Jamie qualified for the Boston Marathon when she ran the Utah Valley Marathon in June (a time of 3:37 there). The Boston Marathon is always run on "Patriots' Day", which is Massachusetts' state holiday. With just a couple days before she was to leave, a series of events left Jamie with no one to go with. She totally would have gone alone and been fine, but she deserved to have someone there with her to support such a great accomplishment. Jared said he'd have no problem taking care of the kids, and we were off.
We left Friday, April 13th & came home Tuesday the 17th. I have
never been away from the kids for more than one night, and I've never gone on a trip without them. I missed them a lot, and would tear up when I called home to check on them. They'd pass the phone around & tell me about their day. Kids always sound so much cuter on the phone. Sophie did especially.
That being said, a trip without kids is SO easy! So weird to just get yourself ready, go where you want, eat where you want, lay in bed if you want.
Jamie & I got some nice R&R.
Here's a break down of our days in Beantown:
FRIDAY: Jamie & her dad picked me up around 7:30. I was SO nervous! I hadn't been on a plane since 1997, and I have never been on that long of a flight. (I need to get out more!) I was really excited to visit one of the oldest cities in America!
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| There are tunnels everywhere. In fact, Monday morning I was sitting in a downtown mall food court, waiting for the marathon to start, reading a book & I kept hearing a loud rumbling sound. I realized when I looked at my map that the building the mall was in was on top of the Massachusetts turnpike. Crazy! And every time we went into a tunnel our GPS lady would say, "Your phone has lost it's signal. Please make sure your phone has a clear view of the sky"....and Jamie & I would tell her to shut up already! |
Above: the view from our room.
Below: the Marriott in Newton (15 mins out of Boston)
After a trip to Target, we decided it would be easiest to get room service for our first night, being as we had no idea where we were or how to get around yet. Unlike Utah, there weren't large restaurant chains or fast food joints all over the place.
Saturday was jam-packed! We walked all day long.
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| We first headed to the expo, which was downtown, where Jamie needed to pick up her packet. |
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| Downtown, on our way to Hard Rock for lunch |
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| Paul Revere's home |
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| Old North Church, first used for worship in 1723. This is where, in 1775, two lanterns were used in the steeple to let the patriots know that the British were advancing by boat across the Charles River. |
Copp's Hill Burying Ground: Was Boston's largest colonial burying ground, dating from 1659. The British used the hill it's on to train their cannon's on Charlestown during the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775.
The USS Constitution, or Old Ironsides. It is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world today. The ship's copper fastening were made by Paul Revere, and it was commissioned by George Washington. It first launched in 1797.
After visiting some spots on the Freedom Trail, we took a taxi (I had TWO taxi rides in Boston - my first!) over to a shopping area called Copley Square. There are rows & rows of brownstone looking buildings that had small restaurants and shops on the bottom and first floor, then apartments above that. It was a very cool, very crowded place with lots to see. We shopped, ate, and were both pretty tired. We were pretty far from the public parking garage where our car was, so we had a taxi take us back. Our first cab driver was from Ghana. When he asked where we were from, we said Salt Lake, and then he asked if the lake was salty. He couldn't believe that it actually was! He was very friendly. The second cab driver just ate Oreos the whole time.
Sunday: We couldn't do as much walking on Sunday as we did Saturday, since the marathon was in the morning. We drove to Foxborough, where Gillette Stadium is (New England Patriots), and checked out the shops there & the Hall, where they have their 3 Super Bowl trophies, the rings, blah blah blah. It was kind of boring, but when I got home & showed Ashton the pictures, that made it worth it. Who knew they were his favorite team? He was really excited.
Then we searched "LDS Temple" on the GPS app on my phone, and followed the directions. Let's just say, it did not take us to the temple. We both kept looking around saying, "This does not look like the kind of neighborhood that a temple would be in". That's because it wasn't. We were way off. We got the address off of the church website & searched that way. That did it!
Monday: We got up around 5:00AM to head out. Buses start taking runners from Copley Square downtown to the start line in Hopkinton around 6:00. We were there by about 6:15. Jamie said the line of runner's waiting to get on the buses was HUGE.
These two pics were taken close to the finish line. There was a lot going on everywhere. I needed to find my way to an open subway station and get to the "end of the line", where I could get off & see Jamie at just past the half-way mark.
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| All the trains looked like this. People were just squeezing themselves in when the doors opened. No one was getting off! It seemed everyone was headed to the end of the line in Riverside. I just sat back, quiet, watching people push their way on. I realized I was going to have to be more assertive if I was going to get on a train. After about 4 or 5 cars, I got on one. My first ride in a subway! |
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| There she is!! I was so excited to see her! There were so many runners, I thought for sure I was going to miss her. |
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| It was HOT! She stopped to grab a cold water. |
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| I started talking with my "neighbors" there on the side of the road. The lady I was next to grew up in Midvale on 7800 So. Small world! She was nice enough to take a quick pic. |
After seeing Jamie, I got back on the subway to get back downtown. I stopped here, where there was only about a mile, mile & a half left for the runners. I stood there FOREVER, wanting to get another picture of her running. I was constantly scanning faces, then I got a text from the BAA (Boston Athletic Assoc) giving me her finish time. Shoot! I was so mad at myself!! Not only had I missed her, but she was at the end and I wasn't!! Great support crew I turned out to be!
She ended up with a finish time of 3:46, a pace of 8:39. It was so crowded by the finish line, it took forever to get over there. We found each other, found shade, and sat down for a bit. She was happy, smiling, even thought maybe we should find her some flip-flops and hang out. She is crazy! It was SO hot, I knew she'd love to get out of her soggy shoes and take a shower. Getting out of the city proved to be a little tricky, since my GPS app kept telling me to go on all the streets that were closed for the marathon. But we finally made it back to our hotel. She showered, we both put on sweats, ordered room service & a movie and hung out.
TUESDAY: We checked out of the hotel by noon. Got the car rental returned and to the airport with time to kill. We grabbed lunch, got our kids at home a souvenir, and boarded our plane around 3:30. Mom & Dad picked us up and took us both to my house, where our families were waiting. Jared had made some dinner and the kids made a "Welcome Home" sign. It was nice to be home! Big thank you to my awesome husband, who cooked dinners, took care of homework, went to soccer games, etc. Thanks babe! And thanks to Kelsey & Emma who helped Jared out a ton with the kids! XOXO
I was so, SO glad I could be there for Jamie. We have been friends forever, and taking a trip like that together was awesome. Thanks Jamie!!! XO =]
