Happy 7th Anniversary!

This year Brian and I celebrated our 7th anniversary! :) Lucky #7, right?

We spent the weekend watching some Hitchcock movies (Rear Window & Rope) and The Naked Gun while enjoying some buttery popcorn and fizzy drinks.

And we took an architectural cruise along the Chicago River! It’s something we’ve been wanting to do for a while and definitely the highlight of my weekend.  I brought along my boyfriend and got some fun pictures of the city. :)

I loved seeing the city from an angle that I’ve never seen before and I learned a lot more about various styles of architecture than I ever knew. I also learned a lot about my camera and lens: there’s just no experience like getting out and actually taking pictures.

Finally, we wrapped up the weekend by indulging in my favorite ranch dressing ever – from the Cheesecake Factory. :)

Happy 7th Anniversary :)

 

Bigger photos on Flickr.

Go Boston Card

As I was researching the things I wanted to do in Boston, I came across this Go Boston Card from Smart Destinations. A lot of the things I wanted to see or do in Boston were free or had a minimal fee, like the Freedom Trail and Paul Revere’s house, but then other things, like the Duck Boat Tours, had real admission fees. All in all, I figured things would add up, so I started looking around for deals. :)

I considered trying to buy Groupons (I found a couple for the Duck Tours and a guided Freedom Trail tour) but since Groupons come out sporadically, I missed some, and you have to read the fine print about when they’re valid, etc, because once you buy them, you’re stuck. So I wasn’t sure if Groupons were the right thing for this trip.

Somehow in my Googling, I stumbled upon the Go Boston Card. I’m often pretty skeptical of these “deal” cards, wondering if  I’ll really get my money’s worth and whatnot, but there were so many attractions listed on it, along with a guide to the attractions. I saw it was also sold on Costco.com which was a point in its favor (as not being some kind of scam, that is!) :)

As I was deciding whether or not to buy the card, I looked around for reviews…so I thought I’d post my own here. A little giving back to the internet community.

I loved all the options of attractions on the card, and I really wanted to make this a sightseeing trip.  We didn’t end up doing/seeing quite all I wanted to on the card, mostly because places are only open from 9-5ish and there’s only so much you can do in that time, and eat lunch, and travel from point a to point b; but I’m so happy with the flexibility it gave us.  We always had ideas for what to do next, and we could decide to do something different if we wanted.  We took a Boston Harbor cruise and rented bikes for a day: two of our favorite things that we wouldn’t have done without the card.

I ended up buying us each a 3-day pass with a bonus attraction. I’ve noticed there are different sale prices all the time, but I paid about $100 each for our cards, so $200 total.

Here are the things we did with the card:

We got a discount at the Green Dragon Tavern. ($8)

We got free glassware on the Sam Adams tour. ($16)

We rented bikes for the day and got admission into Paul Revere’s house. ($64 + $7)

We took a Boston Harbor Cruise to the USS Constitution. ($39)

We took a Duck Boat Tour!!! ($66)

We took the Fenway Park tour. ($32)

We visited the Old State House museum and Boston Massacre site, complete with tours. ($15)

All of which totaled about $247! So we got our money’s worth for sure. Having the card inspired us to do just a little more than we might have if we didn’t have it and felt like being lazy. You know, we would say to ourselves, “Let’s just go to the Old State House. There’s time and it’s on the card!” So that was a sightseeing bonus in itself!

There are lots of other tours and museums included on the card, so I think if we ever go back to Boston, I’d really consider getting the card again!

Do you buy into these deal-cards when you travel?

Whew!

What a busy couple of weeks! We’ve begun taking down our fence (that used to enclose the “dog-yard” but has been rendered pretty useless by Grounder anyway) and we just got back from a road trip to Harrisburg (PA, for those of you who don’t know your state capitals) :) for a  friend’s wedding!  Couple all that with general lack of sleep and busy days for both of us at work, and you’ll find someone who’s behind on her blog!

Here’s a little photo summary of what’s been happening over here:

Taking down our fence!

Pennsylvania’s State Capitol, Harrisburg

Happy Wedding, Pat and Tara! Good thing you have such normal friends! :)

So, I do have more to share about Boston, this fence project, and other stuff of course! Stay tuned and I will keep chatting at you! :)

Boston!

The day after Labor Day, Brandon and I headed to Boston for a little trip to celebrate my 30th birthday. Brandon’s been there for work several times, but I’d never been and I wanted to get in on the action! Paul Revere, This Old House, fresh seafood! Boston just seemed like the place I needed to see.

I’ve got a few things to post about our trip, so to start, here were some of the highlights. :)

We rented bikes one day and took this picture on a bench in Boston Common, the oldest park in the US.  Since we live so close to Chicago, and my last city trip was to NYC, I loved that Boston was busy, but not-so-crowded, smaller, and bike friendly! It made for great touring.

We went to the Boston Public Library, the first publicly funded library in the US, where I was pretty excited to find a real, working card catalog.  I was and am absolutely in love with Boston’s history!  The Midwest is comparatively new, so as a history-buff, I adored everything that was “America’s first…” or “America’s oldest…”

We stayed near the Craigie Bridge on Monsignor O’Brien Highway, which opens and closes, and whose control panel Brandon helped build and start-up. He’s pointing at the part that opens :) and standing in front of the control tower where the panel is operated. He pretty much hated that I was taking this picture, but he played nice and smiled. :)

I was pretty excited to take a Duck Boat tour!! Brandon had talked about them when he was working on the Craigie Bridge (the Duck Boats are amphibious and go underneath it!), then I saw them featured on This Old House. I love an informative and historical tour, so I was sold.

To commemorate the trip, I made a photo book on Shutterfly with a coupon code I got from TravelZoo for a free book! (I am signed up for a LOT of email lists…and I never unsubscribe from them because of little gems like that one that come along occasionally! I am an email hoarder!) Even without that coupon code, though, Shutterfly is always running specials on photo books. They’re great quality and a great way to remember an occasion, a year, or special people in your life.

(I wasn’t paid for that endorsement! I just love these books for capturing memories. I put a lot of work into them, but for me, it still is easier than traditional scrapbooking.)

All in all, we had a pretty good time on our Boston trip. :)

Have you been on a fun trip lately?