The Plumbs Do Boston
I know I'm about a month late, but better late than never! And we had too much fun with my parents not to share :)
They flew in late Tuesday night and we hit the hay pretty early because our bus to New York was leaving at the crack of dawn. Wednesday morning we got up, caught our bus, and were on our way to the Big Apple! We decided that we wanted to ride bikes all over the city so we could cover more ground and see more sites. NYC has what are called “Citi Bikes”. They work kind of like Redbox. You can rent a bike at one station and return it to any station in the city. I definitely recommend doing the $12 day pass, it’s the best way to see the city!
Once we got off the bus and picked up our bikes at the first station, we rode the Hudson River Greenway up the west side of Manhattan. It was so beautiful! We grabbed some burgers and fries at Shake Shack and man was it good! We then headed over to Levain Bakery. If you are ever in New York, you HAVE TO GO TO THIS PLACE! The cookies are amazing. Well, that’s an understatement, but you get the point. They are HUGE and GOOEY and DELICIOUS!
After Levain we headed toward Central Park. On the way we stopped to see the original "Ghostbusters" Building. I personally have never seen the movie, but my parents have so they recognized it haha! We rode our bikes through Central Park. It really is the best way to do it. You can cover more ground and avoid all of the annoying people on the walking trails!
Next on the list was the Chrysler Building and Grand Central Station. We just rode by and snapped some pics of the Chrysler, but we definitely wanted to show Mom and Dad the inside of Grand Central. Turns out to be a smart move since the AC in that place is AMAZING! It's always neat to see inside the main terminal because so many great movies and TV shows were filmed there. It brings back a lot of memories!
After GCS we walked over to check out the New York Public Library. Now, if you're an architect buff or history lover, you'd really enjoy this place! My parents and I did, but Shawn though meh. This building reminds me a lot of the Boston Public Library. Older buildings, lots of marble, grand staircases, paintings on the ceilings, etc. It really it a cool building and I totally recommend stopping by if you're in that area. We then got on our hand-dandy Citi Bikes and rode over to see another Bucket List item...the Empire State Building. Lots of people like to go up in this building, but we heard the "Top of the Rock" (Rockefeller) is better so we had already booked tickets for later that night. It was cool to see none the less.
We made our way over to Times Square and just killed some time until dinner at Bubba Gump's! This place is so good and the atmosphere is the best! The waiters and waitresses will come around and ask you trivia from the Forrest Gump movie. The more questions you answer right, the more candy you get! They definitely encourage dessert before dinner ha!
After dinner we checked out Radio City Music Hall, ate Banana Pudding from Magnolia's and got in line to go up to the Top of the Rock. So...I absolutely LOVED doing the Rock, but I think it's something that you do once in your life and you're good. Here's why...1) it takes FOREVER to actually get up there 2) once you finally get up there it is SO CROWDED 3) it takes almost as long to get down as it does to get up. That being said, the view is totally worth it! I had never seen the New York Skyline at night before and it does not disappoint. I was in awe at how beautiful it was!
We thought riding the subway to Brooklyn at night would be a lot sketchier than it was. I wouldn't do it alone, but with the four of us we were fine. We got to our cute little hotel and crashed hard!
The next morning we grabbed some bikes and did one of my all-time favorite things in NYC! We rode across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. Talk about a killer view!
The bridge comes onto the Manhattan island right by Battery Park and the terminal for boats out to the Statue of Liberty. We wanted to see the statue, but didn't want to wait in line or fight the crowds for the ferry that goes out there. So we rode the Staten Island Ferry instead. It's free, it gets fairly close to the statue, and there's plenty of seating!
Once we got off the ferry we explored Battery Park for a bit. This is the resting place of the big golden sphere statue that was in between the two towers of the World Trade Center before the 911 attacks. It is known as "The Sphere" and was meant to symbolize world peace through world trade.
We continued up the east side of Manhattan towards the 911 Memorial. This is right up there with the Brooklyn Bridge as one of my favorite places in NYC. For those of you who've never been there:
The names of every person who died in the 2001 and 1993 attacks are inscribed into bronze panels edging the Memorial pools, a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history."
This is probably the most humbling place on earth. To stand there, feel the loss of life that happened, and read the stories of that tragic day is very solemn. The amount of respect, love, and unity felt there is unparalleled. This is a must see if you are in NYC! And the new WTC right next door is incredible.
As the day was coming to an end, we rode our bikes over to the start of The High Line (a section of the High Line converted from an out-of-use railroad trestle to a public landscape) and walked a few blocks. It runs right along the Hudson River and the sunset from up there was spectacular! We ate dinner at Los Tacos No. 1 inside the Chelsea Market which is so awesome! There are a ton of little shops, markets, restaurants, and dessert places in an old building which has been restored into this awesome rustic/modern collaboration.
It's really hard to peel yourself away from the 911 Memorial because of all the emotions and things you feel there, but once we finally left we headed to TriBeCa. I had heard great things about this area and that it's a place where a lot of celebrities live...including one of my faves Miss Taylor Swift! So I had to plan a little detour to see her penthouse there. While looking up the route and where it was, I learned something I didn't know about Tribeca. It is actually a portmanteau (a linguistic blend of words) for "TRiangle BElow CAnal". Anyways, side rant over haha! We stopped in front of T Swift's house like stalkers and of course we hoped she'd make an appearance, but no such luck. She probably wasn't even in NYC at all!
So reluctantly, we moved on and headed over to Little Italy for lunch. One of my friends in Boston used to live in NYC and recommended Lombardi's for lunch. I owe her big time! This was the best pizza I've ever had!! Legit pie! Highly highly recommend this place. Oh and the bruschetta appetizer is divine too! Ok enough drooling. We grabbed some dessert at another recommendation from my friend...Eileen's Cheesecake. Superb! Shawn and I shared the salted caramel cheesecake and let's just say we could have had at least five more! So good.
Next on the list was Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. This little area is home to NYU and the campus is so breathtaking! The park itself is across the street and features a big archway and gorgeous fountain where kids were playing on a hot summer's day.
As the day was coming to an end, we rode our bikes over to the start of The High Line (a section of the High Line converted from an out-of-use railroad trestle to a public landscape) and walked a few blocks. It runs right along the Hudson River and the sunset from up there was spectacular! We ate dinner at Los Tacos No. 1 inside the Chelsea Market which is so awesome! There are a ton of little shops, markets, restaurants, and dessert places in an old building which has been restored into this awesome rustic/modern collaboration.
After dinner we grabbed some snack for the long bus ride back to Boston and made our way over to the bus stop. What was supposed to be a four hour bus ride turned into a six hour bus ride thanks to construction, the slowest bus driver on the planet, and the impatience of four very tired tourists haha! We FINALLY got back to Boston around 2:00am, got a taxi home, and crashed until about noon.
Thank goodness I didn't plan much for us that day and we just spent the time recovering from the last two crazy days! We had some amazing shawarma for dinner at Garlic N' Lemons and then saw the new Star Trek movie. Very low key and relaxing.
Thank goodness I didn't plan much for us that day and we just spent the time recovering from the last two crazy days! We had some amazing shawarma for dinner at Garlic N' Lemons and then saw the new Star Trek movie. Very low key and relaxing.
The next day we piled into the car and headed north to see some lighthouses, eat some "lobstah", and find mom and dad a vacation house haha! We started in Portland, Maine at the Portland Headlight/Fort Williams National Park. What a beautiful lighthouse and view of the rocky Maine coast! Then we headed over to the "Porthole Restaurant" for lunch. So yummy! They have the best clam chowder in New England! After lunch we saw the Nubble Lighthouse, York Beach, and some other beautiful places!
Once we got back to Boston we headed to Gillette Stadium for a New England Revolution soccer game. It was my first professional soccer game and I had a blast! My dad even caught a free t-shirt for my mom!
Church on Sunday was bright and early as usual, but it was really nice having my parents there. After church we drove up to see the Lexington & Concord Battle Sites and Old North Bridge. There is so much history in this area and it never ceases to blow me away. It's so humbling to stand in these places, trying to imagine what those people went through and being so grateful for what they did!
We went over to my dad's extended family's house for lunch so my parents could catch up with all of his cousins and aunts. It's hard to pack the last 20+ years into a few hours, but they saw a lot of people and had a lot of great conversations!
On Monday we did the Freedom Trail and my parents loved it! I've done it several times, but I swear I learn or see something new every time! All of the times before, I never knew you could go on the upper levels of Faneuil Hall. So we checked out the old meetinghouse up top and saw all of the paintings of George Washington and other founding members. It was so amazing!
I think Monday night was the highlight of my parent's trip! We grabbed some food from Tasty Burger and went to a Red Sox game. The Sox even won! It was such a good night!
On Tuesday we drove down to Cape Cod. I officially LOVE the Cape! There are so many cute little beach towns and coastal cities. The atmosphere is so tranquil and relaxing I could definitely spend summers down there. We checked out Hyannis, Chatham, and Provincetown. Hyannis is this cute little beach town with a historical main street. Chatham has the most beautiful beach I've ever seen! It's also home to the coastguard station featured in the movie "The Finest Hours" and based on the true story. Provincetown is a big beach city with rows and rows of shopping and homemade ice cream parlors...oh and the best salt-water taffy!
Wednesday morning before my parents flew home we went and kayaked the Charles River. Shawn and I had done this once before with his family, and the view never gets old. I love it! Then we hit up a highly recommended cookie place called "Insomnia Cookies". Oh my heavens their cookies are amazing! They're huge and thick and gooey!
The week flew by, but we had so much fun with my mom and dad! It's always hard to say bye, but it makes it easier knowing we'll see them again in a few months for Christmas :)
On Monday we did the Freedom Trail and my parents loved it! I've done it several times, but I swear I learn or see something new every time! All of the times before, I never knew you could go on the upper levels of Faneuil Hall. So we checked out the old meetinghouse up top and saw all of the paintings of George Washington and other founding members. It was so amazing!
Wednesday morning before my parents flew home we went and kayaked the Charles River. Shawn and I had done this once before with his family, and the view never gets old. I love it! Then we hit up a highly recommended cookie place called "Insomnia Cookies". Oh my heavens their cookies are amazing! They're huge and thick and gooey!
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