Travel, Wine, and Dine

Spectacle Island Luau with Boston Harbor Cruises

June 21, 2018 in Food, Travel by traveleatlove | No comments

Happy first day of Summer! Boston is my favorite place to be during this magical season, and if you’ve been reading my blog any length of time, you know that I spend every minute I can boating, swimming, and on beaches.

As such, I was so excited to learn about Boston Harbor Cruises luaus on Spectacle Island, and to be invited to one that fell on my husband’s first Father’s Day. It turned out to be the perfect day for a cruise over to Spectacle, as it was in the 90s, and we enjoyed beautiful sea breezes.

Since it was a luau, I made sure we were dressed accordingly. Welcome to a lifetime of coordinated family outfits, Myles!

We enjoyed a lovely and smooth ride out to the island and then were greeted with its beautiful beaches, trails, Boston views, and a tent set up and ready for our dinner.

We made a quick stop at the bar for Sam summers, and then we found seats under the tent to begin our luau feast!

The main dish at the luau was a whole roast pig, which I fully enjoyed, but I decided to omit a photo, as I know many people (including myself) have a hard time looking at the pig itself. I have to say though, it was really yummy, super tender and flavorful, and the team serving it up was lovely and friendly!

As usual, for me, the side dishes stole the show. I ate the majority of this frisbee full of tomatoes. Nothing says summer like tomatoes, and these were simply delicious. I also loved this noodle dish and a combo pasta/potato salad that just says summer picnic.

After we devoured our side dishes and melt-in-your-mouth pork while chatting with our luau neighbors, we were presented with a creamy coconut pudding . . . which was incredible!

The timing of the luau meant that we were able to go for a nice walk on the island before heading back to the boat and enjoying a glorious sunset over Boston as we rode home. We took turns relaxing on the bow (It was a bit too windy for the baby.) and we all just felt super happy and relaxed when we arrived home and ready for a deep sleep and to tackle the week ahead. My husband said he felt like he was on vacation while out at the luau. I wholeheartedly agree.

Thank you for hosting us, Boston Harbor Cruises! I look forward to coming aboard for my annual trip to Provincetown and hopefully for many other journeys this summer!

Tags: beer, Boston, events, Food, holidays, summer

The Perfect Summer Lunch

June 13, 2018 in Food, Restaurants, wine by traveleatlove | No comments

Boston’s restaurant scene is growing way faster than I can keep up, and often instead of checking out new spots, we end up going to old favorites.

Summer Fridays are in full effect, and recently we had a leisurely late lunch on the back patio of Select Oyster Bar. The patio was empty, and it was perfectly humid out. . . I know many people don’t love humidity, but give me all the summer!

Also, give me all of the Ulacia Hondarribi Zuri wine from the Basque region. This wine had so many mineral notes and was absolutely perfect with a seafood feast.

We shared a few different plates, starting with the dayboat scallop ceviche with Fresno chilis. I am currently obsessed with scallops, and the flavors in this really brought out the freshness of the scallops, with a bit of zippy acidity and heat.

Oysters and shrimp were must-haves for us, Damariscotta oysters for the win! I am such a huge fan of these little oysters from Maine, and when they are the right size, could eat dozens all by myself.

We also loved the perfectly executed hamachi crudo, complete with a fresh, light fruity sauce that we wanted to lick off of the plate.

We rounded out lunch with the avocado toast, because you just have to have it! It was perfect for filling us up and adding some carbs to our meal. It doesn’t seem like a ton of food, but we ended up missing dinner because we were so full!

We’ve had a hectic life as of late, with both of us working and getting used to life with a newborn = not sleeping. Taking time out to breathe and enjoy great food and wine is so rejuvenating for our souls, and we are lucky to steal away for these moments.

Tags: Boston, Food, oysters, wine

My New England Summer Kickoff

May 16, 2018 in Food, Tasting Room Series, Travel, wine by traveleatlove | 1 comment

Over the past few summers, we’ve taken some great trips for weddings. We visited Asheville, NC for my cousin’s wedding one summer, while another summer brought us to Ireland to meet up with family and to attend our friends’ wedding. Last summer it was a week in Umbria for my sister-in-law’s wedding.

We love to travel, and seeing new places an revisiting old favorites like Ireland is something we have been really excited and blessed to be able to do.

However. . . every year before our summer travel plans are made, we also spend some time wishing we could just experience and enjoy New England in all of its summer glory. It’s the best time of year to live here, and with our new baby the focus of our attention now, staycationing in New England will be the theme of most of the summer.

I’m back at work (never really left) post-baby, but I am trying to take Fridays off for the summer. Last Friday I kicked off summer Fridays a bit early!

Our first stop was Westport Rivers, because what goes better with a beautiful, blue sky New England day than local bubbly? Baby’s first winery!

Getting around with a newborn takes a few more steps and tweaking of logistics, but other than a big spit up incident, our visit to the winery was absolutely lovely. We made sure to keep our melting down baby boy away from everyone else enjoying a quiet day, making all of us less stressed.

It really was a stunning day, and I always love a glass or two of the Westport Rivers RJR Brut with vineyard views.

Once we were settled in, Myles really seemed to enjoy the day as well. He’s a big fan of fresh air and riding around in his stroller, at any rate!

All of that fresh air helped us to work up an appetite, so our next stop was The Bayside, just down the street from Westport Rivers. The Bayside is always a favorite. It has an extensive menu, great cocktails, wine, and local beers, and is located in a beautiful spot across from expansive blue sea.

All I wanted was a buttered lobster roll and a glass of Westport Rivers rosé. This is the most perfect meal ever.

The Bayside has a great patio, but since it was still a bit chilly, we opted to stay inside in the bright and lovely restaurant. It has a great old time feel with friendly staff and a good noise level, key to taking a baby out for lunch. Luckily ours slept the whole time!

While I am eager to be out and about with him, I am also super conscious of the fact that not everyone wants to be near a crying baby!

Once we were done with lunch, and we saw that we had time to stop at Travessia Urban Winery in New Bedford, we were once again on our way. If you are making a trip to the region, I would recommend making time to visit both Westport Rivers and Travessia. Add Cork Wine and Tapas Bar to your itinerary if you have time in New Bedford for lunch or dinner.

We were excited to try some of Travessia’s newer wines,made with grapes from Portugal. We always love the wine at Travessia and have been club members since the beginning days of this blog when we tasted the wines at the Coastal Wine Trail Kickoff. I can’t believe that was nine years ago!

Myles was a huge fan of the tasting room, where he got a perfect view of the all of the wine. I know some people will likely give us the side eye for bringing him to wineries and breweries as a child, but for us, bringing him up with an appreciation of great, well-made and responsibly sourced food and beverage as part of life is important and enjoyable for us, as we hope it will be for him. People who love to eat and drink and share those experiences with others are the best people!

Tuckered out from wine tasting, we piled into the car and headed through beautiful back roads to Hull, our last stop of the night, to meet family and friend’s at Hull’s Kitchen, a fantastic little spot across from the beach. Talk about a beautiful day!

Hull’s Kitchen is a bustling little oceanfront restaurant with really excellent tacos, amazing views, and on this night, live music. It was noisy and fun and perfect for Myles and his cousin C, who is a bit older and loved the music and beachy sunset. Hull always makes us feel like we are on vacation, and our evening at Hull’s Kitchen was truly the perfect way to end our summer Friday.