As many of you know, I traveled to Boston over Easter weekend for a baptism. I am now the proud godmother of little Janie Lynn! The trip was pretty fun, and I thought I’d share some of the highlights with you all.

Due to my paralyzing fear of flying, we drove to Boston Thursday morning, and we would have made exceptional time, had it not been for our poor timing. We arrived in Medford right in time for rush hour and – lucky us – Obama was also in town that night. So, within a mile from our hotel, we sat in standstill traffic for nearly an hour. I’ll take a moment to recommend our hotel – the Medford Hyatt – to anyone looking for a place to stay close to Boston and/or Karen. Good prices, excellent breakfast, and very spacious rooms. The only negative thing that happened hotel-wise the scare-me-shitless, ear-piercing fire alarm which went off for some reason late one night. After standing in the parking lot in my pajamas, watching the swirling lights on top of countless fire trucks arriving and then leaving shortly thereafter, I was relieved to find that there was no fire and that my possessions were indeed safe.

Jane’s mother and one of my best friends since forever, Karen, lives in Somerville with her fiancé, Will. I was anxious to spend some time with Jane (who I will refer to as Pants, her nickname, from here on), who I hadn’t seen for a few months. The Pants had just turned one, and it seems that every time I see her, she has changed completely. As cliché as it sounds, they really do grow so fast! Over the course of our first two days in town, we played with the baby and helped Karen get ready for the Pants’ first birthday party! Parry and I even got to take Pants for some playtime in the park. It was nice. And I think Parry became a little less afraid of babies. He said to me, “Hey, they are fun when they are older!” and he even held her once, which is once more than he ever has before. Ha! Pants is such a happy baby, and I really am glad I got to play with her so much!



The birthday party was on Saturday, and it went off without a hitch – tons of balloons, presents, delicious food, and messy cupcake eating. It was a perfect day, filled with warm sun and nice people. Good times. The baptism was later that night. It was an Easter mass, and three babies and one 90 year old adult were also being baptized. The church is in Cambridge and is quite old; it has an old plaque near hole in the front wall that holds a bullet from the Revolutionary War. Fancy. Although I did knock over the little kneeling thingy and make a loud crashing noise during mass (I thought it was connected to the pew! Jeez!), I managed to make it through mass without any major incidents. I even knew my lines! Yeah for me!
            
                                         

On our last day in Boston, we weren’t sure how to spend our free afternoon. We woke up late and found a little diner in a more off-the-path area. The food was the best! Very New England - filled with old men and thick accents. De-licious! We decided to drive out to Salem in search of some witches. Salem itself is a gorgeous place, filled with red brick walkways, historical architecture, and quaint little shops. Unfortunately, it was Easter, so many things were closed. But we did walk around a lot, visit the old cemetery, see the memorial wall for the “witches,” and eventually make our way to a little piece of the Atlantic shore. I would definitely go back when things – like the Witch Dungeon Museum, how cool does that sound?! – are open. On the way home, we had to stop and take a picture of this gem:

                                             

 Oh boy. Can you believe that!?  Here are some other random shots:



Sunday night – and now we had come to the part of the trip that Parry was the most excited for (sorry Pants): the Red Sox home opener against the Yankees. My husband loves baseball, and since he had never been to Fenway Park, this was a big moment for him. I think he might have sold part of his soul and/or body over the Internet to get us tickets. Karen, Will, Parry, and I set off on the T hours before the game to have a little fun. Coming from Pittsburgh, a town where baseball is little more than laughable, the sight of thousands upon thousands of baseball fans was stunning. There were many Yankees fans there, but they were easily eclipsed by a sea of red. The stadium itself was impressive, and I could tell Parry was as excited as a little kid at the sight of this piece of baseball history.

We went to a bar outside of the park, and after waiting in a big ol' line, we had a few pre-game beers and some tasty wings. Yes, you heard it right; this non-beer drinker had like six+ beers. I know - wild, right? (Shut up)  Ours seats for the game were in the Grandstand, but we all had a pretty good view of the field, except Karen who couldn’t really see the first base line thanks to a giant iron girder. I don’t think Karen minded, however, because of 1) she consumed lots of beer and 2) it gave her an excuse to chitchat to anyone around us. I love that girl.

The game had some surprises. Steven Tyler came out and sang "God Bless America" and Neil Diamond sang "Sweet Caroline" during the 8th inning. Apparently, it is a Boston tradition to play "Sweet Caroline" during the 8th inning; no one seems to really know why, including the all mighty Internets. When Neil Diamond was announced, you would have thought God himself was there. People went nuts, and everyone sang with abandon (See Video Below).

Despite the fact that the Red Sox were trailing at times, they eventually took the lead and kept it, securing a win against those spawns of the devil (Die Jeter). Happily, I saw many Yankees fans being verbally berated while getting beer thrown on them. Also, there was one chick fight that required police intervention in front of us, and some dude behind us passed out sitting in his seat for the entire game. We left the stadium wearing our new baseball hats, and before we knew it, it was morning and we were back in the car, making our way back to PA.

In all, it was a successful trip. I had a great time seeing Karen and Pants, and I can’t wait to see them again, hopefully in the next month! I’ll definitely be seeing more of them all in the future, as Karen will be getting married in September, and I am her Maid of Honor! I’m sure that will be a great blog!