So for Labor Day weekend, Daniel and I went up to Boston to celebrate our 4-year anniversary (on September 8). We both took buses from our respective cities, and met up at the Boston bus station around 11:30 pm on Friday night. I really enjoyed my bus ride -- it was on Megabus, leaving from Penn Station. They just told us to meet on a random street corner, but when you get there, they have this whole efficient operation in place. Buses are leaving literally every 5 or 10 minutes -- to Baltimore, Boston, Philly, DC, you name it -- so they have 2 or 3 guys directing incoming buses, having people form lines for each destination, and then announcing boarding. I was very impressed -- all those steps only took like 10 minutes, from the bus stopping to the bus leaving again.
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| I took Megabus from NYC to Boston |
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| The lobby of the Ames Hotel |
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| Guestroom in the Ames Hotel |
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| Inside the Paramount |
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| Typical food at Paramount for brunch |
I had fun riding up to Boston since I managed to get the front seat on the 2nd floor of the bus. So I had this huge, expansive window in front of me and I had a great view of all the stuff we were driving by. I got a good glimpse at the new Yankee stadium on the way out of NYC! On the way up there, we ran into Hurricane Earl on the outskirts of Boston, but it really wasn't much, just a rainstorm. So Daniel and I met up at the bus station and caught a taxi to our hotel, the Ames Hotel, right in the middle of Boston. We were right next to 2 subway stations, and across the street from the Old State House, one of the key landmarks on the Freedom Trail. Since we were tired from our trips, we went to bed like right away. The next morning, we asked our hotel concierge for a good place to have brunch. We tells us it's the Paramount, in the Beacon Hill section of Boston. It was about a 15 minute walk over there, but really lovely, since we walked through Boston Commons and the quaint residential sections of Beacon Hill. But, the Paramount was SO good that everyone in Boston knows it's good, so there was like a 1 hour wait. We waited it out, though, partly because we'd already waited awhile, partly because we were hungry and the food looked good, and partly because we had just gotten to Boston and had no idea of another place to eat. The Paramount is a made-to-order place, so you grab a tray, tell 'em what you want, you see it being made, and then you pick it up and pay for it. I got some delicious chocolate chip pancakes and then ate some fruit from Daniel's fruit bowl : )
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| The red brick line -- the Freedom Trail! |
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| Granary burying ground |
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| Mosaic at the site of the first public school |
With our stomachs full, we set off to conquer the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a collection of historic buildings in Boston -- churches, graveyards, houses, statues, monuments, etc. But they're not marked or labeled, so they make some money by selling you booklets that guide you along the path (which is marked on the street by a brick red line!), or by going on guided tours. I bought a booklet in the visitor's center, and we set off. The weather was absolutely perfect, so we took our time strolling through Boston Commons. One interesting stop was Granary burying ground, where Sam Adams, John Hancock, etc. are buried. The gravestones were mostly from 1660-1800ish, and alot of them were in bad shape and illegible, as you would think after 300 years. But there a couple that were crystal clear, and it was amazing. People have started leaving pennies on the famous guys' headstones, for good luck I guess. We wandered to some other churches and graveyards, and then went to the site of the first public school. There was a beautiful old building in the Federal style, marble with columns, but it's been turned into a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Still, there was a pretty mosaic on the sidewalk outside commemorating the public school.
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| Me in front of the Old State House and Boston Massacre Site |
Next was the Old State House, which is the only building on the Freedom Trail with its own museum and gift shop and stuff. They had a little tour about the site of the Boston Massacre, which was right outside, and it was basically a narrative of what happened that night, and how it was used by the rebels as propaganda for their cause. The museum inside was pretty interesting, a basic overview of revolutionary Boston and a room of artifacts. Daniel found the cane that Senator Preston Brooks (from South Carolina) used to beat another Senator with, from the debates about slavery before the Civil War.
After the Old State House, we wandered to Faneuil Hall. It was pretty touristy, with street performers, souvenir vendors, and chain stores. The actual historic building has a food marketplace on the first level, and the historic meeting room on the second level, which is actually still used for a lot of civic events. We ended up eating at a pub there, because we had to quickly catch the subway to go to a Boston Red Sox game!
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| Us in front of Faneuil Hall |
We took the T to Fenway Park, and our seats ended up being great! They were like in the first level on the 1st base line. Definitely the closest seats I've ever had at a game, and the view was amazing. We got some typical stadium food, like beer and icecream. Unfortunately, the Red Sox lost to the Chicago White Sox : (
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| The view from our seats |
More to come on Sunday and Monday's activities tomorrow....
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