to BAHSTIN and back

being FUNemployed has its perks, i suppose. it definitely allows me to get a fair amount of traveling in--and last week i traipsed across the awesome city of boston, massachusetts with two of my dearest friends. from dc, we took a nine hour megabus ride up route 95 and arrived in the land of red sox and chowdah.

i was surprisingly sprightly as we pulled into boston south station around 7am. we took the t to the world trade center stop (which consisted of a strange underground electric bussy thingy that i wouldn't shut up about) and checked our bags into our hotel. we got a wonderful breakfast recommendation from the concierge, and i noshed on one of the best bacon, egg and cheese muffins ever. we stocked up on red sox gear and chatted up the manager of the shop. the bostonians so far were so sweet, funny and hospitable. after breakfast i got a call that we could check into the hotel, so we freshened up in our room (which had a breathtaking view of boston harbor from seventeen (!) floors up) before we took on the city for the day.

FIRST we hit up boston common and the public gardens, which was awesome in the bright, crisp sunlight. we took pictures with the ducklings from the book "make way for ducklings," which erin introduced to us. i felt so carefree just hanging with my buds and experiencing a place i've never been. NEXT UP was the KENMOAR t station...home of fenway park (!) for a red sox game against the toronto blue jays. we were truly at baseball mecca. i'm not a huge baseball fan, but i know the importance of fenway to the game...i def became a red sox fan that day. we indulged in a veritable smorgasbord of ballpark food--corndogs, fried dough, pretzels and MONSTER NACHOS. and guess what...the sox WON 4-1! everyone was so excited and in high spirits as we headed towards the t stop, but the crowds (and cold, windy weather) led us to detour to dunkin donuts where i got a tasty hazelnut hot chocolate. warmed up, we walked around town before heading back to the hotel to scout out places for dinner.

somewhere along the way, we decided that picking up a couple cases of beer would be a GREAT idea. as we were waltzing back into the hotel with our bags o' booze, a man standing near the elevators stopped us and said that we weren't allowed to bring liquor into the hotels rooms, and that we had to check it :/ we were kinda pissed, to say the least. we also wasted an hour trying to come up with oceans eleven style plans to smuggle it back into the room. to no avail haha. we're such goodie two shoes :) dinner was next, at the legal sea foods test kitchen. my chowdah was just aight, and when i realized that i was falling asleep in my dessert, i knew it was time to call it a night. after a night cap of teenage girly quizzes we all passed out.

our SECOND DAY consisted of eating everything in sight at quincy market and lurching the freedom trail. we rode the t some more, quietly giggling at the quintessentially boston accents of the train conductors and trying not to look too touristy. we visited the finish line of the boston marathon (which was kicking off the next day) and got ice cream cones from an ice cream truck parked on the side of the street. we lurched chinatown before dinner at beehive, this TOTAL hipster joint that my mom thought looked interesting. the food was delicious, and just what the doctor ordered before another nine hour ride back to dc.

SUCH A FUN WEEKEND with my girlies and i can't wait to conquer another locale with them!

oh atlanta, baby

hotlanta is legit. last week i accompanied my wonderful wife on her business trip to the durrrty souf. even though my nose was deeply buried in my pop-out map a few times, i felt like i learned the city pretty well. we stayed in olympic centennial park in the heart of downtown, and i explored nonstop. equipped with my atlanta citypass (entry into FIVE attractions) and marta 3 day pass (unlimited train and bus!) i zoomed around town, pretending to be a local. in fact, i was asked more than once for directions *slightly smug smile*

DAY ONE consisted of trekking the humongous hartsfield–jackson atlanta international airport. finally we made it to the marta station and to our stop, peachtree center. after a fifteen minute walk lugging our bags, we arrived at our hotel and i vegged out for the night. my first ROOM SERVICE experience was crazycakes. it felt weird having my dinner delivered to me on a silver platter :/

DAY TWO was beautiful and sunny. after hiking buckhead to get to the atlanta history center, i got to tour swan house, this 19th century revival mansion (breathtaking!) and i saw exhibits on eudora wealty, folk art and the centennial olympics in atlanta. i then decided to hit up "little five points" or "L5P" (as the locals supposedly call it). guidebooks call it atlanta's premier "bohemian" neighborhood...so i knew i'd find lots o' thrifting and skinny jeans clad/rayban wearing hipsters. CHECK and CHECK. i loved it. it was so nice just walking around in the sun--people watching, stopping into shops and listening to the street musicians. IWANNAGOBACKNOW.

DAY THREE was pretty much nonstop sightseeing. first was my tour of the cnn headquarters where i was amused by this guy and his lurchiness of robin meade; NEXT was the aquarium where i got an ABOVE the scenes tour of all the exhibits. it was awesome. i love sea creatures. FINALLY was the high art museum, where i was completely immersed in the henri cartier-bresson exhibit that stretched an entire floor of the museum. his street photography was legit. it made me long for my old pentax k1000. i stopped by the gift shop and bought a book called "50 photographers you should know" and a really bizarre postcard of leo dicaprio cradling a swan bjork-style. hmm. after these marathons of sights, my feet felt like they were about to fall off, so i schlepped back to the hotel and ate onion rings. my night was spent almost falling out of a taxi cab (thanks to a RUDEASS cabbie) eating delish chicken and waffles at gladys knight's/ron winan's chicken and waffles and catching up on all the charlie sheen crazy tour 2k11.

DAY FOUR was slightly more relaxed. i spent the morning/early afternoon at the martin luther king historic site. the exhibit of his life story was incredibly moving and can't imagine how life would be today if he hadn't lived and made such an impact. i am his dream and i'm so appreciative of who he was. late afternoon consisted of WORLD OF COCA COLA. it was awesome sauce and erin and i got to learn the history of coke, take a picture with the coke POLAR BEAR and taste test SIXTY FOUR different flavors of the coke family. insanity. THAT NIGHT we finally made it to ludacris' restaurant STRAITS. it was raining cats and dogs, but the trek was worth it. we gorged ourselves with samosas, garlic noodles, sweet potato hush puppies, kung pao lollipops and a "french kiss" chocolate cake. all that, PLUS a sexyass justin timberlake sexyback era waiter. EPIC day.

our LAST DAY was spent souvenir shopping and our getting last glimpses of atlanta this time around. it was both an exhausting and awesome and i can't wait to go back and drink sweet tea in the sun and walk the streets again.