Well. One thing is for sure. Mandy and I both never want to go to Boston again after we leave on Wednesday. New Hampshire: Fine. Vermont: Fine. Maine: Fine. But Boston? Never. Driving in Boston is that much fun.
Today was a bust until about 6:15pm. We slept in a bit and made the decision not to go to Rhode Island and decided to stay in Boston. So, we headed into the city with plans to view Trinity Church and Boston Gardens/Common. Getting there was another story. It's not that traffic is bad, it's that none of the roads are signed well, making it next to impossible to find the correct highways in the right directions. CRAZY. And, Mandy wants me to note that it wasn't her map reading skills this time. In our opinion, it was poor city planning/poor road planning that made the trip horrible.
Parking was $20 for an hour so we didn't like that option, and FINALLY found metered space in which to park on the edge of Boston Gardens and walked through the park, looked at the "Make Way for Ducklings" brass statues, saw the swan boats (but didn't ride) and even saw the real momma swans guarding her three eggs on the nest she had built.
Lunch was had at the original Cheers inspiration and after a restroom break at the Four Seasons Hotel (shhh...don't tell them I wasn't a guest), Mandy and I decided that our best option was to go on to Wellesley and check into our hotel for the conference and take a nap. We knew things could only get better and they did.
Not only is the town of Wellesley absolutely beautiful, but Babson's campus is also gorgeous. Mandy gave me literal directions so we still had to turn around once to get here. We checked into our hotel and very quickly realized that at $308/night, we weren't at Motel 6 anymore. Even the bedding is nice to look at in a rich burgundy hue complete with green grapes and vines on them. We even have separate desks, a wet bar, FREE snack stations in halls that offer ice cream bars, gummi bears, mint malted milk balls, a cappuccino station, coffee, tea, a soda fountain, yogurt, water...the list really goes on. Compared to our budget accomodations of the last 4 nights, we are living it up "Four Seasons Style" now. ;)
We had an open bar reception at 6 where we met the rest of the conference members. There are 29 of us from all over...Nevada, Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, and more. Everyone is really nice and it is always nice to talk with other educators. Dinner was a fine affair as well, and after the junk we've eaten over the last few days, we had several beautiful salad choices, then the makings to create your own. The main course was a choice of osso buco (veal), lemon seared sea bass, or vegetarian rotini, couscous, sauteed snow peas, and smashed cauliflower. Dessert offered up about 50 options of several delicate confections, ice cream, carrot cake, fresh fruit and homemade whipped cream, lemon cake, cobblers, cheesecakes, the list really does go on and on. STUFFED was the word for everyone.
After dinner everyone sat and talked for a while then Mandy and I made our way to the "Pub" for a drink. There were 4 others from our group there and no one else, and eventually the Tennessee teachers wondered in and sat with us and the laughing got louder as the night went on. Joe, the bartender, was creative and wonderful with us. Four more eventually joined us, but it was still an early evening. It just hit 11pm and I have still had time to blog. But, even with an hour and a half nap today, I'm ready for bed as it will be an early morning and I know it will be a long day and a late night tomorrow as we all plan to go into the city.
Until tomorrow folks...
Shannon (and Mandy) :)