Getting to Boston - 3/15/11

 

Click for more pics - mostly sky.  :)

In the morning we left Aunt Leslie’s and stopped by the Dunkin Donuts to use some more coupons and get iced coffees and Big and Tasty Sandwiches. I thought the sandwiches were much better the second time. J We needed to drive back to the house because we’d forgotten our seafood leftovers and the cream cheese for our bagels; driving in circles would become a theme for the rest of the day (I imagine it’s a theme for anyone who drives in Boston). But the drive from Lakewood to just outside of Boston was uneventful.

When we were about 15 minutes from my sister Lauren’s place in Boston, we realized we were an hour earlier than we’d estimated (I wasn’t going that fast, I swear!). We were near Harvard, and decided to get off the highway and drive through Harvard Square to get gas. It was beautiful, but between the traffic and the lights it took us a long time to get to the gas station. We recalculated our route from the gas station and were farther away than we had been when we got off the highway. Our drive took us into the tunnel. We were supposed to get off at an exit inside the tunnel, but the signs were confusing, and we missed it. We missed the next one too, and finally took the third and made a u-turn to get back into the tunnel. This ended up taking us up an on-ramp on the left, but we were then supposed to take an exit on the right in less than a mile, which was a physical impossibility. As anyone who’s driven in Boston will tell you. And it was rush hour (you know, 3 pm). So we missed our exit again. Tricia’s iPad gave up on us ever making it through the tunnel, and found a new route. And suddenly we went from 5 minutes away to 20.

The blue line is our new route

Our new route took us into crazy back roads that would have been scary at night, but we eventually made it to my sister’s. We sat and caught up awhile, and then Tricia went off to Simmons to check out the school and a talk on the Library Sciences program. Lauren, her boyfriend Mike, and I decided we’d try an Italian place called Rino’s. It’s a little hole-in-the-wall place with about 12 tables. Unfortunately, it was recently featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive-Ins. Even though we were there early on a Tuesday, the hostess told us it would be a 2 hour wait! So we left and went to Lauren’s favorite restaurant, Border Café. It’s a big noisy Mexican/Cajun place. We shared queso with our chips, and then I had a giant burrito with jambalaya on the side. Mexican/Cajun! I’ve also had the Eggplant Royale, which is eggplant covered in cheese and crabmeat, and which I recall being excellent.

My sister lives on the third floor of a house which originally had 2 bedrooms, but which were converted into 1 bedroom and one giant closet. She put a mattress on the floor in the closet and so we had our own room (at least until they needed their clothes in the morning). And then we spent the night watching Law & Order SVU. Because that’s what my sister and I do when we get together. J