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.