Boston Adventures

Bright and early Tuesday morning {4:45 a.m.} Dennis and I were up and showered, getting ready to drive to Sioux Falls for our flight to Boston!  We maybe got about 4 hours asleep, had anxious butterfly bellies over leaving our boy for 3 whole days, and a nice dose of excitement mixed as we thought about our adventure ahead.  We arrived in Boston at 2 p.m. and quickly met up with our friends who were able to make the trip with us.  We were all pretty cranky, hungry, and craving a cocktail to kick off our midweek getaway so we checked into our hotel The Verb and hunted down a pub for some delicious food and brews.  I may or may not have been too hangry to photograph the event...#sorrynotsorry

We walked around for awhile, randomly exploring different neighborhoods but it was pretty cold and rainy, none of which we were that prepared for, so we opted to check out a neighborhood bar and have a couple beers before venturing back towards our hotel.  On the way back I spotted a cookie shop, Insomnia Cookies, and everyone thought I was crazy for wanting to go in and buy a dozen.  It's a good thing I did because those cookies made for excellent breakfast appetizers and late night snacks for the remainder of our trip!  #cookiesalwayswin

We freshened up a little bit and then tracked down an Italian restaurant for a late dinner.  The food was just so so but the wine was delicious and our server was a quintessential Bostonian, complete with heavy accent and great stories so it made our night.  After dinner, we stopped for one more glass of wine and then us girls headed back to the room to collapse in bed while the guys went to explore one more local bar.  I know it sounds like all we did was eat and drink, and that's not entirely false, but it seemed necessary since it was our first adult-only post-baby trip! I may or may not detox for the next 6 months.

We slept in on Wednesday and decided to head to Faneuil Hall Marketplace to explore the open air shopping, food, and enjoy the beautiful sunny day.  We realized it was a Wednesday so our hopes for bottomless mimosas and brunch were squashed pretty quickly but we eventually ended up at Cheers for surprisingly delicious food, an outdoor patio, and plenty of cocktails.  We leisurely ate our lunch and decided to continue our day outside with a  walk to the water!  It's easy to forget how close the water is when you're surrounded by Urban landscape, and we loved daydreaming about boats being ours one day, admiring insanely beautiful luxury apartment buildings, and strolling the cobblestone streets.

Go Irish!

We headed back to the hotel later in the afternoon to get ready for the Red Sox game!  Our hotel was literally directly behind Fenway {we had a view of it from our hotel room} so we didn't have to worry about travel time to the game.  We had a few pregame cocktails that weren't $10/piece and then headed down to take part in the pregame festivities.  We obviously stocked up on hats, t-shirts, towels, and a Red Sox baby bottle before heading into the park. 

Excellent view from our seats!

2nd Red Sox game in the 4 years we've been together = Happy Husband.

Finally getting a super annoyed teenager to take a good picture of all of us using the flash so it would be post-worthy.  It only took 6 tries. 

A bunch of players from the 1986 team being honored!

Big Papi- the man behind the motivation for the trip since he is retiring after this season!

Deeeeelicious sausage and beer!

Cheers Boston, I kinda dig you.

Woohooo! The Red Sox were playing the Rockies so it was going to be a winning scenario for us either way, but it was great to see them win 10-3!

After the game, we went to Loretta's Last Call and listened to live music, watched ridiculous people dancing and gawked at ridiculously short denim shorts like a bunch of old folks.  It was a blast.  It was a country bar so I loved and sang along to every song, while enjoying the company of some of my very favorite people.  It was the perfect ending to a really fun day.

Thursday morning was a little rough.  We were recovering from our late night out and had to be packed and out of the hotel by 11 a.m.  We were all craving a yummy breakfast so we tracked down a super cute neighborhood within walking distance of our hotel and found a restaurant with a patio to stuff our faces with amazing food and loads of iced coffee.

After breakfast we took a Lyft to Harvard, not knowing that it was Commencement Day so it was way busier than we were anticipating.  We didn't get to walk around campus like we were hoping but we could walk all around it and stop into shops all around the area.  More iced coffee and cookie dough ice cream were a necessary afternoon snack after a whirlwind few days.  We headed to the airport later in the afternoon and mentally prepared for a long journey home to our sweet baby boy.  Tuesday and Wednesday were so awesome but by Thursday I was super tired and just anxious to get home to Duke!  It was quite the successful trip.

Coming home to this nugget was everything I imagined it would be.  He had woken up about 15 minutes before our arrival for his midnight snack and my mom was able to hold him off so I could nurse him as soon as we got in.  He was all wiggly smiles and was half excited-panting, half laughing in glee that we were home.  Needless to say a million snuggles were in order and eventually he let daddy in on the action too! I think we are all set for overnight trips for a few months... :)

Blocks on a string are all the rage for this wild one.

All smiles after bath!

I am so thankful that Duke did well without us for a couple days...it made enjoying the trip so much easier!  He was a champ with bottles/food/naps and only woke Grandma and Grandpa up a couple times a night for good measure.  Cheers to a relaxing weekend! 

Don't forget to pay special tribute to all of those who have bravely fought to defend our freedom over the years and have given their lives in the process.

-T-