I had a birthday recently and the Husband planned an awesome trip for us to Boston to celebrate. He kicked off our trip with a birthday gift that was amazingly thoughtful.
I needed a new overnight bag and how many guys know the name of their wives favorite fabric designer? Well apparently my sweet Husband picked up on all my ranting about Amy Butler's gorgeous fabric (or all the cash I've spent on that fabric!) and bought me the perfect gift!
Our first stop in Boston? Lobster Rolls! We hit town around lunch time so what else could we do?
Plus - we needed the energy for walking around a bit. We were close enough to Boston Common to wander through and work off the lobster. It was packed with people and clearly the center of downtown life.
We did a little window shopping after the Commons. We hit an outdoor bookstore and then a couple of craft locations!
Winmil Fabric had a great selection of fabrics for really cheap prices. There were no real out of the ordinary fabrics - it seemed to be mostly what I would find at JoAnns but for much less money.
The more exciting store was Windsor Buttons.
They had an insane selection of buttons as well as a great stock of yarns and tons of cool books and patterns. We left with a variety of great skull butons and a recommendation from the clerk on where to find some local, hand spun yarn.
We started bright and early the next day and hit the big tourist spots. Boston is stuffed with great historical locations. My favorite was Faneuil Hall where you can sit in the same spot where Samuel Adams spoke and the protests against the Stamp Act took place.
After Faneuil Hall we wandered to some of the other great historical spots. They're all fairly close together and within easy walking distance. Being the middle of summer however, everything was pretty packed with tourists. It was interesting to stand where the Boston Massacre had taken place and walk into the Old South Meeting House where the Boston Tea Party started. But we were glad to head out of the main tourist area and get a little breathing room.
We wandered through the Esplanade by the Charles River and headed toward the Back Bay for a little late lunch and shopping.
The houses around the Back Bay were lovely and the neighborhoods were shady - perfect for meandering around.
On our way back to the hotel we stopped at two beautiful spots. First the Mother Church:
This is all part of the Christian Science plaza and is a lovely, peaceful spot to take a break in the middle of the city.
The second spot was the Boston Public Library which was far and away my favorite location in the city.
The inside was gorgeous and such an inspirational place to study and read.
After all the sight seeing we rested up and had dinner at a fabulous french restaurant and I toasted in another year of me with some creme brulee. It was a perfect weekend and I recommend Boston to everyone for a birthday get away!