Garrett travel guide: Beantown edition

We just got back from Boston, MA - kudos for another great interview, Kevin! We took Caroline with us this trip. She was such a trooper. She had her cranky moments, but who doesn't? The girl goes and goes and goes. And then she (sometimes) crashes. It's really quite amazing. The weather was wonderful for our weekend - upper 40s and lower 50s during the day, which is unheard of this time of year in Boston.

We started out Saturday morning by heading over to the Samuel Adams brewery. We love Sam Adams. We got to sample an Ale, the Winter Lager, and the Double Bock. We highly recommend the Winter Lager. We headed down to Fanueil Hall and found some delicious seafood at McCormick and Schmick's. Then we walked along the Freedom Trail.

Sunday we went back down to the Qunicy Market area and hopped on a bus tour (they called it a "trolley"). We got off in the North End and found a fantastic, kid-friendly Italian restaurant called Antico Forno. (The North End is Boston's "Little Italy".) The food was delicious, the setting was cozy, and the staff doted on Caroline. We spent some more time touring on the bus and then went to the Boston Children's Museum. Caroline had a great time in their play area and we had a great time watching her. She completely crashed in her stroller on the way to our dinner destination - Legal Seafood.

Monday was girls' day since Kevin had his interview. Caroline and I rode the subway (called the "T") and went to the New England Aquarium. That was tons of fun - they have 4 types of penguins, 2 types of seals, and a gigantic ocean tank in the middle with a huge sea turtle. Caroline and I watched a worker feed the turtle lettuce and she hasn't stopped talking about it since. And last night, we said goodbye to Beantown and headed back south.

The "T" is the main way to get around town in Boston. We sing a song at music class about the train - rolling down the track, clickety-clickety-clack - and Caroline gained a new appreciation of it. I don't think she cared for the noise of the trains too much. They are kind of scary, even for Mommy! She would hear the train from a long way off and cover her eyes while we waited for it. It was so sweet.

Most surprising thing about our trip: Bostonians are really, really friendly. We never expect to go somewhere and find mean or rude people. But everyone everywhere we went was so very kind - to us and to others. It's just not something we expected to see in such a large city. And it was a very clean city, too. We never saw any garbage or litter.

We wish Caroline had been about one or two years older - there were some very fun ice skating ponds. And I think a spring or summer trip would be fantastic - you can take harbor tours and go whale watching. I hope we get to visit Boston again someday.