Seconds With Steff

Happy 50th Birthday to me!

I have been wanting to go to Boston since I moved back in 2001, but it was just one of those things that I never got around to doing, so the weekend before my 50th birthday Debrah and I headed north!

I planned two itineraries: one that was very detailed with lots of info and a more streamlined one that is easy to read.

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Heading out on Friday afternoon, we started on our way north. I found a fairly reasonable hotel right across from Quincy Market!

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We Lyfted over to the speakeasy, Wink and Nod for our 6:45 reservation where dinner and drinks were delicious! We then grabbed a quick drink at The Trophy Room, and despite my being nervous about the three minute walk over to Club Café, it was totally fine! We grabbed a drink in the main bar that was completely decked out like RuPaul’s Drag Race and made our way to The Napoleon Room where The Jim and Val show was taking place. They belted out old standards so old, I hadn’t even heard of many of them. Guests were invited to come on stage and sing, but this wasn’t amateur hour! And every time someone tried to trip Val up she held her ground…like when Lady Gaga was requested and she BELTED out Shallows! We then moved to another room in the bar where huge screens played the videos we danced to! Fantastic night!

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In researching this trip, I knew we would do The Freedom trail, but there were a few things I wanted to do before starting the trail, so we had a Lyft bring us to The Boston Bricks: “a hidden, whimsical (and quite funny) treasure … consists of roughly 100 brick-sized bronze reliefs installed in the paving between the other bricks of Winthrop Lane.  Each installation commemorates a key event within Boston’s past and present. The stones are slightly raised, so they are polished by passersby. On their shiny surfaces, you’ll spot anything from scenes depicting Boston’s notoriously aggressive drivers to a 19th-century baseball glove.” Atlas Obscura (linked in first pic, of course)

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Then onto Brattle Bookshop! With three floors and an outdoor area, hours could be lost.

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Onto The Freedom Trail! Starting at the Visitor’s Center. Now even though I researched this to the nth degree, I still asked the ladies who worked there what we shouldn’t miss. They do this every day and KNOW the good stuff. We opted not to do the guided tour, but there are TONS of them.

To save time and steps, we also added some non-trail moments in our hike… and it was a hike. HYDRATE!

What we did get was the Old Trolley Tour. Now, please note, this is actually a tour bus and the drivers expect you to pay attention and can get persnickety when you don’t… shockingly both in San Diego and Boston they were not thrilled when people talked amongst themselves.

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With the Freedom Trail officially complete, we pushed onward

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Before we knew it, it was time to head out for dinner, drinks, and whatever followed… and what followed was drinks and dancing til much later than we were prepared!

Our hotel was in the Blackstone Block Historic District, so I wanted to go to the old historic restaurants and then pub crawl.. it didn’t go down exactly like that. A quick drink at Bell in Hand Tavern and then apps at Union Oyster House. We intended on eating more later, but once we got to Green Dragon Tavern, we stayed to listen to the band and missed the kitchen closing. Good thing I brought cookies for the room…