On Vacation

I've taken a long break from blogging this summer because it's been busy around my house. I was visited by my oldest daughter for a couple of weeks in July and while she was with me I realized just how much I'd missed her. I wanted to cram as much quality time in with her as I could into those two weeks. I think I probably drove her crazy with all the little field trips and activities, but she's a good sport and she humored me. It was hard saying goodbye to her.

I'm sitting in a hotel lobby in Boston right now using a computer in the lobby and although the jazz band playing behind me sounds really good, I'm one of those people who can't have the TV or music on in the background when trying to concentrate. I'm sitting about two inches away from the drummer, so if I get a little distracted I hope you'll forgive me.

My family decided to take a quick vacation to the east coast to spend some time together before my daughter has to go back to school. We landed in Boston on Saturday and spent all day Sunday walking the Freedom Trail and doing the tourist thing. Once a teacher, always a teacher. My poor daughter had to answer questions about the Revolutionary War each time we visited a new historical site. I must report that the latest casualties of the Revolutionary War are my aching feet. I made the mistake of wearing my wooden clogs, thinking that we'd be spending more time on the tour trolley (I don't recommend the trolley tour, by the way) and less time on the uneven brick sidewalks of the North Side and Historic District. My feet were on fire by the time we hobbled back to our hotel.

I switched shoes and we headed out again, first to Chinatown and then on a WALKING tour of haunted Boston, which just about killed me off.

This morning (Monday) we awoke fairly early and took a train up to Salem. It's about 30 minutes north of here and a scenic trip, only costing about $8 roundtrip per person on the commuter train. That's my little travel tip for you, don't rent a car to visit Salem. It turned out to be another walking day. We visited the Witch Dungeon and the Witch Museum. Both places have actors who act out portions of the Salem witch trials and then a costumed tour guide takes you through animatronic displays of the familiar story: Gile Corey being pressed to death, etc. It's kind of like Disneyland for horror and goth fans, corny but still fun.

Tomorrow morning, we take another train down to New York City. I've got to get my sleep because I'm waking up at 6:30 am.

Good night from Boston.