28 Hours in Boston with WRRV [The First 12hrs]
Earlier this week I gave you the recap of my Saturday family fun at the Rip Van Winkle Wine and Cheese Fest but that outing only lasted an afternoon....so what to do with my next day off? Why not head over for Boston for the day....28 hours to be exact.
Now by now you know I love to travel. I have been very fortunate to see some amazing places all over the globe but for some reason I don't have too many US destinations checked off my travel bucket list. So when I had some extra time off I knew I wanted to tick one off...so Boston it was.
Why you ask? Well it certainly wasn't because of those nasty Red Sox's...boo! BUT I can't hold that against such an awesome destination. Boston has it all, history, culture, water, booze, culinary and so much more. So the hubs and I packed up the car and hit the road.
So what do with our 28 hours in Boston? On the agenda, Sam Adams Brewery, Freedom Trail, Other Breweries, Tea Party Ships, More Breweries. Doable in 28 hours right? Well you'd be surprised! I guess it was partly our fault that we missed half the items on the agenda (shockingly not all the items you'd expect) but we had an amazing time and since you guys are my favorite people I wanted you to share in the fun. And heck...maybe it will help you in your own Boston adventure!
DAY 1:
We arrived in the afternoon, too early to check into the hotel and super hungry. With some time to kill I decided to whipped out my Zomato App to find the nearest lunch spot with great reviews, Parish Cafe it was. The restaurant was in great location, right on Boylston Street and walking distance from our hotel. They had an awesome variety of craft brews, creative sandwich options and not too pricy. All winning points in my book so I would highly recommend.
From there we headed to the hotel to get checked in, the Boston Park Plaza. I had found an amazing deal on the Hotels Tonight App...(saw some bad reviews about the "older rooms" so I requested a renovated room which we received and I was pleasantly surprised). The hotel was super fancy, updated, great service and with my handy dandy app it was one third the cost of it's normal nightly rate. Again another winner!
So we got checked in and decided we needed a plan...after all we only had 25 hours left. The best part of our plan by the way is that we really didn't have one. We looked at a map and saw there was a brewery, a bowling alley and hey...Fenway Park...all in the same area so we started to walk.
20 minutes later I'm snapping some shots of Fenway and realizing we're right in front of the House of Blues. There was a super long line so of course I'm curious about whose playing...guess..it was three bands....two of which were WRRV Sessions artists...nope...not them...keep guessing...yup Robert Delong was one of them..and??...no more guesses? Ok I'll tell you! X-Ambassadors!
How awesome is that. I go all the way to Boston and not one but two of our session's artist are rocking out there. I of course considered purchasing tickets but decided since we already had such an exclusive concert and meet n' greet it just wouldn't be the same. So...we had beer and went bowling!
Now I know what you're thinking...you're in Boston...the bowling must be awesome...and yes it is! It was this three story, fancy, club like, cool spot. The best part was there was a financial firm having a party at the lanes right next to ours...let's just say there were a lot of smart, foreigners there...and no...they cant bowl! But don't worry we didn't spend a ton of time there but it was worth the 30 minutes of our 28 hours.
So where are we? Oh yes...23 hours to go.
Next up was the Boston Brewery. I had high hopes for this place as they had a ton of different beers. Most were very good, others were just ok. Long story short, worth a try for sure. I do feel bad judging breweries though as it's really not fair since we have so many awesome options right here in the Hudson Valley. But I digress..
Ok so back on track...we have about 21 hours left and now we're bowled up, boozed up and hungry so the obvious plan....eat an insane amount of seafood! I whip out my handy Zomato app and start searching. With my preferences and parameters I am brought to the Summer Shack. I'll be honest, it was good but a little too "chain-like" for my tastes and a bit pricy for what you get. With that said you can still tell I was eating that lobster like a champ!
A hundred dollars later we were of course still hungry...it's seafood after all...so we decide to go for a second dinner. No I'm not a Hobbit but I do enjoy an occasional bonus meal. So I forgo the app this time and decide to check out another seafood joint that is right near the hotel.
I know what you're thinking...more seafood? Best idea ever! Yup, me too. So we venture over to Legal Seafood for fourth meal. This place was awesome sauce for so many reasons. This time we decided it was best to eat at the bar and it was the best decision ever as not only did we enjoy some yummy items from the raw bar but we also got a show.
Apparently Joe the manager (names have been changed to protect the innocent) was giving Samantha, the server, a hard time about (inaudible) so Leon quit right on the spot. Said he's not going to work in that environment and (more inaudible) so he threw down his apron and left (I made have made that last part up). So for the rest of the night servers, kitchen staff and maybe even a passer-by or two got in on the gossip. It was great...that along with a dangerous amount of Watermelon crush thingys is how we wrapped up hour number 11. Now it's off to bed for hours 12-20.
Now what to do with the next 8 hours....find out next week! You're on the edge of you're seat right. Good, check back here later for part two of 28 Hours in Boston.
To be continued....