Friday, July 30, 2010

BOSTON DAY 1

We flew out of SLC late. It was about 11:50 PM on Wednesday, July 14th. That was also my last official day in my current position so I had been very busy and pretty stressed up until this point. But, hey..who isn't, right? Anyway, we got on the flight and I pretty much slept that full flight. Poor Ben didn't sleep at all. We flew into JFK and had a 3 hour layover until we flew into Boston. Needless to say, Ben was extra tired when we got into Boston. We couldn't check into our hotel until 4pm, so it didn't matter how tired we were. We had to keep ourselves busy amd keep Ben awake. That didn't end up being an issue.

Boston is a beautiful city. Just stepping out of the subway station and looking down the street was inspiring. We dropped our luggage off at our hotel and then walked over and got lunch at the Prudential Center, which was attached to our hotel and close to pretty much everything we wanted to see. We then walked outside and got to see the beautiful city of Boston.

This was a large fountain with tonz of kids running through it. It was SO hot and humid and I really would have loved to run through it too!


We went and took a tour of the first Christian Science church building. It was very beautiful, inside and out. We enjoyed learning more about this religion that we knew nothing about.



After leaving the church and deciding we would walk to Fenway park...my shoe broke. So, I improvised and pulled out a hairband and tied it around my foot and shoe...and then proceeded to walk a few miles. It worked.


We walked to Fenway Park where the Boston Red Sox play. Ben was happy.

This was even cooler though. This is the Bleacher Pub (I think that was the name). We were walking by Fenway Park and saw a sign by a door that said "come in and see the Sox play" so we did. As you can see behind me, there was an opening in the wall and there we were, right at field level. There was a game that night, so the teams were actually on the field practicing. It was awesome!


It was a better view that you could ever get with tickets. We ended up getting gravy fries and a sandwich to take some time to really take advantage of the view. You don't get that opportunity every day.



On the walk back we saw this firehouse. I thought this was so neat. It looks so old, like something you would see in a movie. That was my favorite part of Boston, the old historic buildings and the feel they give the whole city.

We took the subway to TD Garden, where the Celtics play. Both nights we tried to get in, but it was already closed. Ben was pretty disappointed, but we tried.


That first night we went to the Omni Parker House Hotel. Talk about a historical spot. We ordered the Boston Cream Pie, which was actually invented at this hotel. Other historical events took place here like John F Kennedy announcing his candidacy for Congress as well as proposing to Jackie Kennedy there. Plus, Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh both worked there. I am not someone who is really into history, but standing in places that you have heard about and read about your whole life is a thrilling feeling.

This was just the first day. As you can tell, it was a packed day, but a great one.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Big Trip

I would love to write about every detail of our amazing East Coast trip, but I do not have the time and I am pretty sure none of you have the interest :). I am going to write enough though because I really need my blog to start acting as more of a journal. So bare with me...or don't, either way I will continue writing. It will probably be 3 or 4 blog entries, this one being the first.


It was a long trip, 9 days in all.

We spent Thursday and Friday in Boston


...then drove up to Portland, Maine for Saturday, Sunday and Monday to hang out with Adam and Tonna.


..then off to New York City until Friday.


It truly was a whirlwind, wonderful, crazy trip. It felt like the ultimate 'bon voyage' USA trip. It was kind of strange leaving for vacation when we have such a short time left here with family and friends, but we have always wanted to go to New York City and this was just our chance. Adam and Tonna have been living in Portland, Maine for the past year while Tonna is her Physicians Assistant program. She will be done in less than a year, which means that when we get back from our two year stint in the Philippines they will be somewhere else. We don't really think we will ever have another reason to go out to Maine, and since we were going to be there anyway, why not go see some other great East Coast places, right? So, off we went for our adventure.