pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Impressive.
I'd be more concerned with falling out!
Tar-jay. But of course.
Whoops!
Mini TR for another Boston Road Trip - updated Nov 22
- Thread starter KathyM2
- Start date
Whoops!
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
Onwards with this TR....
Tuesday October 18th in Boston...My cousin met me at the lobby of my hotel in Cambridge and we set off on the "T" (Boston's public transit) to head downtown. We had purchased timed entry tickets to the aquarium. As you may recall...I went there with my son back in Sept and loved loved loved...the aquarium and especially the penguins exhibit. I just love the way this exhibit really lets you see the penguins all around and feel close to them, but they also seem to have a great habitat. We headed down to the aquarium...but made a wrong turn on the T and had to get off and take the train back a couple of stops! But finally made it just in time for our ticket window! We spent a lot of time with the penguins, and then did a slow walk around the rest of the aquarium where we saw loads of fish, sea lions, turtles and more. We got to chat a lot and catch up while there as well. Really interestingly I did not know that my cousin was really into diving and so she knew a lot about so many of the fish and sea life that we saw, so that definitely added to the experience!
Once we had our fill of the aquarium it was time for lunch. Legal Seafood is apparently a must eat in Boston, so to make sure we would get in there, we had made a reservation on OpenTable. We got to the restaurant and they seated us quickly! I know everyone says you have to have the clam chowder...but sorry...just not a fan of creamy soups or chowders here. My cousin tried it though and said it was excellent. She also had the crab cakes. I had this amazing sandwich which was some kind of BLT type thing on sourdough...but with salmon. It was delish. Although I'd eat anything on sourdough because it's all about the bread for me.
After lunch we had purchased tickets for the Duck tour of Boston. Even though we had both visited the city before, we hadn't done this, and my mom raved about it the last time she was there, so we decided to do it. I'm so glad we did. This tour was very informative and fun, and we had great weather too. The Duck bus/boat takes you all around the city and then drives right into the Charles river for a tour from that angle as well. Very well done tour. I was also thankful because it was very airy and open on the bus and everyone was wearing their masks.
When the tour was done, we headed back to my hotel for a bit and then headed over to the cousins place for dinner. We had a great meal of some leftovers from the night before and some other Indian snacks that they made. They are great cooks. After dinner it was time for....TARGET!! And not the crappy urban one this time...they drove us to a larger suburban location that had all the Target goodness I know and love. I picked up some Halloween candy, some cosmetics...some stationery and other odds and ends...and a Halloween costume for my dog. What more could one want in a shopping trip? After that we hung out a bit back at the cousins and then they drove me back to the hotel for the night. It was a great day.
Wednesday Oct 20 - This day we had plans to visit the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum. As with everything you had to purchased timed tickets these days so we got ours for 2pm. We met at the hotel again and headed to Downtown Crossing area for lunch. This is the area around my son's school (Suffolk U) and so I knew the area fairly well by this point and knew there were some great lunch options. We ended up at Sam Lagrassa's deli which had gotten rave reviews. Those were well deserved!! We shared a sandwich that was called the Pastrami Caprese and it was on this amazing Asiago cheese roll and the whole thing was just fantastic. We were glad we shared it though because one was more than enough for both of us. After lunch I showed my cousin a bit of the area and my son's dorm and some of the university buildings. Then we got on the T to head over to the museum for our timed tickets.
We arrived a bit early and they would not let us in yet, which we didn't mind because this would mean that hopefully it would be not too crowded inside. We hung out in a lovely park across the street until they would let us in. Once we got in there was a bit of a line for one of the exhibits, but after that, it was pretty free flowing. The courtyard is so beautiful there, that was my fave part of the museum. I don't have a ton of patience for most museums but am usually more interested in the actual buildings, but this one was the perfect size for my attention span!! We had our fill of the place and then headed back to the hotel for a bit. We hung out in the room and watched some TV before Tyler came and picked us up for dinner. We went to this adorable diner type place called the Rosebud. I think I got a veggie burger? It was good but the fries and cocktails were the star of this meal!!
Tuesday October 18th in Boston...My cousin met me at the lobby of my hotel in Cambridge and we set off on the "T" (Boston's public transit) to head downtown. We had purchased timed entry tickets to the aquarium. As you may recall...I went there with my son back in Sept and loved loved loved...the aquarium and especially the penguins exhibit. I just love the way this exhibit really lets you see the penguins all around and feel close to them, but they also seem to have a great habitat. We headed down to the aquarium...but made a wrong turn on the T and had to get off and take the train back a couple of stops! But finally made it just in time for our ticket window! We spent a lot of time with the penguins, and then did a slow walk around the rest of the aquarium where we saw loads of fish, sea lions, turtles and more. We got to chat a lot and catch up while there as well. Really interestingly I did not know that my cousin was really into diving and so she knew a lot about so many of the fish and sea life that we saw, so that definitely added to the experience!
Once we had our fill of the aquarium it was time for lunch. Legal Seafood is apparently a must eat in Boston, so to make sure we would get in there, we had made a reservation on OpenTable. We got to the restaurant and they seated us quickly! I know everyone says you have to have the clam chowder...but sorry...just not a fan of creamy soups or chowders here. My cousin tried it though and said it was excellent. She also had the crab cakes. I had this amazing sandwich which was some kind of BLT type thing on sourdough...but with salmon. It was delish. Although I'd eat anything on sourdough because it's all about the bread for me.
After lunch we had purchased tickets for the Duck tour of Boston. Even though we had both visited the city before, we hadn't done this, and my mom raved about it the last time she was there, so we decided to do it. I'm so glad we did. This tour was very informative and fun, and we had great weather too. The Duck bus/boat takes you all around the city and then drives right into the Charles river for a tour from that angle as well. Very well done tour. I was also thankful because it was very airy and open on the bus and everyone was wearing their masks.
When the tour was done, we headed back to my hotel for a bit and then headed over to the cousins place for dinner. We had a great meal of some leftovers from the night before and some other Indian snacks that they made. They are great cooks. After dinner it was time for....TARGET!! And not the crappy urban one this time...they drove us to a larger suburban location that had all the Target goodness I know and love. I picked up some Halloween candy, some cosmetics...some stationery and other odds and ends...and a Halloween costume for my dog. What more could one want in a shopping trip? After that we hung out a bit back at the cousins and then they drove me back to the hotel for the night. It was a great day.
Wednesday Oct 20 - This day we had plans to visit the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum. As with everything you had to purchased timed tickets these days so we got ours for 2pm. We met at the hotel again and headed to Downtown Crossing area for lunch. This is the area around my son's school (Suffolk U) and so I knew the area fairly well by this point and knew there were some great lunch options. We ended up at Sam Lagrassa's deli which had gotten rave reviews. Those were well deserved!! We shared a sandwich that was called the Pastrami Caprese and it was on this amazing Asiago cheese roll and the whole thing was just fantastic. We were glad we shared it though because one was more than enough for both of us. After lunch I showed my cousin a bit of the area and my son's dorm and some of the university buildings. Then we got on the T to head over to the museum for our timed tickets.
We arrived a bit early and they would not let us in yet, which we didn't mind because this would mean that hopefully it would be not too crowded inside. We hung out in a lovely park across the street until they would let us in. Once we got in there was a bit of a line for one of the exhibits, but after that, it was pretty free flowing. The courtyard is so beautiful there, that was my fave part of the museum. I don't have a ton of patience for most museums but am usually more interested in the actual buildings, but this one was the perfect size for my attention span!! We had our fill of the place and then headed back to the hotel for a bit. We hung out in the room and watched some TV before Tyler came and picked us up for dinner. We went to this adorable diner type place called the Rosebud. I think I got a veggie burger? It was good but the fries and cocktails were the star of this meal!!
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
So T is for Train... is it an elevated train like Chicago?
Phew!
Oh! That's pretty cool. Like your own personal tour guide.
I'd be all over that!
mmm... that does sound good, though.
Guess I'll have both.
And... yes!
I remember you saying how much she liked it.
That sounds really good too.
What kind of museum is it?
Steppesister
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2013
Still reading along, Kathy.
Mousemom234
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 12, 2012
Love the Gardner museum. It's a beautiful building, with quite the history. We used to drop by whenever we decided to spend a day in Boston for no particular reason. My husband went to university at Wentworth, which is right around the corner.
@pkondz
It's actually the MBTA, which most everybody shortens to "the T" -- Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority.
@pkondz
It's actually the MBTA, which most everybody shortens to "the T" -- Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority.
princessbelle2015
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2015
Sounds like you have had a great trip so far. So nice you were able to visit your family that lives in Boston.
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Thanks.
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
The "T" seems to be a mixture of actual underground subways like in NYC (or Toronto) and above ground sort of trains (that we call "streetcars" in Toronto, but they seem to be called trains in a lot of US cities...)
Oh! That's pretty cool. Like your own personal tour guide.
Yes, this was pretty awesome! I was thankful that she knew about all the fish and I did not have to try to read the tiny print describing what we were seeing lol!! Geez don't they know that adults can't read tiny print in dim lighting? Ugh.
It was delish!
It was. They had a lot of delish looking sandwiches that I hope to try on future visits!
It's an art museum with rotating exhibits...but the highlight I thought was the building itself and the courtyard. They are having a Titian exhibit right now where all of the famous works are together for the first time in forever. But this gallery is also known because of a heist in 1990 and they made a Neflix doc about that.
That would be so nice to swing by there whenever you had the time!
It was really nice and I'm enjoying getting to spend more time with them!
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Ah! Okay, thanks.
Yeah! What about us folks who aren't in our teens anymore?!?!?
Huh!
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
Boston mini TR continued...
Thurs Oct 21 - this was a sad day because my cousin was leaving to go back to Spokane. But I knew I would at least still get to see her son and his wife again, and of course, finally visit with my son who had too much going on with school to hang out with us yet!! I asked for a late checkout at the hotel so that there was more chance of getting to check directly IN to the new hotel I'd be staying in without having to wait. I got most of my stuff organized, and then went for a slow walk/run around the Cambridge and Harvard area. I was so lucky with the weather, it was perfect and sunny and not too hot or too cold. I walked/jogged along the river and even got to see some rowers. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a little coffee shop to grab some caffeine...had issues with my debit card (as I sometimes do when in the US...not as much as way back ...but now it's sadly often small independent retailers where I have issues) ANYWAY...the guy there was super nice and gave me my coffee for free even though my card didn't go through. I felt bad, but glad that I had gone with the simple small black coffee this time and not the fancy expensive latte that I sometimes get!
Went back to the hotel and lounged around a bit before showering and getting ready to check out. They let me have the room until 1pm which was perfect. I headed down and called an Uber to go downtown to my next home for a few days which would be the Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall. I got there around 1:40 and thankfully they allowed me to check in. For this hotel, I had managed to get 2 nights on points with one credit card, and 2 nights on points with another credit card!! However...because I'm an idiot...I entered my name differently for each of these reservations so the hotel was unable to "merge" them into one...so that meant that I would have to come to the desk and "check out" of one reservation after two nights, and then "check in" to my new reservation. They promised to do their best to keep me in the same room for all this so it wouldn't be anything but a paperwork formality...and I crossed my fingers!! Because I really didn't want to have to move rooms and pack and unpack etc...especially since the day that I would have to move (if they made me) would be the busiest day that I had planned there....
Anyway...got checked in to my room. Room was nice, but yeah...had to be careful to make sure all the curtains were closed when changing lol. Directly across the street was an office building. It was easy enough to remember during the day but at night when it's dark out...I almost slipped up a couple times when about to get undressed! The cool thing about this hotel though, it was super close to my son's dorm, in fact I could see the building from my window. His room was on the opposite side, but I could actually see some windows in his building from mine!
I texted my son to let him know that I was there but knew that chances were slim I'd see him this night. We had discussed ahead of time that even though this was family weekend...for him he had a lot going on plus midterms so he would do his best to hang out but couldn't promise much!! He said he would come by the hotel for a visit though, which was nice. I gave him a few things that he had requested from his room at home, plus some Canadian chocolate as is tradition for me when visiting anyone in the US! He stayed for a short visit and then vanished but I knew I would see him again the next night.
It was dinner time but I'm still not all that comfortable with indoor dining thanks to covid so...I decided to go in search of something to eat in the room. I found Sweetgreens which I had tried before in California and liked, and ended up getting this bowl of deliciousness with chicken and rice and all kinds of veggies. And of course...lots of HGTV and Food Network on TV to go with. After dinner I went for a walk down by the water and then called it a night.
Thurs Oct 21 - this was a sad day because my cousin was leaving to go back to Spokane. But I knew I would at least still get to see her son and his wife again, and of course, finally visit with my son who had too much going on with school to hang out with us yet!! I asked for a late checkout at the hotel so that there was more chance of getting to check directly IN to the new hotel I'd be staying in without having to wait. I got most of my stuff organized, and then went for a slow walk/run around the Cambridge and Harvard area. I was so lucky with the weather, it was perfect and sunny and not too hot or too cold. I walked/jogged along the river and even got to see some rowers. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a little coffee shop to grab some caffeine...had issues with my debit card (as I sometimes do when in the US...not as much as way back ...but now it's sadly often small independent retailers where I have issues) ANYWAY...the guy there was super nice and gave me my coffee for free even though my card didn't go through. I felt bad, but glad that I had gone with the simple small black coffee this time and not the fancy expensive latte that I sometimes get!
Went back to the hotel and lounged around a bit before showering and getting ready to check out. They let me have the room until 1pm which was perfect. I headed down and called an Uber to go downtown to my next home for a few days which would be the Hyatt Centric Faneuil Hall. I got there around 1:40 and thankfully they allowed me to check in. For this hotel, I had managed to get 2 nights on points with one credit card, and 2 nights on points with another credit card!! However...because I'm an idiot...I entered my name differently for each of these reservations so the hotel was unable to "merge" them into one...so that meant that I would have to come to the desk and "check out" of one reservation after two nights, and then "check in" to my new reservation. They promised to do their best to keep me in the same room for all this so it wouldn't be anything but a paperwork formality...and I crossed my fingers!! Because I really didn't want to have to move rooms and pack and unpack etc...especially since the day that I would have to move (if they made me) would be the busiest day that I had planned there....
Anyway...got checked in to my room. Room was nice, but yeah...had to be careful to make sure all the curtains were closed when changing lol. Directly across the street was an office building. It was easy enough to remember during the day but at night when it's dark out...I almost slipped up a couple times when about to get undressed! The cool thing about this hotel though, it was super close to my son's dorm, in fact I could see the building from my window. His room was on the opposite side, but I could actually see some windows in his building from mine!
I texted my son to let him know that I was there but knew that chances were slim I'd see him this night. We had discussed ahead of time that even though this was family weekend...for him he had a lot going on plus midterms so he would do his best to hang out but couldn't promise much!! He said he would come by the hotel for a visit though, which was nice. I gave him a few things that he had requested from his room at home, plus some Canadian chocolate as is tradition for me when visiting anyone in the US! He stayed for a short visit and then vanished but I knew I would see him again the next night.
It was dinner time but I'm still not all that comfortable with indoor dining thanks to covid so...I decided to go in search of something to eat in the room. I found Sweetgreens which I had tried before in California and liked, and ended up getting this bowl of deliciousness with chicken and rice and all kinds of veggies. And of course...lots of HGTV and Food Network on TV to go with. After dinner I went for a walk down by the water and then called it a night.
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Nice.
I hear ya. Happens to me too.
Nice of him.
Score!
How did you manage that??
Whoops! That's our Kathy. Always willing to put on a show!
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
It is getting kind of annoying...I always carry at least a debit card and a credit card in case this happens...but since I was only out for a morning walk...all I had was my debit card and phone, and neither debit card or apple pay would work...I ended up going to a convenience store and buying a pack of gum to make sure it wasn't my bank cutting me off (as they have also been known to do when I'm travelling) but thankfully it was not that and must have just been their system at the coffee shop!
So I usually go by "Kathy" but on "official" documents like passport and some credit cards...it has my name as Katherine...so somehow I managed to use different first names for my reservations. You would think with same last name they would have been able to tell they were both me and merge them but...in this age of so much fraud...I guess they have to be extra careful...
Whoops! That's our Kathy. Always willing to put on a show!
Ha yep...lucky I noticed before "too" much of a show lol But even when not changing I did feel like I was in a fishbowl when the curtains were open.
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
Trying to finish this up....and then maybe close off this TR....it's kind of getting too long and meandering...I am travelling to Florida in December but sadly not to Disney...so not sure if a TR is in order for that...in any case onwards...
Friday October 22 - my son had classes so I was on my own during the day. My cousin's son had texted to tell me that the Head of the Charles regatta was on over in Cambridge at Harvard in case I was interested in seeing some of that. I really normally would be as I think I've mentioned I took a learn to row course back in the day and enjoy watching rowing.....BUT....I had only just "moved" hotels to downtown Boston from Cambridge and wasn't sure if I wanted to head out there again so soon. Also, on the Friday there weren't any of the 8's rowing yet, I'd have to wait until Saturday or Sunday if I wanted to see that, and I had other things to do on those days...so, sadly I would miss the races. I do think if I'm in town again at the right time I may try to catch it though.
Instead, I got up early and took the ferry to Charlestown with the intention of walking the Freedom Trail. Most people do it the opposite way but since I was staying downtown I liked the idea of travelling a bit first and then walking "home" to the hotel. Also, I got to see some of the sunrise on the ferry which was lovely. The ferry took me over to the navy shipyards where the USS Constitution was so I got a closer view of that, though I'd seen it already on the Duck tour the other day. Once off the ferry, it took a bit of wandering around before I found the start (or actually the end) of the Freedom trail near the Bunker Hill monument. I snapped some pics of that and then started on the trail. The trail winds around Charlestown and then across a bridge into the downtown area going through a few areas on the way. The only issue was some construction where you couldn't actually keep following the red bricks in the sidewalk and I almost lost the trail. But luckily there were some other lost looking tourists that I could follow and eventually found our way across the bridge into town!!
After walking through the downtown area and all the stops on the trail, it finally ends (or actually starts) in Boston Common. I had seen that area before but walked around the park a bit and then continued my walk into the Back Bay and saw some great Halloween decorating...I rarely post pics here because I find the process a bit annoying but you have to see these:
There were some really fantastic decorations and you could tell some real effort was put into some of these!
I also saw the finish line for the Boston Marathon and walked across it Then it was time for some lunch. I hadn't yet had a lobster roll on this trip so knew that had to happen. I went to Luke's Lobster and got the trio, where you get three mini "rolls" one lobster, one crab and one shrimp. This was the perfect lunch.
After that I was beat as I probably walked a good 12K or so, so it was time for some trash TV in the room and relaxing before the evening!
That night I was looking forward to, but also had some anxiety because my son's school had scored a bunch of tickets for the basketball game, where the Toronto Raptors were playing the Celtics. I knew we had to go to this for obvious reasons, but the thought of being in a crowded arena at full capacity (or at all) was very anxiety provoking to me. As I may have mentioned...when away from home these days...it's almost possible to forget about covid a bit...but it's still always on my mind, being the cautious Canadian that I am. But...at the appointed time I went and met my son at the "T" station to take us to the game. That alone was enough to get my heart pounding...had I known that was the plan earlier I may have preferred to walk over as it wasn't actually that far to the TD Garden. (funny side note...apparently most Americans don't know what "TD" stands for. I'll give you 3 guesses @pkondz you can't answer)
Anyway...at least masks were still required on public transit, but it was busy, as was the entrance to the stadium. BUT we had to show our vaccine cards, and thankfully...since I had gotten my second shot in the US, I was in possession of the little card that Americans get that was easily recognized there so there were no issues. Everyone was masked going in....but once people started eating and drinking in the stands...all bets were off. BUT....in this case I was grateful that we were in the absolute last row of the section so there was no one behind us at least. I knew I would be anxious about eating so I had a snack before at the hotel, but my son and his girlfriend had the dinner of champions of a big bucket of chicken fingers and fries.
I think my son and I were part of the select few cheering for the Raptors (who won that night BTW) and it was a good time. Also this was my first time meeting son's GF so this was a great casual way to do this in a low pressure way! I think he knew I'd be so worried about covid that I wouldn't be grilling her lol. Half accurate but I tried to get a few questions in lol. She seems like a great girl and very ambitious so a good influence on him!!
After the game we were all beat and I knew I'd get to spend some more time with them the following day and night. We decided not to brave public transit on the way back so we walked (with hoards of other basketball fans) back to the financial district. We met some other Raptor fans on the way so that was fun chatting with them. My son and his girlfriend walked me back to my hotel and then headed back to the dorms.
Friday October 22 - my son had classes so I was on my own during the day. My cousin's son had texted to tell me that the Head of the Charles regatta was on over in Cambridge at Harvard in case I was interested in seeing some of that. I really normally would be as I think I've mentioned I took a learn to row course back in the day and enjoy watching rowing.....BUT....I had only just "moved" hotels to downtown Boston from Cambridge and wasn't sure if I wanted to head out there again so soon. Also, on the Friday there weren't any of the 8's rowing yet, I'd have to wait until Saturday or Sunday if I wanted to see that, and I had other things to do on those days...so, sadly I would miss the races. I do think if I'm in town again at the right time I may try to catch it though.
Instead, I got up early and took the ferry to Charlestown with the intention of walking the Freedom Trail. Most people do it the opposite way but since I was staying downtown I liked the idea of travelling a bit first and then walking "home" to the hotel. Also, I got to see some of the sunrise on the ferry which was lovely. The ferry took me over to the navy shipyards where the USS Constitution was so I got a closer view of that, though I'd seen it already on the Duck tour the other day. Once off the ferry, it took a bit of wandering around before I found the start (or actually the end) of the Freedom trail near the Bunker Hill monument. I snapped some pics of that and then started on the trail. The trail winds around Charlestown and then across a bridge into the downtown area going through a few areas on the way. The only issue was some construction where you couldn't actually keep following the red bricks in the sidewalk and I almost lost the trail. But luckily there were some other lost looking tourists that I could follow and eventually found our way across the bridge into town!!
After walking through the downtown area and all the stops on the trail, it finally ends (or actually starts) in Boston Common. I had seen that area before but walked around the park a bit and then continued my walk into the Back Bay and saw some great Halloween decorating...I rarely post pics here because I find the process a bit annoying but you have to see these:
There were some really fantastic decorations and you could tell some real effort was put into some of these!
I also saw the finish line for the Boston Marathon and walked across it
Then it was time for some lunch. I hadn't yet had a lobster roll on this trip so knew that had to happen. I went to Luke's Lobster and got the trio, where you get three mini "rolls" one lobster, one crab and one shrimp. This was the perfect lunch. After that I was beat as I probably walked a good 12K or so, so it was time for some trash TV in the room and relaxing before the evening!
That night I was looking forward to, but also had some anxiety because my son's school had scored a bunch of tickets for the basketball game, where the Toronto Raptors were playing the Celtics. I knew we had to go to this for obvious reasons, but the thought of being in a crowded arena at full capacity (or at all) was very anxiety provoking to me. As I may have mentioned...when away from home these days...it's almost possible to forget about covid a bit...but it's still always on my mind, being the cautious Canadian that I am. But...at the appointed time I went and met my son at the "T" station to take us to the game. That alone was enough to get my heart pounding...had I known that was the plan earlier I may have preferred to walk over as it wasn't actually that far to the TD Garden. (funny side note...apparently most Americans don't know what "TD" stands for. I'll give you 3 guesses @pkondz you can't answer)
Anyway...at least masks were still required on public transit, but it was busy, as was the entrance to the stadium. BUT we had to show our vaccine cards, and thankfully...since I had gotten my second shot in the US, I was in possession of the little card that Americans get that was easily recognized there so there were no issues. Everyone was masked going in....but once people started eating and drinking in the stands...all bets were off. BUT....in this case I was grateful that we were in the absolute last row of the section so there was no one behind us at least. I knew I would be anxious about eating so I had a snack before at the hotel, but my son and his girlfriend had the dinner of champions of a big bucket of chicken fingers and fries.
I think my son and I were part of the select few cheering for the Raptors (who won that night BTW) and it was a good time. Also this was my first time meeting son's GF so this was a great casual way to do this in a low pressure way! I think he knew I'd be so worried about covid that I wouldn't be grilling her lol. Half accurate but I tried to get a few questions in lol. She seems like a great girl and very ambitious so a good influence on him!!
After the game we were all beat and I knew I'd get to spend some more time with them the following day and night. We decided not to brave public transit on the way back so we walked (with hoards of other basketball fans) back to the financial district. We met some other Raptor fans on the way so that was fun chatting with them. My son and his girlfriend walked me back to my hotel and then headed back to the dorms.
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Ah okay. I do the same (credit and debit.)
That makes sense.
Back to read the update later.
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
How cool is that! I don't think I knew (or at least didn't remember) that you took a learn to row course. Solo? Or in a team?
I'd love to see 8's someday. (Only seen it at the Olympics.)
Interesting. I know very little about Boston. One of the few places in the States I haven't been to yet.
Like 'em both... and they're both very different.
Cool! I'd like to do that.I also saw the finish line for the Boston Marathon and walked across it
mmmm...
I'm thinking I need to get my butt over to Boston.
Of course!
Well, poop.
Of course I know.
Nice.
And... is she?
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
When I did the Learn to Row course, we were in an "8" but it was this clunky old wooden boat, not like the light sleek ones you see in the Olympics lol. I would love to try it in one of those - they call them Skulls usually I think - but they tip really easily so they don't let the beginners usually out in those, it's hard to even get in without flipping if you don't know what you are doing. The 8's are the most fun to watch I think though, they go really fast and it's so cool to see how they work together and (the good teams) time it so their blades hit the water at the exact same time. (That never happened in Learn to row lol)
Must go. I'm really happy my son is in school there and I know there will be (covid willing) many more Boston visits in my future.
I'm thinking I need to get my butt over to Boston.
Yes you do!
Well, poop.
Of course I know.
I figured you would lol. Also, I wish that I had gotten my son a TD bank account instead of RBC because they have actual physical branches in the US (unlike RBC) and I think it may have made life easier for us with cross border accounts.
Nice.
And... is she?
Ha yes, She is very nice! Also, I think studious and ambitious which I hope rubs off on my son lol
pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Still cool, though!
Yikes. Yeah, I can see why that would be the case.
Know what "RBC" stands for too.
Mousemom234
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 12, 2012
Boston is a pretty nice city, but it's easy to get lost in. Most of the streets were laid out by following cow paths (according to disgruntled motorists, who discover that you really "...can't get there from heah").
We used to live about 35 minutes away, and went quite often. We didn't drive in the city, though. We'd park at a commuter lot not far outside Boston, and take the train in. Then we'd take the T most anywhere we wanted to go.
If you get a chance, on a future trip, try to visit the Peabody Museum, at Harvard. I don't know if they're open for tours yet, but it's a fascinating place. The Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History are also not to be missed, if you have an interest.
They're common up that way, I used to walk to my bank when I lived in New Hampshire.
Scarcer the further south you get, but they were one of the deciding factors in my move to South Carolina last fall - it was real nice not to have to change banks.
TD has 7 branches in my new city, and co-sponsors the downtown Farmers' Market.
We used to live about 35 minutes away, and went quite often. We didn't drive in the city, though. We'd park at a commuter lot not far outside Boston, and take the train in. Then we'd take the T most anywhere we wanted to go.
If you get a chance, on a future trip, try to visit the Peabody Museum, at Harvard. I don't know if they're open for tours yet, but it's a fascinating place. The Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History are also not to be missed, if you have an interest.
I'll waive my guesses, too - I've had a bank account with them for ages.
They're common up that way, I used to walk to my bank when I lived in New Hampshire.
Scarcer the further south you get, but they were one of the deciding factors in my move to South Carolina last fall - it was real nice not to have to change banks.
TD has 7 branches in my new city, and co-sponsors the downtown Farmers' Market.
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
Funny you mention those - I got this recco from someone else who went to school in Boston as well, and was really hoping to visit the Natural History museum and see the glass flowers. On both this October trip and and in Sept when I was there to take my son to school, this museum was only open to Harvard students and staff. And since our relatives are teachers at Harvard, we thought that might help get us in, but even they aren't currently allowed to bring in any guests! Hoping that the next time I'm there I will be able to do this!! (at least once in next 3 1/2 years lol)
Yeah, I'm not sure why we initially got my son his RBC account - I think because at home the people we deal with at RBC for our mortgages and stuff are super friendly and easy to deal with and they easily set us up with a US/cross border account when my son first went to school there. When he was in high school though, it was in a tiny town so they didn't have branches of anything so it didn't matter much which bank! But now..yeah TD would have been easier. I'm hoping that it won't matter as much now that we have sorted out most details though and so far so good...other than the initial glitches with some online payments we have been doing ok!!
KathyM2
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2011
Moving on....
Saturday October 23rd....This morning I got up and went out in search of some caffeine. Found Tatte Bakery which is a real Boston thing I hear. They had some amazing looking brunch items and baked goods...I wasn't in the mood at this time but vowed to definitely come back later for that. Got my java and went for a short stroll. Headed back to the hotel to get ready for the day. This was the day where most of the school sponsored family weekend activities were happening. I knew I'd be seeing my son and his girlfriend that night....but they hadn't confirmed whether they would be joining for all the daytime stuff. And I was not terribly surprised when my son said he had a lot of schoolwork to do and opted out of the morning festivities. They were more geared towards family and alumnae anyway...so. I was a bit disappointed but not overly so because there were lots of other abandoned parents there! Anyway...the first activity was a walking tour of Boston Common and Public Garden led by some students in the Suffolk University Historical society club. They were well informed and told us lots of interesting tidbits as we walked around the park. We saw the lovely gardens, the Make Way for Ducklings ducks, the Frog Pond, and lots of other iconic statues around the park.
After the tour, the university had shuttle busses to take us to a big park out near the airport where the soccer team would later be playing. They had a bunch of food trucks and we each got two food tickets to use at any of the trucks. There were some great options. There was a cookie/ice cream sandwich truck, a gigantic grilled cheese sandwich truck, a pizza truck, one serving Jamaican food and another serving Greek food. They all looked and smelled great and it was a tough choice. I ended up going with pizza - silly but I had heard that Boston pizza was a thing to try so...why not? Although the food truck may not have been representative of all Boston style pizza...but it was pretty good, except for the fact that I totally scorched the roof of my mouth eating it. So of course...had to follow it up with a cookie ice cream sandwich to soothe my aching mouth! They had all different flavours. The special was a snickerdoodle cookie with pumpkin ice cream. I'm not a big pumpkin fan but love me some snickerdoodles, so I asked if I could just get vanilla ice cream with the snickerdoodle cookie and they said no problem. This thing was massive, but delish.
Fully stuffed, I wandered around the park and met some other friendly parents. They had the school's a capella group singing songs and then they had some dancers trying to get people up to learn some ballroom dancing...that didn't go over so well but the singers were great! They had some booths set up with some swag so I picked up some car stickers for my collection and some reuseable cups which are always handy. When I'd seen all there was to see and the food coma started setting in, I decided to head back to the hotel. They had shuttle busses taking us back downtown so I hopped on one of those and was back to the hotel pretty quickly.
As usual..time to kill in hotel means...trashy TV!! Watched some House Hunters International before showering and getting ready for dinner. If anyone has read my TR before...you may know my son and I like to try out steakhouses when we get the chance....I sent him a few ideas before the trip and he voted for Ocean Prime, so I made a reservation. Unfortunately, I guess it was a busy weekend so the only time I could get was 5:30pm!! It was a little early for dinner but...what can you do. Anyway...at the appointed time, my son and his girlfriend met me at the hotel lobby and we decided to take an Uber to the restaurant, and then maybe walk back if it was ok weather. The Uber came quickly and we made it to the restaurant for our reservation. My son went with his steak as his usual, his GF went with the chicken, and I had the sea bass. All were delicious. Oh and we shared an order of giant tater tots which were a big hit with everyone.
After dinner we walked around a bit and then there was this cool ice cream place that serves the ice cream in these fish (or teddy bear) shaped waffle cones. They have them in some other cities (even Toronto) and I have been wanting to try it but never had a chance so we decided to give it a go! The GF and I both got the unicorn watermelon ice cream in fish cones, and my son got some kind of fancy coffee drink/dessert. The unicorn "horn" was some kind of candy that sort of tasted like those marshmallow strawberries? The ice cream was delicious. The cone on the other hand...was kind of soggy and gross by the time you got down to it so...I think I'd pass on that next time. But it was fun for the novelty (and photos)
After the ice cream was done we strolled back to the hotel which was maybe a 20 min walk away. My son and his GF walked me back and then went on their way (back to their dorms....or at least that's what they told me.)
Saturday October 23rd....This morning I got up and went out in search of some caffeine. Found Tatte Bakery which is a real Boston thing I hear. They had some amazing looking brunch items and baked goods...I wasn't in the mood at this time but vowed to definitely come back later for that. Got my java and went for a short stroll. Headed back to the hotel to get ready for the day. This was the day where most of the school sponsored family weekend activities were happening. I knew I'd be seeing my son and his girlfriend that night....but they hadn't confirmed whether they would be joining for all the daytime stuff. And I was not terribly surprised when my son said he had a lot of schoolwork to do and opted out of the morning festivities. They were more geared towards family and alumnae anyway...so. I was a bit disappointed but not overly so because there were lots of other abandoned parents there! Anyway...the first activity was a walking tour of Boston Common and Public Garden led by some students in the Suffolk University Historical society club. They were well informed and told us lots of interesting tidbits as we walked around the park. We saw the lovely gardens, the Make Way for Ducklings ducks, the Frog Pond, and lots of other iconic statues around the park.
After the tour, the university had shuttle busses to take us to a big park out near the airport where the soccer team would later be playing. They had a bunch of food trucks and we each got two food tickets to use at any of the trucks. There were some great options. There was a cookie/ice cream sandwich truck, a gigantic grilled cheese sandwich truck, a pizza truck, one serving Jamaican food and another serving Greek food. They all looked and smelled great and it was a tough choice. I ended up going with pizza - silly but I had heard that Boston pizza was a thing to try so...why not? Although the food truck may not have been representative of all Boston style pizza...but it was pretty good, except for the fact that I totally scorched the roof of my mouth eating it. So of course...had to follow it up with a cookie ice cream sandwich to soothe my aching mouth! They had all different flavours. The special was a snickerdoodle cookie with pumpkin ice cream. I'm not a big pumpkin fan but love me some snickerdoodles, so I asked if I could just get vanilla ice cream with the snickerdoodle cookie and they said no problem. This thing was massive, but delish.
Fully stuffed, I wandered around the park and met some other friendly parents. They had the school's a capella group singing songs and then they had some dancers trying to get people up to learn some ballroom dancing...that didn't go over so well but the singers were great! They had some booths set up with some swag so I picked up some car stickers for my collection and some reuseable cups which are always handy. When I'd seen all there was to see and the food coma started setting in, I decided to head back to the hotel. They had shuttle busses taking us back downtown so I hopped on one of those and was back to the hotel pretty quickly.
As usual..time to kill in hotel means...trashy TV!! Watched some House Hunters International before showering and getting ready for dinner. If anyone has read my TR before...you may know my son and I like to try out steakhouses when we get the chance....I sent him a few ideas before the trip and he voted for Ocean Prime, so I made a reservation. Unfortunately, I guess it was a busy weekend so the only time I could get was 5:30pm!! It was a little early for dinner but...what can you do. Anyway...at the appointed time, my son and his girlfriend met me at the hotel lobby and we decided to take an Uber to the restaurant, and then maybe walk back if it was ok weather. The Uber came quickly and we made it to the restaurant for our reservation. My son went with his steak as his usual, his GF went with the chicken, and I had the sea bass. All were delicious. Oh and we shared an order of giant tater tots which were a big hit with everyone.
After dinner we walked around a bit and then there was this cool ice cream place that serves the ice cream in these fish (or teddy bear) shaped waffle cones. They have them in some other cities (even Toronto) and I have been wanting to try it but never had a chance so we decided to give it a go! The GF and I both got the unicorn watermelon ice cream in fish cones, and my son got some kind of fancy coffee drink/dessert. The unicorn "horn" was some kind of candy that sort of tasted like those marshmallow strawberries? The ice cream was delicious. The cone on the other hand...was kind of soggy and gross by the time you got down to it so...I think I'd pass on that next time. But it was fun for the novelty (and photos)
After the ice cream was done we strolled back to the hotel which was maybe a 20 min walk away. My son and his GF walked me back and then went on their way (back to their dorms....or at least that's what they told me.
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