For Dane, Micki and Ren's last evening in Boston, we enjoyed a sunset cruise. The boat leaves Long Wharf at 7 p.m. and makes a loop through the inner harbor before heading out towards Boston Light on Little Brewster Island.
The timing of the trip was impeccable — the sun was just beginning to set behind Boston as the boat turned around, and we spent the rest of the cruise on the bow, hair flying as we watched the sun sink behind the skyline.
Salty and sweaty, we headed to the Chart House for dinner. Dane, Micki and Ren had discovered the restaurant at lunch a day or two before and were raving about their chowder and dessert.
The historic building used to be John Hancock's counting house, and we ate next to the old safe tucked into the bricks and exposed beams. The clam chowder is the best I've sampled so far in New England, exploding with flavor (Dane found a copycat recipe online — I'll experiment adding oregano, parsley, marjoram, dill, thyme, basil, sage, rosemary and tarragon to TJ's canned clam chowder and report the results eventually). Dinner was fine, but the portions are huge. We should have shared accordingly. By the time the molten chocolate cake with hints of heath bar arrived, we were stuffed. But we ate it anyway. (I still like Stellina's better.)
Our only complaint was the service seemed a bit slow that night — lots of time between courses (isn't the point of ordering the 30-minutes-to-make dessert with everything else that it will be ready when you finish your entree?). But really, timing didn't matter. We were there to relax and savor the evening.
The next morning, we said our goodbyes to Ian's family and started our six-day countdown to the arrival of mine. Stay tuned!