#675 Brian & the last day in Boston.

Let me start today’s post with a ginormous, HUGE thank you to Brian.

Brian works at the Harborside Inn, our hotel. The day we checked in and he saw that we were from Laurel, Mississippi, he was so excited—he’s from Mobile, Alabama and he went to Southern Miss just 30 minutes down the road from us. How crazy is that? Right away he was helping us get wherever we needed to go with maps and tips, and he was at the desk everynight when we’d drag in dead tired from being tourists. He’s been the greatest! Last night he asked how our visit to Harvard went, and we told him it was awesome and it would have been perfect if we could have found some Harvard basketball shorts. See, every trip we go on, Ben goes to the college in the cities we visit to buy basketball shorts. He’s got a pretty cool little collection started and he was a little gloomy that they didn’t have XXL shorts at the Harvard bookstore.

Tonight when we came in, he asked if Ben had been able to find any of the shorts. We didn’t, sadly. But then he held up a bag from The Coop, the Harvard bookstore and I swear I could have cried (okay, I got misty eyed, honestly. I seriously almost cried about it!) Not because Ben wanted the shorts so much, but because it was the kindest gesture in the world. He insisted it was a gift and would NOT let us repay him—because it was so good to see some southerners from home. Can y’all believe that?

So to begin with, thank you so much, Brian—if you’re out there reading this in Boston. You’ve always got a place to crash if you come to Laurel to visit!

SO.

Back to the beginning! We woke up and headed to Mike’s Pastry, the famous bakery on the North End, to meet Josh and Emily for breakfast.

Afterward, they took us on a short walk to Paul Revere’s house:

Then on to the coolest store we’ve ever seen. Bobby from Boston. Holy cow. It’s a vintage clothing store that feels like the coolest house on earth. Again, Ben wanted everything in there but they didn’t have anything in his size. Boohoo.

I even found an old letterman sweater I came THISCLOSE to buying. I mean… JC! How coincidental is that? I’m sure it’s not from JCJC, but who cares?

Then we headed several blocks away to Restoration Resources, an architectural salvage warehouse with great prices.

 

In fact, we bought all the hardware we’ll need for our kitchen update and I’m saving pics of it all for that someday blog post. We got 17 cup pulls in various patinas (copper, tarnished brass, enameled apothecary pulls), 17 cabinet pulls (also in various shapes, sizes and patins), and 6 coat hooks all for less than $100. Do the math, and it’s around $1.50 for each piece. How awesome is that?

Then lunch at Charley’s Saloon in Back Bay for burgers. It hit the spot.

Next we all met Josh and Anne at the Prudential tower for the duck tour. You ride in WW2 army tanks that convert into boats and get a tour on the streets and in the Charles River. There were some gorgeous views at sunset.

On the tour we saw JFK’s apartment. He lived on the 3rd floor, and his door was the one with 2 lanterns. This was the most fascinating thing of the whole tour to me. I’m so starstruck by that sort of thing!

We said goodbye to the Lustyans and the final destination of the day was to Giacomo’s Ristorante, the famed Italian restaurant on the North End, to meet Shad for dinner. We waited in a line that wrapped around the block. For TWO hours. But honestly, there was nothing else we would have rather done because we did a whole lot of catching up in those 2 hours on the street. It was a great time with very cold appendages.

We celebrated as we neared the door! Well, everyone but Josh cause he wanted to be a turd in the picture.

After dinner, we gave Shad our goodbye hugs with promises to hang out again when he comes home for Christmas. Josh and Em walked us to our hotel near the Quincy Market where we took a few last photos.

On their honeymoon, Josh took a photo holding this statue’s hand and tagged the bronze man as Ben. We had to take a new one.

What this trip has taught me is that no matter where you go, as long as you have friends you’ll never be far from home. Our cup overflows with loving old friends and new ones everyday as we go along. God is so good.

Again, pray for safe travels as we fly home tomorrow. Y’all know how anxious I get.

Here we come, Mississippi.