Boston Trip Part 1

I woke up insanely early Thursday morning to head to the airport. Like in the 2's early. And that's after not falling asleep until midnight. Uff da. It's going to be a long travel day! I threw on a hat and put contacts in my carry on. There was some confusion about my arrival time a) time zone math is hard and b) the pilot's time estimation didn't match my flight info for eastern or central time. I got to kill some time in the Boston airport and finally get a coffee since I had a 6 second layover in Mpls and almost didn't make my flight.

Kathryn picked me up and we made our way to the brewery and pizza place we visited last time. A very heavy filter was needed to make me look as awake as I do below. We got a couple of pizzas, and a few beers, all at 11:30am (which felt like 10:30 for me, but hell I'd been awake for 8 hours, so why not!).

We picked up some groceries, sipped some wine, and then it was a very early bedtime for this chica. I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed on Friday, ready to make our way into Boston. 

We stopped at a cute coffee shop in Hopkinton that featured super cool Boston Marathon themed artwork. I wanted it all.

It wasn't quite the same level as the lavender latte from Coffea that I usually like Friday mornings, but it was pretty delicious! We attempted to take the train into the city to "practice" for Monday's race, but failed to check departure times, so we ended up driving into the city. We made it to Copley Square for some fresh fish and chips and local beer. It was such a beautiful patio day. Spoiler alert: this was how much of my trip was forecasted to be. In reality, this was our one nice day.

During lunch, we asked our waitress where the expo was. I knew it was a solid mile from where we were and I didn't want to walk there if there was nothing to see or enjoy along the way. Luckily (for me) she sold us on it and Kathryn was down to hoof it with me.

Along the way, we were very distracted by an ice cream cookie truck. Despite being completely full, we still had to get one. And sweet talked the nice man into cutting it for us "which he NEVER does, so don't ask when there's a big line" (except imagine that said in a heavy Bostonian accent). to which I replied, I'm from South Dakota, so I don't think you have to worry about me asking on a regular basis. It was divine. Probably one of the best things I ate the whole trip.

Good thing this was so delicious because these pictures are terrible. Ha.

We took the scenic route and walked along the harbor. Despite the clouds, it was actually pretty toasty out!

We finally made it to the expo, which is good. I think Kathryn was close to killing me, she was so sick of walking. Oops. Somehow at the expo, I took zero photos. So here is a selfie of Kathryn. The one who could care less about being there.

I bought one t-shirt despite planning to spend some decent money at the expo. I had hoped there would be local running stores there with fun boston themed stuff without being BOSTON MARATHON 2018 specific. I could never wear that without having run and qualified for it. So it was good for my bank account, but a bummer for me.

Outside of the expo there were musical teeter totters, and we had a blast.

We stopped for a beverage after the expo to kill some time before dinner. And then somehow found our way into a Warby Parker which made me want 100 new pairs of glasses.

So much walking, and an even more impressive amount of selfies along the way. Unpictured are the photos in which I am SO OVER HAVING MY PICTURE TAKEN. Hah. Our dinner was meh, and then we went to another restaurant for dessert and drinks.

Boston Trip Recap Part 2

Saturday was a chill lazy day around the house so I could rest my legs and be ready for my race on Sunday. I'm thankful there was race day packet pick up, because I failed to calculate how far Ipswich was from the suburb my friend lives in, which is basically on the opposite side of Boston. Sorry!

We made ourselves a charcuterie plate and drank some adult beverages. As you do for lunch on vacation, right?

Alice and I had a blast taking all of the selfies with fun snapchat filters.

And Sunday morning we were race bound! I was thankful for Daylight Savings allowing me to sleep in. A 6am wake up on race morning is unheard of. But a 6am alarm that FEELS like a 7am alarm is insane. I wasn't as thrilled with the temperatures feeling like it was 10:30am instead of 9:30am. There were so many people in coats, pants, and long sleeves. And Kathryn heard several mention I was crazy for wearing shorts. But wouldn't you know it, there were TONS of people shedding clothes throughout the race! And yes, I was too warm and dumping water on my head, per usual.

Sometimes after a race, you have to just sit down. Right there. On a curb that's literally crumbling under your butt. And take pictures, obviously.

After the race, Kathryn conveniently parked at the restaurant that gave out free post-race beers, so we took it as a sign to stop in. I enjoyed a Smuttynose IPA which was delicious and we had some okay fajitas and guacamole.

On the way home I was ready to crash so we made a trip to a Dunkin Donuts to help with the cause. It was a trillion degrees and I can no longer taste food. Thanks for the awesome first experience DD!

We didn't get home from the race until mid-afternoon so the evening was nice and chill and relaxing.

Monday morning we went out in search of good coffee and ended up at a super cute bakery. I love this wall art, probably because it reminds me of a light bulb. If my grandparents were still alive and Light's Bakery were still a thing, this would absolutely be necessary as their logo.

I hate to break it to you, but I really have the prettiest friends. Proof.

We did a little shopping (slash screwing around), before our sushi date.