Breezing the East Coast (Part 1 - Boston)

The festive period was one for the books, although reading was substituted for various museums, Irish car bombs, icy weather, sore feet, and family.

🎵 Song recommendation whilst reading: Stray - Yellow House

West versus East, the tale as old as time. In America, this rivalry is firmly rooted in the evident differences between the people and the cities across both regions. This post explores an adventure to the East Coast of the U.S. with my sister and two cousins.

It's a little place they like to call BOSTON. In a short synopsis, this was my second time in the traditional city, situated in the state of Massachusetts; it has become a special place for me. My first visit was back in May 2022. Being back only grew the relationship stronger. We stayed at the McLaughlin household for the majority of our time - a special family who are extremely tight friends with my cousin, Brian. They stay in the grand town of Hingham, where your traditional 'American Dream' houses are a-plenty and the surrounding harbour views and natural parks can sweep you off your feet! Wompatuck State park and World's End are great national parks to explore in the area. About a 30-minute drive outside of the city, it is an upper-class, suburban community where we were fortunate enough to reside at the McLaughlin's beautiful house which sits abruptly on the water's edge. True to form, the McLaughlin's are some of the nicest Americans I have come across and are the most hospitable people when it comes to having guests. They left for Costa Rica on our second day and I was grateful for the time we did have with them, as well as the relationship that was able to be built in that short time.

A special mention must also go to Father John Uni, a remarkable Bostonian local who just has so much to give to everyone around him. He runs St Cecilia Church in the heart of the city and has been very generous in letting us stay there at times, giving us a tour of the Backbay area, or making a big effort to drive out to Hingham late at night to have a glass of red wine with the McLaughlins. Again, a special friend to my cousin Brian - to the point where Hugh, John, and Brian are inseparable. We refer to them as the trio.

Back to business and taking a step back, our first night in Boston consisted of attending the Boston Celtics basketball fixture against the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden. Boston has been the best team in the league this season, and I happen to be a fan, but not remotely close to as big a fan as my cousin, Jono. A tick off the bucket list for me, as Jono, my sister, and myself enjoyed the whole night (even though the Celtics lost) whilst putting some beers and Irish car bombs (Irish cream and Irish whiskey dropped into an Irish stout) back at the stadium and at The Greatest Bar - legit a name of a bar...the audacity. That night we stayed at my sister's old friend's place in an area called Quincy.

Where next? Well, Christmas came and went but the day itself was like that of a marathon in the winter; slow and steady. The four of us had our matching "Rebels without a Clause" Christmas jumpers out and ready to play whilst drinking mimosas, cooking up a storm, playing board games, and laughing the day away. A friend of the McLaughlins (Kerry) joined us after dinner for a bit of fun in the negative temperatures that paraded the region - it just isn't easy having to skull a beer outside in your jocks at -12 degrees celsius.

The 28th was another fun occasion. We ventured into the city and picked up a cousin of our cousins (it's as weird as it sounds) who was visiting from Rhode Island. We put foot and went tenpin bowling on a fairly icy day outside. A great idea and even better execution as I walked away a winner after two tightly contested rounds. Sport was the winner on the day, as we all know. What does one do after such a tiring activity? They wander around the Seaport area and share some lobster rolls over an ice-cold beer. When all is said and done, one heads back to Hingham for trivia night at the local restaurant, STARS. After losing a couple of rounds of trivia, you would then bring the party back to the house and have some Irish car bombs whilst dancing to either Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, or Rufus du Sol in the kitchen (diverse music options, as you can imagine).

On our last day in the Cradle of Liberty (as it's apparently nicknamed), my sister and I caught the commuter ferry from the dock in Hingham shipyard to Boston city. We then walked from Seaport to Fenway (1/1.5hr) which took us through Boston Common and some of Boston's most notorious streets which boast a plethora of history. Boston Common in particular was attractive; with frozen-over lakes, buskers, monuments, and many a visitor. The reason we were headed to the Fenway area was to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. A small art museum that was once a house. Interestingly, in 1903, the owner (Isabella Stewart Gardener) opened the house publicly as a museum with an impressive art collection on display. In 1990, the infamous art heist occurred where 13 of the artworks in the museum were stolen and still remain missing to this present day! There is a four-part docuseries on Netflix if one is interested to find out more.

The next adventure awaited us...a four-hour, 7 am bus ride to the city that never sleeps. New York wasn't ready for us, and we were certainly not ready for New York!