Well, it’s been a whirlwind of activity around our place this week. We returned Wednesday afternoon from our 4 day trip to Boston. It was so great! We both just enjoyed the time away, and I suppose the conference was good too! HA! Our flight was cancelled Saturday morning, so we ended up getting to town much later than we had originally planned for…so after checking in at the hotel, we went to dinner at the Legal’s Sea Food restaurant attached to our hotel…then hit the hay. Our flights were fairly uneventful, other than the usual hustle and bustle. We thought we were going to be delayed leaving Des Moines, and worried we wouldn’t make our connection in Chicago…but it all worked out ok. (I’m pretty sure we FLEW across the airport! Who knew the wheelchair could go so fast!?)
Pushing Matt on the moving walkways was FUN! It was so much easier…though, I wonder if he wasn’t just a tiny bit nervous I might fling him out of his chair when we exited onto the regular floor. Either way, it all worked out fine. Matt did swimmingly walking on and off each plane, and we were able to check our wheelchair at each gate so we didn’t have to worry about losing it in between flights. A HUGE relief for me. We had no troubles with the taxi, and our room was set up perfectly so Matt could move around at his leisure with no trouble at all. A HUGE relief for Matt!
Sunday we hit the pavement and spent most of the day checking out stops on the famous Freedom Trail. We took the subway, which also went well…aside from the 3 different elevators we had to take down, down, down, to the platform. It was somewhat inconvenient…but we managed. Lots of tiny, scary, smelly elevators…not too great. But…we were happy to have the option of riding the subway. The conductors were very accommodating, coming out of the train to open an electronic ramp which pulls out of the side of the car; then he would do the same at our scheduled stop.
We ate lunch at Cheers – the Hollywood replica, not the original…but it was still fun and good food! We walked through Boston Common and bought a few souvenirs from street vendors. We headed back later in the afternoon so I could attend a session of the conference, then out again to dinner at the Hard Rock Café…which was only a few blocks away.
Monday it was rainy and chilly all day, so we stayed around the hotel after my work obligations. The hotel was attached to a series of skywalks and shopping, so we just wandered around there, and then had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We had intended to not eat anyplace we could eat here…but Matt had never been there and it was so close, we said what the heck. It turned out to be one of the best meals we had there…it was so good! We got cheesecake (naturally) to go, and ate it in bed while watching the Sopranos…only 1 episode left!!!! (Gasp!) It was a low key night, but was really quite nice!
Tuesday the weather was MUCH better and after my last session, we took the train out to Harvard. We walked around the campus and much to our surprise…they had JUST finished up their commencement ceremonies!
The thought NEVER crossed our minds! It was pretty amazing to think of all the money that these people had paid to go there, or to send their child there…CRAZY! We ate dinner at a tiny burger joint (Mr. Bartley's) and ate outside on the sidewalk. The weather was beautiful, the architecture surrounding us remarkable, and the food YUMMY…it was a great way to round out our trip.
We made our way back home Wednesday afternoon safe and sound, with no trouble at all. Of course, our doggies and kitty were just SO excited to see us! They couldn’t get enough lovin’ from either one of us.
We were both so grateful for a safe and fun trip, but were both happy to get home to our normal routine again yesterday and today. I think this trip really boosted our confidence to try new things.
While it was very challenging at times, we were glad for the opportunity to try, and satisfied that the rewards were worth the risk. It was so good to have some time together away from therapy, seeing the sites, and just being us. Matt enjoyed his downtime in the room, watching NASCAR and the Cubbies beat the Braves…all in all, it was a very good trip.
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