In my last post - perhaps my most insightful work to date if I do say so myself (which I do) - I shared my favorite tips on How to Train a Human. I hope you have all had time to practice some of my recommendations since then and are now reaping the benefits of your hard work. Preferably in the form of salty bacon for breakfast and long, leisurely naps on the couch.
I also made a major announcement – soon I’m going to become a big brother! Now I apologize because it’s been a few months since that post, but we’ve been a little busy over here. Mom says the delay has something to do with needing more energy to grow a little human. Sounds like a lousy excuse to me, but never fear furiends. Despite my absence, I’ve been doing lots of important pondering over here and I’m ready to share more Salty Thoughts. But before I get back to dishing out insightful advice, I have another bittersweet announcement to make.
At the end of June, I officially moved away from Boston.
As you can imagine, a few stoic tears were shed. I’m really torn about the move since we’re headed back to the Midwest, my homeland. The land of flat walks, grass as far as the eye can see (which for my bug eyes is really not that far), and a solid diet of meat and potatoes. So I should regain those few pounds I lost strolling around Boston in no time. To be more specific, we’re headed to Kansas City! Now I’ve never been to Kansas City before but my mom tells me our new city is famous for its award-winning barbecue, so I have to admit I’m intrigued.
On the other hand, I’m sad to leave Boston. I’ve had so many great adventures this past year in the namesake city of my honorable breed – from strutting down the red brick lines of the Freedom Trail to dressing up as a lobster roll for Halloween to changing the name of my historic neighborhood Beacon Hill to Bacon Hill (still waiting for this last one to completely catch on). In fact, moving to Boston was the entire reason I decided to start this blog! I'm grateful for all the memories I've made exploring this grand city and I hope you've enjoyed them too. To honor this patriotic American city before we move onto our next adventure, I thought I'd share some of my most favorite Boston moments with you…
When I found out I was moving to Boston, it didn't take me long to get into the colonial spirit. And in the spirit of the Founding Fathers, I penned my first blog post about The Cradle of Liberty titled Boston or Bust. And so my story as a dog blogger began. (This is also when my mom's friends found out she had completely lost her mind.)
After only a few short weeks, the city of Boston threw me an amazing birthday bash last July! We celebrated the anniversary of my freedom (a.k.a. when I was rescued) by reading the Declaration of Independence from the balcony of the Old State House - where the original Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in 1776. I must admit the turn out for my birthday bash was impressive!
This was also the first time I tasted the ingenious culinary combination of sweet maple + salty bacon that is so popular on the East Coast. Don't let this photo fool you, I devoured that maple bacon donut from Union Square Donuts - just like a birthday boy should!
One of the first lessons I learned when I moved to downtown Boston is that beautiful green grass is hard to come by. So when you find a spacious city park like the Rose Kennedy Greenway, you keep going back - over and over and over. This was one of my favorite spots in Boston, and not just because it happens to be right next to the aforementioned Union Square Donuts at Boston Public Market. But that is certainly an added bonus. The second lesson I learned... my handsome mug sure makes this Boston skyline look good!
Soon I started exploring the mean streets of my neighborhood - historic Beacon Hill. (Feel free to call it Bacon Hill instead.) Bacon Hill is known for its narrow cobblestone streets, Federal-style rowhouses, and wealthy residents affectionately nicknamed the Boston Brahmins. Bacon Hill is not known for it's crime, but you can bet that didn't stop me from starting my usual neighborhood watch. I patrolled those cobblestone streets better than another other pup in the history of Bacon Hill.
Nothing gets by The Bacon.
With Beacon Hill as my home base, the Boston adventures began. Someone who I shall not name had the bright idea to take me to the South End on one of the hottest days of the year for my first day of exploring. As they say in Boston, it was a scorcha. But somehow we managed to explore Peter's Park and the South End Open Market. Thanks to 2 Dogs Treats, I even tried FISH SKINS for the first time - so East Coast of me. Read all about my South End adventures and get some Salty Advice on socializing in a brand new city by reading my post, Make Friends Like a BOSS-ton.
Next I headed to a nearby neighborhood called Back Bay to find love on fabulous Newbury Street. Turns out I didn't find the love I was expecting, but I did find an amazing pet store called The Fish and Bone that sells delicious bright red stuffed LOBSTAHS... so basically the same thing.
On my way back to Beacon Hill, I ran into the most amazing team of beauties - the MIT Cross Country Team. Technically, I guess you could say they ran into me, but details aren't really important. All you need to know is that I immediately fell in love. With all of them. And my life has never been the same.
Seeing all of the Back to School posts on social media made me a little jealous, so for my next adventure I decided to see what the fuss is all about. I headed over to the Cambridge side of the Charles River and took a tour of a small school you may have heard of before, Harvard University. Or as they call it here in Boston - HAHVAHD. I have to say this "Future Freshman" t-shirt looks pretty good on me.
You may recall one of my more embarrassing adventures... when mom and dad dressed me up as a LOBSTAH ROLL and entered me into the Halloween Pet Costume Contest at Faneuil Hall. To this day I still can't decide if I'm more upset at my parents for making me parade around in this ridiculous (amazing) costume or because I lost the Best Local Costume category to another pup dressed as a cannoli from Mike's Pastry. I will say, however, the Lobstah Roll costume was a big hit with the Boston ladies.
Being in Boston also gave me the chance to take one of my favorite road trips (and I've been on a LOT of road trips) to Acadia National Park. This was my first ever National Park adventure and despite all the hiking, this place did not disappoint. I braved the outdoors to summit mountains and explore the rocky rugged coast of Maine. I even traversed a sandbar in Bar Harbor which is huge for me since I basically hate any kind of water.
A recap of my year in Boston wouldn't be complete without mentioning one of my proudest moments - when I made the COVER of the 2017 Dogs of the Esplanade Calendar. Not only was this an amazing boost for my already healthy ego, but I was particularly honored because the Charles River Esplanade is one of my favorite places in Boston. Check out the full story here and if you have a calendar, feel free to leave it open to the month of November all year long.
As the Boston weather got colder and colder and the piles of snow got higher and higher, I started to notice all those furry, fluffy, extremely pricey Canada Goose coats roaming around town. Turns out Santa is generous, but very thrifty and found the perfect alternative for me - this sharp, cozy coat from Canada Pooch! I spent the winter months strutting my stuff around Boston Common and the Boston Public Gardens in my new coat complete with its own red and white patch (just like the real thing!).
After months of hibernation, the weather finally turned warmer and we were back to exploring new places. By spring I had finally convinced my parents to swallow their pride and buy me a baby carrier - so we (and by we, I mean they) could walk for miles and miles on end without worrying about my, umm, physical fitness. This is just one of the ways I trained my humans to take great care of me. To find out my other foolproof strategies for How to Train Your Human check out my latest post. Be sure to try my advice and let me know how it goes.
During our last few weeks in Beantown, we made several trips to Fan Pier Park in Fort Point because Mom says it's her favorite view of the city and she wanted to get the perfect photo of the Boston skyline before we headed west. But I say... who needs a photo of the skyline when you can get a shot of my gorgeous mug instead? #FrameIt
Well furiends... that basically wraps up my year in Boston. Thanks for following along as I shared my Salty Thoughts! I must say it was a year full of big adventures and lip-smacking, New England treats. I'll definitely miss all the tasty red stuffed lobstahs and maybe even those salty fish skins. (I can't say I'll miss those steep, never-ending Beacon Hills though.) I'm looking forward to some R&R these next few weeks as I recover from my whirlwind year at one of my favorite places in the world, Grandma & Grandpa's house. In the meantime, I'll be contemplating my next big question...
Should I continue this blog or not?
What do you think? Want to hear more Salty Thoughts as I become a big brother? Who knows what kind of crazy tricks I might have up my sleeve.
Licks to you all,
Bacon the Boston