Oh Boston.

Today began with a tasty breakfast at a mom and pop restaurant near Cindy and Benny's house. Tim got eggs, hash browns and toast, and I got a short stack with a side of bacon. We had a nice time visiting with Cindy and Benny and then hit the road for Boston. Tim and I have never been to Boston and I wanted to see it to check it off my list. Well, that list has been checked, and probably checked for good.

We probably should have talked to Tim's sister Ellen, a former Bostonian for some tips on getting around the city. Our drive down was nice and effortless, but once we were in the city, the nightmare ensued. The GPS (that we loving dub Lori, because that is her voice name) took us right into the middle of the city through various underground highways from the Big Dig. This would have been fine, but once we are underground, Lori loses service, and she can't tell us where to go. Which wouldn't be a problem in say, a typical tunnel, but these are exactly like highways, and you can change lanes underground and take different exits underground. Well, we missed our exit and headed off toward the airport instead. Lori quickly came to once we were above ground, and she told us to turn around. Well, she was sending us back to the Big Dig via a tollway that about four streets fed into. We couldn't get over far enough to get to the coin lanes, so made two attempts before retreating into the bowels of Little Italy, it looked like. We finally made it around to a better entrance, paid our $3.50 toll and were underground again for the one exit we needed. We parked the car (Tim did all the driving, really.. and I am so thankful) and headed into the city on foot to explore.

We walked through some of the old meeting halls that had been converted into shopping. It's pretty neat how they have kept everything in tact and people really enjoy visiting these historic places. Look, even Sarah Palin likes to visit here! From the shopping area, we headed towards the aquarium. In the end, we decided to go on an old trolley tour instead of to the aquarium. We weren't sure what to see in Boston, so we saw it all. We got off at the U.S.S. Constitution. The ship is still maintained and run by active duty sailors. We got to hear a little about why it is called "Old Ironsides" and took a few silly pictures.

From there, we saw various other historic places like where Paul Revere began his ride, where JFK proposed, etc, etc. We definitely stopped for lunch at the original Cheers while we were there. When we got back on, we still had about 10 stops to go. It was an interesting tour, but nothing left me pining to return. Around 5:30 we made it back to our car, paid $33 to get it out of the parking lot, and were on our way. Through some good luck, we made it out of the city on our first try. That's not to say the traffic wasn't horrible, but still, one less frustration on the road.

We then journeyed out to the Cape to stay with our friends, The Wrights. Molly was my babysitter when I was a kid and our families have always stayed in touch through the years. It was nice to meet her husband Phil and to reminisce on how hard it was to get me out of bed when I was a kid... oh good times. Tim and Molly were relating to each other too well I think:). The next morning, we met their cute kids Anna and Ben. We even got to walk Anna to the bus stop. They are a very nice family and it was very nice to stay at their home and so close to the Cape for our drive this morning.

We're sitting here at the Hot Chocolate Sparrow about to embark on our next journey... with our end destination of Quakertown, PA. We've got a long drive ahead of us!