We are enjoying a pre-departure beverage in the SMF Escape Lounge here before flying to San Diego where we connected to our cross country flight to Boston.
Southwest had this limited time Coke Zero Wild Cherry soda so I got that to mix with my Wild Turkey on the way to Boston Logan.
We had a long cross country flight to Boston Logan Airport the day before the 4th of July. They had these cool vintage arcade machines in the baggage claim so I had to play some Frogger!
The next day, we went to Bunker Hill first to check out the Bunker Hill Monument. It was a toasty day so we could not go inside the monument.
I got that NASCAR America 250 shirt at the Toyota/Savemart 350 race a week before we left. I am at the Massachusetts Gate taking a selfie.
This is the New Hampshire Gate at the Bunker Hill Monument. It is cool how they marked all the historic events that took place here around the monument.
Afterwards, we went across the Bunker Hill Bridge to downtown Boston!
We checked out the Boston Tea Party Museum after going into downtown.
I did some tea tasting at the Boston Tea Party Museum's Abigail's Tea Room. I loved this one the most! The smoky flavor was so good!
Abigail's Tea Room is named for Abigail Adams, who was the second first lady of the US. I did not realize they had green tea back then too!
Thank you Patriot for the tea! Time to go fight the British!
We saw this milk bottle kiosk near the tea party museum so we got some delicious soft serve here! It was a nice way to cool down from some of the heat wave the area was experiencing that week!
We booked a parking spot through one of the parking apps in downtown and walked to the North End. They had a lot of nice parks in downtown Boston, and it was so safe and clean!
We got lunch at Quattro in the North End which is known for delicious pizza! The North End has great Italian food!
Bostonw as one of the locations hosting the World Cup in 2026. They had the Morocco game on when we were there. These two women were fans of Morocco.
The braised beef pizza was so delicious! It is called the Ragu Napoletana!
We made our way up the Freedom Trail to Paul Revere's House after lunch.
As we kept walking along the Freedom Trail, we got to the famous Paul Revere statue.
They had a historical re-enactment near Paul Revere's house. I was surprised the actors could wear all that clothing in the heat!
This is Paul Revere's house. It was too long of a wait to go inside, and the heat was terrible!
Here is the famous North End Church where Paul Revere was signaling that the British were coming!
I found this great book at the North End Church gift shop so I had to get it for my home office.
The historic streets of Boston were so neat to explore! We were surprised how there were no homeless like in California.
After going back to the hotel to cool off, we went back to downtown around dinner time. We found an outdoor bar owned by the Boston Harbor Distillery so I tried one of their bourbons!
We went to dinner by the Boston Long Wharf.
We had dinner at the Legal Seafoods by the Boston Long Wharf. This is a chain of fine seafood restaurants throughout the Boston area.
The lobster bisque was so tasty!
One has to try the delicious oysters when in Boston. These were so fresh!
I got the Cioppino for dinner! This was amazing!
We had to get Boston Cream pie for dessert!
We took a Lyft from the restaurant to the Hatch Memorial Shell where the 4th of July fireworks show by the Boston Pops Orchestra is. This is the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston by that area which is a historic high end area!
This area is called the Back Bay which is along the Charles River where the fireworks show was.
The Boston Pops Orchestra as well as some musical superstars like Lainey Wilson performed before the drone show began. Here is the North Church where Paul Revere alerted us of the British soldiers!
Paul Revere is doing his famous midnight ride here to let the people know the Red Coats are coming!
The patriots are ready to fight for our independence!
The fireworks show was the best I have ever seen! It was our nation's 250th birthday after all!
We went to D'Angelos in Portsmouth, NH for lunch. I loved this New England sandwich chain. I got the Thanksgiving sandwich which had stuffing and cranberry sauce!
We drove to Maine the next day via New Hampshire. This is the state line between ME and NH. Maine was the 46th state that I have visited!
Our first stop in Maine was in the seaside town of York. Here is a beach where people were trying to cool off that day.
We found a trailer that was selling homemade whoopie pies in York. Whoopie Pies are a New England treat like a soft big Oreo. I got the Dubai chocolate one they had.
This is the Bush Family Compound at Walker Point in Kennebunkport. I have always wanted to see this since I am a big fan of the Bush family!
St Ann's Episcopalian Church near the Bush Family Compound is where the family worships in town. They had these benches by the coastline to honor members of their congregation.
The inside of the church was beautiful.
The stain glass windows were so vivid!
I saw this inside the church. President Bush did a painting of St. Ann's.
We went to the historic Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport for drinks and a snack afterwards.
The hotel has a beautiful view of the Maine coastline which is so beautiful!
This seasonal Maine sweet corn salsa at the hotel was so good!
We had a nice view of Kennebunk from the hotel also which is the seaside town just across the water.
Kennebunkport had lots of historic homes. This home has typical colonial architecture that is found throughout New England! I like it a lot!
Big Daddy's Homemade Ice Cream was so good!
The South Congregational Church in Kennebunkport was really cool with the clock tower! It was built in 1824.
We went to see the famous Portland Head Lighthouse in Fort Williams Park after we got into town. It is the most famous lighthouse in Maine.
The coastline at Fort William Park is so peaceful!
The whole Maine coast is so beautiful!
We were able to see the Ram Island Lighthouse from the Portland Head Lighthouse.
Fort William Park has the old Goodard Mansion too which was a historic home of a wealthy lumber baron! It burned down many years ago.
I looked up a good place to have dinner in Portland, and this place came up.
Since the weather was nice, we sat outside and got a view of the lobster boats on the wharf.
The chowdah was wicked good! That is my New England accent!
We loved how fresh the oysters were!
Downtown Portland was safe and clean. We walked around after dinner and found a local homemade ice cream place called Beal's!
The next day we went to Cape Elizabeth where they have two lighthouses. This is one of them in the distance with the petrified wood on the beach.
The petrified wood was really cool. We got a nice selfie by the coast here.
This is the other lighthouse in that area.
We went to the Lobster Shack at the Two Lights area of Cape Elizabeth to get lobster rolls. This lobster did not look too happy about being eaten! LOL.
The lobster roll was delicious!
Here is the lobby at the Tru by Hilton in Concord, New Hampshire where we stayed after getting to the area. I liked that mural. Live Free or Die is a great state motto! California needs to take note of that.
We went to Franklin, New Hampshire to meet some of my 9th grade friends at an Irish pub called The Waterhorse.
It was nice to have a mini reunion with my 9th grade buddies. I loved my time in New England as a kid since I had my first girlfriend during that time and loved the 9th grade dances!
We went to Friendly's for ice cream in Concord afterwards.
I had birthday parties as a kid at Friendly's when we lived in Ohio.
The next day, we went to the Calvin Coolidge Historic Site in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. I made it to my 47th state!
President Coolidge was a great Republican President we had in the 1920s who brought economic prosperity to our nation!
President Coolidge took over from President Harding after he died. He won his own term in 1924. I got some replica Harding and Coolidge pins at the shop here since I collect Republican Presidential pins and items.
I suggested to a few of my friends that we bring the walking stick back into fashion. LOL.
This was a huge historic barn near the Coolidge Museum.
There was an old Ford Motel T in the barn. I told Joy that I sat inside one of these as a kid since a friend of mine had one in Pittsburgh, PA.
President Coolidge's father ran this general store in Plymouth Notch. During his time in office, President Coolidge spent sometime above the store, and this was known as the Summer White House.
President Coolidge was born in that small wooden building behind his dad's general store.
This was the bedroom where our 30th POTUS was born!
Joy and I loved the cheese at the Plymouth Cheese Company. Vermont is known for cheese.
This is the church where the Coolidge family worshipped.
The inside of the church was really nice with all that wood work.
I am enjoying a Cremee here which is soft serve with maple syrup. Vermont is known for this sweet treat!
We saw lots of cool covered wooden bridges like this in Vermont!
We are inside another covered wooden bridge here in the town of Woodstock, Vermont.
We went to the Whistlepig Tasting Room in Quechee, Vermont after lunch. Whistlepig is one of my favorite rye whiskies!
They only allow one ounce of liquor in the tasting room so I got a flight that was about 1/3 of an ounce each.
We had to pose with the pig after I bought my limited edition Summer Stock bottle of Whistlepig.
We went to visit my relatives in New Hampshire after leaving Vermont. They had some great lobsters at a supermarket on the way so we got them some.
Our relative's house was in a nice wooded area in Bow. Joy and I took a nice walk in the evening before dinner. It was quiet.
Many of the New England states have turnpikes that charge toll. However, New Hampshire's toll booths take cash unlike the others which required the use of the EZ Pass.
We ate a lot of Dunkin Donuts on this trip since New England has them everywhere. I got my iced Americanos there too in the mornings!
We went to the Chase Sapphire Lounge at Boston Logan before our flight home. They had this local whiskey for me to try.
We decided to ring
America 250 where it all began many many years ago! So, Joy and I
flew out to Boston Logan Airport on July 3rd to begin an epic New
England tour that started out in Boston. After arriving into
Logan, I saw they had retro arcade machines in the baggage claim so I
had to play some Frogger, which reminded me of that old Seinfeld
episode were George wanted to buy the Frogger he had a high score on.
LOL. The arcade games were all free to play. We took
the Doubletree shuttle over to the hotel since we arrived so late into
Boston and decided to get our rental car the next day. After
getting our rental car the next morning, we headed out to explore the
historic city of Boston on the 250th birthday of our nation!
Our first stop was Bunker Hill. The Bunker Hill Monument looks a lot like the Washington Monument. New England was going through a heat wave that week so the monument was closed since it was way too hot for anyone to go inside. Afterwards, we headed out to the Boston Tea Party museum where the colonists dumped the tea in the Boston Harbor to protest the taxes on tea. I got to try some of the popular teas back then. Next, we went to the North End to get some delicious pizza in the Little Italy part of Boston. The food was amazing! Then, we walked along the Freedom Trail to Paul Revere's House. Along the way, actors were doing re-enactments of the colonial times. I love the history that Boston has. We ended up at the North End Church where Paul Revere signaled that the Red Coats were coming! The church was also too hot to go inside that day. We were also pretty tired from the heat and humidity so we went back to the hotel to chill before going back out to Boston for dinner. That night, we loved our dinner at Legal Seafoods at the Boston Long Wharf. A freak rain storm did not damper anyone's spirits as it was a great day! We marked 250 years of freedom which created the most powerful nation on Earth! Also, I was so proud that day that President Trump was our POTUS. He restored our nation to hegemonic might! After dinner, we went to the Hatch Memorial Shell where the Boston Pops Orchestra puts on a great fireworks show over the Back Bay which is the Charles River. I was surprised how easily we were able to book parking in downtown Boston. The prices were not bad either. It was much cheaper than parking in a shithole like San Francisco. Plus, Boston was so safe and clean compared to the socialist cities of the west coast. We took a Lyft from dinner to the fireworks so we did not have to deal with parking closer to the large fireworks show. It took us a long time to get into the park by the river since the place was packed! Lainey Wilson performed along with the Boston Pops Orchestra. The event was free too. It was so safe and organized! One can not have these events in ghetto California without a fight or two breaking out. A drone show started out the evening which featured stories from the American Revolution including Paul Revere's famous midnight ride. Then, I saw the best fireworks show of my life! They did a great job! Sanofi, which was my former companie's copromotion partner for Dupixent when I was working at Regeneron sponsored the event along with another pharma company.
We drove to Maine the next day! We stopped for lunch at a D'Angelos subs in Portsmouth, New Hampshire before we crossed into Maine. After crossing into Maine, I now had visited 46 states! We went to York first to check out the beautiful coastline before finding a place to try a New England Whoopie. Afterwards, we went to Kennebunkport where we saw the Bush Family Compound at Walker Point. There was a sign that the Secret Service protect the site. I saw a black SUV out front so I was wondering if President Bush was there. We also went to the church where the Bush family worships nearby. Then, we went to the Colony Hotel for drinks and a snack. We toured some of the historic homes of Kennebunkport and got some homemade ice cream afterwards. I love New England. Maine was very scenic, and the people are so nice and friendly. We went to Portland next. After checking into our hotel, we went to the most famous lighthouse in Maine at Ft Williams Park. For dinner, we went to Boone's in downtown for some delicious chowdah and lobster rolls!
The following day, we explored the Two Lights area of Cape Elizabeth. We got more lobster rolls there at the Lobster Shack by the coast. Then, we went to New Hampshire. On the way, we stopped at a LL Bean Outlet to get some clothing. LL Bean is a popular Maine outdoor outfitter. We stayed in Concord, New Hampshire that night. That night, we went to the Waterhorse Irish Pub in Franklin to meet some of my 9th grade friends for dinner. I actually started high school in New England. My New Hampshire friends are great! I messaged two of them including my first girlfriend, Katey, before going out there. One of them got a bunch of people together for this reunion in Franklin. The food was delicious at the Irish pub. Joy liked my New Hampshire friends a lot and even added some on Facebook. That night, I took Joy to Friendly's for ice cream. Friendly's is an East Coast staple that serves delicious ice cream! I had birthday parties there as a kid.
We went to Vermont the next morning. Vermont was my 47th state that I visited! We went to the Calvin Coolidge birthplace and museum in Plymouth Notch. Calvin Coolidge was one of our great Republican Presidents during the Roaring Twenties who oversaw economic prosperity by cutting down on taxes. We saw the house that the President was born in too. Next, we went to a cheese merchant to try their delicious Vermont cheese! I had to try a creamee next which is soft serve with maple syrup. We saw some cool wooden bridges also in Vermont! I had to go to the Whistlepig tasting room too since I love their rye whiskey. After doing a flight of three whiskies, I bought a limited edition bottle to bring home. That night, we stayed with my great uncle and aunt in Bow, New Hampshire. They cooked a delicious meal for us, and Joy and I enjoyed a nice walk in the wooded area.
The next day, we flew home from Boston. The Chase Sapphire Lounge at Boston Logan Airport was amazing! We went to Dunkin Donuts a lot too on this trip. I got my iced Americanos there in the morning. One can not resist a donut with coffee in the mornings so I had to get one too! LOL.
Our first stop was Bunker Hill. The Bunker Hill Monument looks a lot like the Washington Monument. New England was going through a heat wave that week so the monument was closed since it was way too hot for anyone to go inside. Afterwards, we headed out to the Boston Tea Party museum where the colonists dumped the tea in the Boston Harbor to protest the taxes on tea. I got to try some of the popular teas back then. Next, we went to the North End to get some delicious pizza in the Little Italy part of Boston. The food was amazing! Then, we walked along the Freedom Trail to Paul Revere's House. Along the way, actors were doing re-enactments of the colonial times. I love the history that Boston has. We ended up at the North End Church where Paul Revere signaled that the Red Coats were coming! The church was also too hot to go inside that day. We were also pretty tired from the heat and humidity so we went back to the hotel to chill before going back out to Boston for dinner. That night, we loved our dinner at Legal Seafoods at the Boston Long Wharf. A freak rain storm did not damper anyone's spirits as it was a great day! We marked 250 years of freedom which created the most powerful nation on Earth! Also, I was so proud that day that President Trump was our POTUS. He restored our nation to hegemonic might! After dinner, we went to the Hatch Memorial Shell where the Boston Pops Orchestra puts on a great fireworks show over the Back Bay which is the Charles River. I was surprised how easily we were able to book parking in downtown Boston. The prices were not bad either. It was much cheaper than parking in a shithole like San Francisco. Plus, Boston was so safe and clean compared to the socialist cities of the west coast. We took a Lyft from dinner to the fireworks so we did not have to deal with parking closer to the large fireworks show. It took us a long time to get into the park by the river since the place was packed! Lainey Wilson performed along with the Boston Pops Orchestra. The event was free too. It was so safe and organized! One can not have these events in ghetto California without a fight or two breaking out. A drone show started out the evening which featured stories from the American Revolution including Paul Revere's famous midnight ride. Then, I saw the best fireworks show of my life! They did a great job! Sanofi, which was my former companie's copromotion partner for Dupixent when I was working at Regeneron sponsored the event along with another pharma company.
We drove to Maine the next day! We stopped for lunch at a D'Angelos subs in Portsmouth, New Hampshire before we crossed into Maine. After crossing into Maine, I now had visited 46 states! We went to York first to check out the beautiful coastline before finding a place to try a New England Whoopie. Afterwards, we went to Kennebunkport where we saw the Bush Family Compound at Walker Point. There was a sign that the Secret Service protect the site. I saw a black SUV out front so I was wondering if President Bush was there. We also went to the church where the Bush family worships nearby. Then, we went to the Colony Hotel for drinks and a snack. We toured some of the historic homes of Kennebunkport and got some homemade ice cream afterwards. I love New England. Maine was very scenic, and the people are so nice and friendly. We went to Portland next. After checking into our hotel, we went to the most famous lighthouse in Maine at Ft Williams Park. For dinner, we went to Boone's in downtown for some delicious chowdah and lobster rolls!
The following day, we explored the Two Lights area of Cape Elizabeth. We got more lobster rolls there at the Lobster Shack by the coast. Then, we went to New Hampshire. On the way, we stopped at a LL Bean Outlet to get some clothing. LL Bean is a popular Maine outdoor outfitter. We stayed in Concord, New Hampshire that night. That night, we went to the Waterhorse Irish Pub in Franklin to meet some of my 9th grade friends for dinner. I actually started high school in New England. My New Hampshire friends are great! I messaged two of them including my first girlfriend, Katey, before going out there. One of them got a bunch of people together for this reunion in Franklin. The food was delicious at the Irish pub. Joy liked my New Hampshire friends a lot and even added some on Facebook. That night, I took Joy to Friendly's for ice cream. Friendly's is an East Coast staple that serves delicious ice cream! I had birthday parties there as a kid.
We went to Vermont the next morning. Vermont was my 47th state that I visited! We went to the Calvin Coolidge birthplace and museum in Plymouth Notch. Calvin Coolidge was one of our great Republican Presidents during the Roaring Twenties who oversaw economic prosperity by cutting down on taxes. We saw the house that the President was born in too. Next, we went to a cheese merchant to try their delicious Vermont cheese! I had to try a creamee next which is soft serve with maple syrup. We saw some cool wooden bridges also in Vermont! I had to go to the Whistlepig tasting room too since I love their rye whiskey. After doing a flight of three whiskies, I bought a limited edition bottle to bring home. That night, we stayed with my great uncle and aunt in Bow, New Hampshire. They cooked a delicious meal for us, and Joy and I enjoyed a nice walk in the wooded area.
The next day, we flew home from Boston. The Chase Sapphire Lounge at Boston Logan Airport was amazing! We went to Dunkin Donuts a lot too on this trip. I got my iced Americanos there in the morning. One can not resist a donut with coffee in the mornings so I had to get one too! LOL.