Boss-ton...

I was pretty stoked about heading to Boston...I'm not sure why I'd not ever been there...Demographically, it's close but for whatever reasons, I just never made it there...So it just so happened, that within a couple of days of each other...was the Boston Marathon....and Bruce...

A big time in the area...

The flight was interesting...and set the tone for the trip...Being that the Marathon was imminent...the entire flight was filled with runners, spectators, and well...ME...
Spectators are family members of runners or are past runners themselves...They are all people who live and breathe running...
Now, I was never a hardcore runner but in my younger days, I did run pretty consistently...no marathons but 3-5 miles almost everyday...It was enough to understand what a runners high was...and what exactly being in "the zone" was...It was an effective way for me to burn off my excess internal energy while clearing my mind of virtually everything...Of course the difference was...after my 5 mile run, I'd reward myself with a Camel Light and an ice cold Rolling Rock...

So here I was on my AirTran flight...the one that I had to actually purchase an ala carte seat for...I was so wanting to sleep on the flight...In fact being the chronic insomniac, I am always ridiculously excited about flying just because I know I'll get the best sleep ever once the engines start roaring...You know how new parents strap their infants in the car seat when they won't sleep and drive around the block becaue it puts them right out??? That's me...except a flight is a bit more involved than a trip around the block...that being said, I don't minimize the value of my air time...

So here I am in my window seat...assuming the head against the window position hoping the ultimate occurs...that I am sleepeing before we even take-off............except..........the people in the two seats to the left of me are chatting...excitedly...not quietly...The fella was running his first Boston Marathon as he didn't qualify last year...The lady...had run it a couple of times previously but was just a spectator this year...Then there was the comparison of the Marine Corp. Marathon versus the Chicago Marathon...chatter, chatter, chatter...Okay, I've slept through chatter before but this one was definitely interfering...and then it started...The 3 year old sitting behind me who decided that jamming his foot repeatedly into the back of my chair was just calisthenics for marathon running when he became older...

whack*whack*thump*thamp*chatter*chatter*thump*whack*...................

I was a bit irritated as I disembarked my ala carte seat and headed off to find a shuttle to my hotel...

I ended up staying in Cambridge...just across the river from Boston ...
The room at the Royal Sonesta had a wonderful view of Boston's skyline...When I checked in...this fella greeted me outside of my window...Together we hung out for awhile just taking in the activity on the river...He was more talkative than I...maybe his flight sucked too...



The view from the room was quite nice at all hours...I made my way out and about while awaiting my buddy to arrive from the west coast...A couple of margaritas and an appetizer at The Cheesecake Factory across the street helped kick off the beginning of my Bruce excursions for the coming weeks...

Tomorrow was a new day...