Fourth of July in Boston

Adam and I decided at the last minute to take a trip to Boston for the long Fourth of July weekend.  Four years ago, we spent the Independence Day in Boston and loved it, so I was excited to go back again.

On Thursday morning, we packed our stuff, dropped the dog off and started the six hour drive.  We hit some traffic around NYC, but eventually made it to the hotel around 4:30.  After checking in at the Fairmont Hotel and checking out the amazing view from our room, we walked up to the North End, where most of the Italian restaurants are located.

We discovered that because you can't make reservations at alot of the places, people wait in line outside.  Adam picked the number one ranked restaurant in the area, Giacomo's, and we began to stand in the line.  We learned quickly that the 90 degree weather and 100 percent humidity were going to take a toll on the weekend.  After waiting for about 45 minutes, we were seated at one of the un-airconditioned restaurant's six tables.  While the food was pretty good, the dinner mostly just felt rushed and hot.  After dinner, we walked through town up to one of the bridges where the concierge said we would be able to see the fireworks.  We stood on the bridge and people-watched until the fireworks show, which was incredible. 

On Friday, we woke up and decided to go up to the New England Aquarium, which was a short walk from the hotel.  We stood in the hot sun (it was 94 degrees!) and finally bought our tickets.  I took one step inside the door, saw thousands of people everywhere and felt that the air conditioning wasn't even really on and knew that we had probably made a mistake going there.  Crowds of completely oblivious people are not really my thing.  We made our way through the aquarium, but in the end, we were disapointed and in the future, I think we'll stick to the Baltimore aquarium. 

 

After the aquarium, we headed up to Quincy Market to find something to eat and walk around.  After lunch, we sat at the harbor for long time and watched the ships.  After cleaning up at the hotel, we walked back up the North End for some pizza.  On Saturday, we decided that since it was going to be another scorcher, our best bet would be to buy tickets on the hop-on, hop-off trolley tour.  Throughout the day, we would get off the trolley and check out various parts of the city.  My favorite part was walking by the old, gorgeous houses in Beacon Hill. 

 

 

 We finished off our trip with a great dinner and walk in Cambridge.  On Sunday, we packed up the car and drove down to Mystic for a pitstop and some pizza, followed by six hours of traffic through Connecticut and New Jersey.

All-in-all, we had a great time and would definitely go back to Boston again.  It's so nice to get away from work (Adam didn't touch his laptop all weekend!) and spend time together in a different place.  Thankfully, we have a longer vacation planned for September and I'm already counting down the days!