Beehive Jazz & Mavericks Win

If you missed my first post about my trip to Boston, or its sequel, a day at Cape Cod, be sure to check those out before continuing reading below!

Our bus from Cape Cod dropped us back off in Boston around 5 pm, so we still had plenty of time to explore the city, even though it was already getting dark outside.

Sitting in the bus station with no clue where to go next, we started to get a bit ansty.

Suddenly, we remembered a recommendation someone had given us to go to The Beehive!  We called up the restaurant and made a dinner reservation for 7 pm.

The Beehive had an awesome atmosphere!  We were seated at a perfect table-for-two about ten feet away from the stage.  The view was exceptional.

Since we'd been eating all day long, neither of us were starving for dinner.  Austin ordered a bowl of clam chowder while I snacked from the bread basket. We shared the special of the day as our entree.  [Insert elaborate menu description of sea bass, lettuce, and rice with fancy sauce.]

We also shared a bottle of white wine as we enjoyed the jazz performance.

Finally, we had to relinquish our table to the incoming herd of guests, so we headed back to our B&B for the night.

On Monday morning, we woke up once again to a delicious breakfast.  Then we set out on another expedition.

Wait, are those flip-flops he's wearing in the snow? Sure enough!  Long story short, he only brought one pair of boots with him to Boston and they were not broken in yet (rookie mistake).

His feet were sore and blistered from all the walking we did on Saturday and Sunday, so he decided he wanted to buy a pair of tennis shoes.  There was an athletic shoe store literally a block away from our B&B, so he decided to endure the walk in his flip-flops.

Well, as luck would have it, the store was closed, as it was Martin Luther King's Day.

Needless to say, we went back to the room to get his boots!  This guy might be a 6'5" man-giant, but his little toesies couldn't quite handle the freezing temps.

We stopped in Starbucks to warm up with a venti hot chocolate.

Then we visited the Museum of Science. 

It was not exactly what we were expecting, and certainly not worth the $20/person admission price.  The museum's exhibits were targeted at a much younger audience.

Not to imply that we always act our age...

Moving on, we left the museum and continued walking.

Did I mention it was freezing cold outside?

The sights were amazing though.

We walked and walked.

We finally made it to the Bunker Hill Monument.

Unfortunately, we failed once again to anticipate the winter weather's ability to shut down a city's tourist attractions.

We weren't allowed to climb the monument because the steps were too wet and slippery from the snow.

Sadly, on our walk to the Bunker Hill Monument, I somehow managed to lose the scarf my parents had given me for Christmas.  We traced our steps all the way back to town, but I didn't find it.

Before we knew it, it was almost game time!  The real reason we were in Boston was to see the Dallas Mavericks play the Boston Celtics.

We ate dinner at The Greatest Bar.  I had a philly cheesesteak and Austin had nachos.  We also had a couple of drinks and dessert.

As you can see below, we had the best seats in the house.

Apparently you cannot purchase alcohol at the TD Garden unless you are 25 years old (or 21 if you are a Massachussetts resident).

This little rule quickly led to making friends with the people in front of us!  Ironically, the kids buying us beer next to us they were only 16.  But at least they were Massachussetts residents, right?

Monday night was a blast. We headed to the bar after the game to celebrate the Mav's win!

The next day, Tuesday, was our last day in Boston.  We woke up, ate breakfast, packed our suitcases, and checked out of the B&B.

We hopped on the subway and rode it all the way to Cambridge.

We went to lunch at Au Bon Pain.  I ate half of a Roast Beef Caesar Sandwich.

We walked around Harvard and did a little shopping. I purchased a couple of souvenirs: a t-shirt and postcards.

Soon, it was time to head back to the airport.

Despite the fact that we had a fantastic time in Boston, my advice would be to avoid planning winter trips in the northern states.

During which season(s) do you prefer to travel?
I love travelling in the spring because it is warm enough to swim but not too hot to ruin the fun.

Cape Cod

Picking up where I left off on my last post, I mentioned that Austin & I took a trip down to Cape Cod while we were visiting Boston in January.

We took a cab since we were running short on time to catch the bus to Hyannis / Cape Cod.  The bus tickets cost around $35 each and it took about an hour and a half to ride down to the coast.

Upon arriving, we immediately realized our mistake.  It was off-season.  No one goes to Cape Cod in the middle of winter.  And because there are no tourists, the majority of stores and restaurants aren't open.

We had planned to take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard, but that didn't work out because of the limited available ferry times.

Basically, we explored the frozen, deserted beach until we were hungry.

It was still lots of fun, and a nice change of scenery.

But it was really, really cold.

So we walked back to Main Street to try to find some good food.  Like I said, most of the restaurants and shops were closed, so we settled on The British Beer Company.

I say we settled, but this place was not too shabby.  I ordered a fish sandwich with sweet potato fries.  It was tasty.

We had a couple drinks while soaking up the warmth of the indoors.  Then we braved the cold again for another short walk around town.

We let our silliness shine through, because we were on vacation!  And Cape Cod was beautiful, despite the circumstances.

Since we were getting cold and bored, we decided to take the early bus back to Boston.

At the bus station, we shared a snack (Tapioca Smoothie, anyone?!) and searched on Austin's iPhone to try to figure out what to do next.

Check out my next post on the rest of our time in Boston!

Seeing Boston

To celebrate our second anniversary of dating, Austin and I flew to Boston for a long weekend in January.  We took some awesome pictures and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

We arrived in the big city on Friday night.  To get the festivities started, we shared a margarita and nachos for a late dinner at the mexican restauarant inside the hotel we were staying for the night.

On Saturday morning we got up and packed our suitcases back up to head across town to Encore Bed & Breakfast, where we'd be staying at the remainder of our trip.

This was my first time riding on a subway, and I was quite excited about it.

We quickly learned how to navigate the subway system.  It's amazing how $2 can get you anywhere in the city.

After dropping off our luggage at the bed and breakfast, we headed out to explore Faneuil Hall.

I discovered the Godiva chocolate store and remembered that I had a $10 gift card to spend.  I got a kabob stick with chocolate covered strawberries and bananas.

There really is no better way to start the day than with chocolate.

For lunch, we ate at The Black Rose on State Street.  We shared a giant bowl of Guinness Irish Beef Stew.  This stew was phenomenal!  It kept me warm as we stepped back out into the 30 degree weather.

We walked around the New England Aquarium and enjoyed watching the seals swimming around.

It was a gorgeous sunny day, perfect for sightseeing.

We walked around for a few hours, checking out all the monuments and sites along the way.

Truly cherishing our time together.

After eating a snack at Kitty O'Sheas, we decided we'd like to see a movie (surprise!)

The temperature was dropping rapidly, so I asked Austin if we could go back to our room and get my scarf and hand warmers before the movie.

We took a cab since we were running short on time before the movie started.  Lesson learned: it is much cheaper to ride the subway!

We walked all the way back to the movie theater, but arrived a little too late to find any seats.

With an hour or two to spare before the next movie started, we decided to walk around the block and get some hot chocolate at Dunkin Donuts.

Then we saw the Book of Eli at Loew's Theatres on Tremont Street.

I practically froze to death in the movie theater!  I was wearing my jacket plus Austin's big leather jacket and my teeth were still chattering.  When we finally left the theater and walked oustide, it was actually felt warmer than it had been inside!

We went back to Kitty O'Sheas for dinner.  I had the Shepherd's pie and Austin ordered Fish & Chips.

After dinner, we walked back to the subway station and caught a ride back to our bed & breakfast.

On Sunday morning, we woke up to a pleasing aroma - a breakfast we didn't have to cook, but still got to eat in our pajamas!

We ate our delicious breakfast and then got ready to go to Cape Cod!

What's your favorite big city?

I really enjoyed Boston's atmosphere.  I loved how you can get just about anywhere by walking or riding the subway.