Hey how you doin' ya wanna fried dough?

Boston...what a friendly city. This was only MY second trip to Boston - both have been far too short. I was there for about 3 hours a few years ago with Kasey. This time we were there for about 24 hours but unfortunately my experience was a bit tainted due to a bad throat/sinus infection that led to 9 days of incessant coughing. Thankfully, I am better now. My coworkers no longer sneer at me and suspiciously ask if it's contagious AND I am no longer sleeping on the couch.

So anyway, we had a delightful time once we reached our hotel. (Doubletree in Downtown Boston - my first experience with Priceline proved successful) Reaching it was quite a project though. You see, I had convinced my parents to rent a GPS system with their car. I thought it would be nice for navigating the one way streets in New Haven and it helped me to worry about them a little less when they were driving around without us. It ended up being great. We called her "the lady". In fact, I miss the lady. She guided us all over the place - from Mystic to Newport and home again through the back roads of Rhode Island. She's great for spontaneous excursions when you're already out and can't print up directions. All week she was a tremendous help. Sometimes she got impatient with us when we disobeyed her (every time we missed a turn she let out a half-sarcastic, half-exasperated "Recalculating...") but for the most part we all got along really well. But Boston - (the "walking city") has the most confusing roads ever. Even the lady couldn't figure it out, mostly because a lot of the roads are underground and she gets confused when we go underground. She sent us all over the place and we went through the same tunnel several times, swung around to Logan airport, paid several hefty tolls for roads we never meant to be on and finally found a nice person (who worked in a toll booth) who gave us perfect directions to our hotel. The lady seemed jealous. We put her in the trunk. (Note: I am not endorsing that you always and everywhere put your lady in the trunk whenever she disappoints you).


That night we had the best lobster bisque at a quaint little restaurant. I want to go back just for that bisque. The next day we had a lovely breakfast across the street from Boston Common, went to the JFK library then walked around downtown until it was time to leave. Everyone we came in contact with was SO friendly - at the hotel, at the T stations, on the T, everyone. Our favorite was the man selling fried dough on Boston Common. If you ever have the chance to eat fried dough in Boston do it.

Boston charm. I guess it must be the locals - they convey such warmth and chattiness and it seems to rub off on the tourists so everyone is happy and talkative. (At least it was like that for us) Every time we were on public transportation we were talking to strangers. Two girls on the subway even took our picture. That was a little weird but very funny. What a sharp contrast after having been in Manhattan the day before (there, they are more likely to take your camera). NY is fun but Boston, Boston is charming and lovely and friendly and sweet and I just can't wait to go back. The best part about Boston: the accent. It's amazing. A little of it trickles down to Connecticut so a few of my coworkers have a touch of it but almost everyone has it up there. It's pretty hard for me not to smile upon hearing it. We will be definitely be returning before we move.