Boston in the Fall

{In front of  a Fire Station on Boylston Street, right by Troy's school}

Hold on to your hats...this post is full of photos.  Bostonian photos, to be exact!  

Adam and I went to visit Troy in Boston this weekend and had a blast seeing all the sites and hanging out.  We each had a list of things we wanted to see in the city, and I think we accomplished almost all of them.  I kind of already knew this about Adam, but he's a great planner, and between the two of us, we mapped out everything we wanted to see, and he navigated us around the city.  (Because if you know me at all, I'm not the one you want doing that...)

{Hungry & Happy}

Our first stop Thursday night after dropping our bags off at Troy's tiny little a-p-t was Spike's Hotdogs.  They have THE BEST hotdogs.  So much so, that I crave them occasionally.  (And I'm not usually a hot dog kinda girl!)  

Troy was a great host (Boston hasn't stolen that Southern Hospitality from him!), and he showed us all sorts of things.  It was cool to be in his world and see what his everyday life looks like.  This is the practice room where his band practices about three times a week.  They also share this room with at least two other bands, and they coordinate their schedules using a Google Calendar.  (Troy let me ask him all sorts of questions, bless his heart.  I didn't even realize I was doing it until later that first night in Boston.  But he totally let me keep asking, and he was super patient with me!)  

Most of the time, Troy would meet us for brunch (sounds so adult, right?) or dinner.  He went on the Freedom Trail Tour with us Friday afternoon, and helped us charge our "Charlie" cards, the ones you use to ride the subway, and then Adam and I conquered the city.

Even though it was mid-November, the leaves were still on the trees, and it was b-e-a-utiful weather while we were there.  Loved it!  

We took a 90-minute Freedom Trail Tour, which is marked by a red line throughout the city.  It takes you through all the historical sites, and someone dressed in authentic clothing from the 1700s gives you all the interesting details.  

{Here we are on the "T," about to ride the Subway.}

I think this picture is so funny, because you really kind of have to look for Adam.  We went to the original Cheers bar Friday afternoon.  

Did you know that it gets dark at 4:30 on the East Coast??  True story.

There's a lot of fireman memorabilia around the city, so that was really fun to see.  This was a fire box,  where you pull the alarm on the street when there's a fire.  I think they're still in working order, which was pretty cool.

That photo was taken on our way to the Ghost and Gravestones tour.  We saw a lot of the same things we'd seen earlier on the Freedom Trail tour (like graveyards with famous people buried in them), but we rode a trolley around, and they told us ghost stories.  It was hard to know what was fact and what was fiction, but it was a lot of fun.  

We were in one of the graveyards listening to them tell a story, and we were in our own little world, making scared faces.  Two girls saw us and thought we were "precious."  It was kind of hilarious.

This was our guide...kind of creepy.  She totally had a thing for Adam, which was quite entertaining.  

Adam looks super hard-core with these graffiti walls we found on our way out to the Fire Museum on Saturday.

Neil was a volunteer who worked the museum, and we ended up with our own private tour, full of interesting stories and tangents.  

He left us to our own demise upstairs for a minute, so this is what we got ourselves into.  Thanks to the beauty of the self-timer, you can see that Adam is wearing more of a rain coat, and the one I have on is a bit thicker, but neither one compare to the bunkers Adam wears these days.  I've tried them on, and I thought I'd fall over, they were so heavy!

Neil let us climb on one of the old fire trucks.  There was one in there from the 1700s!  Pretty old stuff.

(And moving on to Saturday night...I'm telling you...we really packed it all in!)

We met up with Troy and his girlfriend, Sarah, to visit the aquarium.  They have a huge penguin exhibit, which was really cool.

I thought this was hilarious:  Troy and Sarah both trying to find our restaurant for dinner on their iPhones, and both having a bit of trouble.  

Troy heard the Parentals were treating us to dinner, so he ordered lobster.  (Hence the bib.  Although I'm certain he would've worn it anyways!)

The other bib-less side of the table.

{The four of us after dinner}

Sunday morning Adam and I went to see the USS Constitution, the oldest warship still in commission.  Adam knows how much I love my Baylor Bears, and insisted that I stop by this bear.  He was pretty cute.  (I guess I mean Adam and the bear.  Ha.)

We learned that each cannon weighed as much as an Escalade does.  Crazy!

It was so fun to share this weekend with Adam and with Troy, and seeing what his city life is like.  I really loved being up there with them.  We had lots of good food, lots of laughing, and obviously lots of history to see!