A few months ago Rob informed me that he would be going to Boston in September for a two-day conference. My immediate reaction was, "then I'll meet you there after it's over and we'll spend the weekend there." Looking back, I don't know what it was that made me say that. I've never flown to meet Rob anywhere after a business trip; we've never talked about going to Boston; it was completely random. But I instantly knew this was something I wanted to do and that we would have a really good time. Rob, on the other hand, was not so convinced. I think he said something like, "what would we do there?" to which I responded, "I have no idea, but aren't there a lot of historical buildings there? Do some research and get back to me." Well, he did the research and decided it would be really fun, so we started planning a long weekend in Boston.
I flew in Thursday evening. For some reason, I thought Rob was renting a car, but as we were waiting for my suitcase at the airport, he flashed what looked to me like some sort of mass transportation pass. When I asked him about it, he explained to me that it was my bus/subway pass for the weekend. So, once we got my luggage, off we went on our first adventure. We caught a bus that took us to a subway station; we caught a train that took us to another subway stop; we caught another train that took us a few blocks away from our hotel; and then we walked the rest of the way to the hotel. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there for whom this is routine, but I was completely out of my element. But I LOVED it! Finally, I asked Rob how he was such a pro at knowing all the stops and routes, to which he replied, "I've been studying this for about a month." I had NO IDEA! He's really the best :)
Friday morning we got up bright and early for our whale watching tour! This was such an awesome adventure.
Rob bought binoculars especially for the trip!
A view of the city from the boat
It took us an hour and a half to get out to where the whales were. We stood on the top deck of the boat for about the first half hour and saw some cool scenery, but then went down into the cabin until we got out to where the whales were.
Iconic Northeast scene. Beautiful!
Awesome sea side town where I would love to vacation
THE greatest thing by far was getting to see so many active, playful humpback whales. There were a couple of mothers and their calves that were having the greatest time swimming and jumping in the water. We really thought the whales would be further out, and that we might not be able to see them very well without binoculars or the camera's telephoto lens, but they were RIGHT by the boat! At one point, our camera wouldn't take a picture because it couldn't focus on the whale because it was TOO CLOSE! It was the coolest thing. With that being said, it was really hard to get good pictures of the whales. We took about 200 pictures, got one REALLY good one, several OK ones, and then about 100 of water. Here's my fave:
Baby Humpback Whale
Baby taking a dive
Baby diving again
After our whale watching tour we walked over to the North End, which is essentially Little Italy. We found Regina Pizzeria, which has been there since 1926. There are other locations now (we saw one at the mall the next day), but this was the original location. We had FANTASTIC pizza there. So good.
The menu
Really yummy meatball pizza
Equally as yummy traditional pizza
Super cute husband
After lunch we walked around the North End for a while and it was there that I discovered I LOVE old buildings! I mean, I LOVE them! I get kind of emotional about them, even. Who knew?! So, I took LOTS of pictures of old buildings. I mean LOTS. I won't bore you with all of them, but I will show you a few of my faves...
Look at the color!
Check out the patina - and the detail!
Loved the buildings on this little hill
Loved the colors
From the street
After that, we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up to see the Blue Man Group! It was SUCH a great show. If you ever have a chance to see one of their shows, you should DEFINITELY go! We were on the third row of a VERY small theater (also very old and with a lot of historical significance), so we were about 10 feet (max) from the stage - in the "pancho" section. Yes, every chair in that area had a pancho draped over the back for audience members to wear for the show in case anything shot from the stage. About half-way through, they shot what looked like digested Twinkie into the crowd, but was actually pureed banana. I got one tiny spot on my shirt. Rob, however, somehow got it in his hair, on his face, on his shirt, on his pants and on his shoe. Don't ask me how. I have no idea. As we were walking out of the show, one of the Blue men came and stood by us and Rob wanted his picture taken for Facebook...
Rob with a Blue Man
Saturday was a bit more leisurely. We slept in, found something to eat for brunch and then made our way to the Duck tour. On our way to the Duck Tour, however, I found LOTS of cool buildings to take pictures of. These are just a few of my faves.
Gorgeous patina
It really isn't leaning. Just thought the picture looked cool that way :)
Would you PLEASE stop taking pictures so we can get to the Duck Tour?!
Actually, it's a restaurant. I have no idea if it has any historical significance.
Beautiful church
Beautiful church against a beautiful blue sky
More beauty
Love these towers
Breathtaking
FINALLY, we made it to the Duck Tour. Duck tours are taken in these vehicles built in WWII that travel on both land and sea. Here are some photos from our tour...
Waiting to go on the tour
Our tour guide, "Hardly Davidson." We LOVED him!
The original G Dub
LOVE the colors of this building
The capital, the dome of which is covered in REAL gold
What the vehicle looks like on the water
Really cool bridge that I took a million pictures of
They call these the salt and pepper shakers
Random statue on top of a building
Love the train on the bridge
House I'd like to live in some day
Very pathetic picture I got of Cheers
After our Duck Tour, we walked to eat a late lunch / early dinner, spotted a group of cars, one of which we think was carrying Bill Clinton and just relaxed for the rest of the night. We did get back out for dessert and had some delicious Boston Cream Pie (of course!).
Overall, we had an awesome time. We're both looking forward to going back some day, and have already talked about all the things we'd like to do "next time." Yes, we have a lot of fun While We Wait.
Oh - thank you for the pictures!!! I have never been to Boston and feel like I have been there just looking at them! Hope you guys had a really great time! Melanie
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