Long Weekend of Fun

Last Thursday, my best friend Lora came to visit me in Boston. I took Friday and Monday off so we spent a wonderful long weekend together – we went out, visited the usual tourist spots (Harvard Yard, Boston Commons, the Public Garden, Beacon Hill, Faneuil Hall, North End, etc), hung out with my friends, enjoyed Oktoberfest in Harvard Square, went apple picking (my first time ever!), did some SERIOUS shopping, and ate a lot of chocolate (we went to 3 chocolate stores on her first day here).

Some highlights from our long weekend of fun:

I sometimes take Harvard Yard for granted because I’m still a Harvard student – but when I have visitors, I always take them to visit the John Harvard statue (aka the statue of lies). And if people tell you to touch his left toe for good luck, don’t. Rumor has it that frat boys pee on it.

We went to one of my favorite restaurants in Harvard Square – Henrietta’s Table. Trivia: did you know that Henrietta was a (very large) pig? That explains all the pig decor…

They have an excellent dinner and brunch menu, but I am almost always at the bar (hehe)

I got the rotisserie roasted chicken and romaine salad. It was great but I think it would’ve been perfect with some avocado

We also went to Hotel Chocolat and left very happy – the chocolate fueled our afternoon

We checked out the Boston Public Library. Have you been there? It is beautiful…

…it feels very regal and mansion-like

On Sunday we attended Oktoberfest in Harvard Square. It was packed! For some reason, this picture looks very 70s – maybe it’s the guy in the foreground?

We thought about getting some fried dough…

… or a caramel apple…

… or some chocolate covered strawberries…

… but we settled on Indian food – it was lunch time after all. And I find it hard to say no to spinach.

The balloon man was there again (remember him from Bastille Day?)…

… and he made a lot of kids very happy…

This guy on the other hand scared some kids (including Lora)

The Oktoberfest parade was really fun and loud

Then we went apple picking at the Belkin Family Lookout Farm in Natick…

aside from apples, we also saw some big pumpkins…

… and some mini pumpkins. These gourds are so cute.

We saw a pumpkin scarecrow too (Val, what are you doing? haha)

We ended the day with dinner at The Biltmore in Newton. The food there was delicious. I had the red snapper (sorry, no pics) with a brussel sprouts and chorizo salad that I will soon attempt at home.

Lora and I went to the North End on Monday but I will save that for another post!

I had such a lovely time with my best friend. She came at the perfect time and I’m so glad she met my friends and was able to enjoy a lot of activities around Boston. I love it when my friends and family come to visit me, and we all end up having a blast.

When was the last time you had a visitor from out of town? What are your “usual” tourist spots/acitivities?



   

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