Tanna Wasilchak

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HOW TO EXPERIENCE BOSTON, MA TO THE FULLEST IN JUST TWO DAYS

Boston is rich with history, culture, and great food. I’ve been to Boston 3 times now and each time I’m so excited to be there and have the best time. Whether you’re a history buff or not, you’re sure to love this unique city. From the historic Freedom Trail that walks you around the city to the most famous museums and historic areas in the city to food and shopping in the heart of the city, this blog post will cover it all.

WHAT TO DO IN BOSTON

WALK THE FREEDOM TRAIL

While staying at the Moxy, I walked the Freedom Trail for the second time and still learned something new. The Freedom Trail is a unique collection of museums, churches, meeting houses, burying grounds, parks, a ship, and historic markers that tell the story of the American Revolution and beyond. I love that you can walk around downtown following a brick trail that takes you to all the important and historical places in the city. We walked about 5 minutes from the hotel to the Boston Common Visitors center. The Boston Common is a beautiful park you should absolutely walk over to — they have all sorts of fun park activities. Anyway, we grabbed our Freedom trail booklets from the Visitors Center (I think they were like $5-$10 or something) and headed out to do our own tour. They have guided tours, but we wanted to go at our own pace and pop into shops whenever we liked. You can find all the information you could dream of about The Freedom Trail here.

STOP BY QUINCY MARKET

I’ve been to Quincy Market a number of times now and absolutely love it. I feel like I discover something new every time I visit. From lobster mac & cheese to pizza, and even a Uniqlo store — there’s something for everyone! The market was about a 20 minute walk on the Freedom Trail from our hotel and something I highly recommend if you have time to kill in Boston. A little history on the place — it opened in 1826 to the public and is still serving both locals and visitors of Boston today. Its role has changed from fresh produce retail originally to wholesale and then became a festival marketplace in the 70s. Read more about this history of Quincy Market here. After 189 years, Quincy Market still serves Boston with lots of good food, shopping and being a good place for hanging out.

WHERE TO EAT IN BOSTON

GRAB BREAKFAST AT TATTE

We stumbled upon this gem of a cafe while visiting Boston & loved it so much we ate there twice in one weekend! A little about the bakery, Tzurit Or, founder, pastry chef, and the creative force behind Tatte, started Tatte Bakery fifteen years ago in her home kitchen, selling her creations at the Copley Square farmers market in Boston. For Tzurit, building a bakery of her own was about more than just cultivating a thriving business; it was a way to create a sense of home and community while starting a new life as an immigrant to the United States. Her vision for Tatte was humble in origin- grounded in a simple mission to bring people together around great food and pastries while providing a deep sense of comfort and belonging. In missing her home, she would make Tatte a new home for herself and others and leave a powerful and lasting impact by bringing more inspiration, caring, and joy to those needing more of it. Read more here.

I highly recommend grabbing a coffee, tartine, & bakery item to snack on later! You won’t regret it!🤤

TRY THE BEST BOSTON CREAM PIE

If you haven’t been living under a rock you’re entire life then you know about the famous Boston Cream Pie! The Boston Cream Pie is a timeless, culinary creation dating back to 1856. The dessert was first created and served at the grand opening of Boston’s Parker House, now widely known as Omni Parker House, nestled in downtown Boston, MA. Today, the Boston Cream Pie is distinguished as Massachusetts’ official state dessert over Toll House Cookies and the Fig Newton. You can find their famous recipe here to make your very own in your kitchen. I love that the hotel had these mini pie options to walk in and grab. We took ours over to a little sit-down area in the hotel to enjoy and it was great! It wasn’t something I’m like dreaming of or anything but it was a good little treat and definitely worth grabbing while you’re strolling by the Omni Parker House Hotel while following the Freedom Trail.

HAVE DINNER AT NUSR-ET

When Ana and I found out we were staying down the street from Nusr-et (Saltbae’s restaurant) we immediately booked a reservation. This restaurant is known for its wagyu beef. Wagyu beef is distinctive because it is highly marbled. Marbling refers to the visible layers of intramuscular fat. This is fat that is found in the muscle. Due to the unique genetics of the cows, the meat contains a higher percentage of fatty acids than ordinary beef, giving it a higher marbling score. Actually all of the beef at Nusr-Et is Wagyu and absolutely delicious; however, very expensive. My burger, sides, and drink were about $70 but again, worth it!

GRAB CANNOLIS AT BOVA’S

We kinda stumbled upon Bova’s Bakery which was awesome because Bova’s Bakery has been expertly baking and serving the finest homemade Italian cookies, pastries, and breads for over eighty years. This incredible bakery is open 24 hours a day and the Bova family works hard to prepare fresh authentic Italian treats, cookies, and pastries by hand around the clock. For over three generations, the Bova staff and family have produced award-winning Italian pastries and treats from traditional Italian family recipes. Known for its genuine Italian baking styles and ingredients, it is no surprise that Bova’s Bakery has thrived and flourished in Boston, Massachusetts North End since 1926.

Bova’s Bakery offers a delectable variety of tasty treats that will delight all palates, such as their famous ricotta cannoli, creamy tiramisu, our flakey turnovers, popular fresh fruit tarts, jumbo chocolate dipped strawberries, and our popular eclairs and Neopolitans. We grabbed a couple of their cannolis and they were sweet on the inside and crunchy on the outside and I actually realized I don’t know if I even like cannolis in general, haha! Not that these were bad but I just don’t know if they’re my thing… however this bakery has a ton of reviews for having great ones as well as a variety of unique flavors.

GRAB COCKTAILS AT BAR MOXY

We’d heard some great things about the Bar at Moxy and decided to check it out before we headed to dinner one night and oh my gosh… so worth it. It’s a very trendy lounge with lots of games on the tables. The most important part though, the drinks. We both had mango margaritas and they were 10/10 — that coming from two Texas ladies too. We are kinda snobby when it comes to margaritas because we grew up drinking some pretty great ones. Overall, I highly recommend stopping by and grabbing a drink at the bar before or after dinner.

GRAB DRINKS ON A PATIO

When the weather gets nice in Boston, everyone starts setting up their patios and drinks start flowing. We walked along the Freedom Trail and truly just popped into a cute restaurant with a nice patio and good looking drinks. Those are always the best kinds of experiences in my opinion — when you don’t plan it and find a great place.

WHERE TO STAY

MOXY BOSTON DOWNTOWN

If you’re looking for an amazing hotel to stay at in downtown Boston — look no further than the Moxy Hotel. Moxy Hotels are owned by Marriott and keep popping up in cool cities so I can’t wait to stay in other locations. We chose the Moxy initially because of how cute and trendy it looked in photos and how close it was to some MUST DO experiences. Don't settle for an ordinary hotel experience at Moxy Boston Downtown. This brand-new boutique hotel offers the modern conveniences you need in a hip, party-loving atmosphere. The incredible location gets the party started by putting you center stage of all the entertainment that Boston has to offer. Find yourself near Fenway Park, Chinatown, Boston Common, art galleries, theaters, fine dining, The Freedom Trail, and local nightlife.

Back at the hotel, enjoy delicious signature cocktails and afterward, wander through the hotel and check out the wildly fun Bar Moxy, large writing walls, 56-inch projection TV, photo booth and 24-hour grab-and-go marketplace. With all the modern conveniences the downtown hotel offers, you might be tempted to just chill out. We spent our last morning working on our laptops in the beautiful lounge. Read my full blog post on this hotel here.

Explore Boston with me in my vlog!

What’s a must do in Boston when you only have a couple of days?

XOXO

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