Boston w/Mal
In our first month living here, we spent several weekends up in Boston exploring the city. It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve made the trip, but luckily, Amity’s bestie, Mallory, came out to the East Coast for a little vacay away from her life in Chicago. Looks like we’re shipping up to Boston again for a day in the city with Mal and her friend Kathryn, better known as Fu. Hopefully, we can pull it off without getting totally rained on.
Mile: 64,812
Quote of the Blog: “I have found that there ain’t no surer way to find out wether you like a person or hate them, than to travel with them. - Mark Twain
Song of the Blog: “Friends in Low Places” - Garth Brooks
Before heading up to Boston for our Saturday adventures, we took Friday night to explore a new area around Wareham. New Bedford, MA is only 30 minutes away and has a couple of breweries that are perfect for a Friday night outing. New Bedford is a cool harbor town with lots of old, historical buildings and cobblestone roads. It’s really fun to see how the city blends “Old England” with “New England.”
We headed down to the harbor to check out Cisco Brewing first. This is the same brewery that’s located on Nantucket—we’ve been to that location before, but this one might be even cooler. It’s right on the water, with several food trucks surrounding a big patio, live music, and a full restaurant inside. We enjoyed a couple of beers and some tunes while lounging on patio chairs and watching boats go by in the harbor. Definitely a spot we’ll be coming back to!
Next up was Moby Dick Brewery. The name is on point, but the venue itself didn’t really have a vibe. It felt more like a restaurant than a brewery, so we didn’t stay long. We had a beer, then hit the road back home for the night.
The next morning, we decided to head up to Boston on the commuter train—which is so easy! Once in the city, we met up with Mal and Fu at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. We had a great time walking around, chatting, and laughing at our (often hilarious) artistic commentary. We saw beautiful paintings by artists like Monet, incredible Asian sculptures, full-on Egyptian mummies, and so many other amazing pieces of art. You could honestly spend days in there and never see the same thing twice.
After all that culture, we stepped back into the streets of Boston—definitely a different kind of culture. For Mal, it’s a different vibe compared to Chicago. She and I laughed about wanting to yell at all the bad drivers in New England, while Fu and Amity were more inclined to keep their windows rolled up and their opinions to themselves.
We walked over to one of our favorite cafés in Boston: Tatte Bakery and Café. We’re always happy with this spot! We caught up on life and got to know Fu a little more while enjoying some baked goodies and drinks.
Later in the afternoon, we all piled into Fu’s car and took Mal to a local “Packie.” She couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that people in Boston call a liquor store a “Packie”—short for “package store.” We stocked up for a BBQ at Fu’s house and hit the road. Fu has a beautiful home in Boston. She moved there with her husband a few years ago from Chicago, and now they have two amazing little kiddos.
We spent the evening telling stories, laughing, and just doing what friends do. It’s so nice to have days like that. We don’t get to see our friends often enough, so we’re always grateful when they’re close enough for a visit. Nights like that never last long enough, and it’s always hard to say goodbye. We were so happy to meet Fu and her family. It was sad to say goodbye to Mal, but we know we’ll be seeing her again soon—our next home will be close enough to Chicago for a visit! We hugged it out, said our goodbyes, and hopped in an Uber back to the commuter train and then south to Wareham. Just like that—another awesome Boston adventure in the books!
Our Sunday was less eventful. We had some training runs to do, so we headed to one of our favorite running spots on the Cape: the Shining Sea Bikeway. After the run, we made our usual trip to Trader Joe’s, but on the way, we discovered a new brewery to check out—Bad Martha Farmer’s Brewery. We got lucky, and the sun finally came out. Despite the earlier rain, it turned into a pretty nice day.
The brewery had a great patio area with plenty of outdoor seating. We soaked up every bit of sunshine we could—weekend sunshine has been rare lately! We wrapped up the weekend with our usual Trader Joe’s run. Call us old, but we seriously love TJ’s. It’s a great way to end the weekend—and how we stock up on all the great SNACKS to Live Rad!