So Long City Summer

We've had a good run, City Summer.  Now it's time for the Adventure Summer portion of my vacation!  Thanks for the memories!  I can't wait for City Fall and picnics in the park!

I was pleasantly surprised when I found this picture on my phone!

Setting Sail on the Liberty Clipper

For our first dating anniversary JO planned a crazy day that included not one, but two boat rides.  Eleven years later, we finally made it back on one of those boats, the Liberty Clipper schooner.  I had been looking for something fun to do for my last city weekend (I'm traveling a lot for the next month) and thankfully, the weather cooperated. 

The Liberty sets sail from Long Wharf and offers a few rides a day, including a sunset cruise.  The ship is beautiful.  They can fit a lot of people on board so I recommend getting to check in about thirty minutes prior to the sailing time so you can find a good spot to sit.  Even with a lot of people on board the boat never seemed crowded so don't let that deter you.

 Once the ship gets out of the harbor, they hoist the sails!

The cruise takes you out to the airport and back and lasts two hours.  It's a lovely, peaceful two hours with great city views.

It was also really cool to watch the planes land.

And sometimes a "pirate ship" fires at you.

We had a great time, sipping prosecco and taking in the views.  We made an agreement that we would take this boat ride once a year from now on, and not wait 11 years!

The sail was over around 8:00 which left us lots of time to continue the evening.  We headed over to our favorite restaurant, The Marliave, for snacks and drinks.  Lucky for us, there were two seats at the bar.  We enjoyed some delicious snacks~ mac and cheese, rarebits, oysters, and chocolate truffles!

After dinner, I decided we should walk home.  The weather was perfect and the walk home is only a few miles.  We walked through the Common, past the State House, and up Charles Street (seriously the most beautiful street in the city) before crossing the Longfellow Bridge into Cambridge.

The whole night was a true city success and a perfect way to end my city summer!

Naco Taco

I'm sorry Naco Taco.  I'm sorry it has taken me so long to eat your yummy delicious tacos.  It's definitely my fault.  You had a few strange ingredients that were holding me back but I'm over that because your chipotle crema is actually perfectly balanced, and not crazy spicy like I thought it would be.  I get you now.  And I love your brightly colored patio with all of it's umbrellas and the taco truck.  Please don't hate me~ xoxo~ City Vicky!

Aeronaut Allston~ Again

We were back at Aeronaut Allston this past Friday.  I love everything about Aeronaut Allston!  

First, it's free.  No ticket needed.  No purchase required.  Feel free to bring your own food.  Just get there early, because there will be lines after 7:30.

Second, great music.  Aeronaut has put a lot of effort into getting some of the most talented local musicians to play.  

Third, it's a great place to just hang out and enjoy summer with a yummy local beer.

The 9:00 pm set was Dietrich Strause.  We've seen Struse perform with Sub Rosa at Passim but we've never seen him solo.  He was great and if I was home in August, I would be at Club Passim to see his show.  (If you are home, you should go.  Just saying.)  

Also, you should get out to Aeronaut Allston.  They will be open every Wednesday and Friday through September.  I'm hoping we can go back a few more times before the season ends.  

Remnant Brewing~ Again!

We visited Remnant Brewing again.  I'm sure you are surprised by this 😉

This time, we grabbed a pizza to enjoy on the patio.  Remnant Brewing has a BYOF policy (Bring Your Own Food) which is great.  A lot of times we'll go out for dinner after climbing, so why not bring dinner with us and enjoy the "patio living room" that Remnant provides.

We were lucky to get two spots on the patio, and made a make shift table with one of the chairs.  Added bonus~ there were a ton of puppies on the patio and I love puppies!

So, another shout out to Remnant Brewing for giving us a lovely space, and yummy drinks, to enjoy on summer nights!

Tourist Day 2018

From time to time, I think it's really important to have a "Tourist Day" and visit those places in your city that people come from all over the world to experience.  Sure, I love some of the quieter, out of the way places but there's a level of excitement and enthusiasm at those tourist spots that is really fun to experience. 

I started my Tourist Day at Faneuil Hall.  You can't get more touristy than Faneuil Hall!  I wondered around, stopping in some of the shops, before getting some food in the market.  There were recently lots of outdoor seating put in all over the place, including on the upper decks of the shopping areas.  I decided to take advantage and ate my lunch with a lovely, shaded view of all the fun down below. 

After lunch, I headed over to the Custom House Marriot Hotel.  Mondays through Thursdays at 2:00 pm the hotel allows visitors to pay a small fee ($7 that goes to charity) to visit the observation deck.  The deck gives you an amazing view of the waterfront and downtown Boston area.  I think it's actually better than the Skywalk at the Pru because you are outside, so it makes you feel like you are right there next to the tall buildings.  It's also neat to watch the cars drive into the tunnels that go under the city.  I also love the views of the water.  (I would still recommend the Pru for tourists because it's more centrally located and gives you a great arial map of the city.)

After that, I walked over to the Aquarium to look at the seals.  (Pro tourist tip~ watching the seals is free and they are always super cute.)

Then I headed back to Faneuil Hall to grab coffee and a cupcake at Magnolia Bakery.  I brought my afternoon snack to the park at the Rose Kennedy Greenway, grabbed a lounge chair by an umbrella, and read my book.  If we didn't have plans to go climbing, I probably would have stayed for a long, long time.  I love how the city has made a huge push to provide ample outdoor seating in public spaces.  People are really taking advantage of "outdoor livingrooms."

When you're surrounded by people visiting your city you are reminded how lucky you are to live there.

Lori McKenna at City Winery

Most of my recent concert goings can be traced back to one Sub Rosa show at Club Passim three years ago.  It's kind of like a nine degrees of separation thing.  Case in point.  I recently went to the Lori McKenna show at City Winery.  At the Sub Rosa show I really liked Mark Erelli's music so we checked out a few of his shows and I started following him on social media (as one does nowadays.)  He often posts about playing in Lori's band and I got intrigued.  I'd heard Lori McKenna's name, as I'm sure most of us have but I wasn't too familiar with her music.  When we saw that Lori was playing a show at Passim last winter we decided to check it out and I loved it.  So when Mark Erelli shared info about Lori's show at City Winery I knew I needed to go for three reasons: 

1.  She's a great artist

2.  City Winery is an awesome venue (more info on that soon)

3.  It was something to do in the city in the summer and I'm always looking for things to do during the summer.

I took the Green Line to Haymarket, a bit earlier than needed, and spent some time reading and enjoying the weather in one of the Rose Kennedy Greenway parks.  These parks are a new favorite of mine, and will be in heavy rotation next summer since they are just so close (less than ten minutes from Lechmere.)

I can't say enough good things about City Winery.  There is a large restaurant and bar (that would be great to go to even if you weren't going to a show) in the front.  The restaurant and lounge space is quite large, airy, and spacious~ something you don't always get in the city.  It's got a nice rustic winery decor thing happening and would definitely be a great place to go separate from a show.  The performance space is in the back and all you have to do is give your name.  No need to fuss with tickets or apps. 

The performance area is quite large and features long rows of four person tables.  It's assigned seating so if you are particular about where you want to sit it's best to get your tickets early.  JO had gotten me a nice seat in the middle of the middle row of tables and that was fine for me.  There are lots of options for food and a great wine selection (hence the winery thing.)

Not surprisingly, this show was sold out.  Lori McKenna is from the South Shore so when she plays local shows she draws a big crowd.  Her two sons have a band and they opened for their mom, which was as cute as it sounds.  It was so sweet to see Lori against the back wall, enjoying her sons performance.  She looked so proud!

Lori played a long set, and a lot of her new songs from her just released album The Tree.  She also played two of her big hits~ Humble and Kind and Girl Crush (she wrote this song for Little Big Town.)  Her music is just so beautifully written.  Her lyrics seem to come straight from her heart and soul (I know that sounds sappy, but it's true!) It was a beautiful night of music in a beautiful space.  I'm already making plans for more Lori McKenna shows and more City Winery shows!

Bike Riding, a Roof Deck, Rosebud, Nubar, and FreezePop~ Oh My!

We had another action packed day on Saturday. 

We took the Blue Bikes out for a ride along the Charles River.  The ride from the mall down to Harvard Square is quite nice.  There's a bike path for most of it which makes for a stress free experience.

After docking our bikes in Harvard Square I didn't feel like going home just yet so we headed over to Daedalus to see if we could get on the roof deck.  We were lucky enough to get two seats along the railing.  Daedalus added flowers boxes along the railing and lots of greenery to the deck and it looks so pretty.  This roof deck is consistently ranked in magazines for roof decks/outdoor dining and it's totally a worthy recognition.  The roof deck is so peaceful but you can still hear some street noise so you feel like you are in the city.  There are umbrellas and awnings for shade.  Last year they renovated slightly and added the railing seats for drinks only, which is awesome!  It's hard to get up on the deck, but if you are ever in the area I can't recommend it enough!

After drinks we headed home before heading out again.  This time we were going to Davis Square to check out an arts festival.  When we arrived, we couldn't find the festival and we weren't alone.  A lot of people were looking for it too.  Slightly disappointed, we decided to explore the Square and find a place to eat.  The weather was so nice and I really wanted to eat outside, which is actually a bit difficult in Davis.  We lucked out with a table on the patio of Rosebud American Kitchen and Bar.

Rosebud used to be a diner and was renovated a few years ago to turn it into a modern, rustic space with rich reds, reclaimed wood, and keeps the diner feel while also feeling like a fancy steakhouse with out the stuffiness.  Their menu features modern spins on southern comfort food.  We enjoyed the patio, although I didn't love the food.  That's all me though because you could tell the food was really well thought out and carefully prepared.  I'm just not that excited about that style of food.

We were heading to another 11:15 pm concert so we decided to kill time by walking from Davis to Harvard.  It was a perfect night for a walk and we enjoyed an ice cream stop at Honeycomb's.

It started raining as we approached Harvard Square (and we still had time to kill) so we ducked into Nubar at the Commander for a drink.  We got married at the Commander so any visit to the hotel is special.  We enjoyed sampling some cavas.

Finally, it was time to see FreezePop at The Sinclair.  FreezePop is a dance/techno/digital music band (I'm not doing them justice with that description but it's the best I can do because they are a bit indescribable.)  They sang an entire song about Tracy Gold, so it was a pretty awesome night!

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Jazz, Our Father's, Alden and Harlow, and Ali McGuirk~ All in One Night

My summer vacation is split in half this year.  The first half is all city fun, the second half is epic traveling to Canada and Paris.  Since the city part is going to go by fast, we need to have some pretty jam packed days to make up for it.  On Friday, we were going to see Ali McGuirk (more on that later) but her show didn't start until 11:15.  Normally this would bother me but instead it left us with a ton of time to do fun things!

We started by stopping by Pinocchio's Pizza in Harvard Square and grabbing some food to go.  Pinocchio's is this small pizza shop on a side street in the Square.  It's pretty famous and I remember going here when I was on a Lesley College overnight visit.  It's known for having lots of different slices available, plus subs and salads.  You can eat there, but we decided to take our food over to the courtyard at the Charles Hotel.

On Mondays and Fridays, the hotel hosts a free jazz concert presented by Berklee College of Music.  There was quite a crowd and it made for a fun picnic.  Remember my living room comment from a few posts ago~ well this was our living room for the night and it came with free jazz music 😃

                                                           

After dinner we still had a lot of time to kill so we walked along the river and over the pedestrian bridge where we stopped to take in the view.  This spot on the bridge is one of my favorite spots in the entire city.  You don't get this crazy Boston view, but you get the river surrounded by brick buildings and grassy fields.  And if you go during the sunset you get beautiful twinkling lights reflecting off the water and buildings.  It's a really peaceful spot and perfect for just stopping and relaxing.

We continued over the bridge to go to Our Father's.  This is the third time this summer I've ended up here and each time has been thoroughly enjoyable!

After Our Father's we still had time before the show (11:15 is so late) so we grabbed dessert at Alden and Harlow.

Finally, it was time for the show so we headed over to The Sinclair.  The Sinclair is a great venue right in Harvard Square.  It's set up like the House of Blues, just on a smaller scale and it's a really fun place to see a show.

We were there to see this great local act, Ali McGuirk.  This was her first headlining show at a venue like this, and I didn't want to miss it.  I've blogged about how awesome Ali is before, here and here.  Ali's music sounds like a combination of Norah Jones and Joss Stone.  It's very soulful, with a hint of 70s.  Her backup band is comprised of some very talented musicians that really add to the depth of the sound.  The show was amazing!  I could go on and on, but why don't you just watch this video (or visit her site for more videos) and then open iTunes, Spotify, or YouTube and                                              listen to her album "Slow Burn."

Out and About

The weather was absolutely gorgeous on Friday so I headed into Boston with no plan at all.  I ended up taking the train to Copley and sat on the steps of the Boston Public Library listening to the DJ set up on the corner of the street for a while.  It was fun to just sit outside, stare up at the big buildings and enjoy all of the city sounds.  Actually, one of the things I love most about the city is the noise.  I love the mixture of honks, beeps, laughter, foreign languages, trolleys, etc.  There's something comforting in knowing that there is so much going on at once and that you aren't alone in experiencing it all.

I also grabbed a coffee and hung out in the courtyard at the Pru.  This is definitely a place that JO and I do not visit enough.  It's beautiful, with lots of green space and patio tables, and beautiful tall buildings to look up at!  It's time to make Picnics at the Pru a thing!

Union Square~ Again!

We keep finding ourselves in Union Square, and that's not a bad thing.  After climbing the other night, we headed over to Gracie's Ice Cream for one of their famous toasted fluff cones!

Seriously, toasted fluff cones are a thing of genius and I've been quite hooked on them lately.  I never get ice cream cones, but adding a rim of toasted fluff to them make them irresistible! 

 And when you are already in Union, why not pop over to Remnant Brewing for a beer on the patio.

And then another visit to the Culture House!