I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time.
In 2008, I was lucky enough to land a summer job working for US Airways on Martha’s Vineyard. The summer adventuring around MVY is what inspired this blog and my love of travel and airports. You can read all about it starting with my very first blog post ~18 years ago.
My first dog, Martie (Martha when she was bad), was named after the Vineyard. RIP Angel Paws.
I haven’t had a chance to return to MVY since 2008. I’m not sure I’ve spent extended time in Boston since that summer. Anyway, Cory has a conference here this week, and since he joined me for my conference in Wilmington, NC last week, we figured we’d continue the trend of taking advantage of desirable travel destinations for work. While Cory is in meetings discussing complicated brain stuff, I’ll be gallivanting.
Since I have 2 hours to kill before my flight departs (more on that in a second), I’ll briefly cover some of the comedy of errors from yesterday.
For context, it has been an absolute chaos nebula since May.
I spent 32 days in Spain on the Camino de Santiago (read all about it on the blog). Cory joined me for the final 17 days, and upon returning to the States in mid June, we immediately moved into a new house, I changed jobs, we hosted my sister for a week (mid-move), traveled to NC for work, hosted our friend Gen—all while managing parenting responsibilities, caring for an injured dog, working, unpacking the house…
These past few weeks have been joyful and exciting and F*CKING STRESSFUL.
In news that will surprise no one, I don’t like leaving things in boxes, so the new house was 85% unpacked within 72 hours. The house looks great and we love it, but both Cory and I are hanging on by a thread. At least we have two more out-of-town trips planned in the next two weeks. Ha!
Where was I? Boston trip.
We took a red eye (also, we are way too old and mostly financially secure for red eyes—that’s young people shit.) from SLC and landed in BOS yesterday around 6am.
Cory booked an Airbnb near Kendall Square (his conference is at MIT), and the host was nice enough to let us check in early.
That said, the Airbnb was…not great. It reeked of cigarette smoke and didn’t match its online description.
I was so exhausted that I didn’t care, but Cory is both a man of finer tastes and knows how to advocate for his needs, so while I was passed out on the bed, Cory was simultaneously managing to present at his conference and arrange for a full refund for the Airbnb (the host was still compensated since we’d technically used the space) and get us booked at the Marriott Courtyard right on the Charles River.
What a guy.
Meanwhile, still in the Airbnb, I’m in full zombie mode when Cory calls to tell me the good news.
“Hey! I managed to get us a full refund on the Airbnb and booked us at the Marriott—you NEED TO PACK UP AND VACATE IMMEDIATELY.”
Nothing like being deep in a REM cycle and being woken up to that type of urgent messaging.
Nonetheless, I am very appreciative of Cory’s efforts and willingness to advocate for himself and us, and the upgrade from the Airbnb to the Marriott was like upgrading from a gas station taquito that had been sitting on the rollers for 10 hours to an Arby’s combo meal. DON’T QUESTION MY ANALOGY.
A reasonable person would have packed the bags and called an Uber to transport them the two miles between lodging sites, but I am not reasonable.
I packed the bags and dragged our heavy-ass luggage two miles to the hotel. Between the humidity, heat, and smog from Canadian wildfires, I was pretty haggard by the time I made it to the Marriott. I had a lovely conversation about the World Cup with the front desk attendant (he was pulling for England and I was wearing a very sweaty Argentina jersey) before showering and taking my second nap of the day.
I woke up around 2pm EST and realized that I needed to get my ass in gear because I was expected to present (remotely) with my friend and colleague Julian to a group of undergraduate students about qualitative research methods. A quick query of cozy coffee shops in the area returned a Turkish café called Andala Café, so I packed up my laptop and set out on foot again to work on my presentation and watch the soccer game. Andala Café was super cute, and the food and coffee were unique and tasty.
They had a big-screen TV and were airing the game, and there was a nice crowd of what seemed to be regulars. However, during halftime, I thought it would be best to return to the hotel so I could present with minimal background distractions, and as I was packing up and unplugging my computer, I accidentally managed to unplug the ENTIRE TV SYSTEM effectively shutting down the World Cup game for everyone in the café.
Big, big oops.
I was MORTIFIED, particularly after I heard a collective gasp from everyone in the café before I realized what I had done. The good news is that the staff was super understanding and cool about it, it wasn’t during live play, and they fixed it before the game resumed. But man, did I feel like an asshole.
I sheepishly returned to the hotel and gave my presentation. (Big shout out to Julian for being a great co-presenter and partner. Can’t wait to team up again.) Being back on faculty is pretty great.
After the presentation, Cory invited me to join him and colleagues at an arcade-themed speakeasy called Roxy’s, so I snagged a Blue bike and pedaled my way over to Central Square. I love the Blue bike system in Boston. Such a great way to travel around town. We only had about 20 minutes at Roxy’s before Cory and I departed by bike to meet our friend Ian at Gustazo’s Kitchen for dinner. The bike ride was lovely. The search for an open bike dock was not.
I sent Cory ahead to meet Ian and maximize time together while I quested for an open dock (PS: the Bluebike app shows you how many docks are available). I docked my bike in New Hampshire and walked to the restaurant to meet the lads.
Dinner was AMAZING. Ceviche, empanadas, pulpo (sorry Jeff), tacos, croquetas—truly top-notch Cuban food. And spending time with Ian is always a blast. Lots of laughs and thoughtful conversation.
Because Cory is a reasonable person, he ordered us an Uber back to the hotel. We went on a short stroll along the river and stopped by a boathouse so Cory could ask me about the anatomy of a racing shell. It was fun to reconnect with my rowing past, but I was surprised by how much I’d forgotten.
All in all, a solid first day in Boston.
Which brings us to today.
My morning didn’t exactly get off to a bumpy start, but choices were made that would have been made more effectively.
For example:
1) I debated whether to take MBTA (train) or Uber to the airport. Last night’s prices for Uber were about $40 and roughly 30 minutes to the airport, so I woke up extra early (5:30am) anticipating taking MBTA ($3 and 50–70 minutes). Uber prices went down by half, so I opted for lazy, efficient and took Uber. However, I didn’t adjust my time calculations to account for faster travel, so I got to the airport by 6:45—2–3 hours before my departure. Good for international flights, checking a bag, or Atlanta-Hartsfield, but completely unnecessary for a 40-minute flight to MVY with no luggage.
2) I left my notepad and pens in the hotel room, thinking that I wouldn’t use them or want the extra weight in my backpack while biking MVY. I always travel with 2–3 pens. Upon getting to the airport, realizing I had three hours to kill and wanting to document this experience, I spent the next 40 minutes combing the airport for any sort of journal and cheap pen. I’m convinced that Boston doesn’t believe in blank paper because they’re too busy stocking Patriots merchandise. Ick. After 40 minutes, I finally found a bookstore that had journals and pens. I managed to get out for less than $10, so I’m counting it as a win.
The time is now 8:23am.
I’ve been at the airport for two hours, half of which I’ve spent journaling at the Shake Shack in Terminal C. $8 on writing materials well spent. I’m going to start making my way to my gate. The next 5–6 hours will be spent reconnecting with places and memories on MVY. Let’s hope I make reasonable choices.
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