The last three days in Boston were beautiful and even less scheduled in advance than the first three days of the trip. I began with a general idea of what I wanted to see, but we saw what happened from there.
Day 4 Wandering:
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is the place of the largest property theft in the United States. In 1990 multiple pieces of artwork were stolen and the crime has never been solved. The robbery is a focus of a Netflix documentary and I had to see the museum when I went to Boston. I thought we would tour the museum, but the tickets were sold out for the day.
Note: If interested in touring the museum, buy tickets ahead of time online!
We did eat lunch at the museum’s restaurant. The patio was welcoming, the servers were friendly and the food was good. I recommend eating lunch on the patio of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum even if you do not tour the museum.
When I was rolling back to the parking garage, a local suggested we drive to Plymouth during our visit. Our plans for the next day became clear.
Day 5 Wandering
If there is anything grade school in the United States taught me it was how to quietly blend in with your “friends” while accepting and doling out enough violence from the fellow members of your social group in order to ensure that they will allow you to sit at their lunch table. Other than that, I learned about the Pilgrims and Plymouth, Massachusetts. So Plymouth and things I read about in my social studies textbook in fourth grade were seen on the fifth day of my trip to Boston.
Plymouth is a quaint town that felt a little like a story book or novel set in seaside New England. As we were wandering through the side streets I told my mom, Everyone here is a descendent of Pilgrims.” Then we walked past a tattoo shop with the smell of marijuana wafting out. Descendants of Pilgrims are actually very relatable folks.
We ate lunch at a pub across the street from the ocean (The Pillory Pub). The weather had warmed enough for the window to be opened and the salty breeze filled the air. Mid-May was just before the busy summer vacation time started in New England so we had the place nearly to ourselves.
Day 6 Wandering
Harvard is a dream of every little girl that is destined for academia. You know the type of little girl that has a stack of to-be-read books that is taller than her and talks with her daddy about war and politics over Marlboro smoke on the porch? They might not end up getting a degree from Harvard, but they are going somewhere. So Harvard was a must see.
Rub the foot of the John Harvard statue for good luck. Then, go across the street to Tatte Bakery. The communal table that I sat at gave me an opportunity to make a new friend with the stranger sitting next to me!
The Harvard Book Store is just a few shops down from the aforementioned coffee shop. There is nothing I enjoy more in this world than books and coffee. This book store feels nostalgic because it has been here since 1932, while also being refreshing and exciting with the new pages just waiting to be read.
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