Boston: Day 4.

Today, Tom, Jason and I packed everything up in the car and checked-out of the hotel. Before leaving, I got myself a tin, yes, a tin of Doubletree cookies for the trip home. :) We still had a few plans for the day, before leaving in the afternoon.

First stop, a tour of Samuel Adams' brewery. Very cool. We learned how Sam Adams is brewed.


Brewery.



Hops and Barley.



Myself, during the tasting of the brews part of the tour.

After our tour of the brewery, we decided to get a little grub. Santarpio's, another favorite of Rachael Ray's, is known for it's pizza. Let me tell you, it was delicious! The best pizza ever.


Santarpio's Pizza. BEST. PIZZA. EVER. Really.

After Santarpio's, we took the rental car back, and walked to the train station for our trip back to DC.


Train schedule outside of South Station in Boston.

SUCH A FABULOUS TRIP!

Boston: Day 3.

Today, after Jason and Tom got done with their conference, which was a half a day, we took a tour of Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. We were able to sit in the press box and see the stadium from the view that the press has, during games. What a view!



The view of the stadium from the press box.


Jason and I at Fenway, with the press box behind us.

After our tour of Fenway, and a stop at the huge memorabilia shop across from the stadium, we headed out and toward Cheers for a bite to eat and a frosty beverage.


My hat and my local brew at Cheers. Jason sat on the right of me, on a corner, where Norm sat. There was even a gold plaque with Norm's name on it, permanently affixed to the bar.

We spent the afternoon touring and photographing Boston Public Gardens and Boston Commons. It was beautiful. I wish I could post more photos of that as well, maybe another time.

Our next stop? Another try for our Boston Cream Pie at the Omni Parker House! Away we went. This time, however, we had success, as we took a taxi down, instead, no parking issues this time for these guys!

While there, I actually got to go inside of hotel, itself, as there was no bathroom in the actual restaurant. The lobby was gorgeous and I felt so under dressed in my summery clothes. Nevertheless, it was wonderful getting to see this historic hotel.

My Omni Sparkler at the Omni Parker House. The red flower in the bottom of the glass was an edible Australian hibiscus. Yum.

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My Omni Sparkler at the Omni Parker House. The red flower in the bottom of the glass was an edible Australian hibiscus. Yum.

The Original Boston Cream Pie. Love the presentation!

Boston, Day: 2.

Today, while Jason and Tom were at their conference, I slept in. :) When I started to get hungry, I thought I would order room service, until I read the menu for the hotel's Green Room. I got up, got dressed, and took myself to a solo lunch. I was first seated near some gabby businessmen who talked on their self phones, throughout the entirety of their meals. So, I did what any gal on vacation, who wanted to relax and enjoy the view would do..I asked to be moved, to the complete other side of the room, all by myself, to enjoy the solitude that was mine for my lunch date with myself. I ordered the cucumber ribbon salad. It consisted of: baby field greens, grilled Brie, grape tomatoes, shoestring carrots, sugared walnuts, and a cranberry vinaigrette. Did I mention I LOVE Brie?! AND, walnuts? Yum! It was so delicious. Then, I decided, since it was vacation I would go all out and order dessert. So, I ordered a Doubletree cookie sundae, complete with vanilla ice cream, a Doubletree cookie, chocolate sauce and homemade whipped cream. Yum-o.


Before my dinner date with myself.

After my lunch, I decided I would take advantage of this baby. (See below)


The hotel's indoor pool and hot tub. [Photo courtesy of the Doubletree website]

I had the whole room to myself. I alternated swimming laps in the pool and relaxing in the hot tub. After around an hour of pool and hot tub time, it was time for me to get dolled up and ready for the lobster and clam bake.

Jason and Tom came and picked me up, and we headed back to the hotel that the conference was being held at. I tried lobster, clam, had some wine. Met some nice people. Had some wonderful strawberry shortcake.

After the lobster and clam bake, we thought we would go downtown to the Omni Parker House for the original Boston Cream Pie. An hour and no luck finding a parking spot that would cost us less than thirty dollars, we decided we would go and hang out at the lounge in our hotel, instead.




Biscuits and shortbread for strawberry shortcakes.


Homemade whipped cream. Yum.



Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston, MA

Amtrak & Day 1: Boston

Jason and I met Tom on base at around 1AM. D, his roommate and co-worker, drove us to Union Station in downtown DC. We went inside the station to get our tickets printed and get on the train, and just as Jason got his ticket printed, and a security guard walked up to us and told us we had to evacuate the station. At this point, we had not been told why it was that we were to evacuate. We got almost to the door to outside, and another guard came up to us and told us that we needed to 'hurry up, because Union Station has a bomb threat on it.' Needless to say, that put a little pep in our step.

Two hours, a half a bag of trail mix, an interesting exhibition put on by DC's finest and sitting with people who were just anxious to get on their train, we were finally able to get back in the station, get my ticket printed and get on our train to Boston.

Riding Amtrak was such a cool experience! The three of us were able to find seats facing each other, so in the rare moments that the guys were awake, we could chat. We also had a table, with two fold out leaves between us, for storage, food or whatever else we wanted to throw up there. From my seat, I was able to see Philadelphia, the New York City skyline and the New England coast. So beautiful!


New York City skyline from the train.


We arrived at South Station in Boston at around 1 PM. We hailed a cab from the station to pick up our rental car. We stayed at a Doubletree. Upon check-in, we received one of Doubletree's signature chocolate chip cookies. AH-MAZING. We got our stuff into our rooms, that were quite nice, I might add, and then we headed out to see Boston.

Our first stop? Lunch, of course. At the No Name Restaurant. I ordered fried shrimp with fries, and expected to get 6-8 shrimp and more fries than anything. NOPE. I got a huge pile of little fried shrimp on top of a mound fries. It was delicious.

Next stop: Faneuil Hall Marketplace for some shopping and exploring. We saw the Cheers (set replica, not the actual set used for the show.) The real one we saw on Wednesday. Jason got me the coolest purse there. It is called Zip-It. You can see what it's all about in that link. I got a shoulder bag in black with a multicolored zipper. I also got myself a sterling silver and crystal necklace from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts shop in the marketplace. Jason also bought me a brown Red Socks hat with a pink B logo. We watched a knife juggler in an open area in front of Quincy Market. We spent around 3 hours just hanging out and exploring there, and then headed off toward the car. On the way there, we found the Black Rose Pub, recommended by Emily, who lived in Boston. We popped in for a drink, before heading off to dinner.


Jason and I with Norm, from Cheers.


We had dinner at Sonsie, a restaurant I wanted to try, after seeing it on Rachel Ray. The restaurant served brick-oven pizza, along with some more sophisticated dishes. The coolest thing about Sonsie, that made me want to go, aside from the food, was the fact that the doors in front of the restaurant actually have the capability to slide open to become a huge open restaurant. Very nice. At Sonsie, we shared Duck Confit before dinner, then we shared a cheese pizza. Afterward, Tom ordered a chocolate roll with homemade whipped cream for dessert, and I opted for a chocolate bread pudding, with chocolate sauce and homemade whipped cream.


Sonsie.



Duck Confit.




My dessert.


The hotel sounded very inviting after our very long, eventful morning and long, exhausting, though fun day. Our plan was to get things ready for the next day, then meet up and go get drinks at the hotel's bar..well, needless to say, we all ended up crashing pretty early.