Boston

Wow.  So here we are in Boston!  Thursday October 7^th day one, go Red Sox!  Arrived at the airport around 9:30pm.  We caught a taxi and headed to the hotel.  Our taxi driver was awesome…he was from Ethiopia and was super animated!  By the time we got to the Intercontinental Hotel it was going on 10:15 and we were so hungry…I would have said starving but I fundamentally don’t believe in using the word starving.  Any who, we unloaded our things and went looking for a place to eat.  Every place we stopped was open but not serving food.  Although it was frustrating everyone was soooooo nice and accommodating! (Leading up to this trip Low and I were told that Boston people were rude and not very nice but we experienced the complete opposite.  They would go out of their way to help us.)  Finally we got to Lucca’s which is located in the North End of Boston.  Now, I don’t know if the food was just that spectacular or if I was just that hungry but it was A MAZ ING!  

P.S. Our hotel room was definitely awesome.  The nicest room by far we have ever stayed in.

Friday October 8^th, day two.  So the whole reason for the Boston trip was for a wedding.  This couple, Bill and Julie, asked Low to perform the ceremony and he said yes.  The most generous part of this whole trip was that they paid for our airfare and accommodations at the hotel. 

Before we had the rehearsal dinner Friday night we wanted to get as much site seeing in as possible.  Low bought us tickets online for this trolley tour of Boston that was good for two days.  They had 16 stops on the tour and you could get on and off all day to look around at each of the spots.  So we decided that we would get up early and walk around a bit, eat breakfast and then head to the trolley tour for the first boarding.  Man did we look like tourist.  I love it!  I don’t care at all! 

 Our first stop on our way to the trolley was Faneuil Hall.  Now remember its super early so the only people out are people going to work and…us.  While we were walking we stopped to take some silly pics with a statue and this nice guy asked if he could take a picture for us.  So he did and we walked and chatted with him for a while.  Come to find out he was in Boston on a business trip from the Netherlands.

We make it to the trolley and get off on stop 3…the USS Constitution.  The ship is beautiful with its huge masts.  This ship was nicknamed Ole Iron Side in the Revolutionary War because when cannon balls would hit the side of the ship they would bounce right off!  So cool cause the ship is made out of Georgia Oak…wood!

Next stop, Bunker Hill.  Located in Charleston on top of a beautiful grassy hill.  From there we walked along with The Freedom Trail which takes you through the streets of Boston to most of the historical points you don’t want to miss.  “Follow the double brick road” we kept singing.  If you don’t know The Freedom Trail, it consists of two bricks side by side in the ground that you walk along and it runs through the city for approximately two and a half miles.

P.S.S. Who came up with the theme of Cali cause Boston is way cooler with its super old buildings and beautiful streets.

Next up, Fenway Park.  Whoot whooooot!  Took a tour, got to sit on the Green Monster and hear tons of cool history on the park, the owners, the wins and losses…ummmm there was like an 86 year streak of losses…wow.

When we got back on the trolley we realized we didn’t come prepared for the rehearsal!  AHHHHHH!  Which meant we HAD to go shopping…yes!  Perfect timing cause we were stopped at Newberry St.  Which is the Rodeo Drive of Boston.  Perfect!  So we thought.  Went into a couple stores, looked at the prices and walked right back out.  Finally we found Anthropology.  Bought a beautiful cocktail dress and a belt to go with.  Stopped at a Lord and Taylor and got Low a nice button down shirt and we were headed back out again.  Wam bam we got all that done in 45 min.  We are efficient shoppers that’s for sure!

So again we got back on the trolley.  We got to see M.I.T. and enjoy the sites from the trolley on our way back to the hotel to get ready for the rehearsal.

The rehearsal went great and afterwards we got to enjoy some amazing champagne and appetizers.  Chatted with their family and friends.  Met a ton of people from the OC…in fact some of which went to Mariners.  Loved the conversations!

Saturday October 9^th…Low’s birthday!  Oh yeah, and the wedding day.  Again we woke up super early to do some more site seeing.  We went window shopping on Charles St. which is the “antique” part of Boston.  They don’t have any up to date anything there.  Super old and you can do some awesome antique shopping there.  From there you can walk two blocks to the most expensive houses in Boston.  John Kerry lives there.  He lives in number 19…yeah we snooped.  Each house is about 8,000 sq ft.  They stand 4 stories tall and have a basement as well.  They are gorgeous! 

The wedding started at 5pm and Low did an awesome job.  The couple looked so happy.  It took place inside the hotel we were staying at which was super convenient.  The backdrop was a Boston river.  Her flowers were magnificent.  Bill (the groom) had me sit in the front row with his family!  The food was delightful!  The people were amazing.  They sat us at the family table next to the bride and groom.  We were well taken care of.  It was so incredible how they were treating us…like we were close family.  We definitely felt spoiled beyond belief!  And when Low and I went back up to our room he had a chocolate cheesecake waiting for him compliments of his wife for his b-day.

Sunday October 10^th.  While I finished packing, Low went and got us a rental car.  A little side note, on our honeymoon we made friends with a couple from Boston who are now living in Kittery, Maine.  So we decided when we heard we were doing this wedding that we would go visit them and stay with them for a couple days.  Brie and Travis!

On our way to see them we stopped in at Harvard which is located in Cambridge!  Did you know that Harvard is the number one school in the world!!!  The Harvard grounds are so amazingly beautiful.  There was an Octoberfest street fair going on in Harvard square that was really cool.  Next we stopped in Salem.  Not a good idea.  I got super creepy feelings when we were there.  And since its October there were a lot of weirdo’s out.  We were hungry so we stopped at a café and they denied us service because they were overwhelmed with people.  Ok, I didn’t know that when half of the restaurant is open that would be overwhelming.  So weird!  What restaurant turns you away in the first place…even if you have to wait to be seated.  Whatever, we booked it out of there so fast!

We drove through beautiful New Hampshire and then finally Kittery, Maine.  From Boston to Maine straight through is only about an hour.  A great little drive.  Showed up to Brie and Travis’ place.  They have a cute house…with a basement and a huge back yard!  I’m fascinated by the basements and yards in New England.   They took us to meet his mom Lis.  She is so sweet.  She has an amazing house that sits on 4 acres and overlooks a bay (Barters creek) that comes from the Atlantic.  She has a private dock that Travis built.  Oh and Brie and Travis got married right there on the lake.  Ahhhhh its gorgeous!

From there they took us to Roberts, a lobster house.  Low had fun…too much fun if you ask me.  Hehe.  He had his first Maine lobster where he had to crack it open and everything…yuck!

Monday October 11^th we went outlet shopping!  Oh yeah!  Kittery, Maine is known for its outlet mall.  Low and I spent 4 hours shopping while Brie and Travis worked.  Travis came home around lunch time so he took us to Portsmouth, New Hampshire to eat.  From there he took us site seeing along the coast of Maine through Rye and Hampton.  So picture this...your driving along a two lane highway and on your right side are huge colonial style homes with a river behind them and on the other side are huge colonial style beach homes over looking the Atlantic ocean and some random islands….it was breath taking.  

Brie got home a few hours later and we went back to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where they introduced us to the Popover…ummmm can you say yummy!  Walked around the town there for some window shopping then picked up some meat to grill at their house.  It was delish!  

Travis and Brie, thank you so much for such and amazing time.  Your hospitality was awesome.  You made us feel so at home.  Thank you for taking time out of your days to show us your beautiful town.  We can’t believe its been a year since our big honeymoon trip!  Our home is always open to you.  Congratulations on the baby!  We are so excited to know that we have made lifelong friends with you…even if you are on the other side of the United States. ;)  And be prepared for another challenge of some sort the next time we see you!

Tuesday October 12^th…back to Boston to come home.  But before we completely left we had to stop one more time at the outlets.  JCrew…I love you.  Amy, I don’t know how you do it…I would spend all my money there if I got a discount.  We did our usual stops to take pictures of the “you are now leaving…” and “you are now entering…” signs. 

Got back into Boston to do a few last minute site seeing stops.  We ate at Limoncello’s which was amazing.  Thank you to all who recommended it…like all 10 of you!  From there we walked to Paul Revere’s house…took the tour…man that house is super old.  It was built in 1680 something.  Then checked out a few more old churches.  You know back a few hundred years ago you used to have to pay for your spot in church.  Jeez I guess they didn’t make it easy for you.

A couple last things I noticed was that most everyone has great style.  And I didn’t see many super nice cars like we have in the OC…queue the sarcastic voice.  Only saw 2 Lexus’ and maybe an Acura.  The rest were small older SUV’s and older cars period…interesting.  These East coasters maybe onto something!  See you next time east coast.

On the move,

Kristine Norris