Mini-Vacation in Boston - Part 2

So, where were we? The edge of your seat conclusion to what comes after cauliflower-leek risotto? No, silly - that' s Anna's gig (and both the risotto and what comes next were melt-in-your-mouth delicious)... What came next for me in this very out-of date tale of Memorial Day weekend were two Boston-only endeavors, Red Sox baseball and the Freedom Trail.
Baseball will be quick and easy to re-cap. I've stated before my love for the game and how the start of the season is my official welcome to summer (even if it took summer a little while to catch up this year). So, there's no need to be repetitive. On Sunday, Jack and I went to see the Sox take on (and beat) the Devil Rays and were able, through our secret Red Sox connection, to get great seats behind home plate. We went early to watch batting practice and enjoy a beautiful Boston day (70F at game time).

Because we got there an hour early - totally my fault - we were able to scarf a sausage before the game from a street vendor. Street vendors are, for me, a particularly East Coast thing. Growing up in CA, I never saw much food being sold on the street (unless the ice cream man handing us things out of his truck counted). I've read that street food in Boston is nothing to compare to New York, but I'm just getting used to the idea as it is here... As we walked around the outside of the ballpark we saw at least 10 sausage/steak tips carts, a few selling roasted nuts and even Luis Tiant is selling Cuban sandwiches. Anyways, the sausage was spicy, hot and tasty - definately food to get me in the mood for a game (but I liked the peanut picture more).

Monday was the official day of Boston tourism and Memorial Day barbeques. Jack and I caught the T and headed down to the Common to pick up the Freedom Trail. I'm a big fan of the Freedom Trail - with so many old neighborhoods not originally built for automobiles (let alone Trolleys or Ducks), the best way to see Boston is on foot. Especially on a breezy, warm late spring day. It still amazes me, coming from a place of very little history, how similar some parts of Boston have been for hundreds of years. We saw it all (the Boston side)... burial grounds (that's Mother Goose's grave at the top of the post), churches, meeting houses, marketplaces, Paul Revere's house as well as downtown, Fanueil Hall, the North End (our little Italy) and across the river to Charlestown. Jack got a cannoli at Mike's Pastry, supposedly the best cannoli in Boston (Josh will disagree and suggest you try Modern across the street). I wanted to take a picture, but by the time he got out the store, it was half gone - he did say it was the best cannoli he'd had...
At the Old North Church I sat and rested in George Washington's pew. That gives the history geek in me the willies... It was awesome. Here is an artsy picture (basically me trying to get a peak of the beautiful weather).

We ended our history tour at Copp's Hill Burial Ground. This is the last stop on the Boston side of the tour and is the second oldest burial ground in Boston (after Granary and King's Chapel). It was initially set aside for the burial of slaves and, later, free African-Americans. When we arrived there was a freemasons group performing a memorial service one of the founders of the freemason group. They were wearing uniforms and there was a bugler playing "Taps". It was a solumn moment and a reminder of Memorial Days meanings.
After our trek across Boston, we hopped onto the T for the last time and ventured out to Josh and Jennifer's house in Newton for the traditional Memorial Day barbeque. Good fun with good friends and lots of grilled food - I was too caught up in all of that to take any new pictures, so I present historical Josh bbq footage:

Overall it was a weekend filled with good weather, good friends and, of course, great food. It was important for me to try and capture it on the blog, because it was so nice to be reminded of what I love about this city. Around every corner were restaurants I've wanted to try, corner bookstores to dig through and new neighborhoods to explore. In trying to show someone else how amazing Boston can be, I came back around to that realization myself :) ~Lissa