Living in New York City, you often forget how many other cities are within a short drive. The holidays are over and the kids are back in school so I decided it was time to pack up the car and take a girls trip to Boston. Even though I had been to Boston in the past, I decided to start fresh and act like a total tourist: camera bag and all. So if you have 24hrs in Boston, this is what I recommend doing…
We stayed at The VERB Hotel and it was the perfect vibe for our short and sweet stay. Friendly staff, great rooms (mine had a balcony), hip/modern vibe and located a baseball toss away from Fenway Park. You know how much of an Elvis fan I am, right? There was vintage music memorabilia everywhere; jukebox in the lobby and record players in every room with a huge selection of records to choose from in the lobby! How retro is that?!?
After we checked in, we realized parking in general was a bit scarce/expensive, so we decided to Uber/walk around the city. Our first stop was the Boston Public Library– pictures don’t do this building justice. It looks more like a museum filled with historic artifacts. The grand staircase, marble lions, murals on the ceilings and a gorgeous chandelier.
We then wandered over to Newbury street (super chic cute boutiques and a great place to grab a quick coffee. On the map, we noticed Chinatown was a short walk so we decided to mosey on over.
I hadn’t been to Quincy Markey since I was a kid, so I decided to drag Sasha with me to see it. Quincy Market is pretty much a long food court with kiosks haha. To be totally honest, you could bypass this stop… Other than the building itself being beautiful, there’s not much to see…
So we decided to grab lunch at The Union Oyster House, which is the oldest restaurant in the country and is considered to be a historical landmark. They are known for their oysters and “clam chowda” and serve 2-3 thousand oysters a day to people who come to visit form all over the world. There is a Kennedy Family Booth upstairs – how cool is it to know that JFK and his family ate regularly at The Union Oyster House? Believe me…nothing much has changed since they were there lol. Visiting this restaurant is all about sitting at the bar and getting a real feel for local Bostonians. We had a great chat with our bartender who gave us the scoop on where to go and what not to see. So we took his advice and scratched a few things off our list but added some others.
On our way to Beacon Hill, we passed by the Courthouse. It was surreal to see an old historical building completely surrounded by modern day skyscrapers. It really made me think about Boston and its rich history and culture. This is one of the stops on the Freedom Trail (I would have loved to walk the entire trail but its better to do it in warmer weather). We continued our walk to Beacon hill where we stumbled across Acorn Street, which was a complete picturesque Bostonian moment. If you have the chance, make sure to check out this area (this street in particular makes for a super IG photo).
We finally arrived at our ultimate, must-see Boston location…the Cheers Bar. Although it wasn’t quite 5 o’clock, they did have Blue Moon on tap. Why Not? When in Boston…Contrary to popular belief, the show wasn’t actually filmed in Boston. Only the exterior of the building was shot in Boston. It was actually filmed in a studio in Los Angeles. Regardless, it makes for great photos! Across the street from Cheers is the Boston Public Gardens which is also a great place to visit when it’s a bit warmer outside.
After leaving Beacon Hill, we headed back to The Verb where we had a delicious dinner at Hojoko. If you go here, make sure to try their specialty chicken udon, mushroom roll, fried tofu and one of the best miso soups I’ve ever had!
A few things we didn’t get to do were visit the Maporium, Fenway Bleacher bar and dessert at Mikes. I would love to hear about your experiences and suggestions for my next trip!!
