The Day After the Marathon in the City

Marathon Monday is such an amazing day in Boston.  The energy, the crowds, the determination, the scenes that bring you to tears all combine to make a magical day in the city.  Usually I head in to Boston to watch the marathon, but I had too much to do so I caught the marathon on tv.  I was feeling a bit down about missing out on all the excitement so I headed in to the city to enjoy the post marathon fun the next day.

The day after the marathon is also a really fun day to be in the city.  All the runners who have hung around are out and about, wearing their jackets and medals.  There are more people on the streets, but no crazy crowds.  This year a lot of the runners were all in a line outside of the Adidas store getting their jackets embroidered with their finish times.  I wandered down Newbury and Boylston running errands, and then made my way to Piattini Cafe for a little lunch.  Piattini, with it's quaint atmosphere, super patio, and great location make it my go to for city lunches!

It was a beautiful day to be out and about in the city and the perfect way to kick off April Vacation!

Purgatory Chasm

Some families relax on holidays, ours goes for a hike!  We checked our Purgatory Chasm before Easter dinner.  I can't wait to get hiking!

The Patio at Dante

With vacation just two days away, the sun shining, and temps in the 80s, I knew we had to find a seat on a patio somewhere.  We ventured over to the Kendall waterfront, in hopes that we would be lucky enough to get seats at the patio at Dante.

The patio has lots of tables and an outdoor bar with about 15 seats.  But most importantly, the patio has epic views of the Boston skyline.

We enjoyed a few glasses of prosecco, realized that the selfie-game is serious, and thought about all the adventures we have in store.  I've said this before, but we don't take adventure of the river area enough!  Walking home along the Charles, with the beautiful city views, was a great feeling!

A4 Arcade

Last week I was having major Sunday Blues mixed with a heavy dose of procrastination.  I could see my school work on the table but I just couldn't face it.  MCAS was staring me down and I was feeling a bit defeated.  I decided we needed to try to get into A4 Arcade!

We headed down around 5:00 and miraculously got in!  We got our wristbands, pushed our way through the secret "freezer" door and found the Sunday Blues disappearing with every ping pong game and skeet ball game.

After checking out the games we grabbed two seats at the bar to try out one of the famous "vessel" drinks.  I mean, who doesn't want to drink out of a R2D2?

Taranta

March Madness didn't end the way I wanted it to, but I did win our March Madness bet!  I was in dire need of a city night so I decided to cash in on my victory with dinner at Taranta in the North End.  Taranta is not your traditional North End Italian restaurant.  Rather, it's a fusion between Peruvian and Italian food.

I was a little disappointed to have been seated in the first floor dining room.  The upstairs dining room is much nicer, in my opinion.  There's nothing wrong with the first floor, but it's a bit brighter with less than stellar views.  It didn't affect the meal, but I will definitely always ask to be seated upstairs from now on.  I was a bit disappointed in the wine by the glass choices as well.  I didn't like either of the reds we ordered.

Now, for the great stuff.  The food is absolutely delicious.  The mussels are out of this world.  The marsala wine sauce with roasted shallots and pancetta make for a perfect combination.  I got the baked pasta~ fusili pasta, in a tomato sauce, with onions and sausage.  It's basically like a gourmet street meat from Fenway!  JO got the lobster ravioli!  Delicious!

We had a really lovely night out in the city and it was just what I needed as I headed into April, and MCAS season!

Mini-Vacation to Universal

We took a mid-March mini vacation to Universal Studios in Florida with JO's family.  I wish we could do this every year.  Having a little trip to break up March was pretty awesome!  After the snowstorms and cold weather, it was so nice to enjoy the sunny weather.  It never got too hot which made it great weather for an amusement park.

I'm not much of an amusement park person but Universal and Adventure Island were really fun.  The parks aren't too big, pretty easy to get around, and weren't overly crowded.  Having the Express Pass helped with the lines but other than a few rides, most lines weren't too bad.  We also stayed on property, at Royal Pacific, so getting to the parks was really easy.  Our hotel was great, although we didn't get to hang out there too much.  Universal is going to open Nintendo Land in a few years, so I'm sure we'll be back.

Lunch at Animal Kingdom

Harry Potter World was the best

Love a theme breakfest

I had to get a wand!

Don't let the dinosaurs get you!

I can't believe I willingly went on the Hulk!  I survived!

You will get SOAKED

So glad I didn't go on this ride

Dinner at Mythos

I loved this ride

Loved "casting" spells like this one with my wand

March Madness at Parlor Sports

I usually take the first day of March Madness off, head to Parlor Sports at noon, and watch basketball for hours upon hours.  This year I couldn't take the day off and it bothered me so much.  When school was over, I raced home, grabbed my Husky hat, and headed over to Parlor Sports.  I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get in, but in a March Madness Miracle, there was one seat left at the bar.  I settled in and got some high fives from our favorite bartender, before watching three straight hours of madness.  JO was even able to join me, which was awesome!

Moona

Oh Moona, I love you!  I really, really do!  Moona is a Mediterranean tapas restaurant that opened up in our neighborhood back in November.  It's become really popular and you must have a reservation if you want to go between six and eight.  Since our first visit back in November, I've gone two more times.

JO took me to Moona for my birthday and we got a great table near the windows for people watching with dinner.  The portions are small, even for a tapas style restaurant, but the food is so good that it's worth it.  We got some kind of flaming cheese thing for dessert with orange honey and wow!  It was dessert perfection!

Just a few weeks ago, when my friend wanted to come down for dinner I suggested Moona.  We started with the hummus and olive platter, the mussels (delicious), chicken rolls, and brussels sprouts.  It was such a great place to hang out and catch up with a good friend over delicious food and yummy wine!

Artifact~ Boston Ballet

When I started hearing the hype about Artifact, I knew I had to go.  A huge production, almost never performed because of it's huge set.  I was able to get tickets to the last day of the production.  I grabbed a glass of champagne and settled into my seat, not sure what I was going to see.

Wow!  I'm still not sure what I saw but it was amazing and thought provoking and crazy.  Between the man with the megaphone and the lady in the gray dress chanting about things you thought I saw, that I saw, did you see, to crazy sets, to beautiful, haunting dancing I loved every minute.  I wish I had gotten tickets to see this on multiple nights because there was so much to take in.

More Club Passim Fun

Obviously I love Club Passim.  That's pretty clear by now.  Over the past few months we had the chance to go to other shows.

First up, I went to the Sam Smith, of Dirty Vegas fame, show.   This was a funny show because I was pretty much the only local in the audience.  Apparently Steve Smith, and his opening act Aldous Collins Band, live and perform a lot on the South Shore.  I really loved the opening act.  They reminded me a bit of Dispatch.  Really fun music that has lots of opportunities for crowd participation.  Steve Smith didn't disappoint either.  He really enjoyed his drum machine :-)  His music was really well written and lovely to listen to.

In March, JO and I went to see Kristen Delmhorst.  We discovered Kris last year at the Sub Rosa show and have been big fans ever since.  Her music is just so lovely to listen to and is a perfect match for Club Passim.  She doesn't perform that often so she's always excited about the Passim shows.