Transit options to the airport at that hour weren't as timely as we had hoped, so Chris continued his winning streak by using a $20-off Uber promo code that he got from one of ISTE's exhibit booths. The fare was only $18, so we ended up getting a free ride! Upon reaching the airport, I wasn't really sure what to expect. It was my first time flying with JetBlue, since they had the only reasonably priced airfare between Philly and Boston, but the experience was pleasant enough. Even though we were flying on July 3, our flight number was (appropriately) 1776. If nothing else, it was definitely a relief to have a pre-assigned seat after paying selection fees with Frontier and braving boarding groups with Southwest for so long.
I have it on good authority that you're not supposed to call Boston "Beantown," despite its legitimate historical claim as one of the originators of baked beans. But the phrase is in local advertising, in the names of stores and restaurants... it must be a double standard to prevent tourists from fitting in! After the free airport line shuttle connected us to the subway station, we arrived at our hotel. The Boston Park Plaza is situated in the Back Bay neighborhood and within a block of the Boston Common park. Scenic AND centrally located for all of our transit needs. If you guessed that we were tired of walking by this point, you guessed correctly!
After acclimating to yet another set of new surroundings, I was thrilled to discover that there was a Shake Shack in the area. We had missed chances to try them in New York in March and in Philly earlier in the week, so I didn't want to miss out again! For the record: yes, Shake Shack is pricey depending on what you order, but yes, it's also as delicious as everyone says. For $16, I got a double ShackBurger, an order of fries, and vanilla frozen custard with pieces of whoopie pie blended into it. Beyond steep by typical fast-food standards, but that's close to what you would pay for all of that at a sit-down restaurant, and Shake Shack's quality does rival that of its more gourmet competitors. Everything was fresh and cooked to order, and you can tell from the first bite that this is no ordinary burger. (Someone get me the recipe for Shack Sauce, stat!) The fries were crinkle-cut -- my second favorite kind after curly -- with the right amount of crunch, and the custard was great on its own even without the toppings. It's probably for the best that Shake Shack hasn't made it to Colorado yet. While it would be cost-prohibitive to eat there with any degree of regularity, I would certainly be amenable to treating myself from time to time.
Continuing our historical journey, we also visited the Paul Revere House, home of the famed midnight rider who helped spread the news heralded by the church's lanterns. The area around the house is currently undergoing an expansive renovation project, which will hopefully improve the quality of information that is available as well as the flow of visitors through the site. As is, there's not a whole lot to see, and it's way too many people crammed into one rather small house. Given that we were even closer to Fourth of July than when attempting to see Philly's patriotic sites, I was surprised by how quickly we were able to get in and out of the house.
We weren't as lucky later that afternoon, when we took one of the harbor ferries (free with our transit pass) over to the Charlestown Navy Yard. We saw the USS Constitution, which is the oldest commissioned ship in the world. And by saw, I mean we literally just looked over at it; the lines to board the vessel were astronomical and the yard was closing soon. Boston is a city so full of history and unique places to explore that you could probably spend several weeks there and still not get to do everything! After a brief detour so I could pose in front of the converted fire station that was used as "The Real World: Boston" house (yes, I am THAT much of a pop-culture junkie!), we consoled ourselves with a fabulous Italian meal at Antonio's Cucina in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. While my eggplant parmigiana was the first parmesan dish I've ever had that wasn't breaded, it was a generous portion -- possibly the whole eggplant -- with a hearty red sauce and a perfect blend of cheeses. Near the end, though, I did wish for a little breading, as the eggplant became a bit soggy under the weight of the sauce and cheese with no outer layer to protect it. (I know: picky, picky...)
Saturday's adventures spanned more towns outside of the metro area. In the morning, we took a commuter train into the one and only Salem, the witchiest place on Earth. Society may never know what started all of that trouble or what really happened during the witch trials, but the town sure does have fun explaining it. After touring the Witch House, home to chief judge Jonathan Corwin during the trials, we walked down the picturesque main street and caught glimpses of the Witch Museum (poorly regarded and thus skipped) and the House of the Seven Gables (well-regarded but we ran out of time). We severely underestimated how much there is to do and see in Salem, and our brief visit barely scratched the surface. We could plan a whole trip around just that town... as long as it's not in the fall. Apparently, some holiday in October brings out all the crazies!I have family in Andover, which isn't too far from Salem, so we got together at their house for a few hours on Saturday afternoon and into the evening. My aunt Kathy, my cousin Meagan, and Meagan's husband and son were there, as well as my other cousin Nick and his wife and daughters. It was a mini-reunion for my mom's side of the family! Everyone finally got to meet Chris (except Aunt Kathy, who met him when she was in Colorado in April), and I got to meet Harrison, Meagan's son who was about to turn a year old. He's such a character, full of faces and sounds that already show his budding personality. Plus I'm super jealous of his little Ninja Turtle costume from last Halloween, so that may be part of it too! The cool thing about kids at that age is you can watch them taking in everything around them with wide eyes and putting it all together in their mind, even though they may not know exactly what to do with it yet.
After a delicious home-cooked dinner courtesy of Meagan's husband, it was time to head back into the city for the big Fourth of July fireworks display. We made our way down to the harbor and found a great spot to sit under a big tree right by the water. The Boston Pops played leading up to the main event, and their concluding piece, the 1812 Overture, featured actual cannon fire. Pretty cool stuff! The fireworks themselves were magnificent, but set to a weird, pre-recorded mix of pop, R&B, and country songs -- none of which really fit the mood. They didn't even shamelessly use Katy Perry's "Firework," but there was ultimately no need for any music at all. The real show was in the sky, and we had a perfect view.
By Sunday morning, my feet and legs were literally sore all over, especially my shins and calves. I've done quite a lot of summertime walking in sandals and flip-flops before, but this trip takes the cake. While we were walking around (correction: Chris was walking, I was hobbling) and looking for nearby restaurants at lunch, we randomly discovered the Bull & Finch Pub, which provided the inspiration for the bar and its exterior shots on the hit '80s sitcom "Cheers." While I was never a huge fan of the show, it was always amusing enough, so we figured why not? The food was above-average for pub fare, but it was a far cry from some of the finer cuisine we had enjoyed elsewhere on the trip.
Our next stops were back in the historic vein that we started on Friday. The Granary Burying Ground holds the graves of several key colonial figures, including Mother Goose, Paul Revere, John Hancock, and Samuel Adams. In a fitting show of solidarity, a previous visitor to the cemetery had left an empty bottle of Sam Adams beer near the tombstone. I think more people stopped to look at the placement of the bottle than the actual grave! When setting out for our next destination, the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, we put the address into Google to get walking directions. Google Walk (as I jokingly call it) is still in beta, so every few blocks, it kept correcting itself and sending us in entirely different directions. In a city like Boston, you may think, "How hard is it to find the water?" Since it was a specific part of the harbor, we didn't want to get it wrong and we kept blindly following Google, thinking it would get us there eventually. And it did... almost an hour later, long enough for us to miss the last window of time to enter the museum before it closed. You would think that popular sites like these would extend their hours for the busy holiday weekend or heightened summer tourism in general, but alas. Now I call the app Google Fail. In frustration and in protest, I may or may not have pretended to dump my own tea into the harbor.
Every cloud, however, has a silver lining, and if it weren't for Google's spectacular inability to provide simple navigation, we would have never enjoyed dinner where we did. The Barking Crab sits right at the waterfront, and while it may look kind of divey from the outside, the quaint interior belies an authentic seafood restaurant with a solid menu. My grilled (closer to seared) tuna in a lime soy sauce with ginger vegetables and jasmine rice was an excellent choice, and Chris got some gargantuan crab legs that may very well have been caught right outside earlier that day. Seafood tastes a lot better away from a landlocked state like Colorado, and it was the right note on which to start winding down our colossal, multi-state adventure.
I prefer to think the trip ends on that pleasant note, but reality had other plans. During Monday's ridiculously early arrival at the airport (5:30 this time), our good friends at the TSA randomly selected me for additional screening. In the process, they totally unpacked my perfectly packed luggage and gave me a thorough -- and thoroughly mortifying -- pat-down. It took everything I had not to make terrible jokes to the agents about how I wanted to light a cigarette and ask for cab fare after my inspection, but more than anything, I was cranky from not being fully awake and I was just ready to be home. Or in my case, ready to go right from the airport to the office. (Boo...) In the end, that's the true sign of a good trip: when you got to do just about everything you wanted to, but all you can think about is getting back to where you started so you can already plan where to go next.
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