Welcome Anyway: A week in the Hub

I learned something last week (while I was working in Boston) – weird, I know. Anyway, did you know that Boston is called “The Hub?” I didn’t. Why is it called the Hub, you ask? Evidently, in 1858, Oliver Wendall Holmes referred to the Boston State House as the “Hub of the Solar System.” With a few modifications, the nickname stuck.

It happened to be Restaurant Week in Boston – meaning that participating restaurants offered 3-course dinners for a fixed price. So, of course, at least one night, my co-workers and I had to take advantage. The restaurant we originally intended to go to didn’t have any reservations until late, so we decided to just walk down Newbury Street (recommended by the hotel and the folks at the Herald) and find something. We found 29 Newbury Restaurant, and it was delicious! I think my co-workers were a little embarrassed that I was taking pictures of my food, but who cares, right?

Lobster Roll at Legal's

Seared scallops with oranges

Peach chicken with beets and a risotto cake

Anywho, my friend, Amanda, has been working in New York for the past several weeks, so we decided that she should fly to Boston Friday night and we’d be tourists over the weekend. In addition to the basic tourist-y stuff (you know, like the Freedom Trail), Amanda found a 3-hour chocolate tour – I’ll talk about this in a separate entry.

When I had packed to leave for Boston, weather.com said that temperatures were supposed to be upper-40’s/lower 50’s (which they were until Friday), so I packed accordingly. However, the weather on Saturday was in the 30’s. Since I wasn’t prepared for cold, I had to go shopping for a scarf on Friday. I know, poor me, yeah? Amanda and I started early on Saturday (since the only flight from Boston to Salt Lake on Sunday was at 6:30 a.m., we only had Saturday to play), and since it was soooo cold, I ended up buying some gloves, too. I hadn’t packed any sweaters, so I had to layer my shirts. All of this resulted in a color disaster.

Color fashionista - flashing my html symbols

Amanda and I walked the Freedom Trail, took our chocolate tour, froze, shopped, and ate at an Italian restaurant in the North End for dinner. The food at the restaurant came highly recommended, but the reviews we found online said the service was severely lacking. Maybe the reviews planted thoughts in our heads, but we found the service to be severely lacking. However, the food was delicious (I had the Pasta Bolognese)! When our waiter tried to give us the dessert menu, Amanda practically shouted “No dessert menu!” Our chocolate tour had satisfied our sweet tooth (and then some), and I really couldn’t contemplate even looking at a dessert. Boston is an amazing place – so much history.