Back From Beantown... Barely

I have been so busy, I haven't had time to post about our trip to Boston. Take a deep breath, grab a cup of coffee or a bowl of ice cream, get comfy, this post could be a long one.....

So, as you know, my husband was able to get a plane ticket to Boston so he could enjoy the city with me. We woke up Monday morning at 3:55 am (yes, A.M.!) and left for the airport at 5:00. We drove to the Casino Queen, parked there, and rode the Metro out to the airport. We got to Lambert around 5:55 and the lines were ridiculous! Keith's flight departed at 6:30am, so he had NO TIME to check in and get through security. I was boarding another airline, so we had to seperate. While I was standing in my own line, I could hear them announcing "last boarding call" for Keith's flight. I kept praying that he had made it through the lines, but I was seriously doubting it. He text me at the last minute, saying he had caught his flight. He had to cut in front of people in the security line and sprint down the terminal, but he made his flight and that was the important thing!

We were able to meet up at the hotel, Nine Zero, once I landed in Boston. The hotel cost a fortune (on the City of St. Louis) and was not worth it. The room was small and didn't even have a kitchen or coffemaker! Oh, and here was our amazing view....



On our first night, we walked down to Fanuiel Hall and Market. We ate at the oldest tavern in America, The Bell in Hand.



We saw a Halocaust Memorial. They had six, tall, glass monuments- one for each concentration camp- with all of the numbers the Nazis tattooed on the wrists of the Jewish prisoners. There were quotes of the prisoners etched into the glass, along with the numbers. I didn't take a picture of the memorial, something about it was too sacred. After that, we walked to Paul Revere's house. The house he left from to warn Boston that "the British were coming". That was really amazing and surreal to think that hundreds of years ago, he jumped on his horse to deliver his message, right where I was standing!



Oh, and I heard somewhere that Bostonians eat more ice cream than any other city residents, so I had to have some myself.....



On day #2 of Boston, I went to class, while Keith toured the Samuel Adams Brewery. He learned how to brew beer, while I learned how to facilitate small group discussion about condom use and negotiation.



Oh, while walking to the training site, I learned that Dunkin' Donuts are about every 5 feet in Boston. We had a 10 minute walk from our hotel to the site of our class and we passed 4 Dunkin' Donuts!


After my first day of class, Keith and I walked through Boston Commons (a 50 acre public park), down Newbury Street (the Rodeo Drive of Boston), over to Cheers (had to!) and all the way over to the Bay, where the Boston Tea Party was held. I love how pedestrian accessible Boston is. St. Louis isn't walker-friendly. I love the mix of old and new in Boston. You have such wonderful architecture and history, combined with the "moderness" of a city.



Keith got to tour Fenway Park while I finished up my last day of training.

After my class, we took the subway to Harvard! I was so excited to see the campus of one of the most well-known universities in the country! I wish I could have seen where Legally Blonde was filmed, but Keith wouldn't let me ask. (Is that embarrassing?) We did walk around and see dorms, classrooms, Harvard Law, Harvard Square and about 1,000 more buildings that I have no idea what they are.





After 3 days of walking, we were so tired. But, I was pleased knowing that there was no way I had gained any weight on this trip!
Keith's flight left at 6:30am on Thursday, so he was up and gone before I even woke up. My flight didn't leave Boston until 5:45pm, so I still had most of the day to explore. I grabbed a cup of coffee from Dunkin' Donuts (where else?!) and walked around the city by myself for about 2 hours.

We (a co-worker and myself) had to check out of our hotel by noon, but they kept our luggage while we sat in the park and people-watched.

We took a cab to the airport at 2:00. Wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to get through the lines at the airport. By the time we pulled up to the curb, I was so ready to be home.

We sat at the airport for 3 hours before our flight was CANCELLED! That's right, cancelled! We were connecting in Pittsburgh and they had bad weather and lost power. I don't even know how I would describe my feelings at that point- frustrated doesn't even begin to cover it. LONG story short, we were booked on an 8:30am flight the next morning, connecting in Atlanta and arriving in St. Louis at 12:35. So, we had to get another hotel room (minus our checked luggage) for the night. Woke up Friday morning at 5:00am in order to catch the 6:00am shuttle from our hotel to the airport. Once we got to the check in counter, we were informed that they in fact DID NOT book us on the 8:30 flight to Atlanta. Of course, the flight was full. The next flight they could book us on left Boston at 1:40, connected in Cincinatti, arriving in STL at 5:40pm. I could not bear the thought of sitting in an airport for another day! They booked us for that flight and put us on standby for the 8:30 and 10:30 flights to Atlanta. We were the last 2 people to get on the 8:30 flight, standby. Got to Atlanta around 11:00 and had to sit until our flight left at 2:30. I did manage to finish a new book while sitting in all of the airports. We finally touched down in STL at 3:00 Friday afternoon. Even though it was about 100 degrees, compared to Boston's comfortable 80, I was SO glad to be home!!!

Not in any hurry to get back to Boston.....Whew... makes me tired even typing about it.