Last week, Ryan and I road tripped from Philly to Boston (and Woodstock, NY – more on that later!) for a quick 48-hour visit. He had to go for work and I “had to go” to see my friend, Athena. ?

I’ve had a lot going on lately. So I was definitely up for a change of scenery and some time with friends.

What I Ate and Saw in Boston

And any chance I get to travel, see new things, and eat/drink delicious food with Ryan — I’m in!

We got to Boston on Thursday and settled in at the Park Plaza hotel. The hotel was the perfect mix of 1920s chic and modern. We really loved our room and the service there. I’d definitely recommend it.

We had a few hours to spend before meeting up with Athena and her husband Tim for dinner, so Ryan and I decided to hit the pavement.

You know we had to check out a coffee shop — so we headed to one of the top shops on my list, Kōhi. It was too late for me to have caffeine, but I got their iced tea (delish!) and Ryan got a cortado, which he said was really, really good.

We walked from our hotel to the Seaport area, closer to where we were going to meet Athena and Tim for dinner.

We checked out a local farmers market that was going on right downtown and did a little shopping (really browsing!) at the stores in the Seaport area. (The Lululemon there was really nice!)

Once Athena was done teaching our SeaPort fitness class, we all met up for dinner and drinks at Lolita. Lolita was a dimly-lit Mexican themed restaurant that had awesome tacos and small plates to share.

I hadn’t slept too well the night before, and I’m an old lady at heart, so after dinner Ryan and I walked back to the hotel and got a good night’s rest. We wanted to be ready to tackle Friday and Saturday in Boston, too!

On Friday, Athena and I met up early and she showed me all around her beautiful city of Boston. We walked through Boston Common and the public gardens, which was one of the most beautiful public parks in a major city I’ve ever seen.

The gardens alone are worth a visit. Pick a spot anywhere in the park and enjoy the water, flowers, and gorgeous tall luxury buildings surrounding the park on all sides.

We ate shakshuka and grabbed coffee at Tatte Bakery (OMG).

Afterwards, we walked around the charming neighborhood of Beacon Hill, stopping in the little shops and paper goods stores along the way.

We co-worked together at Trident (another cozy bookstore with an awesome eat-in cafe area), and walked around the entire city to see the highlights — including the Boston Public Market, Boston Common, Freedom Trail, Quincy Market and more.

We chatted and ate at Stephanie’s out on the beautiful patio on Newbury Street. It was such a gorgeous day, and made it that much more enjoyable to have this open-face pita, hummus, tomato sandwich with sweet potato fries.

Friday night, we had dinner with our friend Kate and celebrated Athena’s birthday over warm crusty bread, yummy bowls of pasta and cannolis from a famous bakery across the street for dessert at Carmelina’s in the North End.

It was so great getting to spend time with Athena and Kate. I have great business besties in Philly — but I wish I could get together with them in person more often, too!

Saturday, Ryan and I hopped the train over to Harvard to walk the campus and checkout the bookstores. We’re nerds at heart ; )

I had to stop by and checkout a coffee shop while we were there, too (DUH!). We ended up swinging into Crema Cafe, which had delish (stumptown) coffee, but was seriously crowded.

So we packed up our coffee to-go and decided to stroll the gorgeous campus instead.

We got so lucky with the weather while we were there. Boston was a crisp 70-something, and walking around Cambridge you could feel fall in the air. The leaves were jusssst starting to fall, and the colors changing.

After a few hours walking through Harvard, we had to head back to checkout of our hotel.

Ever since I spoke at The Lifestyle Edit and Six Degrees Society’s retreat in June in Woodstock, NY, Ryan has wanted to do a day trip there.

After a quick Google map search, we figured out that Woodstock, NY was almost exactly halfway between Boston and Philly. It wasn’t that far out of the way either.

So we made a game time decision and decided to swing through this cute little town on our way home for a few hours.

We walked around the downtown — which is filled with cute little shops, antique stores, and independent bookstores.

And we ate dinner at a place I really wanted to try when I was there in June called Garden Cafe!

It’s a completely plant-based restaurant with the most charming outdoor seating area. You sit under a canopy of giant trees while surrounded by string lights and a tended-t0-but-not-overly-done garden.

Woodstock is really cute and definitely worth a day trip if you live nearby!

I can’t wait to go back to Boston sometime soon so I can spend more time exploring the city. I know there are so many more places to go and things to see that I didn’t have time to get to.

If you have any favorites I must see on our next trip, I’d love it if you’d share them in the comments! <3

xo,