All About Our Trip to Boston
In what seems like another life time ago, Bart and I lived in Boston and Ella was born there.
We moved when she was 17 days old and I haven’t been back to Boston since (Bart came back a decade ago for a conference).
This spring, as we were starting to think about fall break plans, I realized there was a direct flight from Salt Lake to Boston and that we had enough credit card points to cover all our plane tickets! Ten minutes of discussion and we decided it would be the perfect fall break trip!
Here’s what our trip to Boston looked like:
WEDNESDAY
We had a normal day of school and then as soon as Ella got home from school, we loaded up the car and headed out to the airport. We grabbed some dinner at the airport and then boarded our flight, landing in Boston pretty late. We collected our luggage and grabbed a taxi to take us to our hotel downtown.
THURSDAY
With the late night and the two hour time difference, everyone slept in until about 10:00 a.m. We got ready for the day and headed out to grab some breakfast. Our original plan had been to start at the Bunker Hill Monument, but it was closed because of the government shutdown, so we decided to start at the normal beginning of the Freedom Trail instead of doing it backward. So many people had raved about Tatte bakery and cafe and there was one not far from our hotel. We had a great breakfast (and realized that it was in the building Bart used to work at when we lived here!) and then headed toward Boston Commons. A couple of blocks in, we realized we needed some more layers so we headed back to the hotel, added some sweatshirts and warmer socks and headed back out.
We made it to Boston Commons and walked over to the Public Gardens to see the Make Way for Ducklings statues and then stopped at the Tadpole Playground in the Commons before starting out on the Freedom Trail.
We did the Freedom Trail up until the Old North Church (Ella gave us a full recitation of The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere outside it) and then we grabbed the T and went down to the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum. It was nice to sit down for a bit and be out of the cold, too!
The museum was stunning – I’d never been there before and my girls were really into it after reading The 500 Million Dollar Heist (plus Star had been Isabella Stewart Garden for our homeschool wax museum last month). We ended up staying longer than we’d planned and then wandered down through the Emerald Necklace and past Fenway Park and then to Back Bay where we got some hot chocolates and Bart bought a new coat.
Everyone was losing steam at this point (we hadn’t had a real meal since our very late breakfast around 11:00 a.m.) and we tried a few restaurants that were too busy to let us in. We walked past Atlantic Fish Co, which lots of people had recommended, and they said they could seat us right away (which surprised me because it was busy!). We got a great round table and ordered a bunch of things to share including a lobster roll and their famous clam chowder and every item we tried was fantastic!
Everyone was feeling much more cheerful now and we took the T back to the North End to get some cannolis for dessert. We passed a fun playground outside City Hall and we spent a good 20 or so minutes playing around there before going to Mike’s Pastry to get some treats. After waiting in line and getting our box of goodies (it’s cash only!), we walked back to our hotel and broke open the treats. Like when we’d lived here 15 years ago, the florentine cannoli was still by far the best. Everyone hung out for about an hour, playing games, reading, and goofing around before we all went to bed just after 11:00. It was a 24,000 step kind of day, so everyone was asleep in moments!
FRIDAY
I slept much better and woke up around 8:30. Everyone was still sleeping, so I grabbed my laptop and phone and sat on the bathroom floor working until about 9:30 when I took a shower and then everyone started to slowly wake up.
We walked over to Beacon Hill and had breakfast at Flour Cafe and Bakery, eating outside in the sunshine. It was much warmer today than it was yesterday! We ordered mostly real food but snagged a few pastries too and the famous sticky bun was just as a good as everyone promised (I wish they had still had a brown butter cinnamon roll which I absolutely would have ordered).
After breakfast, we wandered through the cute little streets until we go to Beacon Hill Bookstore and Cafe which everyone had said we had to go to and was even better than I’d imagined. It’s an old brownstone converted into a store with a tiny narrow staircase going between the floors, the most beautiful trim and paint and each room is more magical than the last. We sat around looking at books and enjoying ourselves for nearly an hour before we headed out.
The little girls really wanted to hit a playground, so we walked a few blocks and ended up at the playground by the Hatch Shell (Bart and I came here for a 4th of July concert in 2010, just a few weeks before we moved!) and the girls had the best time on the playground making up games and scrambling around. Eventually we started walking down the path, looking for a bathroom, and when I looked at a map, I realized we were directly across from the Boston Public Library. We took the bridge over the street and just as we were getting off on the other side, Tally realized she’d left her windbreaker at the park. Bart and the rest of the girls went ahead to the library while Tally and I went back to retrieve the jacket.
15 minutes later, we arrived at the library, everyone went to the bathroom and we headed to the children’s department. Ella went off to find an art book and I read some picture books aloud to the little girls and then read on my own while they looked at other books and then drew on the computer for a while.
Finally, we decided it was time to head out and took the train over to Cambridge to Harvard Square. Bart and three of the girls got pizza slices while Ani and I walked a bit further to get ramen. We met up at some outdoor tables and ate our dinners before getting some ice cream for dessert at Van Leeuwens (very good!) and wandering into the heart of Harvard. We walked around for a bit and the little girls asked if they could play a game in the grass so they did that while Bart, Ella, Ani and I sat on the library steps and chatted for a while. Eventually, we went over to where the little girls were and did some three legged races and wheelbarrow races for a while. The sun was going down now so we got back on the subway and headed back to Boston where we got off near Chinatown.
The girls got some boba and then we went into an Asian market and got some snacks, including pear/grape Oreos (trying new kinds of Oreos is one of our travel traditions). We walked back to our hotel where we broke out the snacks and played a few games. Once everyone was in their pjs with their teeth brushed, we did scripture reading and then I read aloud to everyone. It was especially fun because Bart was there with us (he usually doesn’t sit in our read aloud) and after we caught him up to speed on the plot of Code Name Kingfisher, we ended up finishing the whole book before going to bed.
SATURDAY
Everyone slept in again this morning (those teenagers need it and I don’t love for everyone to come home from a trip exhausted!). Once everyone was ready, we headed back to the North End for breakfast at Sunny Girl which I’d spotted on Google and had incredible reviews.
It was a long wait on a Saturday morning, but when our breakfast sandwiches came, we walked down to the water and ate at a picnic table and it was worth every moment of waiting. Everything was good, but the Artie Party that Bart and I both got was spectacularly good. Hands down, the best thing I ate on this trip.
We’d booked tickets for the Boston Tea Party Museum at 3:15, so we walked down to South Station and caught a subway to Quincy where Bart and I lived 15 years ago and where we brought Ella home to. Neither of us had been back in 15 years and it was surreal to get off at the station and walk the streets we’d walked a million times that year. The weather was perfect and we had a great time just wandering for a bit until it was time to catch the subway back for our timed tickets.
We got back to the city a little early, so we walked over to the Children’s Wharf Harborview park that Tally had been wanting to visit all week and they played there until it was time to go to the Tea Party Museum (just half a block away).
The Museum was fantastic – interactive and really fun for all of us. Afterward, we bought scones and cookies and drinks and walked across the bridge and ate them on the water while we decided where to go for dinner.
We usually eat Korean food on our family trips and there was a place by Fenway Park with excellent reviews so we took the subway over to that area and had a fun little dinner of sushi and favorite Korean dishes.
Our steps for the day were pretty low, so we decided to walk back to the hotel rather than than take the subway or an Uber with the promise that we’d stop at a Tatte for pastries partway home. We ended up hitting the Lindt store and a Trader Joe’s for a few snacks first and then got a few pastries to split at a Tatte by Boston Commons. After eating those there, we got back to our hotel and everyone got ready for bed so we could watch the BYU/Utah game (this was both the homecoming game and a huge rivalry game, so we didn’t want to miss it!).
We fully had our faces set for BYU to lose but they won it and we were all so fired up it was hard to turn off the lights and go to sleep!
SUNDAY
This was the first morning we set alarms and we got up around 7:45 so Bart and I could get ready. He went to the airport to pick up a rental car while I helped the girls get ready and finish packing up and then we took all the luggage down to the street to wait for Bart. The girls walked down the block to Kane’s to pick up some doughnuts for breakfast and Bart arrived a few minutes later and we drove down to Hingham to attend church.
This is the ward we went to when we lived in Boston and we were surprised to find that some of our friends still lived there (we hadn’t been sure if we’d know anyone after all this time!). It was a lovely service and we visited for a bit after the meeting before hopping in the car and driving down to Plymouth.
I’d worked in Plymouth when we lived in Boston (I was the elementary librarian for two schools in the district) and we parked in front of the main school I’d worked at and took some pictures before walking down to Plymouth Rock. The main thing about Plymouth Rock is how hilariously underwhelming it is and I enjoyed seeing the girls surprise at how much of a nothing it is before we went aboard the Mayflower II. We asked one of the guides to tell us about the ship and she told us a bunch of fun stories and facts before we went above decks and finished exploring.
After the Mayflower II, we went to lunch at the General Store (medium – it was fine but a little expensive for the quality and I wouldn’t go back) and then drove down to Plimoth Patuxet. It was a perfect fall day and we had the best time exploring, chatting with the staff who are in character and costume, and I bought an ornament.
We spent longer than we anticipated and eventually everyone went to the bathroom and we loaded back up in the car. We swung by my other elementary school on the way back to the highway and then it was time to drive to Vermont!
We listened to the first Emma M Lion on audiobook and I was delighted by how much Bart and my older girls enjoyed it (the little girls fell asleep pretty quickly on the drive!). So many people had warned us it wasn’t a great year for leaves but it was spectacularly beautiful as we drove back through Boston and then up into Vermont.
We arrived in Stowe around 7 p.m. and checked into our Airbnb before heading to the main street for dinner. Our original dinner plans (Butler’s Pantry) wouldn’t seat us with six people despite having many empty tables that – in my mind – could have been easily combined so we walked around the corner and went up to Grant’s which seated us quickly and was delicious and beautiful.
After dinner, we came back to the Airbnb and I worked on a puzzle that was on the shelf (it had no image on the box or inside, which made it a bit more tricky!) and the girls played around. Finally, we all went to bed, glad to have a little more space and real beds for everyone (the little girls had slept on a pull-out couch at The Dagny).
MONDAY
I woke up at 7:44 to go to the bathroom and while I was in there, my alarm, which I’d forgotten to turn off after yesterday, started going off. I turned it off and went out to the living room where Tally was listening to her audiobook. We chatted for a few minutes and I did some work on my phone feeling exhausted and five minutes later, she was asleep on the couch with a blanket. I quietly went back to our room and Bart was just getting out of bed. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t get some more sleep, so I turned on the sound machine and went back to sleep for nearly an hour.
Once I woke up, everyone else was getting up to and we got ready for the day. It was RAINY which we’d known to expect and we drove to Cold Hollow Cider Mill and Cafe. We had a great time looking at all the fun things in the shop, tasting cider, and reading about how they make it before getting in line to buy some cider donuts and a few souvenirs the girls wanted to spend their Good Traveler budget on. In the car, we were a little underwhelmed by the donuts and also ready for some real food, so we drove to Pie-casso which our friends in Boston had recommended.
After lunch, we drove to the Von Trapp Family Lodge which was so pretty and we walked around a bit until it started raining hard and we hopped back in the warm car. We drove up and over Smugglers’ Notch which was absurdly beautiful – probably the most beautiful drive of my life. I was literally gobsmacked by how pretty it was. Afterward, we came back over again and stopped at a grocery store to get some cider and powdered sugar so we could try to improve the donuts.
We came back to the house and I doctored up the doughnuts (better but still not noteworthy) and worked on my puzzle for a bit while the girls watched a movie.
Once the movie was done, we drove back to the main street and Bart picked up dinner at The Avocado Pit while the girls and I explored the local bookstore. Once the bookstore closed, Bart picked us up and we went back to the house to eat dinner and play games. We put the younger girls to bed and Ella, Bart, and I watched an episode of Castle before going to bed ourselves.
TUESDAY
I woke up around 7:45 and since everyone was still sleeping, I read my book in bed until about 8:45. When Ella woke up, we worked on the puzzle together until we finished it (just one piece missing!) and then quickly got ready and packed everything up for check out.
We had 10:15 tickets for the Ben & Jerry’s Factory tour and we were cutting it close. We parked and sprinted to the entrance, arriving with about 90 seconds to spare. It was a fun, quick tour with some samples and as we left, Ella said “This might have been my favorite part of the whole trip!” We loved the Flavor Graveyard and read every headstone for retired flavors before leaving. We stopped at a Lake Champlain Chocolate shop and picked up some treats and then got in the car to head back to Boston.
Several people had recommended stopping in Quechee at the Simon Pearce Glassblowing studio and having lunch. I tried to make a reservation online but it looked fully booked, unfortunately.
When we arrived, Bart got in line at the restaurant to see if they could seat us while the girls and I looked around. Within a few minutes, he came to tell us they had a table ready for us (huzzah!) and we sat down for an excellent meal. It was definitely one of the best meals of the trip, with the salmon and butternut squash bisque being the best. Afterward, we spent quite a bit of time watching the glassblowers work (my girls could have watched this all day!) Before heading back to the car for the rest of the drive.
We listened to the second Emma M Lion audiobook as we drove and we arrived at Orchard House in Concord around 3:45 p.m. We bought our tickets, watched the intro movie and then took the tour. None of my family had been before and I’d only been once with my mom 15 years ago when she said I couldn’t leave Boston without seeing it (I guess Ella HAD been, but she was 16 days old, so I don’t know if that counts).
Once our tour was done and we’d bought souvenirs, we headed to Walden Pond and saw Henry David Thorou’s little house (my girls had memorized several of his famous lines and passages for poetry this fall) and then walked down to the pond and skipped rocks and played until the park closed for the night.
We drove the hour or so back to Boston, Bart dropped us off at our hotel and he returned the rental car. At the point in the trip, we were all fully worn out so we decided to just eat dinner at the hotel which was super convenient and surprisingly decent. After dinner, everyone got ready for bed and the girls played some wild wrestling games while Bart played chess and I read my book. Eventually, we had scriptures and family prayer and everyone went to bed for what turned out to be a fairly terrible night’s sleep for most of us before we got up, packed everything and took the shuttle to the airport to fly home.
What a trip!
Absolutely nothing could improve those donuts. We tossed ours. We were just in Stowe in September and they were horrible. You should’ve got the maple creemee there! Amazing. So glad you got to eat at Simon Pearce. You got lucky. A must place to eat in Quechee!
What a great trip. Boston plus Stowe? A beautiful fall vacation. The donuts in Stowe were fine, but it is the cider jelly that I still think about. Thank you for sharing your adventures and the links!
My childhood vacation was skiing at Smuggler’s Notch every year. It is absolutely heaven in my head. So I love that you mentioned it! We were there in winter, we went once in Summer as well, so we missed the leaves but it was still beautiful. As well as the Ben and Jerry’s factory- that was always a favorite!
I’ve never been to Boston though and the rest of your trip sounds fun and interesting.