Bean town report

I am back!   I made it during my business trip to Boston.  As many of you know, I asked to not travel anymore because it has become really difficult.  Not only is the mobility an issue but it tires me out.  But this team training in Boston came up and they asked me if there is any way I could attend.  I agreed with some help.  Help getting around the city and around the sessions.

So Tuesday, we flew out.  Luckily, there is a direct flight from Salt Lake to Boston.  I was traveling with all my Salt Lake team (5 of us).  Because we were staying in Boston, we took cabs to the hotel which made it easy.  Our hotel was maybe 15 minutes from the airport.  I did see a little crack of the North End from the cab.  The North End is known as "Little Italy".  It has fantastic restaurants and Italian bakeries.

Now some people think traveling for business is glamorous and exciting.  Yes I love getting out of dodge on someone else's dime but it is not glamorous.  We were at the Hilton at Faneuil Hall.  Faneuil Hall is a great shopping and cultural center.  It is in the heart of the financial district of the city.  The Hilton is a nice hotel.  Because of the location, it can be expensive ($500 a night).  Our entire team was staying there, which is about 45 people.  I was really surprised with my view from my room.

Yep.  Those are hotel rooms across the way.  Below was the air conditioners for the hotel.  Surprisingly it was quiet but it was dark.  And I didn't feel comfortable opening the drapes because you could see inside.  I considered being asked to move but I heard the next day that the rooms facing out were really noisy.  Lots of traffic and construction noise.

Our meetings were in a beautiful conference center.  This place was designed for executive conferences with rooms and rooms of comfortable tables and chairs.  They had an open reception area were they sat up breakfast, lunch, and snacks.  Breakfasts were bagels, fruit, coffee, cereal, latkes, mini quiche, and juice.  They had a fridge stocked with water, soda, juices, and teas.  For morning snack, they had fruit, muffins, and coffee cakes.  Lunch was a hot lunch in their lunch area.  They had fascinating food.  My favorite was a mixed green salad with apples, pecans, craisins, and sweet potato cubes.  Who would have guessed.  They had salmon, chicken, rice, various salads, and a fun dessert bar with 2 bite desserts (eclairs!!!).  Then for afternoon snacks, they brought out cookies and an ice cream freezer with various ice cream treats (Haagen Daz bars).  It was really delicious and a nice surprise.  We sometimes get pizza for team lunches in so this was a treat.

The bad part is this is the view from the conference center.  I'm really starting to wonder if I will see much of the city!  Wednesday night, we went out for a team "dinner" of appetizers and drinks.  We went to a Mexican restaurant that had the best fresh Mexican food.  I accidentally had a fish taco that tasted a lot like sushi to me.  They had fresh quacamole which I completely devoured and other passed goodies.  But we were standing for 3 hours which is way too much for me.  After 1.5 hours, I decided to head back to the hotel.  I was luckily able to flash down a cab.

Each night, I worked in the hotel after the conference so it made for incredibly long days but I was able to keep up on my work and projects.  My peers all went out to dinner and such but I just found the city too hard to get around in.  The sidewalks are classic city walks and many in the area were cobblestone which is pretty hard for me.  I opted for room service.  Not phenomenal but the hotel did have a famous chef, Todd English heading it up.  Surprising enough, I've eaten in a Todd English place before in New York.  It was nice it wasn't classic "business hotel" food.  Everything had interesting surprises....like picked cucumbers instead of pickles.  The sauces were interesting too.

On Thursday, the team headed to our tech center to view our research and technology lab.  I already knew this was lots of standing and very difficult to get around so I headed back to the hotel to finish the afternoon working.  I'm sorry I missed the tour because everyone said it was fantastic.  I did get a few shots of Boston on my cab ride back.

Boston has little parks around the city.  It is fun to see around all the tall buildings.

I couldn't get the cabs to come pick me up so I walked a block over
and a block down to get one.  I did get a fun view of the street.

Sadly, this was the extent of the city I saw.  I used to love Boston and running around the city.  It is a vibrant city with lots of culture and adventure.  But I am not up for it anymore.  What I did enjoy is the East coast visit.  I sometimes believe I belong on the East coast.  Those are my people.  And I loved the slight ocean smell in the air.  We had beautiful fall weather with just a touch of crisp morning air.  But no rain (although it threatened).

We left Friday morning.  We wanted the direct flight home and that is an early morning flight.  Brutal...simply brutal.  Yes.  I was at the gate at 5:00 AM ET.  I'm an early bird when flying and I was not sure what security would be like in Boston.  Sometimes it is brutal.  I can just say that 5:00 am ET is not pretty...for anyone.



A view of Boston from the plane.

When we got back to Salt Lake, I decided to get a seated massage.  I have done that in Atlanta and Raleigh.  It is a nice treat after a long flight.

I am glad I went on this trip.  It was really hard and mentally it was tough that I couldn't enjoy the city.  But I am glad I went and made the connections within the team.  I'll be spending this weekend recovering.