Boston!

This year, for Valentine's Day, Kev and I were actually together...when I thought all along that we were going to be apart because of his week away of training...but then, last minute I hitchhiked my way right into his trip to Boston...so we ended up being together after all...which was really really special....because I didn't think we were going to be.  But we were.  Whew.

I think I'm shleepy.
Yes, indeed.

So, when Kev got out of training on Thursday night, he found me waiting with bells on....(well, what I really mean is something other than yoga pants on), and we kicked it to a restaurant called Legal Seafood that everyone had been talking about all week long.

My red-hot, slightly fried from a week of learning, date!  Woot!

Oh Goodness.
Heaven on a plate.
 
I am a lover of all things seafood, so it was just a meal of all things glorious:  grilled scallops, shrimp, mahi mahi, swordfish, and salmon - along with choice of potato and veggies.  So delish.  And so much fun.  And absolutely no wait at all.  Major bonus.  On our way out the door, we heard the hostess telling people that there was a 2 1/2 hour wait to be seated for all those hanging out in the lobby.  Yuckadoo.

And then we finished off our festivities at a fun little self-serve yogurt place right down the road.  I love those places - where you can serve yourself whatever flavors of yogurt that you like and then top it off with about 30 choices of toppings.  That place was lovely.  And very delicious, too.

And then we rolled ourselves back to our room, put our comfies back on, and finished the night watching American Idol and drinking sparkling cider.  We're wild like that.  And it was awesome.

Training wrapped up around noon on Friday, and since the plan for picking up the boys wasn't until noon on Saturday, we figured it might be fun to go poke around and try to get ourselves lost in Quincy Market and the North End of Boston.  I called up my virtual tour guide - my cousin Jodi, who knows the place like the back of her hand, and who also was very accessible to the internet should we need some real help - and off we traipsed like two kids in a candy shop...

 ....which is very much unlike two kids on The Amazing Race, by the way.

A show that I would really, really love to go on someday....and a show where I think that Kev and I could make for some pretty good t.v.....with there just being one minor detail that could pose for one very major problem.

We are really, really good at getting ourselves lost.
Like, we're awesome at it.

This is Kev trying to get us to the North End....which supposedly was a very simple place to get to.  All we had to do was follow the outlined-in-red-on-the-sidewalk "Freedom Trail."  Only problem being, half of the sidewalks were covered in snow, and sometimes that Freedom Trail went in two different directions, and other times, we weren't sure if we were heading to the North End or down to Chinatown, for that matter....

But, we're also really good at asking for directions...and at having fun.
And, because we're both so super competitive, I still think that we'd have a decent chance on that racing show.  Plus, when I'm not gloriously great with child...I can run like the wind.  In my dreams, anyway...

It's on my Bucket List.
If that man would ever stop getting me pregnant...

Another thing that we're really good at is finding awesome coffee shops.
This dude was our coffee artiste.

He made these for us.
How very romantic, eh?
And super delish.  And cozy.
Kevy already slurped in his before the picture was taken...that's why his isn't as pretty as mine...

This was the name of the little shop.
Cute and fun.
It was my favorite part of the whole day.

We are also good at listening to suggestions from all knowledgeable ones on where to go for some famous taste treats.  And since everyone and their dog seemed to be walking around with bags that were labeled "Mike's Pastry," we set off to have a see....and a taste....for ourselves.

We split a cannoli.
The Florentine one with the crunchy outer honey coating.
Holy cannoli was it ever delish.
I ate most of it while Kev worked on getting us lost some more....

Mike's Pastry.
Go there the next time you are in Boston.
When we were walking around with our own little to-go box we heard a dude say:  "Hey!  He's got Mike's! Take him out!"  It's true.  I could've taken him.  I was larger....

Want to know one thing that we are both really, super horrible at?  History.  We both royally rot at all things historical that we should probably know to be historically accurate and true.  And since Boston is full of history....I felt like quite the dunce for most of our strolling about.  I took pictures of things, because it seemed the important thing to do...and because some of these places seemed to be important.

But, I'm not really sure.
I is a homeschooling Mama, yes indeed.

This is Paul Revere.  I remember reading about him.  I actually can kind of even remember part of a poem that we memorized about him.  "On the 18th of April, in '75, (or was it '79??) hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year."  Buuuuut, that's all I've got for ya.  I'm impressed I remembered even that much.....and something about "The British are coming!  The British are coming!"

Yuuuuup.
That's about it.  Now my brain hurts.

I am good at finding things and taking pictures of things that I know my Hoolies will be interested in, however.  Big long eels for sale is one of those things.  Just sayin'.  They thoroughly appreciated this picture when I showed it to them.  I got all of the proper "oooohs!"  And "aaaaahs!"  And "Groooooooss!" that I was hoping for.

Sweet success.

And super, super olde chowder houses that have been around for ions are also lovely to look at.
And historical, too....
Right?

Ah-ha!  It's true!  It's a historical landmark...

Sooooo, that about sums up the Kevin and Amy tour of Boston.
You're welcome.

We sampled our way through Quincy Market, too, but I had to put my camera away because my hands were too full of all of the little tasties that I kept trying.  I liked Quincy Market.  It was yummy.  And I liked the North End, too.  Sweet, little, yummy cobblestoned Italy, it was.

I did not like the cost for the parking garage....nearly $40.  Ho-ly Hannah.  We almost got an ulcer when we saw the fee.  Nor did I like the traffic on our way out of the city.  However, overall, our spontaneous little afternoon out and about and walking about 86 miles when we really only needed to walk about 10 blocks was well worth the trip!

We got exercise.
We got culture.
The weather was glorious.
The company was fabulous.
And we learned a little bit of history, to boot.

That last sentence is a total lie....