Ah! My long awaited Boston Marathon and weekend recap! If you’re new here and maybe found me through the Boston Marathon hashtag –> no! I did not run the marathon. My boyfriend, Matt, ran his first! He’s so fast. And cool. 😎
My sister and her boyfriend (hi, Megan and Kyle) used to live in a Boston suburb so I like to think I’m somewhat familiar with the area. Like, I can tell you where the harbor is. That’s good enough, right? And I can tell you how to get to Faneuil Hall. Matt’s also been to Boston a couple times because his brother runs the marathon, too! So, we came to Boston with no set plans other than seeing the Red Sox, an early dinner the night before the race, and the race itself.
Saturday
Woo! Saturday was really rough for me. We had a 7AM flight to make and my body decided to betray me. I was up at 1AM with a nasty stomach bug and again at 4AM! So, getting through the airport was painful as was being on the plane. Sorry to my fellow travelers.
Our AirBnB wasn’t ready when we landed. Luckily – for me! – my sister happened to be at the airport at the same time so she brought me a blanket, some water bottles, ibuprofen, and 2 sleeves of Biscoffs (Matt loves them). We hung out at the airport until our host said our apartment was ready.
The AirBnB we rented was a short walk from the Lechmere T stop (on the green line) so we were in a perfect location for getting around the city.
I spent the entire afternoon in bed trying to recover while Matt explored the neighborhood. Eventually I got up because, HEY! I didn’t want to spend the whole weekend in bed. We took the T to Copley where we walked around Boston Commons and went to look at the famous ~Acorn Street~. (Boston’s most photographed street.) Matt was getting hungry and I thought I was too so we went to Figs for pizza and pasta. I ended up bringing most of my food home but lemme tell ya — the pizza is delicious!
Sunday
Matt and his brother got an earlyish start to pick-up their race bibs and packets while I continued to recover from my stomach bug. I met them at the convention center as they finished up so we could all go to Fenway together.
We left the game a little early because we had dinner reservations in the North End. The North End has so many cute and delicious Italian restaurants and we ended up with reservations at bencotto. I was still feeling icky so I just got a pizza while Matt and his brother got pasta dishes.
And, of course, we made it home in time to watch the GAME OF THRONES premiere! Duh.
Monday
Marathon Monday! Matt and his brother got up super early to catch a bus out to Hopkinton while I slept a little longer. Although I wasn’t running, I was so excited that I ended up getting out of bed around 7:00 anyway to get ready and head out to my spot on the course.
I took the T to the finish line and parked myself right at the mile 26 marker, right in front of the Thompson Center. I got there so, so early (8:30AM!) so I grabbed myself an iced Dunkin (a Boston staple!) and waited. And waited. And waited some more! Finally, the wheelchair division competitors came by, then the elite women, the elite men, and the runners from the first corral!
Matt ran by just before 1PM and looked so good! Like, look at this picture. Does this look like the face of someone who just ran 26 miles including the famous Newton Hills? No! He’s a freak. And? He even ran a PR — he finished the race with an official time of 2:54:57! What the WHAT?
After the race, we went back to our Airbnb for showers and naps. We went back to Back Bay for dinner at Ora Trattorizza and kinda just walked around the neighborhood.
Tuesday
Check-out day. We had to be out of our Airbnb by 11AM – bummer! – and our flight wasn’t until later on in the afternoon. We got up earlyish and went back to the North End for bagel sammies at a small cafe across from the Old North Church. We didn’t even realize it was *the* Old North Church until we looked out of the cafe window and saw a sign on the church!
Matt and I then treated ourselves to BOVA’S BAKERY. Everybody needs to go there. It’s a legit old school Italian bakery with trays upon trays of cookies and other baked treats on one side and homemade breads on the other. Matt sampled a Boston Creme donut but ultimately got a cannoli and a cinnamon pinwheel while I bought a s’mores brownie because S’MORES ARE LIFE.
Alas — time to head home! We’re already starting to plan our trip for next year: places to see, restaurants to try! I want to make a trip out to the Cape or Martha’s Vineyard for at least one day. Fingers crossed we can make it happen! 🤞🏼
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