JJ and I obviously can not sit still or stay in one place for too long so we decided to take a trip to see our good friend Kelsey in Boston this past weekend…and we had a WICKED time! (I hope I used that right…)
I met Kelsey back in Chicago during grad school and she opened my eyes to real food eating, the paleo diet, crossfit AND coffee!
So basically what I am saying is Kelsey is my food and fitness connoisseur extraordinaire! We also share a love of country music, cowboy boots and spicy margaritas (no sour mix…yuck!). In Chicago you would find us posted in our local Starbucks until our eyes started to cross (or most likely we started to get hangry) and then we would be seen eating our way through Chicago!
When Kelsey moved a few hours away on the East Coast I was SOOOO excited! Of course we are both busy and 3 hours seems like 10 when you have 5 million things on your plate, but we vowed to meet up as much as we could. So post wedding mayhem I told Kelsey I was putting her on my calendar, no excuses, because I wanted to see her new place and explore Boston with her! I told JJ the plan and he (being the amazing husband that he is) volunteered to drive and stated “I’ll just be along for the ride and enjoy restaurant hopping all weekend.” I laughed and told him that is not all we would do….well he turned out to be 100% correct…guess he knows me pretty well 🙂
When we arrived in Boston Friday night, Kelsey showed us her adorable place that she had decorated and made her home. Kelsey can you come decorate our place, pretty please?! We decided to enjoy a drink (the girls had a glass of white wine and JJ a beer) to catch up and unwind. When we realized we were hungry Kelsey told us Wahlburgers was right down the road…and since JJ and I have been watching the A&E show about the Wahlbergs and their new burger restaurant we figured we just HAD to go…completely rational….if only Donnie or Marky-Mark had been there…
The place was super busy, but since it was later in the evening there was no wait, woohoo! We sat down and they took our order almost immediately, which If you know me then you know I am impatient, ESPECIALLY when I am hungry. It looked like they had some great POS systems from somewhere like Revel Systems (https://revelsystems.com/pos-systems/type/restaurant-pos/) in place for quick and easy payments too. We all laughed when we all ordered the SAME burger, “BBQ Bacon Burger” which was listed as “Donnie’s Choice”. Well if Donnie picked it then it must be good…Ha!
Please Wahlbergs…can we have some more?
They give you the option of getting the burger lettuce wrapped which I applaud, however, it turned out to be more like a burger atop a lettuce salad. If you are doing a lettuce wrap I recommend using iceberg lettuce or cabbage…it just holds up WAY better! The burger was good…wish it had more meat…but I love a good burger with bacon and avocado any day!
A Wahlburger food coma set in and we called it quits for the night making sure we would be getting a good night’s sleep for the restaurant hopping that would ensue the following day!
On Saturday morning Kelsey woke us up with the WONDERFUL smell of a fresh pot of coffee…spoiled us rotten (ok well maybe just me!)
Is that not the most beautiful sight in the morning?!
We then made lemonade out of lemons with all that Kelsey had in her kitchen…and boy was it delicious! Kelsey makes her eggs with COCONUT MILK!!! WHAT?! So delicious and it adds a fluffiness to the eggs and leaves you even more satisfied and full after the meal. With the eggs. we had bacon (from Trader Joe’s), tomatoes and onions from her local CSA, avocado and grapes!
Hello color! #baconmecrazy. I ate most of my grapes before this shot…
Once our stomachs were filled and we had the energy to get going we decided to head downtown! JJ has been to Boston far more than myself so he just was along for the entertainment. We started in the Boston Commons but quickly had to leave as the tented area we thought would be a cool arts fair turned out to be a more hippie type affair known as The Boston Freedom Rally…not our scene so we hiked out up the hill and onto the Freedom Trail.
Looking preppy in walking shoes! We probably walked 5 miles 🙂
The Freedom Trail led us to a few famous cemeteries and buildings. It was great to immerse ourselves in some of the history that Boston holds, but we could not wait to get to the food and drinks that the city was hiding from us. I’m sure if it were up to JJ we would have done more historical tours and less food tours!
We made our way to Faneuil Hall Marketplace where there are TONS of restaurants and food markets (yes that is a precise number). The place was swarmed with locals and tourists alike so we decided to venture through ourselves. We stopped to watch some of the entertainment but when hunger set in we decided to head to the historical tavern area…i’m sure their is a more well known name for that area…
We grabbed a drink at The Bell in Hand Tavern as Kelsey had heard good reviews and it has been around since 1795…hello history! Kelsey and I decided to get Bloody Mary’s which were tasty and spicy all at once and we all once again got burgers. When you are traveling this is one of the EASIEST foods to rely on…you can order the burger with whatever toppings they have available and of course ask for it BUN-LESS. I normally ask for tomatoes, onions, avocado, jalapeños and if I trust the quality…BACON! This combo is golden!
Our spicy treat…every now and then Dietitians splurge…with veggies 🙂
Behind our table there was a super neat Farmer’s Market going on…and we spotted this 50 pound bag of carrots….WHOA!
That would make some rabbit happy…or a dietitian…
Once we had our share there we decided to head down to the water and towards Seaport District. JJ and I had been to this area 2 years ago to check out the Harpoon Brewery. Back then I could still drink beer and Harpoon was not as well known so the brewery was quite small. We were SHOCKED when we arrived this time and the line was wrapped around the building and not to mention the building appeared to be twice the size!
We waited for 10 minutes to see if the line would move…it kind of did but out of the blue a nice group of girls from Boston University School Of Public Health shouted to the line that they had extra tickets for the next tour group…we JUMPED at that opportunity and snagged ourselves a tour! Sorry line but you snooze and you lose!
The tour was entertaining but not as good as I remember. The last time we went they gave you a take-home tasting glass and offered samples throughout the entire tour…not this time…although it did not bother me! They also ended up talking too long which for me then makes it hard to focus. They allowed you 15 minutes in their tasting room to taste as much beer as you could…they only had one cider on tap so I tried a taste while the others sampled their way through the beer! JJ found a few he liked and we made our way to their new Beer Hall.
At the Beer Hall we grabbed a drink and to my surprise they had a PUMPKIN CIDER!! JACKPOT! I am not the biggest fan of cider but I am a huge pumpkin enthusiast so I figured why not! I would say it was one of my favorite ciders, still sweet, but not headache inducing…guess I will have to find some around here before fall is over.
We then headed down the street to a Mexican restaurant to see what they had in store! Kelsey raved about their spicy margarita so we were game. We walked into Temazcal Cantina and were seated immediately. Here we ordered guacamole and were given free corn tortilla chips with salsa…what a decadent treat! Dietitians enjoy a treat every now and again…
En Fuego
We decided since we were not very hungry that we would continue on our restaurant tour and then the pouring rain set in…
Clearly the weather can’t rain on our parade!
Next stop: Legal Test Kitchen
The menu here looked amazing but none of us were hungry yet. They had a lot of fresh fish and unique plates so perhaps next time we will stop in for food.
When we were tired of sitting, we went on a walk in the rain and decided to head to The Barking Crab which is well known in the Boston area. JJ had been there before and had fond memories. Well, when we sat down we did not see a waitress for almost 10 minutes. We perused the menu and realized we were not in the mood for anything on it. I hate being that girl who gets up and leaves but when you have no water and no waitress it does not feel so bad!
We could have easily gone back to Legal Test Kitchen but since we are true foodies we used Yelp to help us found something else in the area to suit our tastes…and Gather seemed to be luring us in!
The menu was quite innovative and the place itself quite modern.
Fancy Menu
Kelsey and I figured we started the day with a spicy drink so we might as well finish the day with it! We ordered the Margarita Picante which was amazing and I cannot wait to recreate a similar drink. For dinner I ordered the Lobster Cobb Salad as I figured when in Boston I must do as the Bostonians do 🙂
Always ask for the dressing on the side!
By this point we were stuffed and ready for bed! But this sign made us wonder if we should continue on…
Turn down for what?!
Haha only kidding! We headed home and called it a night…we had restaurant hopped through Boston JUST like JJ had predicted and I cannot say that I am sorry!
We were sad on Sunday knowing we’d have to leave Boston and head back home but Kelsey made sure we did not go home before exploring the town of Hingham!
Not before a cup o’ joe first!
In Hingham we grabbed brunch by the water at Stars on Hingham Harbor and boy was this delicious! My omelet had gluten free chicken apple sausage and caramelized onions…so sassy.
Vitamin D O’clock!
We had such a great weekend in Boston and we cannot wait to go back to explore more! Kelsey and I decided we splurged a little too much and agreed that we would both start a Whole 30 challenge on Monday to kind of reset our diets and lay off the decadent food we had just devoured! I never regret a good meal and certainly loved every bit Boston had to show us!
Yes in fact JJ was on this trip…
What are your favorite Boston restaurants?
Anyone else want to join us on our Whole30 journey?
Until next time…
Stay Sassy!
xoxo
