Birthday Roadtrip - Part 2

So onto Boston!

We actually got in relatively early... we actually had time to walk around the area we were staying in (Back Bay area), which turned out to be the perfect place to stay with our plans. Boston is a very compact city, and once we parked our car for the two nights, we got everywhere we wanted on either foot or bike. Which we loved. The only bummer was they use a different bike share than Indy, so we actually had to purchase a day pass... but it was no big deal.

So Friday night... walking around Boston and it turned out to be where all the shopping was. It was basically a big outdoor mall, with both major chains and independent local shops. It was pretty cool, actually - could've spent an entire day exploring and shopping the area. If I would've known, I might have made it a point to get into town earlier! But it was still a nice walk around and we found some place to get the obligatory seafood while in Boston.

Saturday was our day to be tourists. We woke up, grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel, then rode over to the Boston Public Garden. It's really quite beautiful... again, compact, but they plant some beautiful flowers, throughout, and the pond in the center is quite an attraction. And right next to it is the Boston Common, which also is a large park, but on a more functional scale. Lots of open green space, ball fields, monuments, a wading pool, playground, etc. And from there, you're right on the Freedom Trail.

This was where we realized how truly compact Boston was. Everything is right there and it truly is walkable. I guess I just never put a scale to the map I was looking at to realize that what looked like 5 miles by my standard map observations was actually only about a mile on this map. Good for us, as we realized we could just dock our bikes and walk around - much easier considering the amount of pedestrians. And we walked just about the entire trail, even across the Boston Harbor to Bunker Hill. Granted, we didn't stop and read every plaque and observe every detail of the historic trail and landmarks along the way... but we still enjoyed it. And some stuff just of the trail, like Mike's Pastry Shop to grab some cannoli... yum! Of course, Eric and I were excited to see the results of The Big Dig, which was much needed to add some more green space to this part of the downtown... we never drove through the finished tunnel, but I'm guessing it was just a modern tunnel (unlike those you see on the PA Turnpike).

We also checked out some other historic spots, like America's Oldest Tavern, The Bell In Hand Tavern. Had to grab a beer there, just to say we did just that. And then there was the Bull and Finch Pub, which is now better known as Cheers, as it was the bar the TV show was based off of and took outside camera views of. This is actually right across from the Public Garden. There were just so many cool places to check out... really wish I had another full day in Boston (though Eric would've been struggling with another day from work).

But alas, it was time to do what we really came to do... the whole reason this trip even happened... it was time for a Boston red Sox game. Remember back in April, when I mentioned I won something at the Make-A-Wish Big Wish Gala? Well, this was it. Tickets to this game. No other travel arrangements... just the tickets. So that is how this vacation came to be. It was a night game, too, which was nice, since it game us the rest of the day in Boston to explore. But I can officially check Fenway off of my travel bucket list. Wrigley Field is my home field, but with Fenway Park being a couple of years older, I've been wanting to go for awhile now. And I gotta say, it's a nice ballpark! I hope Wrigley is taking Fenway as its inspiration as it moves forward with some of the modernizations/renovations they're planning, because Fenway did it right. Still feels like a historic park, as it should. But you have the modern amenities you've come to expect when you're at a large event, such as this. So we walked to Fenway from our hotel and I'm happy to say that I even got to see a win, with them beating the Royals 2-1. Our seats were amazing, as I had hoped they would be (for the pretty penny I paid for them... for charity). They were the 2nd level, right behind home plate. Couldn't have asked for better seats. I'll probably never be able to go back there for a game without being disappointed by my seats! LoL Nah... I'd gladly go back, no matter where the seats are. It was an awesome experience.

As was the entire trip. But this pretty much wrapped up the trip for us. Sunday was a driving day. All. Day. Driving. We left around 6:30am, though we were shooting for a little earlier. But we were counting on about a 14 hour drive, straight though to Indianapolis. With a stop for dinner, it was about a 14.5 hour trip. Not too bad in the big realm of things, but it wore us out, none the less. I, thankfully, took today off... and I could probably take another day off to just sleep. But no... it's back to the real world tomorrow.

If you want to see all the photos I took (there's a lot!), go to my Fotki page to check them out.