little black journal

We have easily made the transition into full-on vacation mode – we’re sleeping in, eating ourselves silly, and reveling in the absence of stress and work and any to-do’s. Life is good. We kicked off today with a stroll through the North End – more lovely brick facades, more statues of dudes like Paul Revere and John Adams, and heaping tons of charm.

After a little cafe-lounging at Boston Common Coffee Company, we squeezed our way into North Street Grille and grabbed a couple of seats at the bar. The place was packed and cozy, the portions were huge, and Shane gave the mimosas two thumbs up. Score.

Post-brunch, we were ready to stretch our legs and burn some calories, so we walked over to the Seaport District to check out the Institute of Contemporary Art. This building was under construction when my thesis studio took our big tour of Boston architecture in 2005, so it was fun to come back and see the finished product.

The afternoon had turned chilly and gray, so it was nice to take in the views of the bay from the warmth of the open, glassy galleries. The collection was more limited than we expected, but the exhibit by Os Gemeos was lots of fun, and the building itself was a piece of art worth the trip.

We walked back to the hotel through the Greenway Open Market and got swept up in the mobs of people browsing the stalls at the Boston Local Food Festival. We were still stuffed from our over-indulgent brunch, so I behaved myself and walked away with only a kale apple smoothie. And a package of salt-and-pepper dark chocolate, for later, of course.

The rest of the afternoon was good and lazy, with reading and naps and some web-surfing by the lobby fireplace. We rallied around 7 and headed out for dinner in Back Bay at Island Creek Oyster Bar. And oh. my. word. The evening was total perfection, from the champagne cocktails to the fresh, flavorful Moon Shoal oysters, to the creamy clam chowder and the noodles topped with grilled lobster and braised short rib. It was a seafood bonanza. And that wall made of oyster shells held up by wire mesh? Awesome.

We popped back over to the North End for one last stop before going back to the room to catch the game – we’d heard that Mike’s Pastries is a Boston icon and so we joined the hoards of other people craving a late-night cannoli. We took ours to-go, thinking these over-sized, super-rich cream-filled shells would be the perfect way to celebrate a Giants win. Turns out they were more of a consolation prize (9-0 – ouch!), but I’m shrugging it off. Tomorrow is Monday and I’m sleeping in – that’s certainly something to celebrate!