North End – Eat. Drink. Laugh. A LOT.

The North End has everything I love, tons of Italian restaurants and bakeries, red wine and a comedy club. My itinerary will fill you up and make you laugh, just make sure to leave room for dessert!

Late Afternoon – Walk to the North End via Greenway or Waterfront
Evening – Dinner at Lucca followed by dessert at Mike’s Pastry
Late Night – Improv Asylum

Late Afternoon – Walk to the North End via Greenway or Waterfront

Beautiful view along the Greenway

Easily accessible by the green or orange line, the North End is a great place to walk around and check out the small shops and historic background. Now that the weather is starting to cooperate, take the train to South Station or Government Center and walk along the waterfront or through the Rose Kennedy Greenway on your way to the North End. You better get your exercise in now, because the rest of my itinerary will have you running to the gym in the morning.

Evening – Dinner at Lucca followed by dessert at Mike’s Pastry

Chocolate chip cannolis, my favorite!

I can honestly say that Italian food is my favorite type of food. There is nothing better than carbs soaked in garlic washed down with some red wine. When visiting the North End, a staple of mine is Lucca. It is one of the North End’s most popular restaurants.

After you have stopped stuffing your face with bread, olive oil and Lucca’s sweet potato ravioli, walk it off so you can truly enjoy what Mike’s Pastry’s has to offer. As mentioned in Mihaela’s post, yes, the long lines can be intimidating, however I always tell myself it is WELL worth the wait when you get that chocolate chip cannoli in your hands.

Some restaurants can be a mob scene (no pun intended) around dinner time in the North End. Be sure to plan ahead and make a reservation at Lucca so that you don’t have to wait forever!

Late Night – Improv Asylum

Be prepared to laugh!

I LOVE to laugh. Every once in a while I enjoy visiting one of Boston’s many comedy clubs, the Improv Asylum. It is located at the beginning of Hanover Street and whenever I am in the North End, I make sure to catch a show. The great thing about the Improv is the variety of shows and the times they offer. They conveniently have shows before & after dinner and even late night if you want to stumble in with a good buzz. The raunchy humor is not for everyone, but it is definitely worth adding to your North End agenda.

I hope you enjoyed my recommendations for an afternoon and evening in Boston’s historic North End. If you didn’t see something that would suite your interests, please reference Alex or Mihael’s posts for other great things to do in the area!

Ciao!

Diana – I enjoy spending as much time outside as possible even if that means finding a bar with a roof deck. I am always up for a challenge, whether it’s hiking a mountain, bowling or singing karaoke in front of complete strangers, I will do it. As long as the day involves a glass of wine, family or friends and a good laugh at the end of it, it’s alright in my book.

Southie: Let the Shenanigans Begin

Southie not only has some great bars/restaurants to visit, but it’s a great place to spend some time outdoors taking in the views of the harbor and Boston’s beautiful skyline. My itinerary will include a few bars, some great food and enjoying the outdoors.

Morning: L Street Diner
Afternoon: Sullivan’s and Castle Island
Evening: Shenannigans
Late Night: L Street Tavern

Morning: L Street Diner

One of my favorite places to go when I visit family in South Boston is the L Street Diner for breakfast. And it’s not because we get the best table in the joint when we visit (my Aunt is a regular), but the food always hits the spot.  You can’t go wrong with some eggs bene and a towering plate of bacon to start your day off right.

Once you are done with breakfast you may need a little exercise to keep you from retreating home and into an afternoon food coma, so just a short walk away is Sidewalk Café (“South Boston’s #1 Café”) where I think is one of the best places for iced coffee. So grab yourself an iced and get ready because this itinerary is not over.

South Boston has various outdoor areas to enjoy if the weather permits. Telegraph Hill, the Harborwalk and one of my favorite Boston landmarks, Castle Island.

Which leads into my recommendation for the afternoon…

Afternoon: Sullivan’s and Castle Island

Once you have reenergized and afternoon hits, lunch at Sullivan’s and a walk around Castle Island’s “Sugar Bowl” is a great way to spend the afternoon. Growing up I used to go to Castle Island for field trips with school and summer camp.  Bagged lunches, tag around the playground and watching airplanes practically land on top of you is where it is at.  The menu at Sullivan’s is simple, however they do manage to throw in a lobster roll and fish sandwich, because it is Boston after all.

Sullys’ lobstah roll

 

A fancy boxed lunch from Sullys

There are a few fun events that take place in the Castle Island area. One of which is the infamous, New Years Day Polar Plunge, where people from all over run into the freezing water, either to raise money for charity or because they are purely nuts.  It’s a fun tradition that always brings a big crowd to L Street Beach every January 1^st.  Some of the costumes you see are pretty entertaining.  I can’t say I have ever made “the plunge,” but I definitely support the cause.

Polar Plunge.. costumes welcome

         

 

Castle Island has always been one of my favorite places in Boston. It’s the type of place that is fun to visit year round; however, once “Sullys” opens its doors for the season, that’s truly the best time to visit.  My family has a personal attachment to Castle Island because of all the time we spent there growing up, especially my grandparents.  When they passed, we donated a bench to Castle Island in their memory.  So if you happen to see “the bench,” along your visit, take a seat and relax.

             

 

Once you are done taking in the sights of Castle Island and the harbor, you may need to head home for a nap to keep up with the remainder of the itinerary… or at least for an outfit change.

Evening: Shenannigans

Shenannigans is a nice, casual place to grab dinner and drinks. Conveniently located close to the Broadway train station for those that are not even going to attempt to find parking in Southie.  The menu offers traditional American fare with some favorites such as the Shepherd’s Pie and no Irish bar would complete without Bangers, Mash and Beans on the menu.  For those that enjoy live music, Shananigans hosts live reggae bands on Friday nights.  If this is not your cup of tea, hop up to The Playwright or Stats (as mentioned in James’ blog post) two other great bars that are fun to visit.

Shepherd’s Pie is a favorite

Now it’s off to another Southie gem for some drinks to round out the day….

Late Night: L Street Tavern

The L Street Tavern is a quaint, neighborhood bar that tends to have a group of regulars. They are harmless, I swear, just don’t look at them funny.  The L Street Tavern made Southie “famous” when Ben Affleck and Matt Damon filmed, Good Will Hunting, there in the early 90s and won many awards.  It may have been the movie to spark interest for others to film in Boston.

L Street Tavern has plenty of memorabilia around the bar to commemorate the success of the movie. I can remember the film crew hogging L Street from East Broadway to the Beach as we tried to visit my Aunt on East 6^th and maneuvering the lovely one- ways that fill Southie.

After some drinks to toast the night, you may be ready to head home. Don’t forget to come back to Southie and experience Castle Island when “Spring” finally shows itself.

I hope you enjoyed!

Diana – I enjoy spending as much time outside as possible even if that means finding a bar with a roof deck. I am always up for a challenge, whether it’s hiking a mountain, bowling or singing karaoke in front of complete strangers, I will do it. As long as the day involves a glass of wine, family or friends and a good laugh at the end of it, it’s alright in my book.

Cape Cod – St.Patrick’s Day Shenanigans

Itinerary

1. Morning: The Irish Village
2. Afternoon : Red Face Jack’s & Son’s of Erin
3. Late Afternoon : Tavern 731
4. Evening: Royal Palace
5. A Night Cap: Jake Rooney’s

This weekend my fiancé and I decided to head south of the Sagamore to participate in the Cape’s St.Patrick’s Day festivities. Having grown up attending the infamous St.Patty’s parade in Southie, we were interested to see if the Cape could live up to the entertainment level Southie had provided. The nice part of the Cape’s parade is that it is held on a Saturday, allowing for a full day’s events without the headache of having to go to work hungover the next day.

Perfect spot to watch the parade

We strategically decided to watch the parade from The Irish Village, the middle of the route, to allow for a short walk to start our adventure post parade. The Village hosted a traditional Irish breakfast that we couldn’t pass up as well as the Baileys in our coffee. The crowds were full of friends and families decked out in green, enjoying the sunshine, music and of course the alcoholic beverages in their red solo cups. As we watched the parade from the steps of the Irish Village, the parade passed with Irish Step Dancers and their crazy wigs, local businesses on floats, the parade Marshall, Charlie Moore and even a dog in a green tutu. The bag pipers will always be my favorite part of the parade, and no, not because of the men in skirts.

Parade Marshall – Charlie Moore

Making friends along the parade

Once the parade ended, we beelined it to Red Face Jack’s, one of the best sports bars on Cape. They conveniently hosted a parking lot party filled with live music and vendors and although it was only in the high 30s, the crowd enjoyed drinking outside and catching some rays which we have been lacking lately.

We hopped from bar to bar, making sure to test the Guinness at each establishment and checking out the tradtiional Irish music. We ran into fellow parade goers that had the same idea in mind. The Son’s of Erin was our second stop on our adventure. Luckily, my aunt who is a member gave me her key card to get in. This members-only bar is known for its great music, camaraderie among members and cheap beers. We stayed for “Wild Rover,” “Fields of Athenry,” and “Whiskey in the Jar,” before continuing our trek to Tavern 731, home of the Sons of Erin’s previous location. Tavern 731 is a newer bar on the Cape, that is known for its biker summer crew that has claimed it as their territory.

As we stumbled our way back towards the Irish Village we couldn’t help but stop in for a pint, a sing-along and watch the Irish Step Dancers that were perform. The free taxi service during parade day was convenient as we wanted to head out of Yarmouth and closer to Harwich, where we were staying for the evening. The Royal Palace, our go-to Chinese restaurant on the Cape was a smart choice to soak up the booze filled day before we headed to our last bar.

Our last stop of the day was Jake Rooney’s for a night cap. The bar was packed as people continued the St.Patrick’s Day festivities into the night. The rowdy crowd sang along to 80s and 90s songs played by the live guitarist, a nice change from the Irish tunes we had been listening to since 10 A.M.

Night cap at Jake Rooney’s

Drink of choice

The Cape’s St.Patrick’s Day Parade was a nice change of pace to celebrate the holiday. Although it was much tamer than Southie’s parade, it was a fun filled day of traditional Irish music, Guinness, sunshine and cheer. I look forward to attending next year’s parade and having an excuse to drink baileys at ten in the morning.

Diana – I enjoy spending as much time outside as possible even if that means finding a bar with a roof deck. I am always up for a challenge, whether it’s hiking a mountain, bowling or singing karaoke in front of complete strangers, I will do it. As long as the day involves a glass of wine, family or friends and a good laugh at the end of it, it’s alright in my book.

Dorchester: Adventures in “The Dot”

Yes, I know Dorchester sometimes has a bad rap. I was born in Dorchester and moved when I was five to Braintree, but you can’t help but embrace the hidden gems of “The Dot.” My itinerary will keep you on the move, visiting some of Dorchester’s finest bars, restaurants and places to enjoy yourself, just make sure you bring your street smarts with you.

1. Morning: Ledge Kitchen & Drinks
2. Late Morning: Franklin Park Zoo (weather permitting)
3. Afternoon: Boston Bowl
4. Evening: Blarney Stone

One of the up and coming areas of Dorchester is “Lower Mills.” I would be amiss if I did not give a quick shout out to my hair dresser, Karen, at Curl up & Dye in Lower Mills somewhere in this blog post. Located just steps away from the salon is one of my favorite restaurants in Dorchester, The Ledge Kitchen & Drinks. I try to spend as much of my time outdoors, however, the winter has put a damper on things. But when spring arrives and the sun is shining, The Ledge’s outdoor area is something you must experience. When you enter their outdoor bar area you immediately forget you are in Dorchester and the police and ambulance sirens seem to disappear. It is a great place to go for brunch. Their Sunday Jazz Brunch is amazing. It is a great way to unwind and prepare for the dreaded work week. Also, many people do not know and would not expect, but The Ledge maintains its own rooftop garden full of fresh herbs and vegetables used in their menu. So grab a bloody at the build your own bloody bar and the cornflake crusted french toast to soak up the booze.

Delicious Bloody Mary at The Ledge

Now a little Boston history…Boston has been fortunate to host many movie sets over the last 10+ years. Many people may not know, but the Zookeeper with Kevin James was filmed at the Franklin Park Zoo. In addition, Ben Affleck’s famous, Gone Baby Gone was filmed in the streets of Dorchester. Many extras in the movie were Dorchester’s own “townies.” Mystic River was also filmed in Dorchester. Now, if the weather was about 40 degrees warmer, I would suggest a visit to the Franklin Park Zoo. So save this activity in your back pocket for when spring arrives and time can be spent outdoors.

Once afternoon hits, you may be getting hungry, need a drink and some competitive activity to get the blood moving, so I suggest visiting Boston Bowl. Many people, even my family that grew up in Dorchester, did not know that Boston Bowl is a 24/7 bowling alley! Yes, it’s open 24 hours a day, I kid you not. Sooo if you feel like bowling at 3 A.M. or 3 P.M., or 3 P.M. – 3 A.M., YOU CAN! And to sweeten the deal, Boston Bowl has its own brewery and café, Deadwood Café and Brewery, nestled conveniently next to the bowling alleys. The beer selection is somewhat limited but it does the trick and if you are hungry they have your basic chicken fingers and french fries that I myself will never outgrow. If you are one that enjoys a brew while cranking out strikes, this is your place. I would suggest going around 6-8 PM when the children are not running around screaming at birthday parties. Don’t forget your free, Boston Bowl logo socks when you are leave, you paid for those gems!

Deadwood Cafe & Brewery

4th place..woo!!

After dominating in bowling, you will most likely be ready for a good meal in a comfortable atmosphere. I would suggest you visit the Blarney Stone. This bar is located on Dorchester’s infamous “Dot Ave.” A street that does not lack in the watering hole department. My personal menu favorites are the coconut calamari to start, the grilled salmon fillet as an entree and paired with a glass of wine. The Blarney Stone hosts trivia on Wednesday nights so if you don’t catch it this time, make sure to come back to test your random knowledge.

Now don’t let the Blarney Stone be your last stop for the day. Definitely feel free to explore more of Dot Ave’s other fine establishments, The Banshee, The Harp & Bard, Tom English Bar, Peggy O’Neils, etc., many of which host live music and serve delicious pints. And if you get ambitious as you make your way down Dot Ave, you will eventually enter South Boston where you can explore one of the locations on James’ itinerary. The only thing I would suggest, don’t visit this area solo. I am not responsible for your safety at this point.

Enjoy!

Diana’s Bio:
I enjoy spending as much time outside as possible even if that means finding a bar with a roof deck. I am always up for a challenge, whether it’s hiking a mountain, bowling or singing karaoke in front of complete strangers, I will do it. As long as the day involves a glass of wine, family or friends and a good laugh at the end of it, it’s alright in my book.