This trip will forever be ingrained in my memory as one of the best weekends ever. My mother, sister, and I visited one of my brothers in Cambridge and Boston, Massachusetts. In reality, this took place a month and a half ago, but better late than never right?

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Before our Boston destination, we stopped at Old Montreal. It was stunning as always, then we trudged on with our road trip.

After driving through the night, we arrived at my brother's place. We did some basic getting-ready while poking around his cool place. I freshened up my makeup and we headed out for the day. We stopped at Harvard Square then headed to our next stop: brunch. On the way, we hit the Harvard-touristy area with shops of merchandise, cafes, and bookstores. We ordered the breakfast pizza, eggplant sandwich with focaccia, chicken pesto sandwich, and scones with sausage gravy and eggs. I was sustained by an iced americano (my favourite) from the Massachusetts-bound, flour cafe.

Our next stop was MIT where we got watermelon and mango with chamoy and tajin. It was a struggle to be completely quiet while manoeuvring the slimy fruits with a plastic fork. There were some casualties, but rest assured, we made it through.

We then crossed the bridge to Back Bay, a shopping hub where the stores thrived in their original, historical Boston structures. There were a plethora of options, which we whisked in and out of. I picked up a pair of cute loafers from Europe (thanks Jonny). We also picked up some snacks from a quaint, underground Trader Joes for the rest of our trip. Beyond shopping, it was nice absorbing the lively atmosphere, architecture, and sun.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant in China Town called Peach Farms Restaurant (weird, I know). We rested at our hotel to prepare for the next day.

This day consisted of the Boston Public Library, the Boston Public Garden, and strolling through Beacon Hill. For a taste of Americana, we had some Dunkin' coffee, and I can confirm it's very much overrated. We started in the original McKim Building of the Boston Public Library, then proceeded to Deferrari Hall. The McKim building was adorned with paintings, historical photographs, and statues.

My brother had been eyeing the vegetarian spot, Life Alive Organic Cafe, so we chose the Mediterranean falafel wrap and the taco verde bowl to share. We hung out at the Boston Public Garden to take a break and eat. The bowl was okay but the wrap was a 10/10. The Boston Common was hosting a Japanese festival so we wandered around before our next stop.

Dinner was at Giacomo’s. We got a large seafood pasta platter to share. To finish the night off, we got cannolis from Mike's Pastry.

In the early morning, my siblings played catch before my brother's shift. Then my sister and I went for a walk around the neighbourhood, where we ran into a turkey and ran away. Afterwards, we were left to our own devices without my brother to guide us. We decided to roam around and visit Fenway Park. Then we got dinner with my brother after work. We decided to hit Chinatown for the last time and get a hot pot feast. I can't even look at any hotpot the same anymore.

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To conclude, Boston is beautiful, and kinder than I ever thought. I was nervous about driving, but it's even easier than the suburbs of Ontario. Possibly my favourite part was how active everyone is. For the whole weekend, I noticed the Bostonians were zipping through the city biking, skateboarding, and running. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family and exploring Massachusetts.