Trip up north

Rose and I were lucky enough to nab a week vacation from our jobs at the same time! Where to go where to go...

​Boston!

The real purpose of the trip was to go to Maine to see Rose's grandpa for his 85th birthday but we decided to make it a twofer and explore Boston as well (the Maine blog will follow shortly).

Once we landed at the Boston airport we dropped our bags off with Rose's dad (who, conveniently enough, works at the airport) and found the bus off to the harbor so we could take a water taxi into the city. 

I have never been to Boston but I have always been interested to go. Living in Maryland we have a lot of Civil War history but nothing as old as the Revolutionary War. I like seeing old things and learning about history. Where would you find older things in America than in Massachusetts? That's like USA ground zero! I told Rose I was going to bring tea bags and throw them in the harbor when we got there just so I can feel like a part of the revolution; only about 300 years late...

The city was beautiful. Old and beautiful. We took the water taxi to Fanuiel Hall which houses Quincy Market. Apparently it is the main "tourist" hub of the city. It's a really cool area with bunches of restaurants and shops you can walk around in. The main building has dozens of little kiosks selling fresh produce, lobster rolls, Italian sausages, pretty much anything you could think of. Lots of people all bustling around being noisy. Culture at its finest!

Shockingly, I didn't eat anything from the market. I know I know, that's weird. I was told there were really great pretzels at Harpoon Brewery which we were supposed to be visiting later in the day so I didn't want to spoil my appetite. I can't resist a good pretzel...

Tummies grumbling we headed off on our two mile trek through Boston towards the brewery; we had to earn our beers! On the walk we accidentally stumbled passed the old state house which was actually British headquarters during colonial times and the site of the Boston Massacre! I thought that was pretty cool.

It took us forever to make it to the brewery. Two miles is a lot longer than we thought... but sweat drenched and exhausted, we eventually made it. Cold beer never tasted so good!

We got to try some prototype beers that haven't even been released yet! It was cool to get first dibs on new beers but me and Rose both agreed that they should stay as prototypes. Our next couple rounds were beers that were tried and true.

The brewery itself was pretty cool. It was in a big warehouse right on the harbor. I thought they missed an opportunity because there was no outdoor seating and the outside windows didn't even face the water! It was still an interesting place though. Glass windows on the walls let you watch the cans fly around the packing house, get filled, labels, lids, and packed. It was interesting to watch. The best part was by far the pretzels!

We were not led astray. They made all their own dipping sauces with beer brewed on the premises! My favorite was the ale mustard. It's a must try if you ever find yourself in Boston. After three pretzels and a few beers it was time to make our journey back to the airport to meet Rose's dad. The water taxi dropped us off a little early so we had some time to sit back and enjoy the views of the city for a couple minutes.

Then the real Boston showed it's face... It took us two hours to get to the Aldo house from the airport. Traffic was miserable the entire way. I bet we barely hit 40 miles per hour. I fell asleep for some of it. I don't know how anyone drives in that mess daily. I thought Pineville was bad!

Anyways, we finally made it home around 5pm, had some dinner and rested for the night. Tomorrow we head to Maine!