Ending our East Coast Roadie in Boston (very belated post)

Seriously? I still haven’t posted about Boston??? If we didn’t have such amazing eats in Beantown, I may not have ever have gotten around to writing this one…

Boston was the end city on our East Coast Roadie, with over 700 miles of driving.  We  saw some amazing sights and ate delicious food. We had 3 days in Boston but seeing as it was on the tail end of our trip, I did very little advance preparation.  I knew there was the Freedom trail, lobster rolls, Harvard and of course Fenway!

We arrived in Boston in the early afternoon, and checked in to the wonderful Hotel Nine Zero. We were starving so we asked for recommendations for a great Boston eat. We were sent to the historic Bell in Hand tavern and while we probably would have had fun at “one of America’s oldest taverns”, I noticed that we were very close to one of the city’s best lobster rolls.

We were lucky to grab the last seat at Neptune Oyster and a line-up started right behind us. I was there for lobster roll, but of course I had to start with some oysters.

Fully stuffed, with a feeling of over-indulgence from having lobster 3 days in a row, we went back to the hotel to rest up before our visit to Fenway.

There was no better way to end our ballpark tour than at America’s oldest ballpark, Fenway Park. Although neither of us are Red Sox fans, we are baseball fans and couldn’t help but get caught up in the electric feeling walking towards the park.

We checked Fenway off of our list and the Freedom trail was next. Not knowing what to expect from the trail other than it was a great way to see some historic sights scattered around most of the city, we decided to tackle the whole route.

Freedom Trail complete,we were on the hunt for a good lunch. After being on the road for 2 weeks, we were not looking to have another sit down meal. I remembered seeing some food carts around our hotel, so I quickly downloaded the Street Food Boston app and we were directed to City Hall plaza where there were 4 different trucks to choose from.

Another “must” in Boston is going to visit Harvard so we hopped on a train which got us to Cambridge just as the sun was setting. I couldn’t help but wish to gain knowledge by osmosis through our short visit.

There were a few restaurants in Cambridge that I marked down, but we chose the Russell House Tavern because it looked like a place where we’d have a good meal without any fuss. I was pretty jazzed with their selection of local brews and knew the Harpoon Cider would be my first drink. But then our server told me that they had just started pouring a local unfiltered cider on tap which was “pure sunshine in a glass”. Now how could I turn that down?  Turns out this mystery cider was one of the best drinks I’ve had in a while. If only I got the name of it…

Completely satisfied from our fine gastropub meal, but something caught my eye on our earlier walk that I was intrigued to go return to.

On the last full day of our vacation, we woke up to rain. Normally I’d have been sad about it, but we had just travelled for 2 weeks and this was our first sight of precipitation, so I knew I couldn’t complain.

We took the train to Copley Square and made breakfast out of pickings at a Farmer’s market happening there.The rain became too much to bear, so we decided that we’d rather spend our afternoon hiding away in a theatre watching a flick.

For our last dinner on our road trip, I finally let Ben choose where he wanted to eat. Well not exactly I suppose. Ben chose the genre and his choice? Old school, red sauce Italian in the North End. Trattoria di Monica fit the bill perfectly. It was cozy, quaint and we weren’t the only 2 on a date there that night. It may not have been Old School, but the hand-made pastas were fantastic.

Okay, so I lied, dinner at Trattoria di Monica wasn’t our last meal as we had time for breakfast before our flight home. The front desk suggested a spot across from Boston Common on Charles Street. Upon hearing that we would have to wait in line to get in, I was weary of going. But we were assured that it’d would be worth it. There’s nothing I loathe more than waiting in line for breakfast. The whole idea of waiting in line for any meal puts me off, but breakfast in particular, because should I really have to stand in line for eggs?

When we arrived at the Paramount, there was a line, but we were told it moves fast. Fast, if you say waiting half an hour is fast. I admit the food looked good and the portions were enormous (although that’s never a selling point for me). If I had a sweet tooth, I would have ordered the fresh banana and caramel french toast because it looked amazing. I noticed all the cooks were Mexican so I decided to go with the huevos rancheros which were fantastic. Good enough that it makes me change my mind about waiting line for my food? Maybe.

4 months after the fact, I’m finally finished posting about our East Coast roadie. As always, we had a fantastic time travelling 16 days, covering over 700 miles by car, through 8 states. Life is good.

Neptune Oyster: 63 Salem St (North End), Boston

Fenway Park: 4 Yawkey Way, Boston

Bon Me truck: check their website for locations

Russel House Tavern: 14 JFK St, Cambridge

Trattoria di Monica: 67 Prince St (North End), Boston

The Paramount: 44 Charles St (Beacon Hill), Boston