Massachusetts Venture Bound. One Year On The Boat. Days 51-71. Part 3
July 1st - July 8th, 2024
Massachusetts Part 3. Last day in Provincetown, Boston and Gloucester. I will have two narrow down Boston. We spend one week there. We saw Fireworks, toured the harbor on Mini Venture, walked the city, walked South Boston Waterfront, toured Fenway Park, met up with old friends, saw live music and of course, ate and drank well.
We arrived with no issues. I put an anti sea sick patch on and took an anti-nausea pill. I had no problem. It was sunny and there was some winds but I felt fine. I was wicked happy about that. We docked at Fan Pier Marina. It was easy docking and the marina is in a great location. We were pretty protected but the harbor is busy and the ferry dock was right near us so we were not still for very long. We walked to almost everything. Originally, we planned on going into the Charles River to watch the Fireworks on July 4th. But after checking in with the Dock Master, he said we didn’t need to go in the river and we would see fireworks everywhere from the marina. Going into the river was exciting to think of but we heard some negative things like, it’s over run by people who drink too much, who don’t know how to anchor their boats let a long drive them and we had a few locks to go through to get there and to come out. And the Fireworks show wasn’t going to start until 10:30p.m. Being that it was our first time thinking about it, we decided to go with the Dock Master’s suggestions. Stay at the marina. As it turned, out the night we arrived, the 2nd, we ended up with an amazing fireworks show. It felt like the show was just for us. As of the 4th, we saw about 4 different fireworks from across the river. Which was pretty nice. So, I think we got our fill of fireworks for the year. Taking pictures of fireworks is always a challenge for me. This was the best one.
Like I said, we spend 7 days in Boston. We walked to Faneuil Hall Market Place, Beacon Hill, Boston Commons Park, and the State House. We took a tour of Fenway Park. Walked to the North End to experience a highly recommended restaurant called Regina’s Pizza. There was something about the lay out of North End, near Regina’s, that made it seem like every street was like a movie set. Didn’t seem real. It was strange but cool. We found a huge Post Office. I man huge. It must be some sort of international distribution warehouse. Did some shopping. Took Mini Venture around the Harbor. That allowed us to to see the locks going into the Charles river. Pretty amazing. We saw some old friends. Went to see Jason Mraz at the Pavilion which was about .5 miles from he marina. Tried some bars and restaurants and went to Eately for lunch and bought a few things for dinner. Steaks! With all of that some of us were able to get some workouts in and some walks in before the day started. The State house was beautiful sitting up on the hill and the park was amazing. I love the vibe in Beacon Hill. The Brownstones are magnificent. I found out, too late though, that it’s where the high end shopping is. Newbury Street. My bank account thanks me. Keith does too.
While we were taking a a tour of the harbor we found another skiff that needed some help. The couple could not keep the engine running. We towed them back to their boat. They owned a Grand Banks. Nice to meet a fellow GB owner.
The weather was good. Partly sunny and quite hot for this early in the year. One of the things I love about Boston, is that you can pretty much walk to everything. During the winter I may consider cabbing it but everything seemed to be no more then 3 miles away. Going to the North End may have been the longest walk. We did take an Uber to two restaurants because us girls wanted to wear heels. The cost of trying to be chic!!! HA!
Let’s eat!!! Here is a list of where we ate and/or stopped for a cold one. Reel House, Ned Devine’s, Emmit’s Pub, Copa, Para Maria, Yankee Lobster, Contessa, Regina’s Pizza, Row 34, and Eately. Hey! Don’t judge!!! A girl’s gotta eat!!! I am trying to support the local community!!! Right?! I’m just going to write about just a few of them.
The Reel House Oyster Bar was right next to the marina. It had a cool young vibe with great seafood. The place was packed all the time. It has a great view of the Harbor. Inside and outdoor seating. We were happy to find Emmit’s Pub and Restaurant after walking for several miles on this hot day. The bartender was quite friendly. He was from Ireland. His name was Prionsios which is a variant of the name Francis. Here, he is known as Frank. I just loved listening to his accent. Sometimes I wasn’t quite sure what he was saying but thanks to Keith I could follow along. This Irish pub had a lot more of that Irish Pub feeling than Ned Devin’s. Copa Italian restaurant was good. Beware, the portions are seriously huge!!!! Para Maria is one place I wish we would have eaten at. I am a big fan of Tapas food. Love the flavors, portions and sharing. We just popped in for one or two cocktails and the food looked fantastic. I will try to go when we come back next month. As for the drinks, they do know how to make them. They may be too good. Especially there Espresso Martinis. Contessa, if nothing else, you have to go up for a drink at the bar just to see the decor. It’s a roof top restaurant. It’s elegant, “Lush deisgn’” (quoting their site), a little eclectic but to an upscale level. The food was fantastic. JUST GO! Row 34 was surprisingly fabulous! And my take on Regina’s Pizza. It was good. But, if I had to choose between a slice of pizza from Brooklyn, N.Y. or Regina’s……..Brooklyn it is!!!! No doubt about ii!
We got to see old friends and made new ones. And we sat next to a friend, we didn’t expect to see, at the Jason Mraz’s concert. That was a surprise! Lots of catching up that week. And Jason Mraz was great. More so than I had imagined. So much fun.
Well, The day had to come and our friends had to leave. Another sad day but we are so grateful to have spend the week with them. Thank you for making this week a blast. Hope to see them again soon.
Well, our last place in Massachusetts was Gloucester. Pronounced “Glaastah”. Keith and I had incredibly calm seas the entire way. We saw a whale’s tail flap a few times, a seal swimming by and a large Tuna jumping. An exciting day. The last excitement was arriving in Gloucester. The marina we stayed at was not in the harbor. It was about a mile away and we had to go through a narrow channel after a bridge opening. Not only was it narrow there was quite the current. The marina was on it though. They were ready when we got to the dock, as I always am, and had all of the information we needed for our stay. Very professional and efficient. Cape Ann Marina. They put us on a T-Head and with the area being so narrow we had lots of fishing boats going by. Again, feeling the motion of the water. But, always quiet and calm in the evenings.
When we got there we had some time to waste while we were waiting for Keith’s family to arrive. We went to The Crow’s Nest. It’s the bar they used in the movie The Perfect Storm. It’s not at the location it is in the movie but across the street, sort of. It was truly a dive at its best. Pool table, cigarette machine, a menu that had stuffed clams and a hotdog, that's it. We ordered everything on the menu!! They have tourists visiting all year round. But, in spite of that, the locals are still sitting on there normal stools, having their regular. We had some chats with a few of them. You could tell they had some stories they could have shared had we had the time stay and listen. So glad we went. We followed that with a tour of the harbor. We saw so many commercial boats. Of course, the Andrea Gail was not there, but it made me think of all the fisherman that work so hard daily and of those who lost their lives doing what they love. Rest in peace.
We had everyone meet us on Venture. So much fun to see everyone. It had been about 20+ years since we had seen them. Talking about catching up. Oh gosh. Listening to there memories was touching and hilarious. We had dinner at the Mile Marker One restaurant. More laughs. Can’t wait to see them in August again.
What a fun state! Will be stopping by on our way south in August. Trying new things and places. See ya then.
