Happy Thursday, friends!!! I'm back from a trip to Boston with girlfriends feeling refreshed and a little dazed after jumping right back into "real life" after a few days of eating, shopping, strolling and laughing more than I do the rest of the year combined :)
I'm not going to lie - heading out of town for 3.5 days for a girls trip is not an easy feat... I have to use 3 of my personal days, make sub plans, play classroom catch-up when I get back to say nothing of leaving all of the parenting/after school activity duties to Dave. I'll even admit that I always get pretty anxious when leaving my family BUT I'm here to tell you that it's SO worth it! Uninterrupted girl time has proven to be SO GOOD for the soul.
We talked for YEARS about traveling together but Manda was never able to go - after she passed away we made it a priority to do this yearly and it's a tradition that I hope continues until we're old and gray... well... probably not gray but you get the point :)
If you want alllll the details make sure to head to Shay's blog where she gives y'all the rundown on where we stayed and ate... I'm going to just share a brief little overview...
We flew out early Sunday morning and arrived in Boston around lunch time. We dropped our bags in our hotel rooms and headed out in search of food. We ended up at Eataly and it was AMAZING!!! I feel like incredible food was a theme of this trip and I'm not mad about it :)
We hit the mall for some shopping...
... explored a bit, had a super fun happy hour and then got changed for dinner. We all agreed to go fun fancy and sequins were the name of the game.
Dinner was DELICIOUS but how could it not be when this was the appetizer...
After a big meal and a big day of travel we called it a night and met up the next morning for a duck boat tour.
Our guide was fantastic and we learned and saw a lot in the couple of hours we were on the duck. I'd been on a tour before but this guide was EXTRA great and they let several people drive the boat on the water which was fun. It was a great way to see lots of parts of the city and get some really interesting historical facts along the way.
After the tour we made our way to Cambridge to check out Harvard and grab some lunch.
The campus was INSANELY beautiful and I felt like we ooohed and aaahed around every corner.
The foliage was gorgeous and the weather was perfect.
We stopped at a restaurant I can't remember the name of for lunch and I shared this pasta and a burger with Jeni and y'all... those are apples on top of pumpkin ravioli. It almost tasted like dessert and was SO GOOD!!!
After Harvard we walked through Beacon Hill and made our way through some gorgeous neighborhoods back to the hotel with a dessert pitstop and close-call-squirrel-incident along the way :)
We headed to dinner and this is the stop where I had the risotto that I literally can't stop thinking about. Y'all. I would go back to Boston JUST to eat this risotto at Bostonia Public House. No joke.
On Tuesday morning it wasn't actually that cold BUT it was raining and so I committed to the beanie and rain jacket after we all met for coffee we headed to the North End for our food tour.
I told you there was going to be a lot of food :)
Our first stop was BenCotto where we had pumpkin ravioli that is tied for best meal with the risotto from the night before which says A LOT. I'm not a huge pumpkin person but this was AMAZING!!! The pizza there was also incredible. Other stops included a cannoli at Modern, a lobster roll, pastrami sandwich, gourmet nuts, etc. The tour took us all throughout the North End and incorporated a lot of the history of the neighborhood as well as great food.
The rain cramped some of our style for the late afternoon but we still managed to have a great time together as evidenced by my zero pictures.
After dinner Jeni, Meagan and I weren't ready to head back to the hotel quite yet so we Uber'd over to a reflexology place for an hour of HEAVEN. There were a couple of sketchy moments but we laughed so hard and left relaxed, rubbed down and with HAPPY feet!
Wednesday morning came EARLY but look at that sunrise over the water from our hotel room!
And just like that the trip was over!!!
I can't even begin to tell you how much fun this trip was and how great it was to have time for laughing and talking and connecting with each other. We talked multiple times about how we could have fun ANYWHERE including 10 minutes down the road but getting to see and experience Boston together was something I'll never forget! If you've been considering a girl's trip DO IT!!! Make it local. Make it one night. Make it EASY... but MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!
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Oh my goodness!! This was one of the best trips I've ever been on. I love you ladies so much!!! Every picture makes me so HAPPY!!!!
ReplyDeleteME TOO!!! Ready for next year :)
DeleteSO. MANY. LAUGHS. Love you girls, love our memories, and can hardly wait until next year!!!
ReplyDeleteSO MANY!!! :)
DeleteWhat an amazing group of friends you have Andrea!
ReplyDeleteWould you mind sharing approx what the cost for a trip like that would be per person? Its something I would love to do one day. I know you can book different hotels etc but on average what would one work on? - Sarah
Hey! That's a great question - Shay plans out the main things for us (flights, hotel, transportation, tours, etc.) throughout the year and then we all PayPal her... so I'd have to go back through my account and add it up :) Shay may be able to give you a better answer than that but I will say it's helpful to not have to pay for everything at once!
DeleteI did the math but it wouldnt post. Google is a great tool. Most restaurants show menu on website with prices, museums always show prices.
DeleteI estimated this trip roughly at $1845 (minus transportation, snacks, shopping, etc.)
What a fun getaway!
ReplyDeleteYa'll are definitely blessed to have each other .The pictures make me smile because ya'll are so happy and having so much fun!
ReplyDeleteWe definitely don't take our friendship for granted!
ReplyDeleteSarah- New Englander here. Boston in particular is an expensive city, so likely this trip was a bit more expensive. Hotels here (especially where they stayed) are at least $100/night. Marriott in prime location, they likely spent around $200 a night min. (although there are discount websites to book on and if book way in advance can get some deals).
ReplyDeleteFlights: depends where you travel from. Can get non-stop DFW to Boston Logan, so say, again booked early, around $600-$800 round trip.
Those will be most expensive. Dining can be expensive here, but plenty of cheaper options as well. As with anywhere, alcohol is where the prices start to really climb. ~$60 per person for nice meal and drink.
Duck boat tour here is pretty expensive, around $40. Tons of other museums, typically around $20 per person, always ask about discounts. I've noticed not as many places do AAA discounts anymore.
Food tours typically run more expensive ~$65 per person, and added fees if opt for alcohol.
So say 4 days/nights: $600 flight, $200/night x 4 nights hotel = $1400. (if want rental car ~$400/week for smaller cars. if no cars, figure costs for uber/lyft).
Dining: say $60 x 4 dinners = $240
Say lunch ~$20 x 4 = $80
coffee (in Boston is expensive! $4 for iced coffee aorund here) x 4 = $20
meals: $340
Museums/sightseeing: $40 (duck) + $65 (food tour) = $105 (Note: Harvard offers free tours year round to tourists). (museums here are ~$25 adults, JFK museum ($14 adult).
Total (minus transportation, snacks, shopping, etc. rough estimate): $1400 + $340 + $105 = $1845.
Google is your friend! Museum, tour websites always post hours of operation and prices, including any discounts they would offer. Most restaurants have menus online with prices, or you can ask to see a menu before being seated.
How fun! I'm so glad y'all had such a great trip, thanks for taking us along! I started doing this with my best friend two years ago, and we started off with a bang in Dallas...who knew the interstates were so crazy? The next year we did Nashville just for one day, and then we did a little one night trip a few months later, in a town called Jackson, about an hour down the road from us. This past summer we went to Bentonville, Arkansas, thanks to Kelly Stamps inspiring me, and we loved it! I'm working on a trip for us in December. If y'all ever come to Memphis, I can help you out with fun things to do and awesome places to eat! That year we did Dallas, we went to McKinney for the day, to the square, and loved it, too. That was our favorite trip yet.
ReplyDeleteSo much fun! I do a similar trip with my college roommates each year. I agree it is 100% worth the time + money. w
ReplyDeleteIt all looks so fun; I really want that chocolate dessert! All the food looks so yummy.
ReplyDeleteLooks like y'all had a wonderful time!!!
ReplyDeletewww.keldeniseblogs.com