Parents' visit and the Party Trolley

Things are getting crazy around here. Between school, work, dinner dates, bridal showers, birthday parties, karaoke, seeing a friends' play, staying out drinking margaritas on a Wednesday night until 1 am because "soon we won't be able to see each other," etc etc- we've been non-stop busy lately. So, I'm a bit behind on posting about my parents' visit to Boston but, better late than never, right?

Two weekends ago, my parents came to see us! They visited us in Seattle last year and are coming up for Chuck's graduation (just for a couple of days) in June, but they haven't had a chance to just see our place and life in Boston and explore the city. They figured they better come see us before we leave Boston, which is less than two months from now. (Cue: mixed feelings of sadness and joy.)

They arrived on a Wednesday afternoon and while I was at work, Chuck took them to explore Harvard and HBS. My mom wanted to see my Grandpa's dorm where he lived as an HBS student back in the 1930s/40s. I met them after work at our old stand-by, Border Cafe. We had some margaritas, dinner and then just made our way home to relax the rest of the night.

On Thursday they drove to Western Mass to visit my aunt and uncle all day and that night we had sushi at Thelonius Monkfish in Central Square. I have walked past this restaurant for almost 2 years and never gone inside and found now that was a huge mistake. We've been missing out on amazing sushi less than 2 blocks from our apartment. Booooo.

We taught my parents how to play Pandemic. We're obsessed.

Friday my parents and I explored the city and walked about 50 miles. Not really but it felt like it. We walked down Newbury Street, Boylston Street, bought lunch at a food truck parked right next to the Boston Marathon Finish Line, wandered into an old church and happened upon an organ concert which we proceeded to sit and listen to, walked through the Boston Public Garden, Beacon Hill, found Acorn Street- the most photographed street in America, and watched opening ceremonies of the first Red Sox home game at the Beantown Pub while we enjoy Sam Adams and pretzels. And that was all before 4pm.

That night we made our way to the North End for Italian food and Mike's Pastry. Late that night, my parents went to bed and Chuckie and I walked next door to the infamous "3 Class Party" at Fort Awesome. It is the only time every year where all 3 LGO classes (the 2nd and 1st years, as well as the incoming class who is in town for Open House weekend) are in town at the same time. So obviously, they throw a huge party. And obviously they have a flip cup tournament between the classes to determine who is the best class and OBVIOUSLY the LGO '14s won because they're the best. And obviously I'm biased. Sorry!

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early (my parents, well rested, Chuck and I- not so much) and headed for the Sam Adams Brewery tour in South Boston. This was definitely the highlight of my parents' trip and of my life. Just kidding, kind of. The tour is free, and pretty short, and at the end they do a tasting and teach you about the different beers. Our tour guide was hilarious and kind of a smart ass, which made the tour a lot more fun. During the tasting, someone asked him how many beers he drinks a day to which he replied "That's rude. I don't come to YOUR work and ask you how many beers YOU drink a day." Our guide then advised us to take the "Party Trolley" to Doyle's for lunch. My friend Ana had told me that the party trolley was a must, so we decided to go for it. And I'm SO glad we did. Let me set the scene for you: a party trolley with flashing lights, a disco ball and loud pop music, being driven by a possible ex-convict who has the best legit Boston accent you've ever heard who also happens to be hilarious. It was seriously the best 10 minutes of my parents' trip. And then he dropped us at Doyle's where we had the most delicious onion rings I've ever tasted and a tasty lunch and of course, more Sam Adams.

I'm starting to feel like I could have written a much shorter blog post about their visit in just two sentences: "My parents came to see us in Boston. We drank."

After our amazing, life-changing morning, we went to Fenway to walk around and take pictures and observe the atmosphere of Fenway right before a game. Then, we were tired. So we went home, made a Trader Joe's run, and then spent the evening at home watching the Final Four games and stuffing ourselves with cheese and grapes and chips and salsa and WATER.

This guy tried to be nice and duck under the camera so he wasn't in our picture.

 I feel like my parents had a great trip and got a very accurate view of life in Boston: lots of walking, lots of eating, lots of Boston accents, and lots of drinking. Yep. That's pretty much what it's like here.