Waiting Family Dinners

The adoption agency we're working with, Bethany Christian Services, hosts "waiting family dinners" each quarter.  This is a time for parents who are in the adoption process to come together, meet each other and learn a little about an adoption topic.   The dinners are pot luck.  We eat dinner and socialize for the first 30 minutes to an hour, then the adoption agency presents a topic, and we break out into groups to discuss.

The first dinner of the year was in February, and we were so early in the process that I didn't really feel like we had been waiting long enough to go.  The second one of the year was held last Thursday night.  Since we are pretty much finished with our home study, I thought we might benefit from going.

There were five couples that attended.  From what they said, we were a smaller group than normal.  All of the other couples were domestic adoptions.  The couple that we sat with at dinner was in about the same position as we are.  They had just gotten their home study approved. 

Another couple was in the process of adopting their second child.  They had a 4-year-old adopted girl, and were waiting for their second.  They had been waiting for two years!  They had gotten matched twice over the past two years, but the birth mother backed out at the last minute both times.

The third couple was just beginning their second adoption.  They also had a 4-year-old, and were just starting the paperwork for their home study for their second.

The last couple had a sixteen-year-old and were in the process of adopting another.

The topic that was presented was "Open Adoptions."  This likely won't apply to us, since most international adoptions are from orphanages and are generally closed.  However, open adoptions are getting more and more popular in the USA.  An open adoption is when the adoptive parents know the birth mother and vice verse.  The birth mother may even want to be part of the child's life to some extent and have some level of contact with the adoptive family.  We went through a case study where we discussed scenarios through four stages of the adopted child's life and how to handle certain issues with open adoptions.

It was a very interesting and informative dinner.  I am very much looking forward to coming to the next one and learning more about other families' adoption experiences.

Our 404-CUT-TREE Experience

The people who owned our house before us were a nice, elderly, empty-nester couple who had time to and enjoyed working in the yard.  They had a lot of trees, bushes, and plants that flowered in different times of the year.

 

 

They actually had time to maintain it.  But as a result, we didn't have much yard left in which to play.    There were many places in the yard that had piles of leaves and sticks (in the back corners) where snakes could hide.   And there were also a lot of prickers.  With Alan growing up, we wanted a place for him to play and enjoy the yard.

In the winter of 2012, when Alan was a little over two years, we decided to clear the yard so he would have a place to play.  We hired 404-CUT-TREE at the recommendation of a neighbor.  We had them come out for an estimate, and the price was right, so we scheduled a time for them to come clear the trees, bushes, and brush.

Alan on the Red-Bud Tree

There were two trees that I wanted to keep:  the big tree in the middle of the yard, and a red-bud tree on the left side of the yard near the fence and gate.  The big tree provided enough shade for the house and the deck in the summer time.  The red-bud tree was a great climbing tree.  Just that spring, we had let Alan sit on it and climb on it.  When I was growing up, there were two trees in our yard that we loved to climb, and I wanted Alan to have the same experience.

I told 404-CUT-TREE not to cut those two trees.  They even came and marked them with an orange mark so the workers would know not to cut them down.  We noted them in the work order and excluded them from the pricing.

Apparently the workers weren't told what the orange marker meant.  Before I could even realize it, the red-bud was gone.  They probably cut it down first because it was somewhat in the way of getting the other trees out of the gate.  But that is no excuse.  We had agreed that the red-bud was supposed to stay, and yet, they cut it down.

If my dad weren't there to go talk to the workers, the big tree in the middle might have been gone too.  They were about to take it down, when my dad realized it and went out to talk to them.

When I called to complain about my perfect climbing tree being taken down without our consent, they apologized.  They said they could either plant a new tree, or take money off our bill.  Rob would have rather I just took the discount, but I was very upset about my climbing tree and the fact that Alan would no longer have that experience.  I chose for them to find us as mature of a red-bud tree as they could and plant it in our yard.  It took them several weeks to find a tree for us.  They finally did, and we had them plant it in the back of the yard.  This was late winter/early spring, when no trees had leaves.  As such, our tree they planted also didn't have any leaves, and I didn't think anything of it.

The backyard before and after.  The sod was just put down in the late winter, so it looks brown, but will be green in the summer.

The tree never had leaves.  The first year, spring of 2013, I figured that it was just a newer tree and maybe it needed a year or so to take root and start growing leaves.  2013 went by and spring of 2014, I again anticipated the leaves and red buds.  Again, no red buds or leaves.  Of course, this is my ignorance with plants.  Apparently, as my mother just told me a few weeks ago, trees should have leaves right away, the first year they are planted.   So, of course in 2015, there are still no leaves or red buds, and I have now realized that they planted a dead tree in our yard to compensate us for the beautiful, thriving red-bud that was perfect for climbing.

The yard in the spring 2015 with sod and grass established

The dead tree

So, now I will go back to 404-CUT-TREE and see if they have any rebuttal.  Their way of making me whole was planting a dead tree.  How will they respond?  We shall see...

The Road to Boston - To God be the Glory

I've written the past three blogs on my review of the Boston Marathon and what we did while in Boston.  I want to take a moment now to share with you my road to Boston.

The Boston Marathon is the most elite of all marathons in the world.  It is the oldest consecutive running marathon.  Starting back in 1897, the year after the first Olympic marathon was run, it has run every year since.  Today, there are only two ways to get into the Boston Marathon:  run for charity and raise a lot of money, or run another marathon in a fast enough time (Boston Qualifying time).  All other marathons will take just about anyone who signs up.  The more popular the race, the more common it is now to have a lottery system, which may mean you aren't guaranteed entry if you sign up.  But Boston is the only one where you have to run a fast enough time at another race to get in.

For a woman who is under the age of 35, the time to beat was 3:35.  I had to run a marathon faster than 3 hours and 35 minutes to get into Boston.  Every five years, you get to add 5 minutes to the qualifying time.  So, when I turned 35, my new qualifying time to beat was 3:40.  This takes into account that most people run slower as they age.

On top of meeting the qualifying time, you also have to be faster than the other people who have done that and applied for the marathon.  The Boston Marathon takes only 30,000 people.  For the past two years, more than that amount have met the qualifying time and have applied to get in.  Last year, the cut off was 1:02 faster than qualifying time.  That means that if your qualifying time was 3:40, you had to have run a 3:38:98 or faster to be guaranteed entry. 

This is not easy to do when your average marathon time is around 4 hours.  My fastest marathon time was 3:48 prior to my Boston Qualifying (BQ) race in Kent, WA in June of 2014.  That meant that I had to better my time by about 10 minutes - not impossible, but very difficult.  It took me 22 marathons to finally qualify.

For about 80% of the 21 marathons prior to my Boston Qualifying race, I was trying to get my BQ.  Some of the races, I was just getting my feet wet.  Some of them, I was running with others to help them achieve their goals.  Some of them, I was trying to get back into running after having a baby.  But for most of them, I was trying to qualify for Boston.  Once you start running marathons, it becomes a bit of an obsession to qualify for Boston.

For years leading up to my BQ race, I would try to better my time.  I added speed work into my training.  I started running with people who are faster and better runners than I am.  I trained harder, faster, better.  I thought about getting a running coach to help me get to that Boston qualifying time.  The night before some of my races, I would dream that I was crossing the finish line in my BQ time.  I would wake up confident that I should go for it and try to get that BQ.  And it never happened.

With a marathon, you can train well, and on marathon day, the littlest thing can make it all fall apart.  At New Orleans, on a flat and fast course, I was so close, and then my GI tract kicked in and I had to hit the porta potty.  During my Delaware race, I thought for sure I would get it.  I was at mile 18, and on pace to easily get that BQ time.  Then I broke my foot, and that time slowly slipped away.  It seemed as if it would never happen.  I am just not a fast runner.

 The Lord knew the desire of my heart, and he gave me the drive to not give up.  He didn't give it to me right away.  It was 22 marathons before I finally got it.  For the first 21, his answer was Yes, but Not Yet.

In May of 2014, I was living a life of sin.  There was this little sin that I had been holding on to.   I didn't want to let it go.  I knew I wasn't right to hold on to it, yet I had been.  Early in May of 2014, I finally let it go and surrendered it to the Lord.  I didn't really correlate finally getting my BQ with this moment of surrender until recently, but the timing won't let me deny it.

That month my training had been going well.  I had been running more frequently and consistently with the guys at work, who were better and faster than I was.  I had to run hard to keep up with them on those days.  At least once, sometimes twice, a week I would run with them.  Those runs became marathon-pace runs in my training plan.

The Thursday before my BQ race, I ran a 5k at work, and won it.  I was first female to cross the finish line.  That was the last run before the race on Saturday.

The Green River Marathon is a free race.  The race director runs marathons, and was astonished at how much the cost of marathons had increased over the years.  He decided to put on his own race for free.   You could pay cost for the shirt, and water stops were set up along the way, but you didn't get a medal for finishing.  The course was a Boston qualifying course, though, so I thought I'd check it out.

I flew to Seattle the evening of Thursday, after work.  I stayed with a friend of mine.  He rode his bike to work on Friday, so I could have the car.  I drove to where the race organizer was meeting for lunch, a nice Italian restaurant, to pick up my shirt.  After I got back, I went for a walk around the neighborhood to the lake.  I had my traditional IHOP dinner the night before the race.

The morning of the race, the weather was perfect.  One thing that can make or break your race is the weather, and that is something that you absolutely can't control.  The weather was cool with very low humidity.  It was perfect for running.  Only God could make such a perfect day.

Many of the races that I had run before were "lost" due to bathroom breaks.  I would be on track to BQ, and then my GI tract would kick in, and porta potties were all I could think about.  The Green River Marathon was mostly along a bike trail.  Seattle has a lot of bike trails and parks, and I figured that there would be park-like bathrooms along the way.  I was wrong.  The option to stop wasn't available.  If it had been, I definitely would have stopped around mile 24, and then my time would have suffered.  As it was, I had to gut it out, hoping I could make it to the end.  If I had stopped, the break would have cost me possibly 5 minutes.  Those 5 minutes would have also cost me my BQ time.  Again, God knows what I needed, and a bathroom was not it.

The course is another thing that can make or break a race.  The Green River Marathon course was the perfect mix of flats and hills to keep my muscles from getting over taxed.

The last thing I can attribute my BQ to was electronics and mile markers.  The Green River Marathon actually doesn't have any mile markers.  Most of the race, I had no idea what mile I was on.  For the first two miles, I took it easy and stayed alongside other runners, talking to them as I warmed up.  After about two miles (I can't be exact because there were no mile markers), I took off.  Every mile after that, I ran them as if they were a real race.  I essentially sprinted the next 22 miles.  At mile 24, when I needed to use the bathroom, my pace slowed down slightly, but not enough to keep me from hitting the BQ.  During those fast miles, all I thought about was that "today is race day.  Race it!" and the fact that I wasn't going to be running another race for four months, so I better make the best of it.

All those factors came together to make it happen.  God gave me the perfect day and the perfect course.  I am not a fast runner, and I could not have done it on my own.  If it weren't for Him, I never would have run the race I did.  To God be all the glory.

I doubt I'll ever run another BQ race, but if God is gracious enough to let me do so, I'll be happy to take to the streets of Boston once again.

Marathon #28 - Massachusetts (Part Three)

I have broken out my review of the Boston Marathon and my trip there into three parts.  To see more about the course, please visit Part One.  To see more about the race organization and other pieces of my normal race review, please visit Part Two.

In this final post, I will talk about travel and what I did while in the city of Boston

 

I love the city of Boston.  It is such a great place to visit.  I actually almost moved there back in 2004 and even had two job offers, but quickly realized (when it snowed during my interviews) that I could never live in a cold, snowy city in the north.  Visiting in the warmer months is great, though.  My biggest regret about our trip for the Boston Marathon is that we didn't have more time (and money) to explore the city even more.

Transportation

Typically, I look for flights on one of those travel sites, and then once I figure out which flight is cheaper, I go to the airline site to actually book.  This time was a little different.  For the first time in a long time, I actually booked through the travel site, cheapoair.com. One of the reasons for that was that the cheapest flights were with different airlines going and returning.  Since American Airlines and U.S. Airways merged (which I didn't know when I booked the flights), one way was on US Air and the return flight was American.  At any rate, I booked through the travel website, incurring additional fees and causing confusion during check-in.  With cheapoair.com, they don't send you an email the day before the flight, or when they do, it doesn't direct you to check in online.  Also, our seats were not together.  When I finally went to the airline website to check in online the day before, I'm so glad I went as early as I did.  We were seated in completely different rows.  Luckily, I checked in early enough that I was able to get us together on an exit row.

When searching for flights, there are two main options to fly to Boston.  Boston Logan International Airport is the closest to the city, and has convenient ground transportation.  Boston Manchester Regional Airport is another option, and is located in Manchester, NH about an hour drive from the city.  The flights were much cheaper into Manchester, so I chose that option.  The airport is small - about 16 or 18 gates - and it is easy to get into and out of.  The rental car counters are right next to the baggage claim carousels, and the cars are just across the street from the airport, so no shuttle is needed.  Delta has direct flights from Atlanta to Manchester.  American/US Air has direct flights from Washington DC and Philadelphia.

I booked our rental car through Hotels.com.  Manchester airport had all the other major car rental companies to choose from, but we got out car from Alamo.  I chose the smallest car available for the cheapest gas, and also because I knew the two of us wouldn't have much to carry with us anyway.  We ended up with some little yellow two door Hyundai that had only been driven 14 miles before we got it.  Obviously it was clean and smelled new, but it definitely lacked power. 

Boston is a walking city.  Once we got to the hotel in Boston, we hardly used the car.  The T (which is what Bostonians call their train system) in Boston is far superior to the Marta in Atlanta.  You can get just about anywhere you want to go using the T.  A 7-day pass cost $32 for both of us, but it was worth it.  We took the T to the expo, to church, to the Boston College baseball game, to the gear check, to the post-race party, and to restaurants.  I believe you can also take the T to the airport, if you are flying into Boston Logan.  If you are going for the Boston Marathon, the T won't go as far as the start line.  It looks like the commuter rail might get you there, but has such a limited schedule, that it didn't look like it would work for us.  Rob did use the rental car to get to some spots a long the race course before he parked it back at the hotel and took the train once the runners got closer to the city.

US Airways/American Airlines was great when our flight got delayed on the way home.  We were scheduled to have a layover in Philadelphia and arrive at home in Atlanta around 10:30pm on Tuesday.  Our initial flight to Philly got delayed, because the plane coming into Manchester got delayed.  With the new departure time, we would have missed our connecting flight in Philly.  They originally re-booked us for a a flight leaving Manchester at 1:30pm on Wednesday.  That wasn't going to work for me, because I had to work on Wednesday and had meetings in the afternoon that I couldn't miss.  When we got to the counter, the man was very nice and found us a direct flight on Delta that left first thing in the morning on Wednesday, which allowed me to get home before lunch time and make my afternoon meetings.  They put us up in a hotel overnight.  

Lodging

I booked my hotel through hotels.com.  I often use this site, and have never been disappointed.  They have great reviews that help you decide what hotel is best for your occasion.  I was looking for a hotel that was close to the city, on the T line, had free breakfast, and was not too expensive.  I chose Holiday Inn Express Boston Garden.  Rob was quick to tell me once we got there that "Boston Garden" (which is now called TD Garden) is a sports venue where some of the professional sports teams in Boston play (the Celtics and Bruins, I think).  The hotel was just two blocks from the North Station on the green T line, which was the line we took most of our trip.  The neighborhood seemed very safe, even in the dark.

The hotel was extremely hospitable.  The staff was very friendly and helpful.  When we got to the room, there was a little note on the desk welcoming us and thanking us for staying with them for the Boston Marathon.  There was a gift basket full of runner friendly food and two bottled waters, all free of charge.  I don't even remember saying I was going there for the marathon, so I'm not sure how they knew, but it was such a nice surprise.  They even had custom-made cookies that said "Finishing Boston" and "2015 Boston Marathon."  

When I review hotels, there are typically two things I really consider: the comfort of the bed and the space and amenities of the bathroom.  The room they gave us was very spacious.  It had a sitting area with a TV, desk, closet, sink, mini fridge and microwave.  The king bed was tucked away in a little side room area and had its own TV.  The bed area was cozy and seemed more private tucked away like it was.  The bed had both "soft" and "firm" pillows, and the bed itself was very comfortable.  

The bathroom had just about all the amenities you could ask for.  In addition to the separate shampoo and conditioner bottles, it had lotion and makeup remover cloths.  (I specifically mention the separate shampoo and conditioner bottles because I hate hotels that have just the "conditioning shampoo," which neither shampoos nor conditions.  So having them separate is very important to me.)  The towels were big and absorbent.  

While there were some definite positives in the bathroom, there were some downsides to the bathroom as well.  The counter space was lacking.  I had to put my makeup bag on the back of the toilet because there wasn't much counter room.  The hairdryer was possibly the worst hotel hairdryer I've ever used.  It was so short that my stray hairs would get sucked in the back, pulling them out.  And it was extremely loud, probably because it was so small.  Finally, the exhaust fan was so weak, it didn't do a good job of removing the heat from the shower off the mirror so you could see yourself when getting ready.

The hotel had a free continental breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, cereal, bagels, muffins, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, and make-your-own pancakes.  You had better get there on time though, because the last day we were there, we didn't come down until 9:30, and it was slim pickin's.  Either the item was already gone or we took the last serving.

The hotel had a table set up on Marathon Monday with several complimentary items for both the runners and the spectators.  They had Gatorade, bottles of water, cookies, granola bars, band aids, Chapstick, and other items that might help along the way.  They definitely catered to the runners and spectators of the race.  I would definitely recommend this hotel for anyone wanting to run or watch the Boston Marathon.

The other hotel we stayed at, unexpectedly, was the Holiday Inn near Manchester airport.  When our flight was delayed, American booked us there for the night.  We were only there for a short time, so I can't give as thorough of a review on this hotel, but it was nice enough and close enough to the airport, that I would recommend it if you had to stay near the airport.

This room was a standard hotel room where the desk, bed, and TV are all in one area.  The bed was comfortable, and again had the soft and firm pillows.  There was a mini fridge, but I don't remember seeing a microwave.  

One thing I really liked about this hotel was that the bathroom vanity was outside of the bathroom, so one person can be showering while the other is getting ready, and the mirror didn't fog up.  The vanity had much more counter space than the other hotel.  The hairdryer was bigger and better (although still not top notch).  They had the separate shampoo and conditioner bottles, and the towels were big and absorbent enough.

Attached to the hotel was a diner.  The hotel didn't offer free breakfast, but the diner was close if you wanted to purchase dinner or breakfast.  We ate dinner there.  The prices are reasonable, and the menu is extensive - as most diners are.  Rob got breakfast for dinner, and I had a bison burger and clam chowder.  The clam chowder was delicious, and the burger was okay.  For dessert they have a huge menu of "homemade" goodies.  I got a grasshopper pie, which consisted of mint chocolate chip ice cream in a chocolate graham cracker crust with whipped cream on top.  It was delicious!

Food

Speaking of food, Boston had a lot of great places to eat.  Being on the ocean and close to Maine, there are a lot of seafood places that boast about having the best Maine lobster.  There is a road in the North End along the Freedom Trail that has Italian restaurants lining the entire street.  Most of them are family owned by real Italians.  There are also a lot of cute little places hidden around the city.  We asked locals for recommendations whenever we could, and ended up at a lot of great places.  One thing to note, though, is that a lot of the good places do not take credit cards.  We had to change our plans once because we didn't have any cash at the time.

When we arrived in Boston and checked in, it was just about time for the Atlanta Track Club happy hour at The Charlesmark Hotel on Boylston Street near the finish line.  The hotel had a cozy little upper room with tables, couches and a counter where they set out appetizers.  We mingled, met some people, and had a drink before leaving to find some dinner.

We walked up Boylston Street to find a place that had an open table.  There were runners everywhere, and most of the restaurants were packed.  We ended up at a sports bar called McGreevy's.  I had a turkey club, fries and a cup of clam chowder.  You can't go to New England without getting the clam chowder, and you can't find clam chowder anywhere else as good as they make it in New England.  As expected the chowder was delicious.  The rest of the food was typical sports bar food - nothing to write home about (and so I'll stop there).

On Sunday, I had to eat my traditional pre-race meal for dinner - IHOP.  We found one along the T in Harvard.  It was your typical IHOP, so I won't make many comments about  it.  After dinner we walked around the Harvard area.  We found a great little bar that didn't take credit cards, and stopped for a drink (Rob) and a chat (both of us) with a nice couple who happened to have graduated from Georgia Tech and were in Boston working.  They gave us some tips on things to do and places to eat.

On Monday after the race, we went to the North End in search of some good Italian food.  It was raining pretty hard, so we ducked into a little place close to the beginning of the street.  It wasn't the one that had been recommended to us, but it was still good.  I would give it a 3.5 on a scale of 5.  The food was good, but the "server," who I think was actually the owner, was probably a better manager than server.  The meal came in traditional Italian fare, with course after course.  We opted not to have an appetizer, so our first course was salad and bread.  Then came the spaghetti pasta course.  Then the main course (I had stuffed eggplant and Rob had veal Parmesan).  Then dessert (which we again opted out of).  Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the place, and their credit card machine was broken, so we paid cash.

Tuesday we went for a walk.  We stopped at Mike's Pastry shop for a morning snack and got a Boston cream puff, chocolate covered cannoli, and a peanut butter brownie.  Rob said the brownie was "okay," but I thought the cream puff and cannoli were delicious!  We then asked a local for the best place to get a good burger.  He said it was a bit of a walk, but recommended Jm Curley.  So off we walked.

20 minutes later, we were at Jm Curley just in time to beat the lunch rush.  They have a very small menu with about five basic main dishes and about as many side dishes.  They also have a full bar.  You can get their burger with various different "toppings," which include a fried egg and French fries, if you so desire.  I got mine traditional, and it was very good.  I also had French fries on the side, but was disappointed that they didn't have Ranch dressing to dip them in.  I loved their house rules that they had posted on the wall.

Attractions

Being a big city, there are plenty of things to do.  They have just about any professional sports team you might want to see.  They have plenty of history that you can explore in many forms.  They have many colleges you can visit.  They have city tours, including one where the bus turns into a boat and goes out into the harbor during the tour.

We laid low and didn't do anything fancy.  With the race activities planned, there wasn't much extra time anyway.  We went to the Old South Church for the Blessing of the Athletes on Sunday morning, went to the Boston college vs GT baseball game on Sunday afternoon, and walked parts of both the Freedom Trail and the Harborwalk on Tuesday.

 

Old South Church

Program for the service

Athletes standing for the prayer/blessing

Bagpipes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old South Church is the church that is right at the finish line.  Every year the Sunday before the race, they have a service which includes the "blessing of the athletes."  The have a bagpipe player that plays a song.  They have all the athletes stand, and they say a prayer over the athletes.  The whole service has a running theme.

The Boston College baseball field is much smaller compared to Georgia Tech's field.  They didn't even sell tickets.  The game was free, and you just walked in and found a seat on the bleachers.  The press box was the top row of the bleachers behind the home plate.  People tailgated the entire game by driving their car up on the football stadium's parking garage, which overlooks the field.  The scoreboard reminds me of a high school football scoreboard.  The whole game was very low key.  It seemed like there were actually more fans cheering for Georgia Tech than Boston College.  Too bad Boston College won.

The Freedom Trail is a walk through the historical parts of Boston, supposedly on the same route that Paul Revere took to alert the town that the British were coming.  The city does a nice job of mapping it out, as there is a brick trail that you can follow the whole way.  It takes you past historical landmarks like Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, Quincy market, past the capital building, into Boston Common (the big city park), and past other historical buildings.  They have placards on most of the buildings telling you what happened at that building and why it is significant.

Old North Church

Historic North End

Paul Revere's house

The little square behind Old North Church

Capital building

Boston Common

Rob talking to some famous basketball guy

I wonder what he was thinking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Harborwalk is a sidewalk along the harbor.  There are signs that direct you around the backs of buildings so that you stay along the harbor as you walk.  We were fine for about two miles, and then ended up getting lost when an old drawbridge was blocked off and the next closest sidewalk took us to the city.  It was pretty while we were on the walk, but it could use a little more signage to direct you once you get close to the financial district of the city.

Harbor

They had Boston Strong signs everywhere

The Harbor, looking toward the city

I think I'll hang out here for awhile

Help!  Save me!

Christopher Columbus park

Christopher Columbus park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall our visit to Boston was extremely enjoyable.  I would do it again, most definitely, if I have the chance.