Boston- Day 2

Our day started off a little slow... our long travel day combined with our drinking that night caused us to crash hard. But once we were up and around we checked out of the hotel, got in the car and went in search for breakfast. We used the Yelp app and found a place near the hotel with great reviews, but we couldn't find parking so we went on to the next place. We got a bit lost which was frustrating because it was hard to navigate around the one way streets. I found another restaurant to eat at, but we drove around for 20 minutes looking for parking. We decided to give up and head over to the Samuel Adams brewery when we finally found parking. We had to walk about 6 blocks but I was happy to. I love walking around areas that I am unfamiliar with.

We found Mike and Patty's which is a little corner bistro with 6 chairs and 2 tables to sit at while eating. This place was TINY. After eating at the little diner yesterday and the small Italian restaurant the night before, I think we were destined to only eat at tiny places while visiting Boston :)
There were 4 employees working behind that little counter, and both Mike and Patty were in attendance. Mike worked the stove top while the others took orders, worked on cold sandwiches and served people. Most people that came in, got their order to go. They had a little table outside, but it was to chilly to sit out there. We were lucky and scored one of the tables.

I totally regret the food that I ordered, not that what I ordered tasted bad but that there were way more interesting things on the menu. I blame a slight hangover and being frustrated from not being able to find parking.

I should have ordered:

green madame.* an open-faced croque with gruyere, collard greens and dijon crème fraîche, broiled. on pain de mie. topped with a fried egg and served with a small green salad. $9.25. add ham, plus $1.

I ordered:

two eggs.* with bacon, home fries and toast. $8

The eggs were cooked perfectly (over medium) and the bacon was crispy! I really enjoyed my breakfast, I just wish I was a little more adventurous that morning. The OJ that we got was fresh and so delicious.

They had an odd assortment of condiments. They had 4 different types of hot sauces and a bottle of HP. We eyed the bottle of HP sauce and tried to figure it out, but we gave up and asked the crew behind the counter (at this point we were the only people in there). Mike said it was a British brown sauce that was similar to A1 sauce. I searched the Internet and found that people use it like a ketchup sauce. I tried a little with my eggs and potato's and it wasn't a life altering experience but it was different.

Internet Definition:

HP Sauce is a condiment: a popular brown sauce by HP Foods but now produced by H.J. Heinz in Elst, the Netherlands. It has a malt vinegar base blended with fruit and spices, and is usually eaten as an adjunct to hot or cold food, or used as an ingredient in soups or stews. ...

After our breakfast we walked around a bit before we headed back to the car. We came across this little door which had steep stairs down to the walkway. Can you imagine having to use it every day?

After our little walk, we headed to Samuel Adams to do the Brewery tour. The tour is free, but they do have limited space.

During our tour we got to try barley. The barley below is what they use for their Chocolate Bock (which we didn't get to try). But the barley kind of tastes like Grape Nuts.

We also got to smell the hops and learn about where they come from and the different types across the world.

As we were talking through, we saw this guy and recognized him from the commercials.

This particular brewery is used for creating new beers, supplying some of Boston as well as for the tour tastings. They have two other breweries, one was in Pa and I can't remember where the other is.

This is Jamie, she was our guide. She was knowledgeable and quite funny. While tasting the beer, she went over the 5 steps that they use to determine if a beer is good. Do I remember the 5 steps? No but I remember the basics... different ways to drink the beer to reach all areas of your pallet, smelling the beer and what to look for in a beer (the finger test).

This is the Boston Brick Red beer which is described as a traditional European style ale with a distinctive caramel flavor from pale and caramel malts. It was a really tasty beer but it will probably be the last time I taste it... it is only available on draft in Boston.

After the tour we took a trolly over to Doyles Bar for a beer and some food. The driver was crazy, cranked up the music, and would stop and accelerate quickly which got the trolly rocking.

We were told that this bar has been in a few movies, one of them is Mystic River.

We ordered clam chowder and fish and chips. I'm not a big connoisseur of clam chowder, but this chowder was quite tasty.

I was a big fan of the fish and chips. I don't know what type of fish they used, but it was delicate and flaky.

Good Bye Boston.... We had a wonderful time! On to Philly!

Boston- Day One



We did a very short trip to Boston before we headed to Philly/S. Jersey to hang with family. We spent about 29 hrs in Boston and we did as much as we could :)


We saw the most glorious sunrise that I have ever seen on our flight out of Austin. We left Austin at 6:50am, and we saw this about 25 minutes into the flight. The horizon was a fiery glow, I was amazed at how red it looked. The red in this picture looks diluted compared to what we saw on the flight. The flight was a little bouncy, so I couldn't really take a picture the way I wanted. I simply leaned my camera on the body of the plane and tried to hold still the best that I could (while leaning over my husband- who had the window seat).

Once we made it to Boston we grabbed our rental car and headed out to find the changing foliage colors of fall. Unfortunately for us, it was pouring. But we decided to head out on the Turnpike to see what we could find. We had printed some instructions, but ended up just pulling off of the Turnpike about 15 miles outside of Boston.

This isn't one of the best photos, but wouldn't you just love to be able to have that as your drive home every day? I love how the trees lean over the drive way, and the colorful leaves on the ground




We were pretty damn hungry after our flight and driving around, so I pulled out my iphone, used my Yelp app, and found this little diner. When I say little diner, I mean a 10 stool, tiny kitchen, sliding doors to get in, little diner. We parked the car and headed in... well... we tried to head in... I couldn't figure out the front door. It slid to the right, and I kept pushing and pulling. I'm an idiot and had to have one of their patrons open the door for us. So now that we have totally tipped our tourist hats, we sat down on the stools, checked out the limited menu and ordered some cheeseburgers.

There were 3 guys working behind this little counter and it felt like everybody in the place knew each other. I totally felt like we were eavesdropping but we couldn't help it the place was so small you couldn't help hearing all of the conversations around you. When we first walked in, 8 out of the 10 stools were taken, and they were taking orders from the walk up window. One guy ordered his hamburger and said "run it through the garden". Which we found out later just meant that he wanted all of the veggies. And when Jim ordered a bag of chips the guy said "here's your salt". Seriously, I wanted to sit here all day and just listen to them :)





Our cheeseburgers were no frills, but they were fantastic. I think even if the food had been "ehh" the whole experience still would have put me in a good mood. We talked to one of the guys behind the counter for awhile and he said that originally this dining car had 5 stools and back in the 1950's they added the extra stools and worried they wouldn't fill them :) The restaurant has been in the same family for 3 generations (we met the youngest generation while we were there), and has been moved once in that town. I am so glad that we found this little gem!

The official hot dog cooker and bun warmer :) Their hot dogs were $2.25 fully dressed and was ordered by most people at lunch. Our cheeseburgers were only $3.25, which was a total deal.

Casey's Diner

36 South Avenue

Natick, Ma 01760

While driving around looking for a place to eat we found Cochituate State Park. This seemed like a good place to stop and take some pictures. Luckily for us, the rain was just a light drizzle.

Jim looking out at the lake

I wish the sun had been out just a little for this picture. Most of the very tall trees had lost their leaves except for one that had a bright yellow/orange leaves hanging on.

After the state park we headed to Walden Pond State Reservation. Henry David Thoreau lived at Walden Pond between 1845-1847. I'm not gonna lie here, I don't know much about him but it was a beautiful park, and I really wish we had better weather so we could have walked around a little. Instead, we just used the restrooms and then headed back to Boston.


I didn't take any photos at the hotel, because quite honestly I was exhausted by the time we got there. Plus it took driving by a couple times to find it and I was a little on edge. The hotel was very nice (Westin Waterfront) but not in a part of Boston where you can walk around if you wanted to. The whole area seemed like an old industrial area that was trying to turn into convention center area. I had bid on the hotel through Hotwire and got a good deal, but next time we go we'll be staying closer to the Back Bay or closer to downtown.

After a much needed nap, we showered and headed out for dinner. A nice guy on the flight suggested that we try Giacomos for dinner. I checked out the reviews for the place and realized that we needed to try them out. The taxi dropped us off at the North End and after walking a block or so, we found the restaurant. Luckily for us, there were only 6 people in front of us. This place is so small, that you wait outside for your turn to eat. Thankfully the rain had let up or else we might have tried a different restaurant.

Outside of the restaurant, Jim is holding our place in line while I am taking pictures. The people in front of us and behind us were locals who said we made a good choice for dinner.

The restaurant is a well oiled machine. There were 3 waitresses working about 10 tables, in very tight quarters. Even my wide angle lens only captured a corner of the restaurant. Plus it was so small, that I didn't want to take to many photos... I would have been invading a lot of peoples space. The menu was written on the chalk board on the wall and had plenty of delicious options for dinner. We shared a Cesar salad which was your typical Cesar salad, but it was a perfect start to our soon to be heavy dinner. Surprisingly bottles of red wine was only $16, so we got a bottle of a Malbec. The dinner prices were also very reasonable for the quality and portions.

Jim ordered the Lobster Ravioli in a garlic cream sauce and I ordered Shrimp and Scallops in the Giacomo's sauce (which is lobster based red with a touch of bechamel). I will admit, Jim totally scored with his dish, it was better than mine. The pasta was delicate, the sauce wasn't over powering for the lobster, and overall we both wanted to lick his plate. My pasta was also very good, but Jim's dish stood out. They had plenty of items on the menu that we wanted to try, so we'll just have to go back soon :)

With our belly's filled with pasta and wine, I couldn't resist walking into Mikes Pastries. At first I was just going to look and maybe take a photo or two but before I knew it my mouth opened and I was asking for a slice of the tiramisu and a few macaroon cookies. Since we were stuffed we waited until back at the hotel to dig in. The tiramisu was really good but hard to eat when you don't have any utensils to use, so we went caveman on it and ate it with our hands. The cookies were very delicate and tasty. Not gonna lie,,, after drinking all night I might not trust my opinion on the desserts. Next time I'll try them when I'm sober :)

This was in the alley near Mikes, and I just loved the lighting. The guy in the picture was on the phone and I don't think he noticed me, but I think he makes the photo.

I wish I could remember the name of this bar. The back room was completely empty so we had a little fun with the camera :)

I wonder what I was thinking here...

Thank you Mr. Doorman for taking our photo! Love my self timer!Jim hailing a cab to head back to the hotel. I like this photo because you can see how foggy/cloudy it was that night. Most of the taller buildings were in the clouds.