boston — Jen Ireland

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got” - Cheers

Let’s go to Boston in February; that sounds like a great idea.

I imagine that’s what my boss’s boss’s meeting sounded like when they decided to ship the entire marketing department north to attend a conference in the middle of winter. Being from Florida and living in Texas, you could say my blood isn’t meant for temperatures below 60 degrees.

But alas, duty called.

The conference was held Feb. 25-28, so I decided to fly up the weekend before and explore on my own. I still pride myself on being frugal and am not above staying in a hostel, so I found a cheap hostel in the middle of downtown to stay Thursday night through Monday morning.

Yes - hostels have their cons. You don’t get turn down service and any frills from housekeeping. Generally they are noisier than a hotel would be and there usually isn’t a gym or private bathroom.

But the pros are great - free breakfast every morning, free events like day tours and bar crawls at night and an opportunity to meet people from all over the world. If you want to experience diversity and get a glimpse of hope that the world isn’t coming to an end, go sit in the common area of a hostel some day. You might be surprised by what you see.

thursday | feb. 21

I landed Thursday night and went straight to my hostel. Because I have somewhat evolved from my younger, cheaper years; I opted for the private room. It was essentially like having a hotel room to myself, just not as nice. My window faced Stuart St. and was across from Tufts Medical Center, a huge hospital in downtown. Did I mention my window was extremely thin? Because all day and night I could hear every car and every ambulance driving down the road. Note to self - you’re a big girl now, get a hotel room.

friday | feb. 22

Friday morning was spent working from the desk of my hostel room. I am fortunate enough to have a job that values remote working environments, so I take every opportunity I can to log hours while sitting in an airport, my bed or hostel desks.

My first venture outside for the day was lunch. I took the bus (with no ticket because I didn’t know where to buy one and rode several blocks down the street as a crazy man yelled gibberish the entire way…. oh how great public transit is) to Blunch, a local sandwich shop made famous by the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”.

Here, I got the “Provencal” which consisted of Vermont goat cheese, oven roasted tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, kalamatta olive puree, artichoke hearts, basil cashew pesto and greens on a toasty baguette. It was the first piece of food I’d eaten in Boston so not only did it satiate my hanger, but it tasted heavenly. I would 100% recommend trying this joint out and I’d love to go back to try something else.

After leaving Blunch, I walked around the neighborhood looking for a local coffee shop I could set up and work for the next few hours. I landed on Caffe Nero (which I found out later isn’t actually local at all).

After working the majority of the day, I logged off and now it was time for the real adventure to begin.

I made my way back to the hostel, changed, put my computer away and ventured out through the Boston Common to get to the legendary Cheers bar. I have been to this bar before with my mom, but that was when I was 17 and unable to partake in the joys that come from the taps of the bar. I was on a mission to get myself a beer.

Crossing the Boston Common was like moving into another world. I had never seen snow of that magnitude, where the entire ground was covered in white powder, and death all around. No greenery, no leaves, no animals, just white ice covering the ground.

norm’s beer | “i never met a beer i didn’t like” — norm’s beer | *“i never met a beer i didn’t like”*

After grabbing a beer (or two) from Cheers, I ventured over to Faneuil Hall, known for it’s eclectic food offerings and shopping. On my way there, I walked the perimeter of Boston Common and past the State House with it’s royal gold dome.

For a Friday night, I was surprised to find that Faneuil Hall was not very vivacious. I guess the 20 degree weather and occasional rain probably had something to do with it. This didn’t matter to me, as I already had my eyes on my next food adventure - Saus.

“If a man does not have the sauce, he is lost. But the same man can get lost in the sauce.” - Gucci Mane

fried chicken sandwich + fries + garlic aioli + spicy ketchup | saus

Saus is a dive joint serving up fries and over 20 different homemade sauces with a few different types of sandwiches on the menu. Most reviews I read said the same thing: the fries and sauce were great, the sandwiches not so much. I ended up ordering a fried chicken sandwich with fries; my sauses of choice were the garlic aoli and spicy ketchup. The fries and saus were amazing. The sandwich was average (too much bread, not enough fried chicken), so the reviews were pretty accurate. I highly recommend trying this place, if only for the fries and saus, but be warned it’s not well ventilated and you will walk away smelling of fried food and grunge.

After stuffing my face with fried goodness, I walked around some and got a drink at the bar next door. Maybe it was too early in the night or maybe no one wanted to brave the cold, but things were still pretty dead so I walked back to my hostel and called it a night.

saturday | feb. 23

Woke up and ready to start the day! Did I get a good night’s sleep even though the window’s were thin as paper and I heard cars all night long? No. But was I going to let that stop me? Hell no.

My first venture - breakfast.

I researched a place that had great reviews, Paramount. The most appealing part? … it was within walking distance of the hostel. Paramount is your typical breakfast diner serving up specialty pancakes and egg dishes of all sorts. The entire restaurant could probably fit inside my 750 sq ft apartment, twice. There were about 8 tables total and a line almost to the door. The way it works is you get in the que, order down the line, pay and then either take your food with you or wait for a seat. To my advantage, I have found traveling by yourself does have it’s perks as I didn’t have to wait at all.

Here, I ordered the Avocado Sunrise, which consisted of two eggs sunny side up, cheddar cheese, sriracha drizzle and of course, avocado. The dish was good, but I was a little underwhelmed by the avocado. I thought there’d be more of it considering the name of the dish had “avocado” in the title. But let me tell you something: those potatoes were out. of. this. world. Probably the best breakfast potatoes I’ve ever had. Needless to say, I left my solitary table with nothing remaining on the plate but my fork and knife.

Onward to wandering around town. I could see on the map that Paramount was only two blocks east of the water, so I left and headed that way. Sure enough, I found myself at the crossroads of a highway and the Charles River.

charles river esplanade | longfellow bridge

You can only gawk at frozen water and snow for so long before you start to look crazy. Not to mention I was losing feeling in my face. I made my way back to the Boston Common and decided to go ice skating at the Boston Common Frog Pond. I had passed it the other night on my way to Cheers and wanted to make a point to go back and skate. How many times in your life can you say you’ve ice skated in the Boston Common? Exactly.

After skating and getting my heart rate up, it was time for a beer. I knew I was going to make my way to Fenway Park and Samual Adams later that day, so figured there was no time like the present. But first, a pit stop at Harvard.

I have been to Boston two other times when I was younger and although I felt like we had seen all there was to explore then, we never had made it to any of the college campuses like Harvard, MIT or BU.

Hopped on the Metro and a some stops later, was in the depths of some real history. I always thought Florida State was so beautiful in knowing the buildings were so rich in culture and history, with their brick facades and Latin sayings. But Harvard took me farther back in time. Just the entrance gate was something straight from the 17th century.

I saw a few small groups of people stopped outside different buildings while a tour guide told them all about the history of where they stood. In hindsight, a tour would have been cool and my hostel did offer a free tour one of the days, but I kept trekking on.

This is a great example of where a tour would have been useful. My dumbass walked past the group, up all those snow covered steps and to the doors thinking they’d be open to the public. NOPE. Well, I’m no Harvard grad so I tucked my tail between my legs and scurried down the steps and off campus.

Before heading to the Metro station to get to Fenway, I stopped in the Harvard Bookstore and browsed all the textbooks, literature, non-fiction, used books and more. I had hopes I’d find my book club’s next book but it wasn’t there. Eventually I left with just some postcards and a Boston magnet. Next stop: Fenway Park.

I love Fenway. Although I’ve never been to a game, I have toured the stadium with my die-hard fan brother and it’s humbling to be in such a vase arena where so much fandom has been housed. Previously when my brother and I took the tour, we stopped across the street at a local brewery and restaurant. I remember fondly because my brother let me try his blueberry beer when I was only 17 (shh don’t tell). So that was what I had my eyes set. As I rounded the corner from the Metro station, I found that brewery in all it’s glory.

boston beerworks | 61 brookline ave.wit + fenway pale ale + big boy ipa + nitro cookie stout — boston beerworks | 61 brookline ave.
wit + fenway pale ale + big boy ipa + nitro cookie stout

Boston BeerWorks was open but not very busy. The brewery is also a restaurant and the it’s quite large. I can see the space coming in handy when the Red Sox are on a winning strike. I made my way to the bar in the back and gazed upon all the different beers they offered on tap. My go-to move in situations like these is a flight.

After this flight I was feeling good and loving life. I realized i hadn’t ordered the blueberry beer that I had before, so I stayed and got a 6 oz pour. It was just as delicious as I remember. This is rare, but I genuinely loved each beer I tried, therefore I highly recommend trying Boston BeerWorks. Apparently they have a few locations in the city, but I’m sure Fenway’s is the coolest.

Next move was Samuel Adams Brewery before they closed for the weekend. I hadn’t noticed how great Boston Beerworks was when I left, but as I closed out at Sam Adams and saw my flight was $18, I appreciated my $12 flight at BBW a lot more. The beers at Sam Adams were decent and each sample may have been an ounce or two more than BBW. The brewery itself is in an interesting locale, as it’s behind some residential town homes and the building resembles a warehouse.

The vibe at Sam Adams was definitely younger and louder than Boston BeerWorks. They played hit 90’s/00’s rock songs and since they didn’t serve food (which BBW does), there was more standing around and games to be played.

wedding wit + nitro cafe au lait + man’s raspberry porter + boston lager

From what I remember, all four beers were tasty, but I enjoyed the cafe au lait and wedding wit the most. I will say Boston Lager from the tap and from the source does taste completely different than when bought from the store.

By now, I was about 3-4 craft beers deep and exhausted from walking all day. Even though the sun was just setting, I decided it was time to start winding down. I returned to my hostel and watched a movie on the TV’s Netflix. You may be saying “cool, your hostel had Netflix!”. Let me clarify: the TV had a Roku and the Roku was signed in to someone else’s Netflix account. Note to all those who sign in to an account on a machine that’s not yours - you might want to log off before you leave. But thanks Nadia for letting me watch some shows!

After resting and sobering up (somewhat), I knew I needed to find some food so I didn’t hate myself the next morning. My hostel was situated on the edge of Chinatown and this whole time I knew I needed to get an authentic Asian meal from the district. After doing my research of places nearby, I found a Ramen place within two blocks and 4.5 stars.

Rukus was absolutely delicious and up until this point, it had been my favorite meal in Boston. The menu was not very large and neither was the restaurant. I ordered the vegan ramen bowl and was instantly comforted as it hit the spot that my cold bones were aching for. Thankfully I didn’t finish it all and was able to take the rest to-go and keep it in the hostel kitchen’s fridge.

sunday | feb. 24

By the time Sunday rolled around, I was getting pretty tired since I wasn’t sleeping well and the weather was getting progressively worse. I made sure I did all I could on Saturday because I knew it was supposed to rain all day on Sunday. And rain it did.

Taking my time on Sunday, I eventually got up and ventured a few blocks from my hostel to Mike & Patty’s sandwich shop. I found them as a very highly ranked restaurant on Google and saw they were famous for their breakfast sandwiches. I trekked through the freezing rain and made it to their tiny little storefront. This was the kind of place that you order your food to go, as all that was inside was the tiny 2 person kitchen, cashier stand and some seats along the window. Since I didn’t want to walk in the rain while holding my food, I opted to eat there.

I ordered the Breakfast Torta sandwich which consisted of two fried eggs, cheddar cheese, potatoes, black beans, salsa and avocado on a locally bad sesame torta roll. After taking the first bite, I understand all the hype of the Google reviews I read and forgot about the horrendous walk over I just made. It was an amazingly tasty sandwich. My only complaint was that it was pretty messy to eat, but then again, most breakfast sandwiches are.

The rain and wind was so bad when I left the restaurant that I decided to go back to my hostel and rest for a bit. I ended up watching a movie on Netflix and hoping for the rain to stop soon - it didn’t. I knew I didn’t want to spend all day in my room, so I eventually got ready and headed out again, this time just right across the street to the Metro station and hoped on a train to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

I had never heard of the museum before, but my friend recommended I go and I kept seeing advertisements for it on the subway and on the sides of buses. It was an interesting museum and not what I expected. I went there thinking it was an art museum, like the Met or National Gallery. But I learned it is actually the house of a lady (Isabella Stewart Gardner) who was a collector of worldly things back in the 19th century. She was so wealthy that she had this house constructed so that visitors could come and look at all the things she had collected on her travels… talk about life goals.

The building was three floors and the hallways and rooms surrounded this indoor courtyard with various plants and fountains. Everything that was found in the rooms was very eclectic and varied among type of art and centuries in which they were made. There were some things from the Gothic period, others from the Far East and coins and letters from the Civil War. The museum was a cool thing to do while trying to stay indoors, but I found it hard to follow the purpose of it all, since everything seemed to be very random. Someone who is more into history would probably have a better time visiting the museum.

When I had seen everything I wanted to at the museum, I walked to the Metro station to make my way back towards the city. Once I got back to Boston Common, I got off and decided a brewery would be a good way to spend some time indoors. I found myself at Democracy Brewing, just a few blocks away from the hostel.

Here I ordered a flight and a late lunch of whipped ricotta with homemade bagel chips. The beers were good, but not memorable, but the ricotta and chips were divine. I stayed here for a while until I noticed the rain had finally stopped.

I left and walked back to my hostel to get ready for dinner. The one thing I knew I wanted to do while in Boston was eat in Little Italy, or the North End as I learned Bostonians say. I had a reservation for 7 pm that night at Massimino’s. Before heading there, I had some time to kill so I stopped at a wine bar near my hostel called Sip. Sip was nice because they offered different size pours of their wines, so you could get a 2 oz pour first to make sure you like the wine.

Finally it was time to make my way to the North End. I took the subway and when I got there, I was again surprised to find the streets were dead and no one was out. I had heard North End was “poppin’” with nightlife and that younger people go out there. Maybe it’s because it was a Sunday evening or because of the rain, but there were no young people (or any people) out.

Massimino’s was everything I had wanted from Little Italy. It was definitely a mom and pop restaurant, where everyone seemed to be family and straight off the boat from Italy. I ordered a dish that was essentially eggplant parmesan rolled up and stuffed with ricotta cheese (I know, lots of ricotta this day). It came with a side of noodles and sauce. The dish was hands down the best Italian I’ve ever had. But my favorite thing wasn’t even the entree, it was the bread and oil that came out as I waited for my food. The oil must have been legit Italian EVOO and it was so pure it was almost clear. In the oil was a mixture of spices and chopped garlic. I wanted to drink that oil and even complemented the waiter and chef on how amazing it was. They told me it was a “family recipe” - even better.

After paying my respects for this heavenly food, I headed back towards the subway station, but I wasn’t ready to go back to my hostel. I still had hopes that maybe people would start coming out of the dark and the scene would come to life. I found a City Winery near the subway station and decided to post up and get a glass of wine. After looking at the wine menu, I immediately regretted my decision, as the cheapest glass of wine was $18. However, I stayed, drank my expensive wine and left. Unfortunately, the North End remained dead and I went home full and tired.

monday | feb. 25

Monday rolled around and it was time to leave the hostel and move to the Sheraton at the Hynes Convention Center. Monday’s breakfast consisted of the free one that the hostel provided and my leftover ramen from Saturday night. I worked some from the lobby and then got an Uber over to my hotel.

The rain that plagued Sunday brought a significant drop in temperature, as it was exceptionally cold outside now. So cold that after getting to my hotel and attempting to walk around Newbury St., I had to turn around and go back because the wind was knocking me over and I couldn’t feel my face.

I spent the rest of the day on and off my work computer and working out at the hotel gym. As the rest of my colleagues trickled into town, we met up for dinner across the street at a seafood restaurant. We then went to the Cheesecake Factory for late night drinks and chit-chat. And that was the last time I stepped foot outside for 48 hours.

tuesday | feb 26 & wednesday | feb 27

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in the convention center at our conference. I learned, networked, walked a lot and worked. Tuesday evening there was a reception at one of the hotels. The Hynes Convention Center is like nothing I’ve ever seen before and it’s probably due to the fact I live in the South. The center is a few different hotels, connected via a shopping mall and overpass walkways, all leading to the Convention Center. This way, you don’t have to physically go outside for anything. There was a Sheraton, Marriott and Westin, all in the same hallways as a Tiffany’s, Sephora, Barnes & Noble and many more shops. And of course, many different places to eat.

I was in Boston for almost an entire week and the one thing I learned from this experience - don’t go north in the winter.

boston.

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