A Rather Long Re-telling of a Rather Long Trip

One time, I went to Boston & Philadelphia with 34 teachers/administrators. And I was in charge. 8 days. Two cities. Numerous bus rides. Far too many cupcakes. Miles and miles walked. One incredible bike ride. Five historic houses. An amazing German potato salad. Two crazy taxi rides. One real Philly cheesesteak. One airport straight out of hell. And never, ever, ever enough sleep.

The whole crew at the Old South Meeting House

We survived. 

This trip has been in the works since October 2010. With that in mind, you'd assume it would have to be AWESOME to the MAX!, right? And you would be absolutely correct.

We left on Sunday morning from the SL Airport.  We arrived at the Logan Airport in Boston in the late afternoon. All luggage arrived (whew!) and our bus was ready and waiting (yes!). Sunday night we simply checked in to the Boston Park Plaza and headed out for a bite to eat. My little group found another larger "little" group and dined at the Irish pub in the hotel. Best clam chowder I've had in a long time!

Monday we were off to the Plimoth Plantation. Loved everything about this stop. I especially loved the "Eat Like a Pilgrim" lunch we enjoyed. The Plimoth people served us food right out of the 1620's--turkey, stewed pompion, cheate bread, cheese & prunes, cucumbers, cider, indian pudding...and no forks. It was awesome! After our lunch we headed off to Plymouth (note the spelling difference) and toured the Mayflower II.  I also got a great scoop of ice cream in town. Yummers. Back in Boston, we split up for dinner. Judy, Pam and I walked to Crumbs to get cupcakes and then enjoyed a wonderful German dinner at Jacob Wirth's. Best German Potato Salad EVER. 

This, it seems, is how Pilgrim's ate. Yum.

 Tuesday was likely the best day of the trip, even if I almost ended up tearing my hair out on two/ten different occasions. Stop #1 was supposed to be the Minuteman National Park Visitor's Center. But our bus driver got lost. So Stop #1 was the Minuteman National Park Visitor's Center PARKING LOT where half the group joined up with Sue Merlino and the Concord Bike Tours Co. With a few stops along the way, we biked the battle road between Concord and Lexington.  It was, in a word, AWESOME. The rest of the group was touring the same area by bus. But when we met up at the Old Manse, we switched and they got to ride bikes! So, so fun. We saw the Old North Bridge.  

Walkin' through Walden Woods!

And then we were supposed to be getting on the bus because we were already late for lunch.  "Herding cats" is probably the best explanation of what its like to get elementary school teachers on a bus on time. We finally got to Walden and had to walk ten minutes to find our lunches. And then had only thirty minutes (or less) rather than the hour we should have. Once I had scarfed down lunch and run all over the hillside giving people water, it was back to herding cats--time to meet Mr. Thoreau!  We eventually gathered the group and started visiting with Mr. Henry David Thoreau at his cabin. He was awesome. Told us lots, answered our questions, and led us on a walk through Walden woods and down to the pond. It was a wonderful experience. What did we do next? Well I herded cats and was basically ignored by 33 teachers/administrators who had no sense of time or the importance of keeping to itineraries. Now running dangerously late, we raced back to Concord to drop a small contingent at the Alcott House and the rest of the crew at the Concord History Museum. Tours ensued. By the time we stopped at the Sleepy Hollow cemetery I waved the white flag and would have happily just left people behind who needed "one more picture!" They're ROCKS, people. ROCKS with NAMES on them.

At least Judy was back on time!

Ooookay. Let's shake that off!

It's not historical, but it IS on the Freedom Trail. And it is TRUE!

 Wednesday and Thursday we toured the Freedom Trail "on your own." We braved a rainy Wednesday--stopping first at the Old South Meeting House to debate the proper response to the Tea Act, where Pam proved that SOME people should be given a script--and I got to check "Mike's Pastry" off my list of classic bakeries to try. Thursday we continued on the Freedom Trail--with a side trip over to Cambridge to check out the Harvard Campus. I tried the famous Boston Lobster roll at lunch, and we visited Jacob Wirth's for a second time in a week for dinner. 

Official member of the Harvard Tour!

 Friday was just slightly less epic than Tuesday.  Step 1--Check out of the hotel. Step 2--Board the bus for Braintree. Step 3--Tour the old houses and Peacefield.  (*Note: Our tour guide at the old houses was CRAZY). Step 4--Return to the Quincy Markets and eat lunch. And a whoopie pie (if you're me). Step 5--Board the bus again and go to the South Station. Step 6--Board the Amtrak train for Philadelphia and ride, ride, ride for 6 hours to Philly.  (*Note: When we stopped for 15 minutes at Penn Station in NYC it was all I could do not to abandon the trip at that point, go stay with Mariah, and get a flight home a few days later. Not because the trip was bad. But because I love NYC and Mariah.) Step 7--Disembark in Philadelphia and hook up with two other travelers to get a cab to the hotel.  Its not advised to take a gypsy cab but if you do, just know the terrified looks on Jen & Amelia's faces will make it ALL worth it. Step 8--Check 34 people into the hotel and finally, finally hit the sack on a pillow that's like an angel.

Angel pillow. Seriously.

By Saturday I just wanted to go home, but there was still stuff to do and see!  We boarded the bus bright and early only to discover that our bus driver, Bill, was apparently new to the art of bus driving. EESH! Despite his habit of driving down the middle of a two-lane road, getting lost and looking for help in an closed office building (why?!), we made it to Valley Forge! We had a guide (Catch phrase: "Welcome...to the Revolutionary War!") join our bus group  and we toured the park, which was nice if a little long. Back to Philadelphia for lunch and cookies (if you're me) at Reading Markets. My cheesesteak was luscious, but I still think The Philadelphian might do it better.

Yummy...

Then there was the National Constitution Center at 3:15pm. Check. And Independence After Hours at City Tavern/Independence Hall at 5:30pm. Double check (cuz it was AWESOME!) And finally it was back to the hotel to pack and get as much sleep as possible before a 4am wakeup call. Not enough checks, but done, all the same.

This is me. Signing the Constitution. 

 Sunday morning we checked out of the hotel. I called a cab company to send us 11 cabs and we all made it to the Airport From Hell (i.e. Philadelphia Airport) in what should have been plenty of time to make our flight.  That is unless you're flying Delta because you'll soon discover the Delta counter at Philadelphia's airport is INCOMPETENT. We arrived at the airport about 5:15 am. Almost everyone had already checked in online--just needed to drop our luggage! But guess what? The last member of our group made it through the never-ending, barely moving, weaving line baggage drop--and security--with only about twenty minutes to spare before our flight took off at 7:45am.  Why do people like Delta again? NO IDEA. 

But we did make our flight! And it did get me home! And I did find my luggage! And I did racewalk out the door of the SL Airport to be greeted by my ever-loving hubby!! And I have no intention of leaving him anytime soon. 

Goodbye, Boston/Philadelphia! You were super fun to visit, but I am oh so happy to be home.  

The End.