Arriving in Boston

I was excited to get to Boston, but sad because I was saying goodbye to Alex. On our way to Boston (in between stopping at the L.L. Bean outlet and a barber shop in Portland), we discussed the trip. I felt so guilty about being sick, and also for worrying Alex. But really, we didn’t miss out on much due to my illness. (Which, by the way, is still lingering... I still have no singing voice and have been short of breath occasionally. So frustrating!) But we still got to do all the things we wanted to do. I just wasn’t my usual self during all this... I was quieter than usual because I had no voice, and I didn’t laugh much because if I laughed I couldn’t breathe and started coughing. How sad is that?? 

Anyway, Alex didn’t seem to be irritated at all, just worried. And I tried to be as pleasant as possible even though there were a few evenings where I was feverish and tired and just over it. To be fair, that was toward the beginning when we were staying in the house of horrors on Prince Edward Island, which is not where you want to be when you’re sick. Overall, Alex said we made a good team, and I agreed. I honestly wasn’t tired of him after 11 days of being together almost constantly. Really, the only times we were apart were to sleep, and the morning I went to the ER for a few hours, my trip to Urgent Care, and when he finished that hike on his own. Normally, after being around people a lot, I need some time alone to recharge. But it wasn’t like that with Alex; he’s just comfortable to be with. It helped that we were always in agreement about stuff like what time to get up, how late to stay out, when/where to stop for meals, stuff like that. One thing I had worried about was that he’d want to go out to the bars in every town we went to. I have some friends who do a lot of drinking on vacation, and that’s just not my jam. But Alex and I each only had two beers during the whole trip. 

Alex drove into Boston, which was great because I was feeling a little nervous about being back in a big city. We didn’t have a lot of time before his flight, but he hadn’t been to Salem in years and wanted to stop there, so we did. 

It was really meaningful for me to see the Salem Witch Trials Memorial because my students read a book about it last year, so a lot of these names had significance to me. I knew their stories.

(I snapped this pic of Alex while he was waiting for me to finish taking pictures... it just cracks me up how he looks like a model and yet is the most kind and considerate guy I’ve ever met. Maybe he doesn’t know how good looking he is? Well, I definitely enjoyed the scenery for the past 11 days.)

And then finally, I left Alex at the airport with a big hug and kiss on the cheek and headed to my Air BnB in Lowell, ready to explore a new city.