Boston to Montreal, August 29, 2019

Departing Omaha

We are up super early - 3:30 AM, for our scheduled 4:45 AM pickup from our wonderful friend and neighbor, Zoe Highland. She must have been anxious to get us out of town as she arrived in our driveway at 4:30! A quick drive to good old Eppley Airfield, and we gave our “driver” a hug for a tip. Check-in was easy, one checked bag and one carry-on each.

Even though there was lightning in the sky as we left home, by the time our departure time of 6:10 arrived, it was clear sailing as we headed to St. Louis on our first leg. We arrived in St.Louis ahead of schedule and were on the ground and in the terminal by 7:30. We walked down the E terminal, looking for a restaurant and landed at a bar/pasta house that was serving breakfast. The menu was limited so we ordered biscuits & gravy and an omelette. The place was horribly understaffed - a bartender/hostess and one waitress. Obviously there must have been a cook in the rear.

It soon turned out that they were all out of gravy, so we ended with two omelettes and two cups of coffee. Luckily we had plenty of time as the service was really slow, although our waitress was very kind.

We pushed off from the St. Louis gate at 9:40 and landed at Logan Airport in Boston at 1:03 PM EDT. Only a 2-hour in the air flight, not too bad. After 40 minutes waiting for baggage, we struggled out to meet our limousine and driver Anton Fisher (that really was his name) for the trip from the airport. Anton was a very cheery, intelligent and helpful guy, reminding us of our eldest son in his demeanor, bald head and full beard. We reached our destination - The Godfrey Hotel after a pleasant 30 minute drive through Boston traffic. Arriving in our room, we dropped bags on the floor and bodies into the beds. Around 4:30 we popped up and headed out for a walk, a drink and dinner, in that order.

There are two safe ways to get around Boston, the underground MTA, riding forever, or walking. We chose walking. Our hotel is in the Center of the city and we strolled over to the area known as The Commons, a large park area set up in 1634. We walked around the Frog Pond, where dozens of toddlers were walking in a huge one foot deep pond, attended by parents, grandparents, nannies and a number of life guards. As we walked through the park, in weather that was clear, 80F and with a slight breeze, we gazed on all the people out to enjoy the day. The huge number of gray squirrels being chased by toddlers, and the homeless wandering or dozing on the lawn. Although we are not anti-canine, it was refreshing to be in a large public space that was off limits to dogs. No chasing, no bring, no hassles, and no waste!

After a two mile trek around the park, we headed back to our hotel room in search of a liquor store to stock up on wine for our cruise (we are allowed to bring one bottle per passenger on board) and found an excellent wine shop just a block away. Securing our purchases at our hotel room, we passed a few restaurants that looked promising. We stepped into one or two until we found one with decent looking food and a noise level that allowed conversation.

We took our seat at a table at 49 Social Restaurant and ordered a beer and a dirty martini. We struck up what turned out to be a very enjoyable conversation with the couple at the next table, stretching our short dinner hour into 90 minutes of fun and laughing conversation. This is what traveling is all about, meeting people and seeing places. We enjoyed our Hamburger and Lambburger, and struggled back to the hotel and were in bed by 9:30.

Tomorrow, we welcome Abigail to Boston and hook up with Deb and Tim Duggan, who arrived yesterday. Looks to be a good trip coming up.