Pictures will follow of our cruise, particularly pictures of the winning Progressive Trivia Team, "One Short of a Dozen," which blazed its way to a one-point victory on the final day of the cruise. We were quite justifiably very pleased with ourselves.
In the meantime, we're relaxing in our room at the Hilton Back Bay, after walking most of the Freedom Trail on a hot and busy Boston morning.
Disembarking the Jewel of The Seas was a real fiasco this morning. Luckily for us, we weren't in any hurry. When the foreign citizens reported to US Immigration starting at 6:30 a.m., apparently there were only two ICE officials on duty at first. We stayed in our stateroom for awhile, used up our remaining Internet minutes, and eventually even played a little table tennis before finally lining up and leaving the ship nearly three hours behind schedule. It appears likely that a few folks may have missed their flights, or at least suffered stressful moments making them.
We took a taxi to the hotel, our room was ready, and it offers us a great view of Fenway Park a few blocks away, the river, and a whole bunch of beautiful old Boston brick buildings. Interesting to be back in one of those Eastern North American cities with a couple or three centuries of history on display.
We walked the first part of the Freedom Trail before stopping for lunch at McCormick and Schmick's, where Kathy enjoyed a great lobster.
We walked back to the hotel, and will concentrate our efforts on the nearby neighborhood for the rest of the day. Tomorrow we'll explore more of Boston on foot before heading to our airport hotel.
Kathy and Brian
Two retired educators alternating joyfully between seeing the world and enjoying our eight grandchildren (in order of birth), Jake, Avery, Taegan, Lily, Peyton, Riley, Blane, and Jace.
Kathy and Brian met in the clarinet section of the University of California (Santa Barbara) Symphony Orchestra several decades ago.
Brian's Western Canadian roots and Kathy's Colorado ties resulted in their making beautiful music together along with producing a cross-border crop of descendants.
Kathy spent a year studying in Vienna at the Institute for European Studies and the University of Vienna.
Brian started the school band program in Hope, British Columbia, and later became the high school's vice-principal for 6 years and subsequently principal for 15 years before retiring in 2001.
Kathy, in between raising our three children, taught kindergarten and first grade, middle school, and high school - mathematics, computer studies, ESL, and her first love, band, before retiring in 2001.
We enjoy sharing our travel experiences and providing the odd travel tip to friends, relatives, and visitors.