Our Story - Honeymoon Adventures in New England - Boston (1 of 2)

As you may have read in my last "our story" post, getting to New England for our honeymoon was a little bit crazy. After finally arriving in Boston at 2:30 a.m. and crashing into our bed at The Beech Tree Inn, we woke up around lunchtime the next day ready to begin our Boston Adventure!

Days 2: Boston, MA

Since we had arrived in Boston so late at night, our first view of the city was not so exciting. However, I did learn that if you want to avoid traffic in Boston, drive the streets at 2:30 a.m. ;)

First thing we did after waking up was to meander downstairs and meet our B&B host - a very sweet, quiet, small lady with a little voice and a talent at making coffee and muffins. Seriously. She was the best. She gave us a couple city maps and some tips for places to see and sent us on our way full of yummy baked goods and hot drinks.

The weather was a bit cloudy and cool but warmer than we expected for NE in early April. We started off at the Charlestown Navy Yard and the USS Constitution Museum.

I'd never seen piers like what we saw in the Charlestown Yard. It was fascinating, and we spend some time walking along the edge and just looking. Northern waterways definitely have a different feel than Southern waterways. And a vastly different smell. I loved experiencing the new scents and sounds!

We then made our way to the USS Constitution Museum that's all about the history of "Old Ironsides," a national icon for over 200 years of American history. It was fascinating to learn about the battles she was in, the transformations she underwent throughout her career, and about some of the more famous crew members during her seafaring years. There were so many fascinating exhibits at the museum, and I would definitely recommend a visit there if you're ever in Boston.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to tour the ship itself since tours were closed the day we were there, but it was still awe-inspiring to see it from a distance.

After touring the museum, we decided to walk part of the Freedom Trail and make our way into the North End of Boston. As usual, I was so focused on the map that I missed one of the most obvious parts of the Freedom Trail until multiple blocks into our walk - the famous Red Brick Trail Blaze. I know, I know. Can't see the forest for the trees.

I totally had a nerding moment when I finally realized it and made a complete, excited spectacle of myself in the middle of a public street. Thank goodness I have such a good-natured husband who simply put his hands into his pockets and smiled at my freak out.  

Boston is beautiful, by the way. I loved the old architecture and the overall feel of the parts of the city we were in. 

 

We passed by the Warren Tavern, the oldest tavern in MA and founded in 1780. Notable people such as Paul Revere, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington used to frequent it. We then made our way up to the Bunker Hill National Monument commemorating the famous Battle of Bunker Hill fought on June 17, 1775. It was a bit shocking to have such open green space in the middle of crowded brownstones, and it was so quiet so far above the rest of the city. We spent a while just walking around and taking it all in. 

We then walked back down from Bunker Hill and crossed over the Charlestown Bridge and into the North End. The North End is known for its mostly Italian American population and its old history. People have continuously lived there since the 1630s! We followed the trail through Copp's Hill Burying Ground, by the Paul Revere House, and to Old North Church where Paul Revere hung his two lanterns warning the Patriots of the British advancement into Boston during the Revolutionary War on April 18, 1775. 

After that, we kinda got off the trail (since I'm known for being distracted and wanting to "go over here and look at this! Oooo! Look at that!") and "got lost" in the North End's Little Italy. It was amazing! We felt like we had stepped over the Atlantic Ocean and ended up somewhere in Italy. Beautiful, olive-skinned women and children dashed in and out of doorways, laughing and shouting something in Italian back to an unseen person standing inside, pasta ristorantes around every corner, and lovely, understated clothing stores tucked here and there. 

We happened upon a WONDERFUL, small Italian bakery called Bova's Bakery. We walked into the door and were instantly overwhelmed by the heavenly smell of fresh bread and a whole display of cannolis and colorful cookies and pastries. 

We're instantly greeted by an exuberant Italian man smiling widely and booming "Whaddya have? Huh? Want some canoli?!? Some bread?!? Get the scali! Fresh! Hot outta the oven!" So we got scali. And Oh. My. Goodness. This bread. Just look at it. 

We got a HUGE loaf for like $2.50, and I was in foodie heaven for the next few minutes as we continued to wander aimlessly through Little Italy. We walked by a cute, little Italian grocery, and as I glanced through the open doorway to look at the rows and rows of sausages and olive oils, I heard a voice calling me.

Bella! Bella signora. Benvenuti! Vieni dentro, bella donna.

I looked back into the store to see a little, old man dressed in a black suit and a grey golf cap sitting on a stool in the corner behind the door holding his cane in one hand and gesturing to us with his other. I usually don't let old men hit on me, ESPECIALLY now that I'm a married woman, but he called me "beautiful" in Italian!!!  I grabbed Levi's hand and dragged him in the store before he could protest too much. ;) The sweet old man kept murmuring about how lovely I was the whole time we walked around, and we ended up buying Italian chocolate and San Pellegrinos from the guys I assume were the old man's grandsons.

Excellent marketing ploy, gentlemen. ;)

We finished up Day 1 of Boston and Day 2 of the honeymoon at The Daily Catch seafood restaurant on Hanover Street in the North End, a little hole-in-the-wall place with almost no seating and even less room to move around. A Boston local, decked from head-to-toe in "Boston Strong" and "Boston Red Sox" gear recommended it, and he definitely did not disappoint. We had the clams linguini, the fried calamari, and more soft and fresh Italian bread. Again, I was in foodie heaven! I wish we had remembered to take a pic of our gorgeous pasta, but alas. We did not. You'll just have to take our word for how beautiful it all was. :)

Next "Our Story" post: Boston to Portland

Jobs, Conferences, and Friends

My goodness, things have been crazy busy around here. I keep meaning to write another honeymoon post but keep getting sidetracked by everything that's been going on! Last Wednesday, I GOT A JOB! I've been searching for full-time employment for over two years now, so it was definitely a blessing to get the job offer. I'll be working with Georgia Power headquarters in downtown Atlanta, and I start in a week and a half. I'm a little nervous about the urban corporate job since I've never had any job even remotely similar before, but it'll be a challenge. I like challenges.

Since getting the offer, everything has felt like a complete whirlwind of getting the appropriate forms and paperwork completed and returned and getting follow ups scheduled to be sure everything is ready by the time I start. Yet another "new" thing with this job is all the paperwork required to work for a large corporation. I feel like I might as well be signing over my first-born somewhere amongst all the contractual terms. Regardless, very excited to start!

Levi has been working a lot recently. His job is very stressful and requires long hours more times than not. We're very grateful for the work for him but also hoping something lower stress with normal hours will come open in the near future.

Another thing going on that has been keeping us busy is that I'll be teaching at AWANA conferences around the state this month and next month. I've already taught one conference, and I have 3 more to go. I grew up in the AWANA program and have a huge part of my heart reserved for it, so I'm very pleased to be able to contribute to it by teaching at training conferences. For those of you that don't know, AWANA is a Bible curriculum used in hundreds of thousands of churches around the world to teach children, ages 2 through 12th grade, about God and the Bible. I love it. And I love telling people about it. My class at the conference focuses on AWANA International and what AWANA is doing overseas and how individual churches and AWANA clubs can get involved more with the international mission. Two things I love: AWANA and international missions. :)

Last weekend, we drove down to Warner Robins, GA, for the conference there. In the next few weeks, I'll be going to Dacula, LaGrange, and Augusta. It's fun and challenging to go and teach at these conferences but also exhausting. I'll be happy when we have our weekends back.

In addition to the conference last weekend, we also hosted some of Levi's "family" from Lebanon. They're on furlough to the States for the summer, and we were able to spend some time with them on Thursday and Friday. Levi hasn't seen them in person since he left Lebanon in 2012, so it was a true joy for him and them to be able to spend a couple days together. And I liked hearing some more about the stories and the people that made up Levi's life when he was overseas. The plan is to go to Lebanon next summer to visit them in return, but that trip is a bit up in the air now that I've gotten a job. We'll see how all that goes.

The last thing we've been busy with lately is getting more involved in a church in Marietta. We've been attending services for a couple months now and have been going to the young marrieds' Sunday School class for the past couple of weeks. We really like the classes, the teaching, and the people so far. One of the things that has been at the front of our minds ever since we married and moved to Atlanta is getting involved in a local church and local small group and making connections with the people there. Neither of us have any friends in the area, so it's great to meet new people and hopefully form relationships with a few of them in the future.

So yes. All that to say this: life is crazy busy and crazy beautiful. And God is good.

What's been happening in your life lately?

Friday Fieldnotes

This week's favorites are a bit all over the map, but just go with it.

Death Comes to Pemberley

Photo from BBC and The Mirror

Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie in this period drama by BBC. William Darcy (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Darcy, née Bennet (Anna Maxwell Martin), have been now married for six years. Life is good. Suddenly, Elizabeth's sister, Lydia Wickham, née Bennet (Jenna Coleman), arrives unannounced with a screech of "MURDER!" Drama ensues in this mini-series not yet released in the US. (I watched it on a British site.) Based on a book by the same title.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love period dramas and anything Jane Austen, so this was right up my alley. :) And Anna Maxwell Martin is one of my favorite actresses (Becoming Jane, North & South, Bleak House [lead], and The Bletchley Circle [lead]), so I was happy to see another of her works. I would highly recommend Death Comes to Pemberley and other works AMM is in.

Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs

Yes, I've been on a murder mystery kick. Not sorry.

I picked up this little novella on a whim in Barnes & Noble. Tea and murder mysteries are like period dramas and Jane Austen for me. I just can't resist, so I thought I'd give it a try.

It was actually very good! The series, Tea Shop Mysteries, is based around a tea shop in historic Charleston, SC, run by character Ms. Theodosia Browning, an amateur detective. When a man is murdered by poisoned tea at a tea function that she hosts, she just has to get to the bottom of it!

Lots of fun tea references and an engaging story line. I'm definitely planning on buying other books in the series (with fun titles like Dragonwell Dead, Scones & Bones, and Agony of the Leaves). 




Sleeping at Last's "Yearbook" album 

Sleeping at Last has been a favorite band of mine and Levi's for a long while now. Ryan O'Neal, singer-songwriter, producer, and composer is the sole member who creates such beautiful, beautiful music. And this album has been playing on repeat a lot recently.

If you're already a lover of Sleeping at Last or even if you have never heard of it at all, listen and fall in love. Some of the songs are available for listen here, and most (if not all) of the music is available on Spotify.

Seriously. Listen.









Blackberry Sage Tea, The Republic of Tea

The best. Black tea, blackberries, and white sage. Hot or iced, sweet or unsweet - it's my thing right now.

Buy here.

Our Story - Honeymoon Adventures in New England - Atlanta to Boston

In the last installation of Our Story, I told a little about our timeline of how we met. I'll probably add more details here and there in the future, but I want to talk about our awesome amazing honeymoon to New England!

Levi and I both love road trips. And adventures. And going places we've never been before. When we were talking about where to go for our honeymoon, we instantly knew we wanted to do something fun and different that would make memories. We'd talked about going to New England "one day" but had never really put a date on when "one day" was. Levi surprised me by suggesting that we just go for our honeymoon! We started planning and looking at places. To be honest, I didn't realize how compact New England is. In the south, you can sometimes drive for hours and not see any cities or really anything at all other than small, empty towns. Not so in NE. Many of the places we definitely wanted to see were only a couple hours apart! A road trip would be so do-able! Plane tickets were purchased (stand-by tickets... see below), locations were researched, and Bed & Breakfasts decided on.

B&B's rock, btw!!

Our itinerary for New England: Atlanta, GA -> Boston, MA -> Kennebunk Port, ME -> Portland, ME -> Montreal, QC -> Niagara Falls, NY -> Newport, RI

Day 1: Atlanta & Airport Angst
We started out in Atlanta and stayed at the Maison LaVigne in Hapeville, GA. Gorgeous B&B! Very charming with lots of historic touches, a resident cat, and excellent hosts that make excellent breakfasts.

We left the B&B well rested and well-fed and arrived at the airport in plenty of time to have many flights for our standby tickets. Levi had worked out multiple options to get us to Boston, so we just knew we had no reason to worry. Ticket sales had looked promising the night before, and standby lists were short. 

However, soon after we got settled into our seats at the gate, we realized pretty quickly that flights were looking very full. As in overbooked by 5-10 seats.... Levi talked to a few of the counter attendants who quickly told us that there was "absolutely no way" we were flying out of Atlanta on standby that day. We checked flights out of nearby airports and decided our best chance of getting to Boston that night was to get to Charlotte and catch a flight. Since a plane wasn't going to get us there, we decided to rent a car and drive 3.5 hrs from Atlanta to Charlotte and take our chances there. 

So we rented a car. However, it's Masters Weekend. 

Any non-golf fans, lemme fill you in. Masters is a huge golf tournament in Augusta, GA, that happens every year and floods the tourist industry with much needed income... and forces car rental prices to skyrocket. So yes. We rented a car. And mortgaged our firstborn to do so. BUT we got a car and made our way to Charlotte, finally making it after dark. We get to the airport, check-in, and the ticket counter attendants inform us that Charlotte, just like Atlanta, is overbooked, and there is only one flight that we might maybe perhaps get a couple seats on. So, we wait. And wait. And wait. Checking on other flights, watching full planes take off without us, and get more and more exhausted (remember, tail end of wedding weekend!). 

Finally, last flight out. 11:45 pm. We're the only standby passengers left with the airline. We're watching all the full-paying customers line up, get their tickets scanned, and board the airplane. I knew we weren't going to get on this flight. No way. We'd missed too many all day. And I cried. I'll admit it. Sobbing, sloppy mess... crying in the airport. And nothing I could do about it. All the stress, all the exhaustion, all the mad dash from here to there finally caught up with me. 

20 people left in line. 17. 12. Still no call for us. Levi gets up one last time to check with the counter. The lady shakes her head no, no more seats. More sloppy sobbing. 

Suddenly, the other attendant says, 

"Wait a minute...." and starts counting who's left in line.

"Hold up. Seriously." He makes a call to the plane.

I'm watching from across the room, holding my breath....

"TWO SEATS! There are two seats! Hurry hurry!!"

My sobs turn to hiccuped laughing, Levi fist pumps the air in victory, and we run onto the plane, the last two passengers on the last flight out that night. I didn't even care that my bag didn't fit in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of me. I didn't care that the lady next to me fell asleep leaning on my shoulder. We made it to Boston! At 2:30 am. But we made it. And we crawled into our bed at the Beech Tree Inn and slept until lunchtime the next day!

Next "Our Story" post: Honeymoon Adventures in New England - Boston 

Friday Fieldnotes

Every Friday (that I remember to do it), I'll post my favorites for the week - those books, songs, shows, thoughts, places, and things that I just can't put down.

This week, my faves are:

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger 

Twin girls inherit their estranged aunt's apartment in London, and they move there only to find that everything is never as it seems and the past will always haunt you.

I enjoyed the book - finished it in 24 hrs. But I was disappointed with the turn of events. I felt that the author touched on the darkness of human nature but did not actually pick it up and examine it. Maybe she left it there for the reader to wrestle with? I don't know.

I would recommend it, though, to anyone that likes modern fiction with a twist of the supernatural.








Red Cactus Cafe Tamales and Empanadas in Marietta, GA

Photo from Red Cactus Cafe Facebook Page

Picked up a few of these at the Marietta Square Farmer's Market. Oh heavens.

My favorites are the pork and tomatillo and the chicken and jalapeno.

I got hooked on tamales when I went to a friend's Mexican wedding in California a couple years back. It's hard to find "authentic" tamales just anywhere, but I am super happy with these. YUM!









Garden & Gun magazine

I subscribed recently to this magazine, wanting something a little less "mass-produced" as Southern Living (don't get me wrong, I still love Southern Living!). And of course, the first issue I receive is the Food Issue.

As a die-hard, self-proclaimed foodie, I have been enthralled and overjoyed to have this magazine in my hands this week and read all about heirloom tomatoes, farm-to-table pork chops, and foraged wild asparagus.

I highly recommend this mag to anyone interested in Southern Culture and History. Check out their website, too!




Journaling

I used to write all the time - daily entries, stories, poems, dreams. And then for some reason, I stopped. I recently found all my empty journals though that I've been saving for "some day," and I've started to fill them up again. It's very therapeutic and relaxing. I don't know if I ever solve any problems while journaling, but sometimes putting pen to paper and getting cyclical thoughts OUT of your mind really help to create a calm spirit. So, I've been trying to get in the habit of writing again. Sometimes I just jot down quotes, and sometimes I write pages and pages of thoughts and ideas and worries down. I've realized again how much I need it. :)

NPR Atlanta

I'll be honest. I hate pop music. And radio commercials. And most radio "personalities." So I listen to NPR. Where else can you get Scarlatti, Civil War history, world news, and Irish Folk music all in the same place? Case closed.



I hope you enjoy reading about this weeks favorites! What are you loving right now?

Our Story - How We Met - A Timeline

January 2012: Anna creates online dating profile on lesser known Christian dating website. Location: GA, USA.

Beginning of February 2012: Levi also creates online dating profile on said site. Location: Beirut, Lebanon.

End of February 2012: Their paths cross. Levi actually reads all of Anna's lengthy and wordy profile. Anna stalks all of Levi's three pictures and partially-completed Facebook profile. 

March 2012 - August 2012: Anna and Levi chat via Facebook, email, Skype, etc. He thinks she's cool. She thinks he's cool. Levi finishes up his work in Lebanon and backpacks through Europe, finding internet cafes here and there to send Anna update emails. She is jealous of his Grande European Tour. 

August 2012: Levi prepares to return to the USA. He asks Anna out for coffee and later for a concert. She says yes.

September 10, 2012: Anna and Levi have their first date at Starbucks in Athens, GA. She doesn't acknowledge that it's a date. But she does acknowledge that he's tall and has pretty eyes. Levi does invisible victory fist-pumps the entire evening. They have a marvelous time. 

September 2012 - October 2013: Anna and Levi go on many, many adventures, dates, outings, stay-ins, and trips. They fall in love. They talk about marriage. They go ring shopping. Levi takes Anna's Dad "golfing."

October 5, 2013: Levi takes Anna to Tallulah Gorge in north Georgia to go "hiking." She knows the real reason why they're going.... And yes, they do hike - to the top of "Inspiration Point." He suddenly gets inspiration, kneels on one knee with an open ring box, and says, " You're all I've ever wanted, and you're all I'll ever want. Will you marry me, Anna?" She says yes and cries. Then they hike some more.

October 2013 - March 2014: Wedding preparations are made, Levi gets a job transfer to the Atlanta area, rental houses are searched for and decided upon, all of Anna's boxes and boxes of books and sundries are moved in along with Levi's haphazardly packed crates, and wedding invitations are sent.

April 5, 2014: Anna and Levi get married at Lake Rabun Pavilion in Lakemont, Georgia, only a few miles from Tallulah Gorge (where they got engaged). Family and friends are there to celebrate the beautiful weather, tasty food, and super happy newlyweds. At the end of the day, Anna and Levi ride away in this. And happily ever after. At least that's the plan. ;)

Photo Credit: Kayla Johnson Photography

Next "Our Story" post: Honeymoon Adventures in New England

About Us

Hello! 

I'm Anna, and this is my husband Levi. 

We live in Atlanta, GA, and we've been married since April 2014. (Look at his cute wittle face!)

Photo Credit - Kayla Johnson Photography

This is a blog of our adventures! I'll be writing about our love story, setting up housekeeping, our travels, and any other fun and interesting stuff that I think up. 

I hope you enjoy reading and following along with what's happening in our lives!