madameblogalot

The Sunday that we were in Boston (well, technically, just outside of Boston) I learned that an old friend of mine lives an hour away in Rhode Island! I had no idea and even if I’d have known she was in RI, I would not have put together how close the two are! The people we stayed with are friends with my friend and she found out by reading my blog that we were in town!! Sad to say, we did not get to meet up, our schedules just did not allow for it during this trip, but we did talk on the phone. I know that if we ever make it back to the Northeast, she will be on my schedule!

On Tuesday, we had scheduled to follow the Freedom Trail. This is a path outlined through the city with red bricks (and red paint in some areas) that lead you to many of the most historical landmarks from the American Revolution. You can follow this on your own or hire a tour guide. I really was interested in the tour guide, but my friend told me that the best one, “Ben Franklin”, has now retired. Also, in paying for the guide, you have to go with a group. So as usual, we opted to follow the trail on our own. There is no free literature that corresponds with the walk, but there are several items for sale that you can read as you go along. We bought the cheapest -$3 for a regular travel brochure! or there are small books available for $7. Along the Freedom Trail you can see sites like Boston Common and the Massachusetts State House, the Old South Meeting House, Fanueil Hall, site of the Boston Massacre, Paul Revere’s House, the Old North Church, and the Bunker Hill Monument. The trail takes you on a 2.5 mile hike through the city and over the Charles River. It’s not a bad walk and I enjoyed getting to do this at our own pace. Some places along the route charge admission to enter.

After finishing the Trail Hike, we were HUNGRY (we took sandwiches and snacks with us each day so we could splurge on dinner!) We had read about a “famous pizzeria” located in Little Italy, but not on the main strip. We love pizza so we decided to give it a try. YUMMY! This “world famous since 1926″ pizza is cooked in a brick oven and made with natural ingredients and an imported yeast. It is GOOD! The crust is delicious! My kids and I split a plain extra-cheese pizza while my husband got the Giambatta-”a full three pounds of topping!” We ended up getting another small cheese pizza too!

After stuffing our bellies with Regina’s pizza, of course we had to head to Mike’s for cannolis and such. We tried different things each day, except for my husband who had a plain cannoli every day! I got the lobster tail cream puff but my daughter was disappointed that they were out of Boston Cream Pie so we got a Whoopie Pie instead. Son ordered a yellow cream cannoli. All good stuff. I think I liked the cream puff best.

We then headed back to Quincy Market to shop for souvenirs and see what was going on for St. Patrick’s Day. We had seen a Pipe and Drum Corp that we wanted to hear, but by the time we got back we had missed them. As it got dark, folks were lining up at the bars and we decided it was probably a good time to head home.