Boston

Boston Common

I met Mike and his two friends, Peter and Paul, in Boston after a work trip one weekend. Paul had a beautiful penthouse apartment right near the Boston Common park. We walked through the park, which is so green for being in the middle of the city, and people can rent paddle boats, fish, hang out on the docks; it’s really cute.

Fenway

We made it to a baseball game at Fenway, but getting to the park was pretty crazy. The city has the craziest roads that are not in a grid pattern, and there are many loops and turns; I would not want to have to drive in Boston. At Fenway, we were lucky enough to have great really seats. We had to get some ballpark hot dogs, and they were delicious!

Irish Pubs

Boston is known for having a strong Irish presence. We went out on a mini Irish Pub crawl, and you could really hear the strong Boston accents come out at night. It was a lot of fun, and the bars are just like they are in Ireland!

Scituate

Scituate is a little sea town south east of Boston, before Cape Cod. We went to Mike’s friend Peters wedding in Scituate the fall of 2017. It was so beautiful. The ceremony was at St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church, and the reception was at  The Barker Tavern downtown Scituate right near the harbor.

Cape Cod

The first time I visited Cape Cod was the summer of 2015. My friends parents have a boat in Scituate, and we took it out for the day and went to the Cape Cod Bay. There is something about feeling the fresh saltwater breeze when taking a boat ride in the Atlantic Ocean / Cape Cod Bay that makes you so happy. While we on the boat ride, there were so many lobster traps all over the place in the water; I had never seen anything like it before.

The second time we visited, Mike and I spent the 4th of July on Cape Cod the summer of 2019. We rented a cute little Airbnb in Chatham, and we stayed with a woman that was 94 years old named Vera. She was still so sharp! The cape was packed for the holiday. We spent the 4th in Falmouth on the beach. We went sailing, and then we watched the fireworks; they were everywhere, it was so fun to watch! The Cape was a great place to be for the holiday. I understand the hype of why people come here.

Falmouth

We spent one night in Falmouth prior to taking the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard (keep reading). Falmouth was a really cute town with a lot of shops and restaurants. We stayed at a little “inn”, and we had a delicious pizza and gave the left overs to the local fire fighters who were extremely appreciative.

Woods Hole

I really wanted to visit Martha’s Vineyard, so we took the ferry to the island from Woods Hole. Prior to boarding the ferry, we grabbed breakfast at the famous Pie in the Sky Bakery & Cafe to bring on the boat with us. We took the 8:00AM Steamship Authority Ferry over to Oaks Bluff, which cost us $32 total for 2 people. The ferry takes about 50 minutes total, so plan accordingly.

Marthas Vineyard (Oak Bluff)

Ocean Park

The Oak Bluff Ocean Park is a great place to walk around and enjoy the fresh air coming in off the ocean. I was shocked how empty the beach was, but I think we just visited so early in the day that people were not awake yet from going out the night before. It was really peaceful, and I can see why people move here or visit here for the summer.

Camp Meeting House (a.k.a. The Gingerbread Cottages) 

Martha’s Vineyard became popular because people used to come to the island for church camp. They would pitch tents, but then eventually colorful houses replaced the tents, and people wanted to show off and have the most unique house. I really enjoyed exploring the area and looking at all of the different houses. One was even the Wizard of Oz story.

Flying Horse Carousel

The Flying Horse Carousel claims to be the Oldest Carousel in America. It opens at 11:00AM. If we had children (or were children), I would have wanted to ride it, but we decided to just walk through and see it. It was honestly kind of underwhelming, but if you love carousels, then check it out.

Lookout Tavern

We ate lunch at the Lookout Tavern, which is right near the ferry station. They have outdoor seating looking out at the water, so it gets really popular. The place opens at 11:00AM, and we went at 11:05AM, and all the outdoor seating was already taken!

Harvard

We stopped by Cambridge, MA to visit Harvard University’s campus for a few hours and explore the campus that so many intelligent people and ideas flourished. It was a very easy campus to navigate, and extremely beautiful with all of the fall colors.

John Harvard Statute

The John Harvard Statute is called the statute of three lies because 1) the statute is not actually John Harvard, 2) John Harvard was not the founder of Harvard University, and 3) the statute says it was founded in 1638, however, it was founded in 1636. Rumor has it that you do not want to touch the foot that so many people touch because the freshman on campus “bless” it.

Harvard Yard 

The Harvard Yard was a beautiful area of campus with sidewalks that crossed all over the place to make the most efficient walking routes between buildings.

The Henry Elkins Widener Memorial Library

The Henry Elkins Widner Memorial Library was beautiful on the outside. We tried to go inside to explore but you have to be a student to get inside.

Memorial Church

The Memorial Church was also nice to look at on the outside, but we could not get in as well. I still really enjoyed walking around the campus to think about how many incredible and intelligent people have walked on the same sidewalks and looked at the same buildings as we were.

Harvard Book Store

We stopped by the Harvard Book Store to pick up some Harvard gear as well. There are many shops in a row that sell books, t-shirts, mugs, and all of the typical touristy items. I had to indulge and get myself a t-shirt as a keepsake.

Tatte Bakery and Cafe

Last but not least, we stopped by this cute little cafe called Tatte, and had the most amazing hot chocolate and coffee and little treats. After walking around the campus on a chilly cold day, it was the perfect way to end our Harvard experience.

Salem

Just north of Boston is the historical town of Salem, which is known for 1692 witch trials where several locals were executed for allegedly practicing witchcraft/wizardry. If you have a lot of time to spend in Salem, there are so many different tours and museums that you can visit to learn about the history.

The Witch House (Corwin House)

The first place we stopped was the Witch House is also known as the Corwin house as it was the home of Jonathan Corwin who served as one of the judges during the witch trials. This house is the only structure that still exists today that has any ties to the Salem Witch Trials. The house shows you how the upper class lived in the 1600s.

London Coffee House

We parked near the Reds Sandwich Shop, which used to be the London Coffee House. It was a meeting place for Patriots during the American Revolution. Pretty crazy to walk around and think about the people that walked the exact same streets many many years before us.

The Old Burying Point

This cemetery is home to many of the witches from the 1600s, and even pilgrams. It is crazy to see how intact the stones still are, however, some are very weathered and it is hard to read them. I really enjoyed walking around and reading the stones.

Salem Witch Trials Memorial

Just next to the cemetery is the Salem Witch Trials Memorial that has 20 stone benches to represent the people executed in the infamous 1692 witch trials. It was interesting to walk around and read the names. Most of them were all hanged, and one said pressed to death. We couldn’t figure out exactly what that meant, but it must have been really painful! Also, many of them were executed on our wedding date, which seems made me feel eerie.