boston part 1

Thursday, October 7

Emma and I left mid-morning for a week long visit to beautiful Boston. We were flying on stand-by which meant cheap(er) flights but no assigned seats. When deciding on travel dates, it never occurred to me that Columbus Day would be a heavily traveled holiday weekend. In the west, no one celebrates that holiday. I guess it is different in the east. Add to that the fact that we were traveling to New England in the peak fall season and we had a CRAZY day of travel.

We had no trouble getting on the Salt Lake to Phoenix flight but it was all downhill from there. Every flight was full. Every flight had several stand-bys ahead of us. We miraculously made it onto a flight from Phoenix to Charlotte even though we were number 19 and 20 on the stand-by list. Sadly though, our luck ran out and we got stranded in Charlotte overnight. To make matters worse, our bag had been sent on to Providence since that was our original final destination. We got a very cheap, very sub-standard hotel where the front desk clerk yelled at me. No pajamas. No tooth brushes. No clean underwear. We still managed a few hours sleep before getting up at 5:00 a.m. (3:00 a.m. Utah time) to try and catch the first flight to Boston.

Friday, October 8

We made it onto that first flight and arrived in Boston at about 10 a.m. After talking with a very nice woman in baggage, we arranged for our suitcase to fly to Boston on another flight so we could pick it up later. Dana picked us up from the airport and we headed out on our first adventure: the quaint, coastal town of Rockport.

I had fun making Emma pose in front of the cute and colorful shop windows.

We wandered through the shops and let the girls try on the accessories the boutiques had to offer.

Emma was willing to try any seafood including lobster and clams. I was too cheap to let her. She got New England Clam Chowder instead.

We made it back to Dana's in time to meet Avery coming off the bus. Such a happy reunion.

Saturday, October 9

We took advantage of the great weather and a free Saturday and went to Six Flags New England. Usually at amusement parks, I am the one sitting on the bench holding the baby. Dana got to play that role this time. I got to play the role of thrill-seeker and ride all the big rides with Emma and Avery. We stayed the whole day. Just as we were leaving, a fire broke out in the Haunted Mansion. No one was injured but it made for an exciting end to the day to see the flames leaping up from the building.