A Wicked Awesome Stop in Boston

Guys, I have no idea - and I mean NO idea - how to blog about my honeymoon.

At first, I thought I'd write about each city in its own post, but then I realized that I took way too many pictures for that to work. Then, I thought about only doing picture posts, but I want to remember specific details and places where we weren't allowed to take pictures, so that was a no-go. So, after much hand-wringing and consideration, I've decided to mostly take it day-by-day.

Unfortunately, that means that it's probably going to take me 87 days to finish blogging about our trip (sound familiar? our wedding?), but if that's what I have to do, then that's what I have to do. I'll try to keep it concise.

When I finally left work on the Friday that our honeymoon started, I was beyond excited...and nervous...and already tired. We loaded our things up, took an Uber to the airport, flew to Boston, checked into our hotel, had dinner at Uno Pizzeria (Boston, not Chicago - ha!), and called it an early night...which brought us to...

Day 1

Boston, Massachusetts

16,424 steps

Highlights: Freedom Trail, Boston Public Garden, Faneuil Hall

After a quick hotel breakfast and a ride downtown, we decided to fill our day with as much of the Freedom Trail as we could. First, we started with a quick jaunt through beautiful Boston Common, where we admired statues, fountains, park-goers, a carousel, and tents set up for an event with the letters BWH emblazoned on them. Considering our initials, we took this as an exciting, good omen to start our trip.

Next, we made our way to Boston Public Garden, where I officially fell in love with the city. The lake, filled with both real swans and human-powered swan boats, served as the focal point for sunbathers stretched out on the grass or sitting on park benches under the willow trees. Fun Fact: One of these benches features in a prominent scene with Robin Williams and Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting and after Williams' death, it became an impromptu memorial for him. Musicians, including an impressive one-man band, played for change while children flocked to the Make Way for Ducklings statues based on Robert McCloskey's famous book of the same name. I loved admiring the gorgeous flowers and beautiful old and new buildings peeking through the trees. We took a quick spin on the famous swan boats before reluctantly heading back to the Freedom Trail.

The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile path throughout the city, literally marked by a red line on the ground, that points out 16 historically significant sites from the American Revolution. With our limited time in Boston, we knew it would be the best way to get a glimpse of the city, so we set off from the Visitor Center with hopes of completing the trail. Along the way, we saw the gorgeous, gold-domed State House, Granary Burying Ground (where Sam Adams, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin's parents, and the victims of the Boston Massacre are buried), and the Old Corner Bookstore, which is now a Chipotle, but used to be a publisher and meeting place for authors like Hawthorne, Dickens, Thoreau, and Emerson. We also made a quick pit stop at the Omni Parker House Hotel, the birthplace of the Boston Cream Pie, before continuing along the path. A girl's gotta eat.

Other highlights included the Old South Meeting House (where the Sons of Liberty met before the Boston Tea Party), the Old State House, and the site of the Boston Massacre. We met my friend, Puja, for lunch at Faneuil Hall, an incredibly lively marketplace filled with street performers, shops, and vendors. After much debate, we eventually settled on lunch at Durgin-Park, a restaurant that dates from the Revolution, and, though I played it safe, Wheat ordered a lobster roll and clam chowder like a real tourist. Props to me for trying a bite of the chowder. After lunch, we took a stroll through crowded Quincy Market, marveling at one of the famous Cheers bars in the city.

From here, we parted ways with Puja and began our journey to the North End of the city. Along the way, we meandered through a gorgeous farmers market and an enormous '90s-themed bar crawl with people in some incredible Nickelodeon-inspired costumes. The trail took us through Boston's Little Italy, so we were practically forced to stop at Mike's Pastry. The line, which went out the door and down the block, moved remarkably fast and we quickly realized why the place is so popular. It was a tough decision, but we settled on a vanilla cupcake and an Oreo cannoli, which the worker quickly sprinkled with powdered sugar and boxed up like a seasoned pro. We popped a squat in the nearby Paul Revere mall and devoured our delicious treats to the sound of nearby church bells ringing. For the record, I'd absolutely recommend Mike's - even over the Boston Cream Pie.

In a sugar coma, we wandered up the path and past a beautiful, solemn memorial to American soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq before reaching Old North Church. This building, the oldest and tallest church in Boston, was the church that signaled Paul Revere that the British were advancing by sea, thanks to the two lanterns hung in its window. Once we'd admired the building, we made a quick stop at Copp's Hill Burying Ground (burial site of preacher Cotton Mather from the Salem Witch Trials and Robert Newman, who hung the famous lanterns for Revere's ride) before pausing to enjoy the Charles River and TD Garden.

You can see the obelisk from the Bunker Hill Monument to my left.

At this point, we realized we had missed a stop on the trail and, with only two sites remaining (the Bunker Hill Monument and the USS Constitution) and time running out, we decided to turn back to see Paul Revere's house. No pictures were allowed inside the house, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the stop, probably because it's the only one we paid to enter (albeit only $3.50/person).

From there, it was time to get back to our hotel, pick up our luggage, and head to the airport. I was absolutely blown away by how much I was vibing Boston (food! history! gardens!), but the promise of London in the morning was just enough to lure me away...