Day one – we took an Uber to the airport and were ridiculously early but then again we never fly out of Tally.

Flight to Atlanta was fine; the seats we had were comfy.

Atlanta airport was packed of course. We had a shorter layover than anticipated but squeezed in some beer and some food at a place. Flight to Boston was fine. Ash was a couple rows up, I had an aisle, and the kids were behind me. We had the Comfort seats and man, what a difference that makes! Another few inches of leg room plus simply better chairs equals a better flight.

Once we got to the Boston airport, we took a bus that did manage to get us pretty close to where we were staying in Chinatown, so we walked. Got our stuff up the myriad steps – as always; we somehow always manage to find places upstairs – and got settled. All but Isaac walked the short distance to the edge of Boston Commons where we sat in a beer garden for a couple. Dakota had nachos which were, honestly, better than half the food we had on this trip. After, we went to Democracy Brewing which, I said to Dakota while we waited, felt like a place with a high likelihood of diacetyl (buttered popcorn off flavor) but you know, it actually did not. Their Worker’s Pint was rather likeable. We finished there and called it a night!

The Boston airbnb wasn’t bad, space-wise, but our bed was awful! It literally hurt my hip to the point it felt like a bruise. Ugh. Anyway, we set out early the next morning to walk to the USS Constitution. I believe it was a little over 1.5 miles so it was quite the trek. We followed some of the Freedom Trail on the way but not the whole thing. Once there, we waited for the museum to open and did that, which was actually pretty neat and interactive. Didn’t know that “Old Ironsides” was called that because the Live oak trees it was made from just bounced off the incoming cannon balls. And they harvested those trees from Georgia! Once done in that part, the ship itself was open so we got to go aboard and below, which was cool but the WW2 ship harbored beside it was also a neat explore, and it came with the tour, essentially.

Once we finished with that activity, it was time to go to the original Regina’s pizza, which ranked a whopping 9.1 on the Dave Portnoy One Bite scale. And indeed, we thought the pizza was pretty good, though maybe not THE best. I liked the atmosphere and it was cool that their sign said they’d been there 100 years. Since it was in the Italian district, we popped over to a well-known cannoli place. Stopped at a couple benches by a branch of the library and ate them and yeah, VERY good. I don’t think anyone besides me had eaten one before! I have my dad to thank for that though.

Since we always pack a lot in, we ended up going to a brewery called Lamplighter, which had a great Czech pilsner. We got one and then – sadness! – the bartender moved the “sold out” magnet onto the marquee. Aww. However, we waited around just long enough for another keg to magically appear, and got another. Close by was Portico brewing, whose shining quality were the Lego tap handles. They also had little bowls of Legos so Isaac did that for a bit, while the kids also played on some old game systems. The rest of that day, I’m pretty sure, consisted of going back to the airbnb, ordering General Tsos and pork dumplings from a nearby place, and watching either a movie or soccer, I cannot recall. The couch in that place left much to be desired and I took the hit a couple times and laid on the ground so everyone could squeeze in!

The next day, we planned to walk the Freedom Trail up to the point were we’d seen it until the end, which would be the Constitution.  It wasn’t a bad walk but Isaac had something in his craw about Paul Revere and it didn’t make any sense to us, lol.

I had booked tickets to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum, because I’d seen a video about her collection and how it was in her actual house, which was huge. I think we all enjoyed that quite a bit. In fact, Isaac said that was the best thing he’d done so far. I found a lot of the artwork inspiring.

 We ended up having lunch at a place called Mighty Squirrel, which had some pretty good beer. The food was good too; I had my first lobster roll! Omg, it was really tasty. I didn’t realize you could get them cold or hot and this place’s was cold. But man, whatever seasoning and herbs they put in the mayo dressing was great. I also got roasted carrots, which were so tasty. That place was right near Fenway so we took a walk around it, went into the Bleacher Bar where you can supposedly, in the men’s bathroom anyway, use the bathroom while looking out on the field. It wasn’t as impressive as touted, reported the menfolk. After walking around there, we searched for a place to go and Ubered to Lord Hobo. Unfortunately, Uber and maps don’t talk to one another well and that location was permanently closed!  In trying to make the best out of a bad situation, we went to the original Lamplighter location, which wasn’t far. Had 2 there then walked to a Target in hopes of finding some food for the kids and beer. They didn’t sell any but the nice lady I asked told me about a close by liquor store. Up until that point we had been in places that felt relatively safe. The area we found ourselves in was a little rough but no one bothered us. In the liquor store they made you leave bags at the front so Ash went back to look and Isaac and I stayed in the front. A guy brought his bike in and the woman there told him no. He ignored her and came inside and that lady told the cashiers not to serve him. I thought it was amusing. We actually found a lot of decent beer there so we grabbed that and Ubered home.

The following day, we were all a little worse for wear; I think the massive amount of walking was catching up. We walked back to Quincy Market, which was right past the site of where the Boston Massacre began, so that was neat. We didn’t find anything to eat in the market and so we waited in a Tree House beer garden for the Sam Adams Taproom to open. Sadly, as we went to queue at 11, it was already lined up around the corner! So, the Scottish soccer team hadn’t made a World Cup since something like the 90s so a gazillion Scots, complete in their kilts, had descended upon Boston. Angry and disappointed, we walked away and ended up at the Bell in Hand tavern, which is purportedly the oldest contiunously running tavern in Boston, though I feel like a lot of places claim that. The food was actually decent, as well as the beer. However, this was – as it sometimes happens – one of those trip days where people reach a breaking point. Isaac was being a little petulant and Ash and I had had enough. We went home and went our separate ways for a while. I know I took a little nap, because the nights of bad sleep were mounting up. Later on, just Ash and I left and went to both Notch and Widowmaker. Notch was good but not as good as we’d hoped. They had mostly Czech and German styles but nothing blew us away. Widowmaker had a great kolsch (which we bought cans of) but it was partnered with an Indian restaurant and I’m sorry but the smell of that food alone is just…not for me. I find it quite repulsive. We Ubered to a Whole Foods and got some snacks for the kids, as well as a pizza. We spent that evening back at the airbnb, watching more World Cup, which has been a through-line of the whole trip.

Tomorrow would be travel day but for now, that’s all!