Month: July 2018

New England Trip 2018 – Day 10

On the last day of our trip, we woke up at 9:00 for breakfast. Fruit, soda, omelets, eggs, bacon, sausage, and more, awaited us on the buffet counters. We ate and watched the TV, then packed everything into bags, then took them down to the lobby for our final check out.

We decided to keep our bags at the hotel while we took an Uber to Seaport, which is a newer part of Boston. We looked around and found that we could take an Uber to see the U.S.S Constitution, the oldest commissioned US warship.

At the USS Constitution!
On the top deck of the USS Constitution

We spent hours in the museum and exploring the actual ship – which was awesome. After that, we picked up our bags from the hotel and took a shuttle to the airport. At the airport we said our final goodbyes to Boston, waited for an hour, then boarded the plane.

The plane ride was our last few hours of our trip, and chose to spend it watching movies. I watched Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children, and also Doctor Strange. We ate Pick Me Up boxes and drank ginger ale (again). When we landed, we claimed our baggage, took a shuttle to WallyPark, and then, drove home.

New England Trip 2018 – Day 9

by Simran Jayasinghe

We woke up at the Marriott at Copley Place, and packed up our stuff. We checked out of the hotel, but had them hold our bags. Then, we walked our mother to the library. She wisely chose to stay at the cool, air-conditioned library, while Dad, Kiran, Svara, and I walked 2 point something miles in the hot sun on the Freedom Trail. We started at the Visitor Center in the Boston Commons, and our first stop was the Statehouse.

On the Freedom Trail!

We took pictures, and went back on the trail, walking from stop to stop, until we had been stuffed full of history and we all had back pains. We did stop to get ice cream halfway through, and then we went back on the trail. We went on until Paul Revere’s House.
We toured the House and the museum, but chose not to go any farther.

 

 

We didn’t have enough time or willpower to finish it all at once. Then, we went back to the library, to pick up Mom, who had been having a fairly good time. We got snagged on a book until 5:00 when the library closed, then went back to the hotel to collect our luggage. After making sure we had everything, we took a shuttle to the Embassy Suites near the Boston airport. We checked in just in time to drop our bags off at our room and rush down to the lobby for the complimentary evening reception. We happily snacked on celery, cucumbers, chips, goldfish, and more. Later, we went back up to our room where we relaxed until late. Then, we got room service for dinner and promptly fell asleep.

New England Trip 2018 – Day 8

When we woke up today, we did a major unpacking and repacking of our belongings to make sure we hadn’t lost anything. Considering that it was our eighth day of vacationing and our minds and bodies weren’t used to do any work,  it took us about 3 hours. This meant that we had breakfast at 11:00! When we arrived at our hotel room again, our Dad surprised us by telling us his conference ended at 12:00, which meant we had the rest of the day with him.

We decided to use our time taking a tour of Harvard. Our tour guide, Mike, was a student from Harvard and was extremely professional, informative, and hilarious all at the same time.

Posing with John Harvard!

After our tour, we decided to visit Faneuil hall one more time, before we went to our hotel again. We chose to use half an hour to check out the pool, which was huge and it was amazing! We then had room service again, and us three kids got the hotel room to ourselves for two hours while our parents went on their first ‘dinner date’ since the day we came into this world and made their lives miserable!

New England Trip 2018 – Day 7

by Kiran Jayasinghe

Today we woke up at 10:30. You would think this would have us rested and energized and ready to go, right? Wrong. We woke up cranky and sluggish and ready to go – back to bed. Somehow, our mom got us out of the house and into Starbucks for breakfast, where we ate our bacon, egg, and gouda sandwich. By then, we were excited and fueled, so you can imagine the energy we had when we heard we were going to the Boston Public Library.

The first public lending library, the Boston Public Library (BPL) is magnificent in it’s own 17th century way. The BPL has several floors with gigantic rooms filled with books and reading tables. It has it’s own cafe and high tea room. It also has a new, renovated, second wing, complete with modern computer catalogs and reading nooks. We enjoyed time in the BPL’s map room as well.

 

At the Boston Public Library on Copley Place.

After visiting the BPL, we stopped and took an audio tour of Trinity Church, just across the street. We learned so much history about the church, we were happy to donate. After the tour, we took an Uber ride to Faneuil Hall. The environment surrounding it is awesome! People are always giving shows, either singing, drumming, or – performing flips on a pogo stick. The actual hall is filled with tiny shops and boutiques, selling Boston merchandise, keychains, and more! The Quincy market, opposite Faneuil Hall, is filled with dozens of restaurants, selling a variety of foods, from fresh lobster rolls and clam chowder, to amazing cupcakes, gelato, and saltwater taffy and chocolate.

We finished our day by ordering room service. We ordered clam chowder and quesadillas, both of which were wonderful and sent us off to sleep.

New England Trip 2018 – Day 6

by Simran Jayasinghe

Today, our family (minus Dad) headed to Harvard. We had Starbucks for breakfast, again, and then went to Harvard square. There were many shops, including CVS, Cabot’s Candy, SWEET, and J.P. Licks, all of which we visited. We walked around and got Harvard apparel from the Coop Harvard Bookstore. It is worth noting, that it took us some time to find our Harvard shirts. There were 3 or 4 Harvard Bookstores, and it took us some time to find the one that was dedicated to Harvard apparel. After that, we got delicious cupcakes from the Sweet bakery, and took a moment to devour those. Our mother was in the mood to indulge in our ‘needs’, so a short while later, after some more walking, we stopped at J.P. Licks to get what was voted the ‘best homemade ice cream in Boston’. I got a small mint chip ice cream, and I loved it.

Cupcakes at the SWEET bakery!

By the way, they are not skimpy with their sizes, so it is worth the money. After that, we went to Cabot’s Candy store

which was a few shops down, to get sugary souvenirs for our friends back in California. We walked some more around Harvard square, but then we got tired so we went back to the hotel. After relaxing a little bit, we picked up dad after his conference and we all went to dinner with our friend Katie. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Fiore in the North End. I got some tasty ravioli. The food was good, as well as the service, so it was an enjoyable dinner. After dinner, we walked around some, and we went back to our hotel.

The Best Burger Bar – A Restaurant Review

by Svara Jayasinghe

On Day 1 of our New England Trip, we stayed the night in Boston. It was about 10:30 at night, and the only food place open that was close,was called, The Best Burger Bar. The Best Burger Bar is a small restaurant. Even though it was 10:30, it was extremely crowded. I ordered the kids Macaroni and Cheese and got a bottle of apple juice. Kiran ordered the kids Grilled Cheese and got a bottle of apple juice. Simran ordered the Swiss Burger and also, got a bottle of apple juice. My dad ordered the Big Tex, a grilled chicken sandwich, and a salad. Those three items were for my mom and my dad to share. After waiting about 30-45 minutes we got our food.

Back in our hotel room, we opened our food and my mac and cheese wasn’t as appetizing as I would’ve liked. In my opinion, the mac and cheese didn’t taste as good as I expected or liked. With a little ketchup it tasted a little better but if you ever go to The Best Burger Bar I wouldn’t recommend the macaroni and cheese. Overall my macaroni and cheese was so-so. Kiran had a similar opinion for her Grilled Cheese. She said that it didn’t have enough cheese. Overall, she thought that her Grilled Cheese was so-so. Simran had a slightly different opinion with her Swiss Burger. Simran said that her burger was better than okay but not great. She also said that it was tasty. My mom and dad thought that their meal was good. 

On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate The Best Burger Bar a 5 out of 10. If you are in Boston and you happen to find a Best Burger Bar, and you want some casual, different food, I would highly recommend the place. 

New England Trip 2018 – Day 5

by Simran Jayasinghe

Starting on this day, our dad would be at a conference for the next four days. So, Mom, and the three kids had breakfast at Starbucks, and then headed off to explore the mall that was connected to our hotel. It was called the Prudential Center Shopping Mall, and it consisted of stores such as Canada Goose, Kate Spade, Under Armor, Anne Taylor, Tesla, and the ever-famous Gucci.There was a shop that I have never heard of before, called Eataly, which was supposedly a museum, a grocery store, and a restaurant all in one. We walked around the mall, before we decided that we wanted to walk around the streets. We looked at all the small shops on the side of the road. Kiran spotted a homemade creme puff shop and got herself a creme puff. We saw a Harry Potter shop and went in. It was a small room filled with odds and ends that had something to do with Harry Potter. Posters, Keychains, Wands, Rings, Stickers, Jelly Beans, Chocolate Frogs, and more. It was extremely hot inside the room, so we decided to leave the shop. We returned to the hotel room, and picked up our dad, who had been at his conference the whole day, and went all together to the Duck Tours. The Duck tours was a tour bus that went on land and in the lake, while giving a narration of Boston’s history.

Getting ready for the Duck tours!

We enjoyed the tour, and the view was amazing. The narrator did give us a history lesson, but it was extremely fast pace and I am convinced that I missed about 30 percent of the information! Afterwards, we walked to a place called Kashmir’s Indian Cuisine and had dinner. We ordered Tanduri Chicken, White rice, Chicken Tikka Masala, Garlic Naan, and others. The food was good, and we finished all of it! That may have been because we didn’t want to take leftovers home, but it was enjoyable, and the service was not bad. Afterwards, we stopped at a CVS on the way back to the hotel to get some throat drops, water, and other necessities, before we went back to the hotel and fell asleep.

New England Trip 2018 – Day 4

by Kiran Jayasinghe

Breakfast today was even better than the day before. Our family sat outside, in cool weather, eating waffles drizzled in chocolate sauce and piled with whipped cream. Eggs were a staple in our hotel breakfast meals, and we also drank lots of orange juice. After breakfast, we reluctantly checked out of our hotel and started our drive to Albany, New York.

Our dad decided to take the scenic route, which was less boring than the freeways but longer. After buying our morning donuts and filling up our gas tank, we continued our scenic drive until our mom started to crave Indian food. We then took a small stop for samosas and then continued to Albany’s Statehouse. We realized that since it was a Saturday, the Statehouse was closed, so we took a couple of pictures to forever preserve the moment, then looked at the public library nearby.

At the Statehouse in Albany.

There was nothing else to do, so we checked into our hotel.

Our Hampton Inn and Suites was so modern we were amazed. With a king bed, a pullout, a very modern bathroom, and the highlight, a modern chair/bed that was perfect for me and me only. Overall,  we all loved this hotel.

We decided to head to the mall and go to Dave and Busters, which is basically like a Chuckee Cheese for older kids and adults. We won 3000 points, and bought sparkly pillows, journals, and jewelry. After our excursion to the mall, we took a dip in the pool, had dinner from Fridays, and then went to bed.

New England Trip 2018 – Day 3

By Kiran Jayasinghe

We woke up in our Hampton hotel room just in time to make it to the complimentary hotel breakfast. With eggs, bacon, sausages, oatmeal, cereal, a waffle making machine, drinks, and more, it was a great breakfast to start off our journey to Hartford, Connecticut.

Once we had packed all our stuff (you’ll be amazed at the mess a family of five can make in one night), we hit the road.

You can blame this on sugar.

One of the surprising things on the East Coast was the lack of Starbucks – or rather the non-existent lack of Dunkin’ Donuts. Dunkin’ Donuts stores were everywhere, sometimes even ones less than 0.5 miles away from each other. This wasn’t a bad thing, however, since the sheer convenience of Dunkin Donuts stores being around convinced our parents that we should have donuts. Dunkin Donuts donuts were, being donuts, amazing, and our Mom loved the Dunkin Donuts coffee.

We enjoyed a scenic drive all the way to Hartford, Connecticut, where we parked in a public parking garage and then walked, in the humid, hot, weather, to the Old Statehouse (Connecticut has two). We paid a small admission fee, then explored the building. With four accessible floors, the Old Statehouse had courtrooms, displays, an old room consisting of hunting trophies, and had it’s own museum. After a couple of hours of absorbing information and screaming at the dead snakes and tarantulas in the hunting room, we decided to drive about 15 minutes to the New Statehouse. The New Statehouse was huge, with a basement and four top floors. The first floor consisted of a few  statues and meeting room, as with the second floor. The third floor had a couple of courtrooms, but we couldn’t see all of it, since half was blocked off. We visited the gift shop, but it was closed, so instead we went to Mark Twain’s house. Of course, with our luck, that was also closing, but the gift shop was open, so we bought a few things just to say we’d been there!

After the Mark Twain house, we drove to the hotel. We stayed in a Homewood Inn and Suites. It was very enjoyable, with a complete kitchen and a set of dishes, a dining table, separate bedroom, and modern bathroom. We enjoyed about a half hour in the hotel pool, which was quite big in hotel pool standards, and then we watched the movie Up, which is a Disney Animated movie. It was a good movie, with great comedy and a great moral. We finished our day with pizza from a nearby pizza place, and then went to bed, to prepare for the next day of our trip.

New England Trip 2018 – Day 2

by Simran Jayasinghe

We woke up in the Homewood Inn and Suites in Boston. We got dressed and went down to the lobby for breakfast. After a delicious breakfast, consisting of eggs, sausage, bacon, and a waffle covered in a generous amount of syrup, we went back to our room to make sure that we had packed everything. Then, we checked out of the hotel to hit the road for Rhode Island! We drove to Rhode Island, and stopped on the way to get Dunkin’ Donuts. After about a two hour drive, we were in Rhode Island.

When we got to Rhode Island, we first visited the Brown University. We wandered around the campus, looking at everything. We saw the Broken Chain sculpture, which was a monument to the connection between the Brown University and the Trans-African slave trade. The slaves brought to the U.S. helped to build the University. We also saw the Bear and Lamp sculpture, which was considered a work of art and featured a bright blue teddy bear. Then, we visited the Brown University Bookstore and got Brown apparel. We then walked back to the main part of the campus and got frozen yogurt on the way there.

We love FroYo!!!!!!!

After that, we got back in the car and drove for about 5 minutes to the Providence StateHouse. We went through the metal-detectors and security and walked around. We learned that the dome of the statehouse is the 4th largest free-standing dome. We looked at the Rhode Island seal and stared up at the impressive artwork on the ceiling. The gift shop was closed, as it always seems to be whenever we visit a statehouse, so we took some pictures and got in the car to go to the hotel.

We checked in to our hotel, a Hampton Inn and Suites. The hotel room was not bad, it did have some room. It had two rooms, a dining/living area, with a pullout couch, and the other room with a bathroom and a king sized bed. The hotel room was clean and there were no real problems, other than the toilet clogging, but that was probably our dad’s fault. We relaxed for a little while, and then got ready to go to dinner. We went to dinner at Newport with a family friend, at a place called The Red Parrot. After a satisfying dinner, we walked around, looking at the shops. Then we all went to look at the shops. Then we all went to look at the Newport Mansions. After that, we went to Dunkin’ Donuts (again, because we are so healthy) to get dessert. We went back to the hotel room from there, and went to sleep.

For a restaurant review on The Red Parrot, click here.