Traveling with our little fur baby is always a bit tricky because there are so many things to consider. We have to think about the length of the trip and whether or not it would be worth putting him through the trouble of a long flight. We also have to think about where we’re going and exactly how dog friendly it is. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gone to places that are supposedly dog friendly and turn out not to be. In this case we were heading to Boston to visit a good friend of ours. She had lived there for a while and declared Boston to “the most dog friendly city in the US.” So off we went!
INDOORS
Boston has a very rich history and we were super eager to take it all in. Our first stop was Boston Public Library. It was established in 1848 and is probably the most magnificent library we’ve ever seen and the first library Uyu’s ever been in. We got to stroll through the McKim Courtyard, study up on rare stones in Bates Hall and check out the infamous lion statues. There was so much ground to cover we just strolled in and out of the various rooms, snapping a few pics here and there, but really just taking in the breathtaking architecture.
To be honest, a lot of the historical things to see and do are outdoors so we didn’t really have to worry about where our doggo would be allowed to go. We were constantly in and out of buildings and so long as we had him in his sling, no one really seemed to mind. A few people did mistake him for a stuffed animal though.
OUTDOORS
Our first outdoor stop was at Boston Public Garden where we got to feed squirrels, see a statue of George Washington and walk some of the Freedom Trail. It was a great way to take in some more historical aspects while letting our pupper enjoy a nice walk through a beautiful park. Coming from the urban jungle known as Seoul, he seriously can never get enough grass time.
We also visited Granary Burying Ground, which is Boston’s 3rd oldest cemetery. It sounds a bit morbid, but it holds the remains of some of the greatest figures in American history like Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere. What’s interesting is that since it’s on the Freedom Trail, a lot of tour groups are led there by a tour guide in colonial dress and usually in full character.
I’m not one for visiting random universities, but Harvard University seemed like a bit of a must see since we were in the area. Unfortunately we got caught in a sudden downpour, got completely soaked and had to cut our visit short. On the bright side, I had an excuse to buy Uyu a Harvard doggie t-shirt and got to take some pictures of him with the statue of John Harvard. Needless to say he turned more than a few heads.
Like Seoul, there’s a lot of walking involved in enjoying Boston. There’s so much to take in architecturally, it was really hard not to spend most of our time outdoors. Since we were traveling with our pup, it actually worked out in our favor. Plenty of stuff for us to see and lots of places for him to walk. It was really a win-win situation.
CAFES & RESTAURANTS
Finding good, dog friendly places to eat at is always a bit of a challenge for us, but it was surprisingly easy in Boston. We got to have a delicious brunch at Tatte, chow down on some mandatory lobster rolls at Luke’s Lobster Back Bay, taste the best cannolis in Boston at Mike’s Pastry, eat a ton of delicious fried seafood at Sullivan’s Castle Island and pork out on some gelato and focaccia at Eataly. Everywhere we went, people were super nice to Uyu and took great interest in his fancy attire. It was really nice to get to eat out with him without the stress of worrying how people would treat or react to him.
Another great foodie stop was at the famous Quincy Market. Although it was super crowded, I’d say the food was well worth it. In all honesty, there was probably too much to choose from. We actually had a really hard time deciding what to eat. Eventually we landed on one order of clams casino, a bowl of clam chowder, one Maine lobster mac n’ cheese pie, and two banana puddings from Magnolia Bakery (regular & s’mores). My favorite dish was definitely the Maine lobster mac n’ cheese pie. It was super cheesy, rich and had chunks of lobster in every bite. The S’mores banana pudding was the dessert to beat. It was sweet, heavy and captured the s’mores flavor perfectly.
Out of all the amazing places we went to, I think one of our favorite stops was at Abigail’s Tea Room. This tea room is located in the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. You can tour the museum, see an interactive colonial town meeting, and even participate in a tea dumping reenactment on one of the ships. Unfortunately there are set times for these tours and we had just missed the last one. One the bright side, their tea room was open and we love tea!
The room was really cute and had staff walking around in colonial dress. We all ordered the bottomless tea tasting where you get to sample the 5 historic teas thrown overboard at the Boston tea party. It was really cool, but there’s only so much tea we could drink. All that tea did go great with a nice slice of Boston cream pie though. There were also little mats to play tic-tac-toe and checkers on. It was just overall a really fun experience!
Our stay in Boston was was definitely what you would call short, but sweet. We got to spend 2 full days exploring Boston with our friend and eating everything we could possibly fit into our bellies. Boston certainly has what you would call a dog friendly community. Uyu had a great time exploring new places and meeting new people. He was met with such kindness and so many smiles, I’m sure we will be back again.
