Boston 2013

I had a four-day conference in Boston for SharePoint. I wasn't attending with anyone else from work, so I was a little nervous...paranoid...anxious. As I age (and watch more of the news these days) I become more paranoid to travel alone. As the date got closer, Boston started to feel soooo far away from home. I have always wanted to see Boston, but wanted my historical tour guide (aka Luke) to go with me. He did really want to go, but because of the timing, couldn't miss work.
I flew out EARLY on a Saturday morning, because my tutorials started up Sunday morning. 
With a delayed connection in Denver, my plane lands in Boston around 5pm. Before we can get off the plane, state troopers are boarding the plane to remove an older gentleman and his wife. Everyone on the plane was looking around at each other, confused and curious. Welcome to Boston. 
I always get a little weepy when I travel alone, because it's just not very fun being away and in the unknown. After I grabbed my luggage, I couldn't locate a shuttle to take me to the hotel...so I call Luke. On the verge of tears, he got online, made me a reservation and told me where to go. I like that he can take care of me from clear across the country. I just needed to get my bearings and build a little confidence. Everyone I spoke to seemed perfectly friendly...so that helped. I loved hearing them talk with their East coast accents. 
Lucky for me, the hotel was perfectly located. It was close to everything and it felt completely safe to actually walk around. It was completely different from how I felt when I traveled to Atlanta in April. After I checked into the hotel I walked next door to Cheesecake Factory, sat up to the bar and had dinner. The bartender was a nice young girl and I listed to her exchange tales with an older woman who sat next to me.
Sunday morning I attended my tutorial and then decided to purchase a two day trolley tour of Boston. One of the stops was right in front of my hotel, so it was very convenient. I stopped at Quincy Market for a little bit and located "Wicked Good Cupcake," since I saw them appear on "Shark Tank" a few months ago. Amazingly wicked indeed. One of the best cupcakes I have ever had. 
I also took a 45 minute Harbor Tour, that was included in the $35 trolley ticket. It was a great afternoon around the city. The tour had 16 stops and was 90 minutes, if you didn't get off the trolley. The weather was also PERFECT. No humidity and around 81 degrees. I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon for site seeing.

After an afternoon on the trolley, I decided to go on a 6 mile run through Boston Common and Public Garden. On the way back to the hotel I found a few cupcake shops (of course) and some fabulous chicken piccata at an American Restaurant on Newbury Street.

My conference was four days long and I learned a lot of good stuff. If I wasn't sitting in classes/tutorials, I was either eating or running. 

My last morning in Boston I took a seven mile run to see the last few places on my list. I credit the trolley tour for allowing me to see how close everything was and I felt comfortable running everywhere I wanted to visit. Fenway park was less than a mile from my hotel and it was super neat.

I ran over the Charles River to the MIT campus. The day of my trolley tour, they had shut down some of the roads around MIT, for a tribute to Officer Collier, who was killed in a shootout with the Boston marathon bombers in April. It was very cool to see it all up close.

 I flew in at midnight that night and Tubbs was the only bug who stayed awake to greet me. I think he was anxious to see all the treats and souvenirs I had. :)
So happy to be home with my bugs. I did thoroughly enjoy the city of Boston though and I am really looking forward to going back soon with the family.