Spring Break

Lake Champlain, VT

This week is our glorious and much-needed spring break!

I wake up early Saturday morning in anticipation of Nick’s arrival. His flight ended up arriving early so I meet him at the Massachusetts Avenue Orange line stop. We grab some Dunkin’ Donuts breakfast before our lazy day.

The day is spent hitting up some of Nick’s  favorite food joints such as New York Pizza and Boston Shawarma before heading  out that night to watch The Kings Speech. We have decided to have an Oscar viewing contest tomorrow, complete with a ballot, so in the spirit of things we decided a screening of an Oscar-nominated film was appropriate.

Sunday morning we head to Mistral Bistro for brunch. I have wanted to go here for months and am very excited. I order a gargantuan serving of graham cracker encrusted challah French toast with roasted pears and marscarpone chantilly presented in a sizzling skillet. Our side of potatoes is perhaps the best I have ever had and I love the complimentary cinnamon strudel muffins with honey butter. Heaven!

Nick and I in the snow.

We then spend several hours walking around the city in the snow (got to burn off that breakfast, you know). We meander through the breathtaking and snowy Boston Common and the bustling Newbury Street, stopping for coffee and window shopping.

That evening is our Oscar viewing event.  As it turns out, Nick and I tie on our ballot (much to my boyfriend’s dismay).

We wake up early on Monday and head to IKEA. I am finally going to get a bed frame and be a real person after six months of sleeping on a mattress on the floor. We grab out Zipcar and I maneuver the rainy freeways out to Stoughton. The rest of the afternoon is spent assembling my bed.

That night we book a mini vacation to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine for later this week.  I’m super excited as I have never been to any of those states before. We both hope for some fresh snow.

On Tuesday we visit the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library. I had been told by a Northeastern alum to visit it and was not disappointed. But what is it, you ask? Basically, it is a giant stained glass globe.  You  enter the globe and walk across a foot bridge that runs along the 30-foot equator of the sphere.  The Mapparium was commissioned back in the 30s, and they have kept all of the country names and boundaries as they were in that time frame. It was neat to see how much has changed. The acoustics of the globe are also crazy.

We then make out way to Newbury Street and stop in at Trident Booksellers and Cafe for lunch.  I get a chicken quesadilla and Nick orders a delicious Cape Codder sandwich with turkey, provolone, bacon and cranberry mayo on challah bread.

That night we hit up House of Siam, a 'Best of Boston'-rated Thai restaurant near my house. I got the Tamarind duck. Unfortunately, it was not all that I had hoped for but was decent enough.

Ben & Jerry's Tour

We wake up early Wednesday morning and head to Avis to pick up our rental car. We spend the day road-tripping up to Vermont, stopping in Lebanon, New Hampshire at Shyrl’s Diner for a very authentic greasy spoon breakfast and in Waterbury for a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s factory. I had been wanting to visit the factory since seeing it on a top-ten list on the Food Network (I know, I’m a dork). It was very fun and we got free samples. It also started snowing while we were there! I even got the visit the flavor graveyard where retired flavors are laid to rest.

On our way we hit a mini snow storm, barely able to see in front of us. I’m a bit nervous, but thankfully Nick is driving and seems to enjoy this new and foreign weather challenge.

We make it to our first destination, Burlington, Vermont by late afternoon. We walk along the waterfront of Lake Champlain, guarding ourselves against the freezing temperatures and peruse the shops of Church Street Marketplace. We end the night at Sweetwaters where I enjoy a brandy and maple liqueur spiked warm cider and bison burger with gorgonzola.

Thursday morning we stop at a café called Sneakers Bistro in Winooski, Vermont for breakfast where I get a California benedict with avocado, spinach and portobello mushrooms on a croissant before beginning our long drive to Maine. On the way we stop in Stowe, Vermont to take in the picturesque ski village. We see a covered bridge and shop in the quaint stores, picking up some fresh-made maple fudge.

Next we stop at Lake Champlain Chocolates, a famous chocolatier of Vermont where I order a spiced Aztec hot chocolate and cherry and apricot white chocolate bark.  Can you tell this whole trip has been a mission to eat our way across New England?

The rest of the day is spent driving through New Hampshire and the White Mountains before landing in Portland, Maine for the night.

We are staying at the Inn at St. John, the oldest inn in Portland. It is wonderfully quaint with a Victorian décor that any grandmother would love.

Then we head out to J’s Oyster Bar, a local seafood favorite that Anthony Bourdain ate at! I indulge in lobster stew and crab-stuffed mushrooms while Nick orders up a half dozen oysters and a seafood casserole.

Friday we wake up, check out of the hotel and head to the waterfront and Old Port District. It’s adorable and we even stop by the flagship Stonewall Kitchen store. For those not familiar with Stonewall kitchen I am sorry for you. They make amazing jams, sauces and food stuffs in very unique flavor combinations.

After our walk we stop by the Standard Baking Company where I grab a hot coffee, homemade madeline cookies and a glazed morning bun. 

Portland Museum of Art

We then make our way to the Portland Museum of Art. It’s a lovely museum and quite manageable in size. What’s neat about it is that one wing is of modern construction, housing their more current pieces including a De Chirico, Picassos and Magrittes while attached is a restored mansion set up as it might have been back in the late 1800s.

Head Light of Portland

We next drive a bit south to Cape Elizabeth to see the Head Light. This is a signature lighthouse that is often pictured in calendars and brochures of Maine. While we might not have gotten the full experience of it because of the bitter cold, it was still fun to see.

We then begin our drive home, stopping on the way at the Roundabout Diner in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for fish and chips and a lobster roll.

View from the Skywalk Observatory

Saturday is my last day with Nick. We spend it relaxing and visiting the Skywalk Observatory in the Prudential Center. I’ve been wanting to go for quite some time and am happy it is a clear winter day.

That night we hit up Finale, a restaurant centered around dessert! I have been wanting to visit it since arriving in Boston and finally make it. I order their famed Boston Cream Pie with miniature whoopie pies and a Nogtini (think eggnog martini) while Nick gets their platter of warm cookies called, appropriately enough, cookies and cream.

Sipping my Nogtini at Finale

Sunday is a sad day as I wake up around 4:30am to drive Nick to the airport. I don’t know when I will see him again and so it is a very sad goodbye. I spend the rest of the day frantically catching up on homework for tomorrow and running errands, including filling out my India visa application. I leave in 8 weeks and have yet to book my flight! Yikes.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the second half of my second semester here at Northeastern. I have much to do including filling out my scholarship applications, getting serious about my co-op search and buckling down with my difficult classes such as Finance and Operations.

* The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Northeastern, its staff or affiliates.