Boston - Part 2

It should come as no surprise I'm led around by my stomach.  It should also come as no surprise I require meat at breakfast.  When I'm on vacation, these two traits tend to get turned up a notch or two, which is what led us to the South Street Diner.

Armed with Yelp and Google Maps, we guided our way from the hotel and into the cozy confines of this 1947 diner.

We must have timed things just right, for as we slid into our booth, the only other customer, who was finishing his eggs and Boddingtons beer, was directly behind us.  No sooner than I could admire his morning eating habits, a group of 10 walked in followed by a handful more.

Although things certainly got busy, the solo waitress was able to easily handle the pace of her suddenly packed diner.  Our breakfast arrived hot and fast.  Everyone's meal hit the spot and my corned beef hash and eggs were simply awesome.

We opted fairly early on to take a tour bus to maximize the amount of time and space we could cover in the city.  Although I was pegged by no one else than my friend Eric, as taking the "old man" route, I was not deterred.  In fact, seeing the only place we got off was one of the biggest tourist traps in Boston, I was still fairly comfortable on our heated narrated bus trip, but also felt pretty proud about putting the "T" in tourist.  Oh, what tourist trap you ask?  Why the only place I imagine that has an Employee Assistance Program for bartenders who can no longer take jokes about not knowing your name: Cheers.

All touristy talk aside, it was kind of neat walking down the steps to the old Bull & Finch Pub, now known as Cheers Beacon Hill.  For the TV show, Cheers, The Bull & Finch was filmed as the exterior of the fictional Cheers bar. Although the actual pub, down below, doesn't even remotely resemble the Cheers bar, you can visit the "TV show set bar" that is upstairs next to the obligatory gift shop.  Where, it happens to be, I also bought said obligatory souvenir, which I shall unveil at a future date.

According to our tour guide, the owner of the Bull & Finch refused any royalties for sometime, but once the network decided to start merchandising the show the royalties started to flow and the bar cashed in.

The bar was actually pretty sweet with its cramped quarters and low ceilings.  The bartender and staff were great.  So great that when Zoë, who was a little cold, asked for whip cream for a hot chocolate, the bartender gave her the entire can.

Reruns being what they are, we sort of wondered about the longevity of Cheers as a tourist destination.  It's hard to believe, but Cheers has been off the air since 1993.  There will probably come a time, where the novel attraction of what Cheers is will be last on many…unless of course, it comes to Nick at Night.  Thanks to Nick at Night in college, I'm one of the few people who probably still long for the days of Donna Reed, Dick Van Dyke and the tales of Patty Duke and her identical cousin.

After enjoying our time at Cheers, we jumped back on the bus for more exploring before eventually ditching the bus and walking back towards our hotel.

Since our eating/drinking schedule was totally skewed, we stopped for a little bite of chowder, which, coincidentally, reads nothing like how it is pronounced in Boston.  However, I can say, all of the chowder I had…and I had a lot, was excellent.  Exhibit C:

In the fifteen minutes between meals and beer, Gary had a craving for German, so we plotted our return trip past Jacob Wirth.  Jacob Wirth, aka Jake's, has been a Boston landmark since 1868.

Just by pulling open the front door, I found my senses flooded with history.  The restaurant is very wide and incredibly deep.  A long mahogany bar framed one side of the room with a large dining room on the other.

Once inside, it still felt as if though we were at the turn of the century…and by turn of the century, I'm talking 1901.

For beers, we went all European and for food, German.

The potato pancakes with apples and creme fraiche were simply steller.

My knockwurst/bratwurst combo?  Even better.  I loved the presentation, devoured the cabbage and about licked my plate.

We packed a lot in over the course of the day and I've still not touched dinner.  I'll leave that, and the magic that was Boston Beer, for Day 3.