and April tried to find something warm at Gap. It was really cold outside! My hands were numb and I had gloves on. (I really need to buy non-California gloves) Then we went inside Fanuil Hall. The first floor had shops with touristy stuff to buy and the second floor was the hall where all the greats gathered. The hall was very impressive and you could feel the aura of greatness hanging in the rafters. Next up on Corey’s tour was the North End. I was excited to go there because I had heard it was a really cute little Italy area and also the residence of Paul Revere. I was more excited for Italian food, but Paul Revere is pretty cool too. We ate a late lunch at a cute little Italian place, I ordered a delicious soup that came ten minutes after everyone else was served. I have bad restaurant Karma. Maybe I should tip everyone 20% regardless of service. Hmm… I will think about it. After lunch it was starting to get dark and it was really cold, so we went to buy some cannoli’s at Mike’s. Jeremy’s mom had been there before and said we just HAD to try their cannoli’s. The place was packed…there were people packed at the few tables inside and a really long line along the counter. I used my extreme navigating skills to jump to the front of the mass of people waiting to order and we successfully got our cannoli’s in record time. Our first day of sight-seeing was great and we finished off the night at Corey & Caroline’s pad eating pumpkin soup and cannoli’s. Those things were AMAZING! I am still having dreams of them at night. Here are some pic's of the sites...
On Saturday Jeremy and I wanted to get some more sight-seeing/eating in. We started off walking in the bitter cold to the U.S.S. Constitution. Apparently this is some kind of big boat. Just kidding! Corey had wanted us to walk to it the day before, but it was getting dark and cold and so we decided to see it the next day. I kept joking with Jeremy, calling it a boat, and he would get mad and tell me it was a ship. Not just any ship though, a ship that was a major part of his childhood. Who know Jeremy was in love with this ship? When we got there we decided to go on board since it was free and Jeremy had been longing to see this “boat” since he was a child and missed out on a family trip where the rest of his family got to see it. Did you know that the U.S.S Constitution is heavily guarded…just like at an airport, we had to go through security. Yeah, I bet the terrorists are just waiting to take over that ship. I don’t know what America would do without it. I must have looked like a terrorist in my big puffy jacket because when I set off the metal detector I got pulled aside and had to pull up my pants to my knees. Good thing I wasn’t packing my AK47 and knife! After making fun of the U.S.S. Constitution, it had it’s revenge on me. While taking a picture I banged my head on some boat thing. It hurt really bad and Jeremy laughed, pointed, and took pictures of my agony. After looking at the boat we walked back to Tami and April’s hotel to say goodbye. I have never been so cold in my life, my feet and hands were frozen!
After saying a short goodbye to Tami and April (Long story- but no one thought they would get a flight out…April ended up getting on a flight), Jeremy and I headed back to the North End for some clam chowder at America’s oldest tavern, The Bell in Hand. I have to say, the chowder didn’t even come close to Splash in Pismo Beach, but the clams were hearty. Next up on our clipboard of fun was going to Cambridge and seeing Harvard. We took the T and managed to not get lost. Thank you Jeremy! Harvard was nice, but Yale is prettier. Cambridge was bustling with people and seemed like a great college town. We had a drink at the coolest place ever….Upstairs On The Square. It was decorated in bright colors and had funky furniture. Check it out…www.upstairsonthesquire.com. After our coffee and baileys we headed back on the T and met up with Tami. We all went to Corey and Caroline’s and had one of the funniest nights ever.
We decided to grab some wine and ordered pizza in. Corey & Caroline’s friends were going to come over and they had talked about going out. Tami, Jeremy, and I didn’t want to go out, but we said they could ditch us after dinner. Well, after having a glass of wine or glasses…the music came on and the singing began. We basically made our own Karoke bar in Corey’s apartment. I am sure the neighbors loved it. Hairbrushes and curling irons were broken out as microphones. It was truly hilarious and classic!
Since Sunday is the day of rest, our trip had to come to an end. We said our goodbyes and took off on the open road. Apparently a lot of other people set out on the road as well and it wasn’t open at all. It took us almost 4 hours to get home (It is only a 2 hour drive). All in all, it was a better Thanksgiving than I imagined and good times were had by all! Boston is my new favorite city…sorry Chicago!
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