Anyone who has talked to me this year knows, after my Europe trip earlier this year, I'm not making any more trips this year because I'm saving money. The problem is, saying and doing are very different things. Becca messaged me back in June. This is more or less what happened. I took out the extra stuff.
I took a nice long Labor Day weekend vacation. I took of Thursday night, so we could have all of Friday together. Did I mention that Becca's parents were joining us on our trip? Because they did, and they are so funny! I was a little nervous because the only interaction I've ever had with Becca's parents, as Becca reminded me, was when her mom would transcribe my letter into an email to Becca, while I was on my mission, and Becca was teaching in China. I remember Becca telling me that her mom was having difficulties transcribing my smiley faces and other drawn expressions that I use in my letters. Anyways, Becca and her parents picked me up from the airport Thursday night, and we went to the hotel.
Friday morning, I should have gone running, but I made excuses in my head to no go. It's even worse, because Becca's dad came back full of happy runny energy, because he had a great run along the bay. Shame on me. We had a nice breakfast before heading out for the day. There was a nice man who redirected us to the correct side of the train by saying "you only go that way if you want to get run over by a train". He was funny. We walked along the harbor and waited in line for our whale watching tour. Another reason I'm happy Becca's parents came along! I'm not to sure I could have convinced Becca to go on a whale watching tour without the added votes from her parents. We were warned before going on the boat, there were 3ft waves that day. I may be Boston strong...but it turns out my stomach is not. Several kids and myself had motion sickness...unlike the kids, I found a trashcan to vomit into. The kids will learn, but I felt pity for the workers who had to clean the deck of vomit. Gross. We saw whales. (If Marijn is reading this...it says: we saw whales. Whales were seen. We zagen walvissen) They were so big! It was magical! Everything I wanted and more (in both a good and bad way. lol)
We walked to see a graveyard, some parks, and the Cheers bar. That place was pretty cute. Then we went to the oldest restaurant in the United States! Union Oyster House. It was cool. The waitress had such a Bostonian accent, it was adorable. (spoiler...Becca and I walked by the waitress again the next day when we were going to our hostel) We ate so much, and it was so good!
Saturday we said goodbye to Becca's parents and went to find our hostel. We took the train to the stop, and decided to walk to the hostel instead of calling the shuttle. This is when we saw our waitress again. We both weren't sure if we should say hi or not, so we stayed silent. As we were walking on the sidewalk, a van pulled over and asked if we were going to the hostel. It was the shuttle! He was driving back from dropping someone off. What a coincidence! We checked in and went back to the train stop before heading off to the Freedom Trail.
Freedom Trail notes:
Sunday arrived with achy legs. We played too hard Saturday, and our bodies hated us on Sunday. We still went into town for a much slower-paced day that the day before. We started off with Sunday brunch at a bookstore/cafe. Trident Book Cafe. WHAAAAAAATTTT???? Books and food! Dreams do come true. The food was amazing too. Apple turkey sausage! I died and went to heaven. Seriously amazing. Then we went to go to the library. It was closed. Obviously we checked the time again and decided to come back when it was open. Instead we went to Harvard. Why? To say we went to Harvard.
Harvard is not as impressive as I once thought. There was no sign that said "Harvard" anywhere. Who does that! Every school has a sign that says their name. Nope. Not Harvard. Stupid Harvard. We went back to the library....it was still closed. Turns out, it' closed for Labor Day weekend, all weekend. bah. Then we couldn't find a public bathroom, and I'm like a child when I got to go. We couldn't find a public bathroom anywhere for me. I was a hot mess. We wandered to a park to rest and FaceTime Marijn. It was a Labor Day reunion, because we were together in DC last year for Labor Day.
I had taken some Earl Grey tea from the hotel earlier this weekend and had been carrying it around in my purse for this very moment...I was going to throw tea in the harbor. Of course, I ripped the bag to get the tea out; I didn't want to liter. It was magical. I love how excited I look in my picture...because really, I was that maniacally happy about it.
We then headed to dinner for lobster rolls. We wanted to go to this place with awesome reviews, but they had a two hour wait, and we were HUNGRY. We saw that the place next door had lobster rolls too, so we went there. Turns out, there is a reason this place isn't rated. It was SUPER overpriced and not that good. It also turns out, I don't like lobster that much. Surprise. We went and got sweets from a bakery down the road and went back to the hostel to read for the rest of the night. We were seriously knackered. I love that Becca and I can just go back to read in our rooms, and be 100% okay with it. Great travel buddy. We went to bed, and I flew out early the next morning.
I was driven to the airport by a taxi man that I wasn't 100% sure if he was really a taxi driver or a hippie homeless man driver who was going to kill me. It was a wee bit stressful. I still arrived home safely and in time to head over to Marcia's farewell family Labor Day BBQ party, which was super fun too.
What can I say? It's very hard to convince me to travel...because saying and doing are two *very* different things. Funny story: we were looking at hostels, and the one we were originally looking at fell through. We waited a bit long to book rooms, and wanted to get it done before everything booked up. We were both away from our computers, so we ended up booking everything on our phones. #classylassiesBecca: Do you have plans over labor day weekend this year?
Me: Not that I know of. What are you thinking? Britney in Vegas????
Becca: haha. That wasn't what I was thinking...
Me: What were *you* thinking?
Becca: I was just thinking that Labor Day weekend was fun last year, and it seems like a good vacation opportunity. I'll try and think of potential places.
Me: Boston?
Becca: Are you a mind reader?
Me: Yes, yes, and yes.
Friday morning, I should have gone running, but I made excuses in my head to no go. It's even worse, because Becca's dad came back full of happy runny energy, because he had a great run along the bay. Shame on me. We had a nice breakfast before heading out for the day. There was a nice man who redirected us to the correct side of the train by saying "you only go that way if you want to get run over by a train". He was funny. We walked along the harbor and waited in line for our whale watching tour. Another reason I'm happy Becca's parents came along! I'm not to sure I could have convinced Becca to go on a whale watching tour without the added votes from her parents. We were warned before going on the boat, there were 3ft waves that day. I may be Boston strong...but it turns out my stomach is not. Several kids and myself had motion sickness...unlike the kids, I found a trashcan to vomit into. The kids will learn, but I felt pity for the workers who had to clean the deck of vomit. Gross. We saw whales. (If Marijn is reading this...it says: we saw whales. Whales were seen. We zagen walvissen) They were so big! It was magical! Everything I wanted and more (in both a good and bad way. lol)We walked to see a graveyard, some parks, and the Cheers bar. That place was pretty cute. Then we went to the oldest restaurant in the United States! Union Oyster House. It was cool. The waitress had such a Bostonian accent, it was adorable. (spoiler...Becca and I walked by the waitress again the next day when we were going to our hostel) We ate so much, and it was so good!
Saturday we said goodbye to Becca's parents and went to find our hostel. We took the train to the stop, and decided to walk to the hostel instead of calling the shuttle. This is when we saw our waitress again. We both weren't sure if we should say hi or not, so we stayed silent. As we were walking on the sidewalk, a van pulled over and asked if we were going to the hostel. It was the shuttle! He was driving back from dropping someone off. What a coincidence! We checked in and went back to the train stop before heading off to the Freedom Trail.
- The best part about walking the freedom trail: me wearing my American shirt that I bough specifically for this trip.
- The worst part about the freedom trail: the wreckage it did to my legs that lasted for a week. I was literally limping for a week, and I felt it in my left hip. Personally, I blame the 294 stairs at the Bunker Hill monument.
- It made the black history trail seem terrible. I'm just going to take a moment for this. Dear Boston, If you are going to advertise you have a black history trail, put signs up to mark where you are supposed to be going and where you should stop! The Freedom Trail has a trail in the pavement! The Black History trail had nothing, but other tourists wandering around asking each other if they think they found one of the landmarks. This is embarrassing for you Boston. Just stop.
- Turns out the midnight ride of Paul Revere NEVER HAPPENED! American history is a dirty liar. He had someone else light the lanterns in the church...and we aren't even sure who!!!
- We stopped at Mike's Pastries. It was tastey...but not worth all the hype.
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| Saturday night was fireworks in the Harbor. It was gorgeous. |
Harvard is not as impressive as I once thought. There was no sign that said "Harvard" anywhere. Who does that! Every school has a sign that says their name. Nope. Not Harvard. Stupid Harvard. We went back to the library....it was still closed. Turns out, it' closed for Labor Day weekend, all weekend. bah. Then we couldn't find a public bathroom, and I'm like a child when I got to go. We couldn't find a public bathroom anywhere for me. I was a hot mess. We wandered to a park to rest and FaceTime Marijn. It was a Labor Day reunion, because we were together in DC last year for Labor Day.I was driven to the airport by a taxi man that I wasn't 100% sure if he was really a taxi driver or a hippie homeless man driver who was going to kill me. It was a wee bit stressful. I still arrived home safely and in time to head over to Marcia's farewell family Labor Day BBQ party, which was super fun too.
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