Boston, MA

Day One – December 28, 2021

This is a note before you begin to read this amazing entry. I am adding a lot of side notes and bits of information that do not necessarily matter to the narrative that I am telling, but as you all should know by now, I am a woman of many thoughts and feelings and emotions, so I am relaying this entire day detail by detail so that you can live this experience as though you are seeing it through my eyes and my brain. I really hope you enjoy this. (As a side note for my repeat readers, I brought my toothpaste this time, so there will not be a paragraph detailing my disappointing toothpaste experience. Haha.)

This morning, I woke up at 3:45 am because I had to leave for the airport around four in order to get there the recommended two hours before my seven am flight. As many of you know, I am one who way overthinks, so before I could fall asleep I had to think through my packing and whether or not it was correctly done and if I needed to grab any last second things. Not to mention the fact that I tried to think through my plans for the trip, and, even with my reminders to myself that I needed to fall asleep because “if I fall asleep now that will mean I get six hours of sleep” (and nothing is a better sleeping aid than reminding yourself that you need to fall asleep in order to get adequate sleep), I hardly slept – I finally fell asleep around midnight, meaning that I got around four hours of sleep, and if you know me, you know that sleep is something I will prioritize over everything else because I am a grouch when I do not get enough sleep. (My mom recently told my friend Krystyn that when I was a child in elementary school, I would sleep on my way home from school, and if I didn’t, I would be in a bad mood, so she would force me to go into my room where I would yell (while crying) that I wasn’t even tired, even though I was in a full blown meltdown, and then I would ultimately pass out in front of my bedroom door; so, in case you were wondering, the answer is yes, I have always been a defiant and stubborn human, who is terrible at lying.)

So anyways, I get to the airport after parking my car, and there were a ton of people. It legitimately did not cross my mind that so many people would be travelling. It was chaos as people tried to print off their baggage stickers and get in the long line to deliver their baggage to the airline people. It took forever to get through the line and then get through security, but I made it to my terminal with about ten minutes to spare before boarding began. (Side note, if you were ever a One Tree Hill fan, the three female leads of the show have a podcast called Drama Queens, which is what I listened to while in the airport and for the first half of the flight. The second half of the flight, I listened to Beautiful/Anonymous, and I had to contain my laughter from the episode I was listening to. Both of these podcasts are my spirit lifters.) On the flight, I got a window seat, which is the absolute best seat. I was able to look out at the cloud for the entire flight, and they looked like fields of snow. IT WAS GORGEOUS!

Anyways, I landed, and I got a cab and got to my hotel to drop off my luggage before I headed to get food. By this point, I was crabby because I was hangry and tired, so I looked for restaurants, and I found one with good reviews, so I decided to walk there, and my GPS kept getting messed up and rerouted me like four times, adding many minutes to the walk each and every time. I got there, and it was not a sit-down breakfast place, but a carry out only place. I dejectedly walked away from the place, and I called Krystyn to whine about how hungry and annoyed I was before looking up another restaurant. When I arrived at the second restaurant, it was closed because of COVID, and I was super sad, so I had to go into this place called Flour, which was a bakery and café. When I went to order food, they were all out of French toast, so I had to get a breakfast sandwich and a fancy coffee. It was super delicious, but I really wanted French toast or pancakes, but it’s fine… (Again, the almost four hours of sleep has impacted my mood for most of today, so please bear with me. Haha.) [Another side note because I seem to be all over the place with my brain today, I am not a good hunter-gatherer. When Megan and I went on our trip this summer, we were constantly trying to find food. We had to nearly drive to Wisconsin when we were at Porcupine Mountain because there were no other food options open. Never put me in charge of finding food!]

Once I was done eating, I decided that I wanted to go to the Aquarium because I purchased a CityPass (which if you have never heard of or used in a big city before, you need to look into them because they help you to have a plan of what to do, but also they cut down the cost of those things). I found my way to the subway because it would be quicker and easier than walking. However, I didn’t realize how inept I am at public transportation. I had to spend a few minutes figuring out what I wanted to buy, and then I could not figure out how the ticket thing worked when it came to trying to get into the place where the subway car actually was. I had to wait for a seasoned person to do it in front of me before I could understand what I had to do. It was extremely frustrating and made me feel super panicky and idiotic. However, I figured it out and figured out what car I had to get on, and it was way easier than I was making it out to be. Outside of my subway stop, there was a memorial in the pavement that signified that the Boston Massacre had happened there. It’s really insane to me that you can stumble onto a piece of history like that in this city.

When I got to the aquarium, I walked around. It was so cool! They have a lot of different exhibits. They had stingrays, seals, and penguins. They had mini aquariums set up for different climates and species with images and names so you knew what you were looking at. (I mention this because this one lady did not understand the method and was guessing at what she was looking at when she was telling her young child, and I corrected her based on the sign. She did not acknowledge me or what I said, so I repeated what I said, and then she snapped at me and told me that she had heard me. It was extremely rude, but I didn’t think the signs were difficult to follow, so I was trying to impart some wisdom onto her. So if you ever go to the aquarium, open your eyes and read the signs! All the information is there for you! You don’t need to make guesses or make up animals!) Before I end with the aquarium, it has this cool center ramp thing that went through all the floors, and it had all these fish in it! It also had a sea turtle that was 90 years old. The aquarium was also sad because it had a lot of signage about climate change impacting habitats and animal species, while also telling what was causing animals to be endangered. Things like aquariums and zoos kind of make me feel sad for the state of animals and our planet, but I also understand that they are trying to help preserve, while also trying to raise awareness to the issues and make a greater impact by reaching people.

Once I left the aquarium, I saw the Boston Harbor Boat Tour that was also a part of my CityPass, so I got my ticket. The tour was so informative! The man who was the narrator was so snarky and funny and literally made me laugh. I would highly recommend doing one of these tours. It showed the coast line of Boston and talked about the buildings. Also, Boston has a ton of islands surrounding it, so they talked about the islands and the history of the placed. ALSO, Boston is partly man-made land. I had no clue! There are these billion-dollar water treatment pods that have made the Boston Harbor a place that can be swam in because previously it was disgusting due to dumping from corporations and sewage. Seriously Boston is super interesting, and I definitely did not know any of the information from the tour before I went on it.

After the tour was done, I decided to walk back to my hotel. I walked past the Boston Commons, which is essentially a big park in the middle of the city. They had their Christmas tree lit, and they had ice skaters. It was super nice to look at. Very Christmas-y. After watching Serendipity the other day, it made me think of the park that they are in at the beginning (and end) of the movie. Then, I went to get food from this bar called Rock Bottom. I had the best chicken sandwich. There was a jalapeño coleslaw and chipotle ranch on it, but it was not spicy at all. I sat at the bar and listened to these super pretentious people next to me as they made weird food demands of the bartender. Then, I decided to go back to my hotel to shower and write this amazing entry for my day.

I will end by saying that even though I was crabby and in a mood for most of the day, I am absolutely in love with this city. It is similar to Savannah because they are both old, with that old patio paver ground thing happening, but when everyone in Savannah told me I would be back, I didn’t really buy into it. I felt like I left and had seen what I really wanted to. However, here, I feel like my four-day trip is going to feel too short because Massachusetts has so much to offer. Another thing that I want to recognize is that 2021 has given me the gift of solo travel, and I think that it is a beautiful adventure going places by yourself. I feel like I continue to grow my relationship and love for me whenever I spend expended periods by myself, and I also realize that I challenge myself with these trips as well. If you have never been on a trip alone before, you should definitely try it. You have to be resourceful and trust yourself, but you also can be crabby and it doesn’t impact your relationship with another person. It is amazing!

Day Two – December 29, 2021

This morning I was slow to start. My plan was to wake up, get ready, and then plan for today and tomorrow. So, when I woke up, I turned on the tv and watched an episode of Charmed while I searched into the two things relating to my CityPass that I still had left. First, I saw that the Harvard Museum of Natural History was booked for today, so I made an appointment for tomorrow. Once I read the confirmation email, I panicked because they are requiring vaccine cards or a negative COVID test from within 72 hours. Clearly, I did not pack my vaccine card, so I panicked while I searched for places that had COVID tests. Once I identified a place I thought did testing, I made an appointment for the Museum of Science that was at 1, so I could do the COVID thing and get breakfast/send my amazing email update first. So, I will cut down this next portion because it included me going to two different places to attempt to get COVID tested, but either they didn’t have tests or appointments available. It was quite a sad side quest for the day. Finally, once my quest ended in a complete and utter fail, I called them to see if a photo of my vaccination card would work, which it does, so I called my parents for them to send me a photo. Problem avoided.

Next, I went to the Museum of Science, and it was legitimately so cool! They had so many exhibits that were hands on and informative on different topics. The first thing I walked through was an innovation hub showcasing people in Massachusetts that are making cool discoveries. One woman is making these bee things and another is working on the bias that our AI uses when identifying faces, with the hope that as we advance technology, smart cars (those creepy cars that drive themselves) wouldn’t make errors in identifying people who are not white (which is a legit problem that current technology faces). [Side note for today, if you haven’t watched Uploaded, you should because it should hopefully make you become skeptical of cars driving themselves. Or maybe not…] The next exhibit that I went through was a miniature train one. I was embracing my inner Sheldon as I looked at the model trains, or maybe it was a flashback to Mr. Rogers since they had a set up like when Mr. Rogers goes to the fantasy land thing (the place with the puppets… idk it’s been a long while since I have watched the show). There was a butterfly/bug/plant thing that I walked through, and then I looked at a bunch of optical illusions and signs explained how it worked. Next, I went to the coolest place ever! It was about the human body. It talked about how genes work and the brain works, and there was a side about health and fitness. They had these cool wristbands where you could scan your number and answer the questions and then compare your answers to other people who have visited the museum. It would go through what the hypothesis would be for the answer and then ask you to evaluate and see if it fit with the information provided. After that exhibit, I went to learn about Venice and how climate change is impacting them and how they are adjusting to the changes. Then, I looked through information about vaccines, and it talked through the COVID vaccine and how it works. (Something I really like about Boston is that masks are required everywhere – and people comply! There are places that either require negative tests or proof of vaccines (and other places had notes on their websites that they are planning on implementing something similar soon.) It’s really progressive thinking, and this museum talked about it, and it even had questions about whether or not it’s acceptable to require technology/apps to track people and COVID. They were encouraging conversations and thoughts on the topic.) Anyways, they had animal exhibits and dinosaur information. I feel like this would have been a lot of fun with a child, but even as an adult, I loved the hands-on things. I spent around three hours at the museum, and I feel like I could have spent more time in some of the areas, but I was getting hungry and worn out from all the learning, so I decided to leave.

On my way back from the Museum of Science, I decided to stop into Cheers, and since I was hungry, I sat down and ate food. They played some really good music. It was cool to be there, but I wonder if the attempt to capitalize on the Cheers success made it so that it will never be a place “where everybody knows your name” as a ton of tourists from all over flock to soak in the view from a beloved sit-com. On my way home from there, I was able to take in the view of trees lit up with Christmas lights.

I decided to leave my room and hang out at the bar in the lobby of my hotel because there wasn’t anything on tv at all. My bartender was amazing. She and I had a similar sense of humor (read snarky and sarcastic) and hit it off almost immediately. I talked to a pilot for a while who lived in Texas (I’m only mentioning it because he told me like eighteen times!). I learned a lot about pilots and how their job kind of really sucks (which I kind of figured). He was extremely conservative and then he told me that he married a Chinese immigrant and his ex-wife was a Mexican immigrant. I think it’s funny how some people can mask their ideals behind the people that they are with. He also kept telling me how masks and vaccines are dumb, but he’s been vaccinated all three times because he has asthma. He was super confusing. The bartender (Heather) and I gave this man a great deal of a hard time until he had to go to bed because he had a flight in the morning and had to be up at 5 am to fly to Punta Cana. Once he left, I had to move over to make room for a new couple to sit where the pilot was sitting, and so I started to talk to another couple that had been at the bar (who had been there for almost the same amount of time that I had been) because they thought that the pilot and I were together, and they had questions about some of the comments that he was making, to which I replied that I was just as confused by him as they were. When I started to talk to them, they told me that they were also from Texas and that was why they were so confused by some of the things he said. They also wanted to clear up some things he had talked about. Additionally, we had a conversation about how 1) y’all is more inclusive than using “guys” as a gender neutral (which it totally is!) and 2) how I apparently need to visit Dallas because it’s the best that Texas has to offer. It was such a great night! When I got back to my room, I watched Big Bang Theory because it will always remind me of Genna and Kaitlyn in high school and college. (Sorry Genna, it was not the Leonard Nimoy episode!) 

Day Three – December 30, 2021

Last night, I had sporadic sleep due to insane and extremely vivid dreams mixed with the fact that I like having a heavy comforter on me when I sleep and hotels only believe in having a few thin ones. When I woke up, I did that slow start thing like yesterday. On the way out of the hotel, I stopped for coffee and breakfast before heading to the subway station to get to Harvard. Once I arrived to Harvard, I walked around their campus for a little bit, and I walked by that famous statue they have of John Harvard.

I made my way to their Natural History Museum and wandered around their exhibits for most of the day. First, I learned about Evolution and Charles Darwin. Then, I saw these glass replicas of sea creatures that were so amazing! They were absolutely stunning to look at. I watched a video of what made those come to be – in order to preserve their models of different species, Harvard decided to turn them into glass models for students to view. They did the same thing with flowers, which was an additional exhibit that I walked through. Again, they were so gorgeous and hard to believe they weren’t real ones. Next, I wandered and saw a whole bunch of taxidermized animals from all over the world. There were a few art pieces from this woman named Lily Simonson. They were from sea creatures and the ocean, and then with some form of paint over them that is really showcased by blacklight. They were so amazing. I also watched a video on what inspired her and how she came to work with scientists. The museum had fossils of dinosaurs and other animals. There was an exhibit about microbes and how they function within humans and in the wild. Apparently the five second rule really only works on carpeted floors since the bacteria sinks into it and doesn’t move as easily as hard surfaces – in case you were wondering. Next, I looked at a whole bunch of rocks. They were super pretty and cool. Then, this museum also had a thing about Climate Change and the impacts it has on the planet.

The Natural History Museum links up with the Peabody Museum, and so I walked through their exhibits as well. The first one was about food and the history of how it’s changed over time, while also addressing the social structures that exist due to food. Then, there were a few exhibits that addressed different heritages, I would say. There were artifacts from ancient societies, with replicas of temples from Mesoamerica. By this point in my journey, I was burnt out from reading facts on the walls, so I just looked at the different items they had, and I honestly don’t remember a lot of what I looked at. I do this thing where I start super strong at museums and then I get over it after like an hour or so. However, the last thing I looked at was the North American Indian hall. It was really cool. They had paintings on hide and replicas of paintings. Something I really respected about this portion was that they addressed that the way we talk about American Indians has changed over time and things that used to be acceptable are no longer, and they said that they are constantly updating this exhibit with the help of indigenous people in order to make sure that it is accurate for whatever time period we are in. I really respect that outlook and way of handling it. Terms become outdated because language is constantly evolving. We learn and alter our perspective on topics, and while we can preserve some of that historical perspective, it’s also important to be thinking about the harm and impact that things have when we use outdated perspectives on topics.

After I left this museum, I decided to go to a bookstore because I love bookstores! I decided I wanted to go to one called Grolier Poetry Book Shop, but someone was standing right in front of the door and didn’t move for like five minutes, so I decided to go to the Harvard Bookstore. While in there, I was overwhelmed by the people and options of books they had. There were two floors to wander through. After I was done looking through books, I decided that I would go back to the poetry store to try again. This time I was able to get inside. It was super tiny inside with books on three of the walls and a table of books at the center. One of the titles called “A Pillow Book” by Suzanne Buffam caught my eye, as well as the description on the back. It said what it wasn’t, and I was extremely intrigued by it. After I left this store, I decided to get some ice cream because ice cream is the absolute best dessert. It was called J.P. Licks, and they have homemade ice cream. I obviously purchased the Brownie batter kind because there wasn’t an option that was both chocolate and peanut butter. It was really delicious though and I would highly recommend it. Once I was done, I headed back to the subway, and I headed towards my hotel. However, before I went back, I decided that I should get actual food, and I went to this place called Fajitas and ‘Ritas. I ordered a drink and some fish tacos, and I was extremely disappointed in the food. It had this coleslaw stuff that was gross and the fish was super breaded and you would take a bite that would be all fish and then the next bite would be all coleslaw. I really did not enjoy it, and it kept getting worse as I continued to eat it. I would never go back to this place ever in my entire life. Definitely not worth it! Whatsoever.

That’s all I have right now. I will probably head back down to the hotel’s bar again tonight because Heather (my new bestie) told me that she hoped I would come back, so we could mock some of the pilots together again like we did yesterday.

Day Four - December 31, 2021

I woke up and finished packing my bags. I decided to get breakfast. I FINALLY GOT MY FRENCH TOAST AND DINER COFFEE! After breakfast, I decided to follow the Freedom Trail, which was a path made in the sidewalk that took people to see various places around the city that dealt with American History. I got a little bit lost and cut off a part of the trail, but I was able to go to see Bunker Hill. It was nice to just wander around and see views from all over the city, especially since it was a path to follow, I was able to take it in better than trying to follow my phone’s directions. 

Other than that, I went to the airport and made my way home. Overall, this was a really amazing trip and I had a lot of fun. This trip reminded me that I am good on my own and good at meeting new people. I absolutely cannot wait to see what 2022 has in store for me because I feel like there’s definitely some form of a change coming on the horizon.