Here is my personal account of the places we visited and things we saw.  I recommend them all (from the perspective of a tourist) and hope you can make it to Boston one day!!

We didn’t go to the “cheers bar” although everyone keeps asking me if we did. Believe me, we found plenty of other places to make up for it. Sunset Bar and Tap has hundreds (thousands?) of beers on tap and in the bottle… longest list I’ve ever seen. And Conner, their beer-guru, really knows his stuff. “The Drunken Strawberry” (my necklace, not me) made its debut.

Union Oyster House is cool just because of the history there, but oh-my-lord does it take a long time to get service and food. I run into my first crazy Bostonian in the ladies room. The surrounding area is a strip of historic bars that seems to love its coverbands and college students.

Harvard Square is pretty cool… the architecture isn’t as exciting as I expected, but we find some awesome pubs and shops. Tommy Doyle’s, an Irish pub we discover there, features another uber-knowledgeable barkeep who can literally (we have a picture) achieve the “perfect pour.” Next, the Mexican restaurant we go to – Border Cafe – has eclectic decor, amazing margaritas and great Mexican and Cajun food.

Faneuil Hall (I TOTALLY think they’re saying Nathaniel for at least a day) is a historic building turned gift shop surrounded by a large open mall area of the same name. You can find shopping, dining, street vendors, performers yet to make it big on MySpace, and a Sunglass Hut among a million other things in this tiny people-thronged area. We meet a drunken Irishman (in Boston of all places?!?) who not only tells us the story of his one-night-stand turned lovely-bride, but also recommends a pub near our hotel – The Sevens Alehouse. More about this little gem later.

Directly across the street from Faneuil is Boston’s open fresh produce Haymarket area – 10 apples for a dollar?? I HIGHLY recommend stopping here, if only for the people watching.

When we go to see our friend Captain-Jack’s pad in Somerville, we also wander through Davis Square which is “only 3 ½” (Jack-speak for an actual 25) blocks away. This area and intersection are perfect examples of Boston’s navigational complexity: my finance Nick doesn’t even try, and I see a woman wearing a commemorative Davis Square streetmap-donning-a-smiley-face t-shirt. Next stop, breakfast at Rosebud Diner which employs (or is owned by?) cute little old women with heavy Boston accents. Try any omelet here, or the made-with-day-after-thanksgiving-turkey triple-decker club sandwich. Yum!

We travel to see a Frank Gehry building at M.I.T’s campus and I am enthralled by it, i.e. took a million pictures and gawked shamelessly. Dustin and Beth cannot wrap their engineering minds around the purpose of a structure so strange. Also find a cool little place here, The Black Sheep, to have drinks. This place used to be an old Boston firehouse that they’ve turned into a quaint little hotel and restaurant. We’re fans of the Russian graduate student from Sarah Lawrence tending the bar. She recommends Cold River Vodka from Maine – Russians know their vodka!

And we join a “duck” (duqw) tour which is actually awesome, albeit touristy. The DUQW is a WWII amphibious vehicle that traverses the entire city and then rolls into the river to do an aquatic tour. Waaaay too much info here to even try and recount. Our captain (Johnny Bagadonuts, not Jack) is knowledgeable, hilarious and even lets children under 10 drive the vehicle. Due to Johnny’s recommendation, we visit the Boston library – so beautiful! I love the way the sun hits the statues of life-size lions in the atrium.

Throughout the trip we spend a lot of time on the North End in their little Italy area… amazing food. My favorite meal of the trip (I think?) is the giant open faced seafood ravioli at Terramia. I’m pretty sure that the same people own Antico Forno which is, according to the sign, a pizza place. Despite the pizza fare, everyone but me gets amazing seafood dishes, and I, although I’m usually not a fan, ordered gnocchi. It is a very good decision. We also visit Gelateria and Cafe Paradiso for gourmet coffee and pistachio gelato. I’m totally gaining a few pounds.

At one point we decide to walk the Freedom Trail, although we don’t get very far because it’s a little too late in the day. This leads us to the 21st Amendment bar, and from what we can tell, this is the place to go after a hard day’s work. Lots of white collars, and the Canadian bartender knows many of them by name.

Speaking of knowing them all by name, The Sevens Alehouse is a hole in the wall near the Holiday Inn at Bodoin (our hotel). This place is more “Cheers Bar” than I imagine the actual Cheers Bar is, and we are the names they DON’T know. Cool until a little guy pulls my stool out from under my toosh and drama ensues.

The wharf area (not sure of the proper name), although sparsely populated, features amazing seafood at the Barking Crab. And I finally get my sought after crab legs! Ok, not really legs, claws, but those and their -free- cup of chowdah is mouth-watering. Also, their courthouse across the street is some fine modern architecture.

An amazing last night – with Nick and I meandering on our clueless way – results in more memorable finds. On the way to Pizza Regina – literally the best pizza I’ve ever had – we come across many true believers in Mike’s Pastries where the fare is cash only and purchased after waiting in 30 minutes of people pushing to reach the wrap-around counter. Here they recommend the Boston Cream Pie (duh), the Whoopie Pie, Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Ricotta Pie.

On my way back to the airport, I decide that I’m very jealous of their mass transit system. However, I will have to agree with Tour-Guide-Captain-Jack and say that the green line is screechy and twists like an itchy snake. I also agree with our dread-headed waitress from Irish pub #2 who told us that you can usually walk as fast as the train goes when you’re downtown.