Boston for the Holidays

Over the holidays we were lucky enough to get away for a few days to Boston.  This was our first vegan holiday, so we probably went overboard preparing, but it all paid off.  We drove from Montreal to Boston on December 27th.  This was the day after they had a storm that fell just short of their definition of 'blizzard'.  But being Canadians, that didn't deter us.  It took a bit longer than expected to get there, but we had a cooler full of snacks, and an iPod full of music.  We stayed in the Residence Inn in Cambridge just north of Boston, but right around the corner from the 'T' that could take us where ever we wanted to go.  And for insurance, we made sure to get a suite with a full kitchen.  It was nice to have the kitchen, but we really didn't use it that much except to keep the wine cold and make tea in the mornings. 

We came prepared with a list of vegan friendly restaurants that we were excited to try, but we did not have a map.  In hind sight it would have been more useful to have had the restaurants pin pointed on a good map.  It would have saved us an hour and a half trek through fresh snow in the freezing wind on the first night we were there!  But, it made the food taste twice as good once we arrived at the 'Red Lentil' in Watertown (http://www.theredlentil.com/)  Their Gobi Manchurian was fabulous as was the Near East Seitan with Teff Crepe and the Carrot Cake!!  We liked it so much we went back again!

In downtown Boston near Chinatown we found My Thai Vegan Cafe.  This is a nice second floor space filled with plants and windows.  I had a Thai Curry Vermicelli and a really great Tom Yum Gai soup both with veggie-chicken.

Near Harvard we ate at a little student hang out called 'Veggie Planet'.  This is a basement space with huge windows and brick walls where you place your order at the counter and wait for your name to be called when your order is ready.  There is also a stage where I guess they have bands play and stuff.  But this is the kind of place you can go and have lunch alone with your book and not look pathetically friendless.  Here we each had the salad and vegan pizza special and tea and I think the total was like 18$ for the both of us.  Who can beat that??

Our last day there we went in search of the famous vegan Clover Lab Food Truck which usually parks near the T station at MIT.  Unfortunately, they were off for the holidays....  but we did find a falafel truck. 

And we did manage to squeeze in some sightseeing and shopping between meals.  I even got to feed the birds.... 

So all in all, this trip was a huge success.  It has given me confidence that with a little research and preparation, it is a snap to maintain a vegan diet on the road!!