Last year, Kristin and I took a fantastic trip to Boston at the start of 2011’s Winter Break.  We had both been itching to travel somewhere and get outside of Blacksburg, being in our senior year and in the home stretch.  She’s a world traveler, and I’m certainly not, but I really did want a new experience, too.  We chose Boston because of a great deal on Jetsetter, a website that gives amazing discounts on all kinds of different travel accomodations.

Boston, in 2011, was one of the best trips or vacations I had ever taken.  Not only was a great trip with a great friend, but it was fantastic to explore a new city, mostly unplanned, asking locals for reccomendations, and hitting up all of the fun, typical, Boston things like the Freedom Trail, local bars, etc.  We realized that Boston was a relatively young city, and we were excited for the opportunity to get back in the future after spending only three days there.

Later that spring, during a late night study session at the Math Emporium preparing for final exams, we looked at the football schedule when Virginia Tech Athletics released it.  We realized that we would be playing Boston College in Chestnut Hill, just 10-20 minutes outside of Boston.  We immeadiately snatched up some $30 tickets for the game and decided that we would plan the rest of the trip come fall.

This fall, with the help of a good mutual friend of ours, Karen, we sat down and realized that JetBlue had some fantastic tickets on sale – only $70 one way for a flight from DC to Boston.  Last year, we decided to take a train from Fredericksburg to Boston but this time around we decided that since it was right at the beginning of Thanksgiving we should snatch up these deals, too.

So, we spent the weekend that began Thanksgiving Break in Boston and we really enjoyed ourselves! I told myself I would do a better job of taking pictures than I do in normal life (because by my standards, I am kind of bad at it) and I succeeded on the first day.  After that? Not so much.  But I still have quite a few that I wanted to post on here to document the memories.

When we arrived (after, myself, chugging through the night from 7 pm – 11 pm driving from Blacksburg to Fredericksburg, quickly doing some laundry, packing, and catching a flight that departed DC at 6:00 a.m.) we went to the hotel first to try and check in. Unfortunately our hotel room wasn’t ready 8 hours early. :-p We were staying at the Intercontinental Boston, due in part to a certificate I had gotten for a free second night of a 2 night weekend stay.

This hotel was right near the harbor, beautifully positioned relatively in the heart of Boston, convenient to public transportation, and a great choice due to the price vs. the amount of amenities that we got.

Last year, we stayed at The Lenox Hotel, in Back Bay, and that was the Jetsetter deal that really ignited our planning for the trip.  On the way out of town, as our train was leaving at like oh dark thirty in the morning, we did a grab and go breakfast.  This time around, I treated Kristin to Breakfast at the Lenox instead, and we actually got to sit down and enjoy what was a fantastic breakfast. Didn’t think to take any pictures. Lame.

After that, we went to another place that we had been to the year before.  Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE a good manicure.  I don’t care about your perceptions of manicures, and what they may be, but there are 2 things that are true. 1. pushing a wheelchair around all day eventually pushes your hands to the brink of horrible damage, and 2. there is some confidence to be had in hands that are presentable!

SO, I must endorse – if you are ever in Boston check out this place: Hollywood Nails. I link to the Yelp page because their web page is…not bearable.  This place, not even ADA accessible, is probably the site of one of the best manicures I’ve ever gotten, and definitely Kristin’s favorite french/gel manicure. Check it out.

 

 

 

 

The rest of these photos are in no particular order. :) 

 

 

Fun fact about Karen, we actually were boyfriend and girlfriend back in the sixth grade! After I moved away to Fredericksburg, we didn’t really keep in touch until we ended up living right down the hall from each other freshman year in a leadership living learning community on campus! Karen’s completing her fifth year in architecture while I complete my Master’s at Tech, so it’s been fun getting to spend more time together.