2 Days In Boston

TMP - Boston
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Meggan: Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Travel Mug podcast. As always, I'm joined by Jenn. How's your week going so far?

Jenn: It is going well, although it is getting chilly and I'm not a fan.

Meggan: No chilly and dark, and I always think at this time of year, we just need to start it so we can get through it.

Jenn: Yep.

Meggan: Let's get on with it already. Well you have been traveling so exciting, and I'm excited to hear about your most recent trip to Boston, Massachusetts to see John Mayer and explore this city.

And I'd love to start by discussing sort of . Unfortunately what happened a few days before your trip? So do tell our listeners your tale,

Jenn: Yes. Yeah, I was uh, I did a lot of texting to Meggan in the days leading up to my trip . We continued our tradition of traveling at the same time, so that was, that was kind of fun.

Um,

So four to five days before our trip to Boston, which. By the time you're listening to this, we'll have been a couple of weeks ago, we started to hear about Tropical Storm, hurricane Philippe.

And I was like, oh God. And we were only a couple weeks out from hurricane or post tropical Storm Lee hitting us. So we were all like a little bit paranoid, right? Like I.

Meggan: You will.

Jenn: Like, I didn't have power for a few days. Like the major road to get out of my neighborhood was closed. Like it was, it was . Yeah, we had just done that.

So we were due to leave Halifax to go to fly to Boston on the Thursday evening. And by Wednesday morning I was getting like, pretty concerned about how the storm was going to affect our Sunday evening flight home. So at that time, the timeline for Philippe was Sunday night into Monday. We have four animals at home. One of them is a dog that we had never left alone. Well not alone, but with someone other than us. We had a a pet sitter staying at our house and we really needed to be home before Monday for work commitments and such. Like that. Long story, very short. Wednesday morning, my husband and I decided to change our flight to come home on Saturday evening instead it cost us around $600. I will say that the process on the Air Canada website was very easy to do, so that was

Meggan: Take your money easily. Try to get a refund. You'll never find the link.

Jenn: no. But stay tuned and I'll tell you how it turned out.

Meggan: So I guess my question, and maybe we need to save it to later when you tell us how it turned

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: but as a preview maybe to that, do you regret your decision?

Jenn: Yes and no.

Meggan: Okay. come back to that if you wish. I was just curious.

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: Okay, so then talking to us then about actually getting to Boston and your first evening there, this was your first time, correct?

Jenn: Was, yeah, sort of. So the only other time I was in Boston, I was, I think like 18 years old and my family and I flew from Halifax to Boston and then took a train from Boston to New York. So I flew Halifax to Boston, got on a bus, went to the train station, and then got on a train. So like, I was in Boston, but I wasn't in Boston.

You know what I mean?

Meggan: So we're gonna call it a no.

Jenn: we're gonna call it a no. So we flew Halifax to Boston, Logan Airport Direct. It's a really quick like hour and a half-ish flight, which is very pleasant. It's probably one of the quickest flights I've ever taken, maybe Ottawa or I haven't flown into Montreal, Ottawa is probably about the same or a little bit shorter.

Anyway, after we landed, we planned to take the subway into a station in, um, called government Center. It took me. A while or took us a little while to figure out that you actually had to take a free bus from the airport terminal to the subway station. I was looking for the subway station, like at the airport.

Not a thing. So if you're going to Boston, you do have to take, I, it doesn't take very long, but you do have to take a bus. And then we took the subway. It was really easy to use, and we walked to our hotel from there. So, I actually ended up changing our hotel at the last minute when I changed our flights, and I have absolutely no regrets about changing our hotel.

I am so glad that we changed it. So we were,

Meggan: I ask why you changed it? Like what prompted that decision?

Jenn: . So hotels in Boston aren't cheap, and I don't know if it's because we, we were technically there on a holiday weekend. It was Columbus Day in the US and it was Thanksgiving in Canada. I don't know . If that made it like just ridiculously more expensive. But I didn't wanna pay the price when I first booked it, so I booked a cheaper hotel further out.

And then when we changed from three nights to two nights, I was like, you know what F it, I'm just gonna pay to be closer to where we wanted to be. So we were originally booked to be in Assembly Square. It would've had to, we would've had to like take the subway a lot more. And it just would've been a lot more challenging to like get around.

So I ended up changing us to the Courtyard by Marriott Boston Downtown/North Station. I. Rolls right off the tongue. , it's right across from TD Garden. We, we checked in and it was just so funny because we got there and the guy's like, oh, what are you in town for? And I said, oh, we're, we're here for the John Mayer concert.

And he goes, oh my God, you're gonna love your room. Like, You're gonna love it. You're in penthouse Two. You're overlooking the gardens. Like you're just going to be so happy. And I was like, yes I am. I'm already happy

Meggan: Thank you, sir. Yes, I am.

Jenn: so much. So we, yeah, we went up to our room and we were overlooking TD Garden and the Leonard P Zackham Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge.

They just love long names here. It was perfect. I would a hundred percent stay there again, it was really great.

Meggan: So did you pay for a penthouse or you were upgraded? Tell the people.

Jenn: I dunno, like I will say, so penthouse a little misleading. Our room was like a regular room. It just happened to be on the top floor and overlooking the, think it's more the view than anything else. Like the, the room itself was very nice, but it wasn't what you think of when you think penthouse room pen.

But I, I actually don't know, like, I'm sure because I booked it literally like two days. No, the day before we arrived that there probably wasn't that many room categories left, so,

Meggan: Gotcha. Understood, understood. So let's talk food. You must have eat. must have been

Jenn: I was starving. So we grabbed a quick dinner at the hub, which is part of TD Garden and it has like a bunch of mini versions of popular restaurants, , which is really fun. So we had some Greek food. I had like a chicken shwarma pita and they put french fries. Like in the Pita, which I've never had that before, but it was quite tasty.

And I, I also got some pastries which were absolutely massive. But delicious,

Meggan: For supper.

Jenn: Well, you know, it was like supper dessert. I ate them on the way to the

uh,

we walked to the Boston Commons after we ate because we had a ghost tour booked for 8:00 PM.

Meggan: Nice.

Jenn: Yeah, I'm real. Like it was really fun. So we did this ghost tour with Haunted Boston Ghost Tours.

It was like a small group, I think there was 12 ish of us, and it was about an hour and 20 minutes long. So they talked a lot about the history of Boston. Edgar Allen Po e was born in Boston, which I I didn't know that, but he was we talked about like reported hauntings, so including the Omni Parker Hotel, which is apparently one of the most haunted hotels in the world or in the us.

The tour was super reasonably priced at 18 US dollars a person. There were other tours I was looking at that were like, way more expensive. And I, I also had to change our ticket date because I did originally book the Ghost tour for Saturday night, and then of course we were going home on Saturday night, so I emailed 'em and they were able to switch our tour to Thursday. No problem. Like they were really great and I would definitely recommend that company if anyone is looking for a ghost tour.

Meggan: Excellent. And that was haunted Boston Ghost Tours. Excellent.

Jenn: In the show notes so that the people can check them out.

Meggan: All right, so that's your Thursday now. Talk us through your Friday.

Jenn: All right, so Friday was our only full day in Boston, It was a quick trip. We got up early and I then of course had to have more pastries because when in Boston we went over to Modern Pastry, which has been family owned and operated for 80 years. Crazy. I had a lobster tail, which is like a flaky pastry filled with fresh whipped cream, Italian pastry cream and ricotta.

It was massive, like it was so big.

Meggan: I saw the picture. It looked amazing.

Jenn: It was really good. unfortunately, Ryan couldn't eat there because he has a nut allergy and it's just not safe. So we went to the Boston Public Market where he could find some food. There was a ton of different food spots for him to choose from. And then we decide to do the Old Town trolley tour. So it's a hop on, hop off type tour. It's narrated by the driver. It was not cheap, but , I would definitely recommend it. It was nice to be driven around and have the driver be able to tell you things that, that you know, what you're looking at, right? Like we learned a lot and it did make it easier to get around because then you don't really have to think that much.

We got off and walked over to Fenway Park to walk around. Unfortunately we were there after baseball season had ended, so we didn't get to see. I would've

Meggan: Red Sox anyway, other, other teams continue to play.

Jenn: Okay.

Meggan: it

Jenn: It was over for the Red Sox. Fair, fair, fair. And actually we were there at such a weird time. red Sox, their season had ended and then like basketball season and hockey season hadn't started yet. So there was just like no sport on.

Meggan: No.

Jenn: So we also got off at the Quincy market.

We did some shopping and there was some like buskers and that sort of thing. So we kind of just spent the day going around on the loop and getting off and walking around, and it was really nice. I would definitely, I would do a tour. Like I said, it wasn't super cheap, but I think by the time it's converted into Canadian dollars, it's like almost a hundred dollars a person.

So, Not a cheap. Yeah.

Meggan: but

Jenn: But,

Meggan: got a short amount of time

Jenn: yep.

Meggan: if you wanna see the place. You don't have a rental car, you don't wanna take the subway and guess where you're getting off. I think it makes a lot of sense. I'm a big fan of the hop on, hop off. If there's. If, if it's part of your, you know, what you should be doing and the time you have, transportation you have, I, I mean, I'm, I'm a fan, so I get it.

Jenn: I am too. So for dinner, we ate at Al Dente on the recommendation of Christina. So Christina is a travel agent. She was on our show way back in 2021, episode 34. If you wanna scroll on back there. She lives in Boston. So as soon as I had posted that we were on our way to Boston, she was like, oh my gosh, here are all my favorite restaurants.

And I wished that I would've had time to meet up with her, but . Like I said, we were on a very, very strict timeline here. But Al Dente, the food was really good and oh my gosh, the portions were huge. Like, I wish that we would've had a way to heat up the food after because like, we definitely didn't finish our food and, you know, we're in a regular hotel room.

We had a mini fridge, but no way to heat up the uh, food. Food after . So

Meggan: right.

Jenn: yes, it was actually really funny. It was a tiny restaurant and I made a reservation, big fan of making reservations. You know, I made it the same day, but we walked in and there was like two other tables and we're like, oh, I guess maybe we didn't need a reservation.

And then it must have been a bus tour group just came in and like took over the rest of the restaurant. It was a tour from I assume Quebec. They all spoke French and we were like, this is weird, just sitting at our table listening to French in Boston,

Meggan: That would be very strange.

Jenn: say it was,

Meggan: international.

Jenn: I felt like we were in Montreal, but we were in Boston.

Meggan: Right, right, right.

Jenn: So after dinner, it was time for John Mayer. So his concert was at the TD Garden. It was really, really good. It was solo. So he didn't have a band with him. It was . Just him. It was really cool to see him in Boston. He spent two semesters at Berkelee College of Music in Boston, so he kind of has a little bit of a, a special place in his heart for Boston.

And it was just, it was good. I cried. He started to cry while he was singing one of the songs, and then I was like, I'm done

Meggan: Oh, no one cries alone with me, so I would cry as well.

Jenn: That's, I was I was emotional. It was our second time seeing him, our first time. We actually saw him close to Boston at like an outdoor theater outside of the city in 2010. So it had been quite a while,

Meggan: Yeah. Wow.

Jenn: it was, it was really fun. I'm sure sometime in the future if he's still touring, we'll be, we'll be there again, but,

Meggan: Excellent. I'm so glad. It was good.

Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. So Saturday morning we got, we got up early. I don't think I got more than like five and a half hours sleep any of the days we were there. , I don't know. I'm just an early riser on vacation, I think. And it was, it was nice to like walk around Boston and we kind of walked around the north end both mornings.

There was like nobody, which was really nice. So Saturday morning we walked back to the Boston Public Market. We had super delicious bagels. Ugh, they were so good. And some mediocre lattes, which was disappointing. But I know

Meggan: we can't have everything, I guess.

Jenn: Yeah. You know, we have a coffee shop in Liverpool called Main and Mersey, if you're ever in Liverpool, it is the best, like the barista. Andreas makes the best lattes and I can't, I go everywhere and I compare them to Andreas's and they're just, they're not the

Meggan: Never the same.

Jenn: No. Anyway, so after we had our bagels, we walked the, we walked part of, or most of the Freedom Trail. So the Freedom Trail, there's literally on the ground red bricks and you can follow 'em all around the city.

So it takes you to different historic places, mostly relating to like the American Revolution. Thanks to my Hamilton obsession in 2020, I knew a lot more about the American Revolution than I did previously, so that's

Meggan: and probably a lot of other from what I recall, from 2020 of Hamilton, so

Jenn: It's so true. I mean, being Canadian, I feel like we have a little bit of an excuse.

Meggan: mm-hmm.

Jenn: Yeah. So we also walked around the north end and then we headed to the downtown area. So by this time we had already like checked out of our hotel we had our backpacks on and I had packed . Very light, probably the, the lightest I have ever packed. But it was two nights, so I shouldn't be packing ,patting myself on the back too much. Wow, you got nights into a backpack. Wow. Jenn

Meggan: Go, Jenn. I'm still proud of you,

Jenn: Oh I know. So we had lunch at the Corner Mall food Experience, which is like a fifties, diner-y vibe mall food court. It, it was fine. Fine. By then it was pouring, like it pouring, so we walked around Macy's for a little bit and I think it was like, it was probably quarter to two and we had planned to head to the airport.

Around 2:30 our flight was supposed to be at six. Six o'clock, five after six, I think. Anyway, we decided to go to the airport a little bit early. We're like, you know what? We're, we've done everything we wanted to do. It's pouring. Like, I don't wanna stand outside in the rain. Let's just leave. So we took the subway back to the airport subway station on the bus back to.

Meggan: Right. I'd love for you at this point to circle back

Jenn: Mm-hmm.

Meggan: and to follow up on your. Changed flight to avoid the storm. Do tell us that worked out?

Jenn: Yes. So did we avoid the storm? No. We did not avoid the storm. We flew into the storm, so that was.

Meggan: if you had waited until Sunday?

Jenn: Would've been fine, Meggan. We would've been completely fine. Yeah. So we were an hour delayed, so our flight was supposed to be at like five after six. It wasn't until after seven. The delay I'd actually had nothing to do with the weather.

There was The incoming flight the plane had an issue, so they had to get us a new plane and. So, you know, it an hour delay is really not the end of the world. It was completely fine. So , we did get home. We landed in Halifax at just after 10:00 PM So then it was like after midnight, by the time we actually drove, Home to our house in Liverpool.

And we drove home in the pouring rain and our flight home actually had turbulence the entire time. We, they didn't turn the seatbelt sign off for the entire time , so it was a little bit bumpy. So that wasn't a lot of fun. But anyway, luckily the storm wasn't that bad. We didn't lose power, and I have to say that, On Sunday morning when I was sitting on the couch having coffee and just like had a day to do nothing.

I wasn't that sad that I had come home Saturday. You know what I mean.

Meggan: I do. You all the, you get all the travel over with already.

Jenn: Yeah, I mean the travel was great. It was really great. We had so much fun and it's funny how some of the places like Boston wasn't on my list of places to visit. We went to Boston because we wanted to see John Mayer, and when we were looking at the tour dates, it was a date that was good for us. And it was a city that wasn't far away and we were very close to, he was in. New York City two the, the two nights previous to the show that we went to, and we almost went to New York. I mean, we really like New York, but we've been there three times and so it's like, let's go to a new city and I'm really glad I did. I liked Boston a lot more than I thought I would. It is a beautiful city, the buildings are very beautiful and it's a lot more walkable than I thought it was gonna be. , when I looked at it on the map, it just seemed like everything was gonna be like far away from each other. And then once you start walking you're like, oh, this is right here. It's not that far at all. So I really do wanna go back and I think we will.

So the other thing I wanted to mention is we were debating going to Salem. This the entire process of planning this trip. We were back and forth on whether or not there's a, there's an Amtrak train and there's a high high speed ferry from Boston to Salem. So it is easily accessible if you don't have a car.

Then Salem experiences so much overt tourism in October. . It is actually mind boggling. I saw some TikTok and it was like, The worst day at Disney that you could imagine. It's just like wall-to-wall people and, and I've heard from people who live there and who work there, especially in the tourism industry, that they're just, they're understaffed, they're exhausted, and I just thought, you know what?

It's not gonna be that fun right now. So we decided not to go, and as it turns out, we wouldn't have had time to go anyway. But I, I will save Salem for another visit at another time of year, that is not October.

Meggan: I've been there twice. Once in October and once in the summer I think. And yeah, like, I mean, the fun and excitement of October and the purpose isn't there. So it is a very different experience that However it is much less busy and overcrowded. So really, I mean, I totally get it. You are missing the magic of October, but missing the crowds of October,

Jenn: Yeah.

Meggan: there's that.

Jenn: That's fair.

Meggan: That's right,

Jenn: All right. Well that was my trip to Boston in a nutshell. It was a roller coaster of emotions. I'm.

Meggan: Well, I'm glad you went and had a good time and I totally get you know, you know, a bit of the panic before you left and thinking you might not get home and having to make those tough, tough travel decisions. I mean, that happens to people all the time. And this has been your experience and I mean, it's really good to share that things don't always go as we plan.

Jenn: No. And you know, obviously hindsight's 2020 on Saturday or Sunday evening when I was at home and the like, sun was out basically. I was like, well, we would've been fine, but you don't know, like you really don't know. And, and we, I. We decided to pay the price to have peace of mind, which ended up not being peace of mind.

But you can't control the weather. , that's,

Meggan: No.

Jenn: that's the lesson today is you cannot control the weather. So, you know, we just decided that at least if we were planning to fly home Saturday, we would at least get home by Sunday. And not into Monday. 'cause we did really have to be home before Monday. So it is what it is.

Meggan: It is indeed.

Jenn: All right.

Meggan: is for sure.

Jenn: I hope you enjoyed this trip report. That's all we have this week. As always, you can find us on our website, travel mug podcast.com. We're on Facebook and Instagram at Travel Mug Podcast. If you want to support the show by buying us a coffee there'll be some fun bloopers for you. A link to that is in the show notes and please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts.

Or Spotify and sharing the show with the Travel Loving Pal that always helps us grow. And until next time, we'll talk to you again soon. Bye.

Meggan: Bye everyone.