Being a Tourist in My Hometown

I don’t think you realize how much your home has to offer until someone visits and you fall into the role of tour guide.

Back in April, my cousin Jocelyn took a trip over here to Massachusetts from LA. At first, it was exciting trying to plan what we were going to do. Jocelyn is like my mini me, so I knew no matter what I picked, we were going to have fun, but it reached a point in the planning process where I was like oh shit, there’s nothing to do over here!

We’re used to LA where there is always something to do. Over here, in comparison, it feels like there’s nothing, especially when it’s not warm yet.

So, I decided, the best way to go about planning what we can do is to pretend I’m coming here for the first time. Plymouth, check. Boston, check. Cape Cod (even though it’s not summer yet), check. New York City day trip double check.

But…. Mother Nature had other plans. So here’s what we ended up doing in the end 🙂

Monday

• I headed to Logan bright and early so I could pick up Jocelyn – this was her first solo flight and first time in Boston without the rest of our family, so I was SO EXCITED to have her
• Grabbed breakfast at The Blueberry Muffin
  • If you’re local and have never been, definitely give it a try! Their food and their pastries are so tasty and it’s a quick, easy meal! They have locations in Kingston, Plymouth, and Pembroke.
• Spent the morning catching up (and gossiping about our love lives of course) and then Jocelyn took a nap
• Stopped by Fedeles Chocolates
  • If there’s one thing to know about our family, it’s that we LOVE food and we LOOOVE sweets. It was like heaven in there.
• Went SHOPPING at Derby Street Shops
  • Let me just say… Jocelyn and I should not be allowed to shop together. We are TERRIBLE influences on each other
• Met the family at Cancun for dinner – my favorite local restaurant!
• Hung out for the night and just relaxed. Jocelyn finally got to see my dad too – she hadn’t seen him in close to five years!

Tuesday

• I spent the morning getting some work done and in the afternoon, we headed to Walpole to get afternoon tea at Fancy That
  • Fancy That is one of my favorite places in the entire world and Jocelyn absolutely LOVES tea, so there was no better place to take her than Fancy That. Just look how cute everything is!

• Later that night, we ordered dinner, made popcorn, and watched Waitress the Musical
  • Both of us love musicals and Jocelyn had never seen Waitress (which is my All Time favorite show!) so it was so special to share it with her and have someone appreciate the show as much as I do.

Wednesday

• We had plans to drive to NYC, but Mother Nature had other plans 😦
• Instead, I took Jocelyn into the radio station where I work so she could see my office and see what the inside of a radio station looks like and she met all of my coworkers
• Then we headed to Providence, where I went to college
  • We started off our day in the city at LaSalle, one of my FAVORITE places in the city. Their pasties are amazing, their breakfast sandwiches are to die for, and I absolutely LOVE their raspberry iced tea
    • Pro-tip: the Admiral Street location doesn’t always have raspberry iced tea, but I’ve always been able to get it at the Smith Street location!
  • Then I drove Jocelyn around PC, where I went to school. So much has changed on campus in the three short years since I left, but I loved being able to share one of my happy places with her.
  • Afterwards, we went to the Providence Place Mall before heading to Thayer Street for dinner. One of mine and my friends’ favorite places to go in Providence was Den Den Koran Fried Chicken, so I wanted Jocelyn to be able to try
    • My favorite things on the menu: Pan Fried Pork Gyoza and Boneless Den Den Korean Fried Chicken with Dark (Soy Garlic ) Sauce

Thursday

• Again, Mother Nature derailed our plans to drive to NYC, so instead, we started out our day getting pedicures with my mom

• Then we got lunch at the Bluefish River Tavern in Duxbury with my parents
  • I went here for the first time back in February and I am OBSESSED with their food. I am so quick to lay claim that my area has no good restaurants, but this place is INCREDIBLE
    • My favorite things on the menu: the Salmon (!!!) and the Trip Dip. I’m a tough critic when it comes to salmon, but they cook this dish to absolute perfection, and I don’t like queso at all, but the queso that comes with the trip dip is absolutely delicious. They also make great guacamole and great cocktails!
• Afterwards, my dad and I took Jocelyn for a long drive by the beaches. We started at Duxbury Beach, then made our way into Marshfield and to Brant Rock
• We ended our night with a light dinner at The Anchor in Duxbury, another one of my favorite restaurants in the area

Friday

• Jocelyn’s last day in town 😦
• Another thing that Jocelyn loves is candles and I found this really cool place in Boston earlier this year called Lifebloom where you can make your own candles
  • I discovered Lifebloom by chance on Tiktok and I’m so grateful that I did! If you book an experience there, you’re able to handcraft your very own candle. It’s one of the coolest things I’ve done in Boston and their prices are really great!

• Once you’re there, you work in a small group with a Lifebloom employee and you start off by talking about your favorite scents before moving onto sampling each scent that they have to offer. After that, you narrow down your favorite scents and ultimately pick one or two that you want to use for your candle.
• Next, you get to pick what vessel you want to put your candle in, you pick what kind of wick you want in your candle, and then you get to hand mix the wax and add in the scent(s) you chose. To finish up, you pour the wax into your vessel, pick any little stones you might want placed on top of your candle once the wax hardens more, and then you get to name your candle!

• While we waited to pick up our candles, we went to Wagamama in Fanueil Hall for lunch and also stopped at the Dock Square Parking Garage because the roof of the garage is a really fun place to take pictures!

• Then it was off to the airport 😦

My Takeaways

• The obvious: I absolutely adore my cousin and getting spend five days just hanging out was so special. Because she lives so far away, we don’t often get time together like that, so I’m so grateful she chose to spend her spring break over here ♡
• The South Shore is no LA, but there IS more to do here than I give my area credit for
  • Jocelyn and I were able to try some of favorite restaurants, get tea at one of my favorite places, and take advantage of some much needed down time and just enjoying each other’s company
  • I think I was putting so much pressure on myself to think of FUN things we could do and activities we could do that I underestimated how nice it is to just spend time together
• I can’t wait for July when we’re getting the whole family together in LA and then heading to San Diego for Comic Con!