One Last Boston Morning

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Our last day in Boston.

We were up early, and we didn't need to leave for the airport until around 11:30 or so. After getting ready and packing everything up, we hit the streets of Boston again.

We had missed the "Make Way for Ducklings" when we visited the Boston Public Garden on our first day in the city, so we headed back there. I had a feeling that Nora would get a kick out of it so we set out to find it.

As expected, Nora was fascinated. We let her out of the stroller and she spent a good 10-15 minutes having a blast with all of the ducks.
She pet them, she pointed out their eyes, and put her fingers in their mouths. She tried to climb on them. It was hysterically cute.
Because of how much Nora enjoyed it, this was easily one of my favorite parts of the trip. It's amazing how kids can change your perspective on things. :)

We eventually peeled her away and walked toward the pond to see the REAL ducks, which Nora also liked. Only downside? The real ones didn't let her get as close to them! haha
After our time in the Boston Public Garden, we made our way back to the Freedom Trail to try to make it a bit further on it. We retraced some of our steps from Saturday. It was a nice morning for a walk.

Ever seen The Departed? This golden dome makes a few appearances. :)
Paul Revere's house!
The Paul Revere House was on a really cool street. Check out the cobblestones. Awesome.
We made it as far as Copp's Hill Burial Ground (seen above), and had to turn back toward our hotel in order to get to the airport on time. Unfortunately, we didn't get to finish the Freedom Trail, but we'll have to put it on our list for when we come back someday.

We snapped a few more photos on our way back...

We stopped back into our hotel to get all of our stuff, and made our way (slowly) down to the T. Nora wanted to be held instead of going in the stroller, so I carried her in the Ergo! At 26ish (I'm guessing) pounds, I would have preferred to wear her on my back, but I had a backpack to carry, too.
It actually wasn't too bad, but once we were on the train, Nora wanted down... so in the stroller she went. :)

At the airport, we had some time to kill before boarding, so we sat down for some lunch. PB&J for Nora, which she devoured. She even wanted to lick the knife clean!

For the flight home, Nora was pretty good again. A little restless and curious, but mostly good. I need to get her some toddler headphones for our next trip--I tried to show her how to use mine but she wasn't a fan of putting them in her ears. :)

She experimented with holding them up like I showed her, though. :)

We flew over Niagara Falls with a pretty cool view!
Because of the timing of our flight and all, Nora skipped her nap. Once we got into the car at the airport and started heading home, she was out cold!

All in all, it was a great trip... but it's always good to be home.

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Boston Breakfast, Brews, and History

Saturday, August 18, 2012

We woke up to rain. A gloomy morning, for sure. We decided to go out to breakfast, opting for a little place called The Paramount near Boston Common.


Established in 1937, it has a very different feel to it than most restaurants. You wait in line to place your order and get your food, and THEN you are seated at a table by the host. It's small, and there was already a long line when we arrived at 8:05 a.m. (they opened at 8:00). Somehow, we got our food and sure enough, we were seated right away. They swear their system works, and for us, it did.

They had several different kinds of pancakes. I had apple cinnamon, and we got Nora a banana pancake. After Nora slowed up on her eating, we packed up the rest of her pancake for the road. Which she dutifully ate on the walk back to the hotel, ha!
We got poured on as we walked back through Boston Common--we were glad we hadn't showered yet!--and we were nervous about what the rest of the day would hold in terms of the weather.

We dried off back in the hotel room, got ready for the day, and decided to hit up the Samuel Adams Brewery tour.

At 10:40 a.m.

You'd think we would've been the only ones, but nope--we had a full tour group. And there was actually a group or two ahead of us, too. Hey, it's vacation. I guess it's OK to indulge at 10:00 a.m.

And no, we weren't the only ones with a kid here, either. But judge if you must. :)
It was interesting to learn a bit about the beer making process, but if I'm being honest, the majority of my time here was spent trying to occupy a bored toddler. Again, iPhone apps for kids (Duck Duck Moose!) and snacks (goldfish crackers) were the lifesavers here.
After the tour, we were escorted into a sampling room. Here, our guide told us more about the three varieties of beer we were tasting, and we got to... well, taste.
Nora was really good and patient in here, thankfully. But there was one point where I was trying to get her to do something she apparently didn't want to do. At that very same moment, the guide was talking something about running out of beer, and Nora yelled out "Nooooo!" at the exact right time. She was talking to me, of course, but it sounded like she was reacting to his statement, so the entire room laughed. That's my girl.
After the tour, we went back to the hotel to try to put Nora down for a nap in an actual crib (well, pack 'n' play) since she napped on the go both Thursday and Friday. About half an hour into it, it was clear that it just WAS NOT going to happen. She knew we were in the room with her (despite being around a little corner), and would just not settle down like she does at night.

Instead, we strapped her in the stroller, reclined the seat again, and set out on foot toward Copley Square. Sure enough, she was asleep within minutes. The weather was still overcast, but it wasn't raining, so we enjoyed the walk while she slept.
After walking around this area a little bit, we decided to hop on the T back down toward Boston Common to start walking the Freedom Trail.

Here are some of the sights we saw along the way...
Once the trail led us back to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, we decided to call it quits on the Freedom Trail for the day. We were hungry (hadn't eaten since breakfast, this was late afternoon now), so we went back to the hotel for a little rest and refresh.

Then we walked to a restaurant recommended by my mom, called Picco's. It was in a really cute area of town not too far from our hotel (but still a nice walk, and in the opposite direction of everything we had visited thus far). Michael had fish tacos and I had a wood-fired pizza. Both of our meals were delicious, I would highly recommend this place!

By the time we were done, it was time to call it another early night. We'll have the morning to explore a bit more--hopefully more of the Freedom Trail--before flying home in the afternoon.

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