Friday, September 29th:
Ally flew out of Minnesota and I had a direct flight from Midway to Boston on Southwest. I arrived about an hour before Ally did, so I headed to the rental car center and waited for her there. The line kept getting longer and longer, so when she said she had landed I jumped in line. Unfortunately, I got to the front of the line before she got to the car rental area. The guy at check in said it was fine that she wasn't there as long as I would be the driver. I said that was fine (I prefer to drive anyways) and I was able to retrieve the reservation with no issues.
Ally arrived and we drove 20 miles west of Boston to our hotel in Natick. We checked in, got settled in, made sure we were on the same page for our plans tomorrow, and then went to bed at 1:00 AM. It was a long day, but tomorrow is gonna be awesome!
Saturday, September 30th:
We got up early and headed to Boston Common's to park. It was supposed to rain, so we went to the store so Ally could get an umbrella. We then walked through Boston Common's to kill time before our Freedom Trail tour at 10:00 AM.
I remember when this statue (The Embrace) was revealed, but I didn't realize it was in Boston. I was a little surprised when we came upon it.
We then headed to the tour center where we met our awesome tour guide. She took us on a fun journey all throughout Boston! Even though I've been on this tour before I still loved it!
[Paul Revere headstone]
[Samuel Adams]
[Super old buildings - the one on the end is now occupied by a Chipotle aka "Ye Ole Chipotle"]
[Old South Meeting House]
[Old State House and Boston Massacre Site]
We ended the first part of our Freedom Trail tour at Quincy Market just in time for lunch. We headed inside and got lobstah rolls and chowdah!
[Cheers!]
[It's so great that Ally and I enjoy the same foods!]
After lunch we walked through the rest of the Market and then went down to Long Wharf. It was high tide, but the weather was perfect!
We met up with our tour guide again at 1:30 PM outside of Faneuil Hall for the second half of the Freedom Trail tour.
[Marshall St]
[400 years of architectural history in one photo]
[Copps Hill Burying Ground]
The tour ended at Copps Hill Burying ground, but the Freedom Trail (the literal red line that you follow) continues across the North Washington Street Bridge and into Charlestown. So, we crossed the bridge and headed over to the USS Constitution. We decided against hiking up to the Bunker Hill monument since it was under restoration. Instead we caught a ferry back to Long Wharf.
We had an hour to kill before dinner so we went to the Omni hotel and got Boston Cream Pies! We sat in the beautiful lobby, chatted, and ate our pies before heading to Pasta Beach for dinner. Did you know the best pasta I have ever had was in Boston?! Shhh! Don't tell Italy! They are known for their Italian district and their amazing food! Pasta Beach did not disappoint!
After dinner we walked over to the Massachusetts State House before driving back to our hotel in Natick.
Sunday, October 1st:
The next morning we got up early and made the two hour drive to Ogunquit, Maine. It was a bit foggy, but it cleared out pretty well before we arrived at the Marginal Way.
We walked along the shore and enjoyed the perfect salty sea air.
We then headed down to the Nubble Lighthouse. It was a tiny lighthouse on a tiny island. It was classic Maine!
We then headed down to Portsmouth, New Hampshire for brunch. We walked around the adorable town and got some breakfast sandwiches.
We then made our way to Salem, Massachusetts. When Josh and I were here it was the day after Halloween in 2016. We heard that Halloween season can be quite crazy in Salem, but I didn't realize it would be crazy for the ENTIRE month of October!
It was only October 1st, but there were people EVERYWHERE! There was a farmers market in Salem Common and all of Essex St was blocked off to car traffic. There were lines to get into all the store and we had to reserve a time to go into The Burying Point.
[Essex Street]
We had reservations for dinner at 4:30 PM, museum reservations at 6:00 PM, and a ghost tour at 8:00 PM. I took Ally to all the popular sites that we would see on our ghost tour, so she could see them during the day.
After seeing the Old Town Hall (Hocus Pocus was filmed there), The Burying Point, the Salem Witch Trails Memorial, and walking through the multiple farmers markets, we headed to the Derby Wharf Light Station.
At 4:30 PM we made our way to Turner's Seafood at Lyceum Hall for dinner. We got the mac-n-cheese, lobster pie, and crab cakes. I've been dreaming about this lobster pie for the last six years and I am so glad it was better than I remembered!
[I'm so happy!]
After dinner we went to the Salem Witch Museum and then on a Ghost Tour.
On our way back to our hotel in Natick Ally had a brilliant idea! Why don't we go into Manhattan tomorrow (our plan was to go in early the following morning) and spend two nights in the city?! I said that works for me so I called the Marriott Marquis to make sure they had room. They did! I used my reward points and got us a room for another night!
Monday, October 2nd:
We got up early the next morning (are you sensing a theme here?!), checked out of the hotel, and headed to Plymouth.
[So excited!]
I guess everyone is still in Salem because there was NO ONE in Plymouth. We were able to get street parking close to Pilgrim Memorial State Park.
[Coles Hill Burying Ground]
We then headed to Newport, Rhode Island, where we went on the 7 mile Cliff Walk. I love seeing all these majestic mansions along the sea.
[Easton's Beach]
After the walk we went into town and got lobster rolls and lobster and corn bisque! It was all delicious!
Next, we headed to Mystic, Connecticut. We arrived only an hour before the museum closed, so we decided to skip that. We walked into town and crossed the Bascule Bridge. The downtown area is super cute and full of small shops. We looked around and then walked back to our car, so we could start the trek into Manhattan!
We got to the Marriott Marquis at 8:00 PM (not too shabby!), parked the car, and headed to check in. After getting our room keys the front desk guy told us to enjoy our "Time Square room." I didn't comprehend what he said at first because I didn't book a Time Square view room. When I made our reservations there weren't any double Time Square rooms available. Strange. We headed up to the 33rd floor and I realized that our room was at the VERY end of the hallway. Maybe we did get a Time Square view. I didn't want to get Ally's hopes up so I didn't say anything until we opened the door and were hit in the face with the bright lights of Times Square! Ally was so excited that she started crying!
We dropped off our bags and then headed to John's to get some pizza (my personal Manhattan tradition!).
I taught Ally how to fold her pizza 🙂
We decided to take advantage of the clear, warm, beautiful night by going to the Top of the Rock!
[Can you see Times Square? It's so bright!]
On our way back to the Marriott Marquis, we ran into the DeLorean from Back to the Future! Not really! It's just a copy 🙂
Tuesday, October 3rd:
We knew today was going to be our busiest day of the entire trip, so we got an early start! We successfully navigated the subway and found the Friends apartment!
We then walked down to FDNY Ladder 8! Ghostbusters is one of my all time favorite movies, but I had never been here before. I was so happy!
We then walked over to the "Baby Bean." It's a miniature version of Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) that is in Chicago. It was hidden away in a strange spot, but we found it!
Do you like conspiracy theories?! Have you ever seen X-Files? This building that has NO WINDOWS doesn't look suspicious at all, right? 33 Thomas Street. Look it up 🙃
After discussing government surveillance and how that building is definitely NOT the headquarters of the NSA *wink wink* we made a quick stop at Zucker's to get a salmon and cream cheese bagel 😋
With our bellies full of good food we made the long trek down to the 9/11 Memorials. I've been her multiple times and it is still so overwhelming.
Our next stop was Trinity Church where Hamilton was buried.
We then walked down Wall Street and ended up at Battery Park. I told Ally that if we wanted to go to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island this would be the time to do it. She said she wanted to go, so we bought tickets, and jumped on the next ferry!
When am I not thinking about Ghostbusters? Well, Ghostbusters II 🤣🤣
After visiting Liberty Island and Ellis Island we jumped back on the subway and found ourselves at Chelsea Market. We had so many options, but we decided to get tacos based on the fact that it was the longest line in the entire market! The line moved fast and we got some of the best tacos that I've ever had! See, this is why I travel! It's all for the food!
After getting lunch we headed up to Hudson Yards, took an elevator up 100 stories, and got an amazing view of the city!
[The Vessel]
We were both really tired after that long day, so we decided to walk back to the Marriott Marquis. Along the way we passed by Maddison Square Garden.
We decided to get pizza from John's (again) for dinner and Junior's for dessert. We ate our cheesecake while looking at our spectacular view!
Wednesday, October 4th:
The next morning we were still a little worn out (turns out we were averaging 11 miles a day), so we slept in, packed our bags, and checked out of the hotel.
We walked over to the New York Public Library (again, another Ghostbusters reference) and then over to Grand Central Terminal.
We then walked up 5th Ave to Central Park.
[Ally was VERY excited to see The Plaza]
We then went on a nice easy walk through Central Park to the Natural History Museum.
We did a 75 minute guided tour of the museum which was a ton of fun!
Our final stops were the Levian Bakery for baked goods and Delice Macarons for their delicious macarons!
We got our treats and started walking back to the hotel when we saw some commotion. A bike rider got hit by a car and he was laying in the road and not moving. Luckily, there were already people running over to help him and an ambulance was on it's way. I hope he's okay!
With snacks in hand, we made it back to the hotel, got our luggage and our car, and then headed out of the city.
Traffic wasn't too bad getting off the island, but there was a bad car accident in Connecticut which delayed us by an hour. We stopped in Hartford for some dinner (lobster mac-n-cheese) and we got to our airport hotel by 10:30 PM. Our flights were insanely early (5:30 AM and 6:30 AM), which is why I suggested we stay next to airport the night before.
Thursday. October 5th:
We were up at 3:00 AM the next morning, but I'm not complaining! I can sleep on the plane! We made it to the airport and had to separate after we dropped off the car because we were flying out of different terminals.
I want to thank Ally for inviting me to go on this trip with her after her friend cancelled. Even though I have been to most of these places before, I still had a blast! We ate good food, saw some cool stuff, and had great conversations. There's a reason why Ally is one of my best friends and favorite people!
Thanks again to Josh and my parents for hanging out with Theo, so I could have a fun, last minute girls trip!
How cute is this?! Papa getting Theo off the bus ❤️
[Theo was mad at my mom because she wouldn't take him for a walk in the rain]
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