Over her spring break, my Mom came to visit me for a long weekend at the beginning of April. I was a little concerned that I wasn't going to be able to pick her up at the airport because of the flooding in Southern Rhode Island, but none of the roads (no pun intended) were blocked. My mom's plane was right time (wasn't expecting that), so we had to stall a little before our reservations. I thought we should eat at an authentic Italian restaurant in Federal Hill, so we had a lovely dinner at Pane e Vino. Besides the fact that we were right next to the waiters' station (Mom has always had some bad restaurant luck), it was a wonderful, relaxing meal.
Since I took my Mom down to Newport when she visited before, we decided to head up to Boston for the day. I had been wanting to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum since a) I read about it in my '1,000 Places to See Before You Die' book and b) my friend Courtney said it was one of the most beautiful places in Boston (she goes to school in the city, so I trust her as an accurate resource). Ms. Gardner was an avid collector of art from around the world. Within several years, both her husband and father died, leaving her with almost $3 million dollars (this is back in the late 1800's- who knows how much money that equals now!). She used her money to build the museum and buy additional pieces to add to her collection. The only stipulation of the museum was that everything had to be left where she put it, even after her death. The second part of the "contract" was that there was to be a celebration on her birthday every year. (This woman was very particular. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure she and I would get along.)
My favorite part of the ISG museum by far is the courtyard. It opens up to all three floors of the museum. It is just as much a piece of art as the rest of the building- fresh flowers, marble statues, and a fountain, to name a few highlights. Above the courtyard is a ceiling made of glass.
The museum doesn't look like much from the outside... you probably wouldn't even notice that it was there if you weren't looking for it.
Here is a picture of the courtyard, although it is not my favorite. They won't let you take pictures inside (it was torture!), so this is the best one I could find online. Wouldn't this be a gorgeous place for a wedding?
There were paintings by many famous artists- this picture was done by Michelangelo.
"El Jaleo" This is a very interesting piece by Stewart. The painting itself takes up an entire wall- a small recess was built just to highlight this painting. It is much more beautiful in person- the fabric looks so fluid, and full that it almost reminds me of a wedding dress.
After several hours at the museum, we had a quick lunch after checking into the Park Plaza Hotel. When I was talking to my Mom before her trip, she realized two things 1) I had not spent the night in Boston and 2) I had never experienced room service in a hotel! If you haven't ever had a chance to use it before, I highly recommend using Priceline.com to find a last-minute deal on a hotel or flight. We were able to book a room for less than half of what we would normally pay if we booked through the hotel's website. Priceline allows you to select where you'd like to be (it even goes down to the neighborhood level in bigger cities like Boston, New York, etc), the number of stars of the accommodations, and the price you'd like to pay. If you have gone too low, it will come back and tell you to change some of your options. Otherwise, if all parameters can be met, the hotel is booked right away and it tells you where you will be staying. You have to be a little bit flexible, but it's definitely worth a try.
The Park Plaza Hotel- it was a perfect location... close to a T stop, Boston Common, and Paper Source (I swear I did not even know that it was less than two blocks away!)
Isn't it nice to know that there will always be someone to open the door for you?
On Saturday night, we stayed in to watch the final game of the NCAA tournament. I asked my Mom if she wanted to go to a sports bar or restaurant to watch the game, but she preferred to stay in and relax (fine by me!). When she was growing up, one of her favorite memories was ordering room service with her Mom. My Grandpa did quite a bit of traveling, and my Grandma would go with him from time to time. She was able to sleep in, read all day, take a nap, and, her favorite, order room service. :) It felt special to share something with my Mom that she shared with my Grandma.
On Sunday morning, we went to Easter service at the Park Street Church on the other side of Boston Common. I had done some research ahead of time (imagine that!), and it looked like a place that we would enjoy. It was a fairly traditional service, but it had one of my favorite ceremonies in the church- baptisms. There was a girl from China who was baptized- her story was very beautiful.
The church is actually a part of the Freedom Trail- it was founded in 1809!
After church was over, we took the T to get breakfast in Cambridge. I know, not exactly the closest place to eat, but there was a place that I didn't want to miss after I did my research (ha!) on the best places to catch brunch in Boston. There were a lot of fancy (and therefore, $$$$) places that were on the list, but another one caught my eye when I read that it was voted both "Best New Restaurant" and "Best Brunch" by several Boston area magazines. The Friendly Toast is not a chain (there are only two of them total- the other is in New Hampshire) and is kind of in a weird location (not easy to find by any means). Thank goodness they had an extra sign to guide you to the back of the building, or we never may have found it.
The Friendly Toast has a relaxed atmosphere, filled with 50's and 60's memorabilia. My chair had a green, metallic plastic covering the seat, and there was a small ceramic cow holding our salt, sugar, and pepper on the table. I had butterscotch hot chocolate with marshmallows (to die for!) and "Hansel and Gretel waffles"-- gingerbread waffles with pomegranate molasses and whipped cream! Mom had the "Drunkard's French Toast"-- French toast topped with a Grand Marnier and raspberry sauce. Click here to see more of the menu.
A picture of the inside of The Friendly Toast- it would have been a blast hunting for the decorations!
It doesn't look like it in this picture, but it was packed! Thank goodness we got there before 10:00 AM.
A picture of a magnolia tree in bloom in Cambridge
We drove back to RI on Sunday afternoon and took a long nap- all that running around made us exhausted. I had to work on Monday, but we did get to make dinner together on both Sunday and Monday nights. On Sunday, we had homemade pepperoni and banana pepper pizza, and dinner on Monday night was tacos with fresh salsa and guacamole and margaritas.
We got to the airport on Tuesday when I realized that we hadn't taken a picture of the two of us on my camera the whole weekend! (We had one taken of us in front of Park St. Church, but it is on Mom's camera.) To make up for it, we took the picture below while waiting for our flights.
Thanks for a great weekend, Mom!
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