Now that this trip has been over for a few weeks, I’ve finally processed this enough to where I think I can write about it. You see, sometimes I write really slow.
I’d been to Boston before, but it had been over 10 years ago and I wasn’t old enough at the time to really appreciate it. Having been back for a couple of weeks now, if you’ve never been to Boston before it’s an incredibly nice city. If you’re a history person like I am, then there might not be a better city in the US to visit. Since Boston was essentially the birthplace of the American Revolution, history is literally everywhere. Boston is also probably the most European-like city in the US, maybe even in North America. It’s compact, easily walkable, and the mass transit system is excellent.
I could probably write several posts on this trip, but I’ll condense it to one. For now, anyway.
Some of the highlights:
- The entire North End. In addition to it being one of the most European-looking parts of Boston with cool architecture, the food in this area of town is excellent. Even though the restaurant Giacomo’s has tons of awesome reviews on TripAdvisor, the restaurant Ben Cotto right next door is awesome too!
- AirBnb. Even though this may seem a bit odd to include this on this list, this trip was the first time I used AirBnb and I’m convinced that using AirBnB versus a traditional hotel made for a better trip, and saved us money in this case. I’ll probably write a post later on my first experience using AirBnB.
- Bell In Hand. Designated as the oldest tavern in America (in continuous operation since 1795), this cool gastropub is also right next to the Freedom Trail, in the North End.
- Union Oyster House. In addition to the restaurant itself being famous, the building this restaurant is in is so old that there are no records of when it was actually built. Just down the street from the Bell In Hand Tavern.
- The Freedom Trail. If you are a history person, this 2.5-mile walking tour covering a lot of things related to the American Revolution and US independence is definitely something you need to do during your time there. We didn’t quite get all the way to the end, the USS Constitution was the farthest we got.
- Mike’s Pastry Shop, in the North End.
- A Red Sox game at Fenway Park. During my time in Boston, I was lucky enough to catch a Red Sox-Yankees home game that the Red Sox won on a walk-off home run to end the series. If MLB is in season while you are there, definitely try to catch a game.
The trip was a lot of fun, and Boston is a really cool city.