Soar With Syd

My friends and I had been dying for a girls’ trip, but we didn’t have time to go far from home. We decided it would be fun to head up to our lovely capital city and spend a night in Boston. We stayed in the Back Bay area so we’d be within walking distance of Newbury Street.

For those who don’t know, Newbury Street is a popular spot in Boston lined with restaurants, shops, cafés, and plenty of fun things to do. We stayed at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, and as we were driving in, we noticed a Cheesecake Factory right next door. Naturally, we decided it was the perfect place to kick off our evening.

And I know what you’re thinking: ‘Syd, you can eat at Cheesecake Factory anywhere! Don’t you want to go somewhere special to Boston?’

While I totally get your point, I don’t think you understand just how much the girls and I love the Cheesecake Factory.

After a cocktail and a meal I barely made a dent in, we made our way to Foxhole for some after-dinner drinks. It ended up being the ideal girls’ night vibe.

It had colorful lights and chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, along with games like Uno, Jenga, and Connect Four that you could play. The drinks were great! Our favorite was the Pink Flamingo because it came with an inflatable pink flamingo cup holder. After Foxhole, we called it a night and got ready for the next morning.

The next morning, we looked up cafes in the area to grab some coffee. To my excitement, I discovered that Newbury Street had a Friends themed cafe appropriately named Central Perk.

The place was adorable! They had Friends themed food and drinks. I got the Princess Consuela’s Banana Mocha, and it was delicious. They also had a collection of Friends merchandise for sale and a couch just like the one they always sit on in the show and it is perfect for a photo op.

During breakfast, we planned out the rest of our day and decided our next stop would be Rainbows Pottery Studio. Our original plan was to do some pottery painting, but while we were outside browsing some of the pre-made items they had for sale, a man who worked there asked if we wanted to make friendship bracelets with proceeds going to cancer research. We couldn’t resist. The place itself was small but cute, and our new friend Drew kept the vibes going with great music. He told us they host special events on certain nights, and it was extremely tempting to come back later for Mamma Mia Monday.

After making some bracelets, we headed down the street to Memory Shop, a cute little spot filled with photo booths and a boatload of props. We had way too much fun taking goofy pictures in there. Everything prints out right in the booth, and they give you a code to scan for a digital version of all your photos. I can’t recommend this place enough!

After Memory Shop, we grabbed boba at Mr. Tea and wandered around to do some shopping. A highlight was Trident Booksellers & Cafe. I originally went in just to use the bathroom, but the bookstore turned out to be multiple floors of books, tote bags, and other fun finds—think Scholastic Book Fair, but for adults. We wrapped up our day with two out of three of us getting tattoos. Shoutout to Boston Tattoo Company for taking us as walk-ins! CJ was super nice and did an awesome job!

So, if you ever find yourself in Beantown and want to do something beyond the usual historical sites, Newbury Street has all that to offer and so much more.