After our wonderful time in Bar Harbor, we headed down to Boston. The drive to Boston was much longer so we decided to split it up by having a “destination” in the middle of the drive to give us something to look forward to (see: Kennebunkport).
A few months before the trip we had watched a Food Network special on two dueling lobster roll restaurants across the street from each other: Clam Shack and Alisson’s. Of course we had to try both.
First up was Clam Shack, a very low-key food stand with a walk-up order window.
Most places use hot dog bun-style bread for their lobster rolls but Clam Shack uses a hamburger bun-style roll. They also use mayo when preparing the lobster, which not all places do, and it makes the sandwich so yummy! This was a particularly good one so we knew it would be hard to beat.
Next up was Alisson’s, which is just across the street from Clam Shack. This was more of a sit-down restaurant and they use the traditional hot dog bun-style roll. Disappointingly, this was at the bottom of the list of all lobster rolls we had while we were up here. It was kind of tasteless and nothing special. Our conclusion was that Food Network discovered Clam Shack’s excellent roll and wanted to capitalize on how many lobster roll restaurants are within a 1 mile radius and they chose Alisson’s to be the arbitrary “competitor”. Really, there was no competition.
Once we arrived in Boston we headed to Little Italy for dinner. The must-try place in Little Italy is a tiny spot called Giacomo’s. They’re so small and understated that they don’t even have their own website but there are a couple bloggers who put together a pseudo-website for the restaurant (link above is to their Yelp page). They take cash only and everything is very reasonably priced – I don’t think there was a single item over about $22 and all their bottles of wine are $20. The whole restaurant only has about 10-15 tables in it so as you can imagine there’s pretty much always a wait. You have to stand in line on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and every once in a while someone will walk down the line and ask how many are in your party. You never give them your name, you just have to keep your place in line until everyone in front of you gets seated. Once you’re in, they don’t waste any time getting your order. A lot of reviews say that the wait staff is rude and rushes you through dinner, which is really only true if you’re not prepared to order quickly. Since they’ve got a tiny restaurant and a long line, they want to turn tables as quickly as possible, so if you help them out by being ready to order not too long after sitting down, they’re very nice. In the terrible cell phone picture below, you can see the entire restaurant to get an idea of just how small it is.
After waiting in line for about 45 minutes (there were probably 8-10 groups ahead of us), it was our turn!! We already knew what we wanted so we were able to order pretty much right away. Their appetizer special that day was a delicious creamy burrata served with chunky tomatoes, so we got that, a salad, and a bottle of wine to start out. We ordered the chianti and when our server brought us the bottle, she said they were out of the normal chianti but the winery had given them the reserve bottle at the normal price, so we got the reserve bottle for cheap! Which of course worked out perfectly since this was our first celebratory dinner since the engagement!
At the end of the meal, we told our server thanks again for the bottle of wine and we were all the more excited since we were celebrating. She was very congratulatory and excited for us. She walked back to the kitchen and came back with the ENTIRE wait and bussing staff (which was only about 3-4 people) clinking their glasses chanting “TOAST, TOAST, TOAST”. I of course turned bright red and Aaron and I toasted (but really I loved it!!) The restaurant was intimate enough that it wasn’t too obnoxious, not like when they sing you happy birthday in the middle of Chili’s.
After dinner we went to Mike’s Pastry, which is (allegedly) home to the cannoli. The cannolis certainly did not disappoint; they were gone before we even got a picture!
The next day we set out on the Freedom Trail!
The Freedom Trail is a 2.5-mile long trail that winds through Boston and has 16 “stops”. The trail is a thin red brick line that’s laid into the cement so it’s kind of like following the ~red~ brick road. Each stop is highlighted by a large coin built into the sidewalk, and you can usually do tours or self-explore at each of these sites. There are things like the graveyard where Ben Franklin’s family is buried, Paul Revere’s house, a monument to Bunker Hill, etc. Most of the trail is in Boston and for the last three stops, you cross the bridge into Cambridge. We made it through all the Boston stops before it started raining so we decided to call it quits. Apparently this is the most common route; most people stop before going over to Cambridge. This was a great way to spend the afternoon (for free!) learning about US history and seeing the city.
For dinner that night, we went to Del Frisco’s, a steakhouse, to continue celebrating! This wasn’t really the kind of place where you take pictures but the food was phenomenal. We ordered caviar, a first for the both of us, and it was unexpectedly delicious. We learned that the way you’re supposed to eat it is by spreading a thin layer on toast, using creme fraiche, green onions, or shaved egg whites/yolks as a topping, and then taking a bite. Before chewing, you’re supposed to press it to the roof of your mouth so the earthy/salty texture is more pronounced. The more you know!
The next day we met up with Tyler, Aaron’s cousin who’s a student at MIT. He showed us around the MIT and Harvard campuses. There wasn’t a ton to see but it was cool just to say we’ve seen those schools!
After the brief tour, we went to the Sam Adams brewery to do a tour. Sam Adams offers free tours which include a free tasting of three beers at the end. Of course the tour ends in the gift shop and tourists like us end up spending more than a tour “fee” would have cost. It’s brilliant. We learned on the tour that they make all the distributed beer that you buy at the grocery store in PA and OH, not in their original Boston brewery. The Boston location is pretty small and it’s only used for R&D when they experiment with new beer.
After Sam Adams we headed to Harpoon Brewing Co for some more local beer. Turns out the pretzels eclipsed the beer and there was much debate over which of the four dipping sauces was the best.
That night for dinner we celebrated yet again (yes we’ll milk it for a while). We went to a Japanese restaurant called O Ya. Their specialty is an omakase coursing option, with 28 courses that are one bite each. We also got a beverage pairing so we got to try some different wines and sakes. This was probably our favorite meal of the trip so far; it was fun to try something different than the typical steakhouse celebration!
Shout out to Tyler for being a great tour guide and photographer!
Vacationland, USA 