from the desk: Spring Break in Boston: Day Two

view of downtown from Erica's apartment in East Boston

Here's a quick list of what Day Two consisted of:

The Paramount in Beacon Hill
Quincy Market
Faneuil Hall
Massachusetts State House
Bunker Hill Monument
Manicure
Margaritas and guacamole at Angela's Cafe
Drinks and Burgers at JM Curley

We started with a train ride and a walk to the quaint and be-bricked Beacon Hill to meet up with Emma for brunch at The Paramount. It was delicious- I got the chocolate chip pancakes. The deal is you order your food at the counter, pay and get your meal, and then sit down. It's a tiny place and I can easily see the line going out the door on a busy day.

We then walked about, past the State House (built in 1798) and other noteworthy places I didn't make a particular note for, to get the Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. There was a troupe of street performers starting up outside the Hall, so we watched them perform, dance, jump, beg and plead for money, before strolling through the Hall which had little souvenir shops, a cafe and ice cream place (I picked up a few postcards). The Hall was a marketplace and meeting house, built in 1742. There is a large statue of Sam Adams out front; he gave speeches there and there began rumblings about revolution.

Quincy Market (built 1824-26) had a lot of amazing looking food vendors. The biggest bagels, cookies, and sandwiches I've ever seen. We weren't hungry at all, so we just walked through, but I imagine everything there was delicious.

I am imagining Justin Timberlake singing "bring it on down to Bagelville!"

I love this picture of a man with his dog, city in the background.

We then hopped on the train and made our way to Charlestown to get to the Bunker Hill Monument (apparently they shot parts of The Town, which I have not seen, around this neighborhood). Erica and I planned on climbing the 294 stairs up to the top for the view, but the stairs were closed because they were icy. Womp. It was still a cool place to check out, though. It was the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution in 1775; the British won.

Then we went back to Erica's for a half hour break, before heading down the street for 10$ manicures (awesome), and meeting up with Emma again for a trip to the Food Network famous Angela's Cafe (also in East Boston, a ten minute walk from the airport stop on the blue line).

Angela's. Was. Awesome. It's a tiny little place; we ordered a pitcher of margaritas and had chips with guacamole. So good. Emma recognized the waiter from a show he was in (theater), so we were chatting with him for a bit. Erica saw Angela's on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives one day, and the next made her first trip to Angela's; they have a Guy poster and it looks like he added some of his own artwork to the wall.

For the rest of the evening, we made our way back to downtown, walked through the financial district and the theater district to get to Erica's favorite place for a burger, JM Curley. She is friends with the bartender (tip: good way to establish relationships is exchanging cupcakes for beer). Allie and Tracy met up with us there, and we had a great evening of drinking and eating tasty, tasty food. Best burger, for sure. It was great catching up with my good friends.