East Coast Travels

"Chelsa and Morrigan's Spring Break 2009 'Green is the New Black' Amazing Race"

My friend Chelsa and I decided to spend a week of our lives traveling to the East Coast and freeze our bottoms off! Unfortunately I wasn't near a computer to do day-to-day updates, but here are some highlights of our amzingily wonderful trip.

On Wednesday, we flew to DC. We stayed with Chelsa's friend in Virginia with his roommate. The weather was VERY nice when we flew in. We went to lunch/dinner where the waiter refused to let me try the crab cakes. We visited the DC temple at night, but it was so late that the gates were closed and we barely got a decent picture :( On Thursday we did all the touristy sight seeing stuff: White House, Lincoln Memorial, War Memorials, and my personal favorite, The Jefferson Memorial. My favorite thing I bought on this whole trip was a feather pen, ink, and oldish looking parchment paper. I am going to write everyone I know a letter! I want to be a master of the pen just like Jefferson. I love him! We visited the Smithsonian and saw a really cool butterfly exhibit. We had to pay 6 dollars, but it was worth it. You walk into a massive man-made cocoon and inside were hundreds of moths and butterflies. Every minute they misted water out and it was SO incredibly hot and humid!!! It felt like Thailand all over again! We also saw a beautiful orchid exhibit. We only had time to visit the Natural History Museum portion. We walked down to the Capital Building and took a few pictures, but it was past 5pm so it was all closed down. We ate dinner at a famous Chili place that Prez Obama ate at after being in DC his first day..... (or something like that, I wasn't really listening....).

On Friday we lounged around for a bit and then went to visit the FRONT SIDE of the white house, the side that is facing away from The Mall. Then we got on our bus to New York.... the bus took freaking FOREVER.... but it was only 20 dollars, so I supposed I can't complain too much..... There was only one stop in Baltimore, MD - but that was to pick up more riders.... no stops for food.... it took us 8 hours.... it was only supposed to be 6! We almost starved to death..... BUT THEN we arrived in New York, Penn Station. This is where the fun begins. I had booked a hostel for Chelsa and I - having no idea where it was actually located. Well, we somehow mastered the subway and ended up in Harlem. Although I wasn't phased by this at all (my only knowledge of Harlem is the Globetrotters), I had the pleasure of watching Chelsa FREAK OUT whilst walking around the streets looking for our hostel. I guess she's watched too many Law and Orders where bad stuff goes down in Harlem ;) We finally found our cute, quaint little hostel. We dropped our bags and met 2 of the 6 other girls we were going to be sleeping with. After pulling Chelsa's teeth to go back into the streets of Harlem again, we got onto the subway and went to dinner at Hard Rock in Times Square. It was DELICIOUS, but anything would have tasted good at this point!

On Saturday we met up with my friend-in-law, Ryan, who acted as our own personal tour guide. We visited the Met, Rockefeller, "Where 7th Avenue meets Broadway", anddddd just had an all around decent time. By far, my favorite part of NYC was the nuts!! Mmm... delicious.

Sunday was my favoritest part of New York.... Chelsa and I went to the Statue of Liberty. It was a helluva freezing ferry ride, but very much worth it! Although we didn't climb Lady Liberty or visit the museum, we took loads of pictures and I really enjoyed the history behind the symbol. We then went back up to Harlem, got our bags, and missed our bus to Boston! So we ate some dinner in ChinaTown and I found some delicious fruit that I ate in Thailand! (That was another one of my favorite parts of new york.... the fruit!) I found us some vegetarian deliciousness for dinner and we boarded our bus to Boston at 7pm. The ride was only 5 hours. We decided to stay in a REAL hotel, since we were tired of living off of friends and hostels. So we stayed at a Ramada Inn in Dorchester, which our cab driver told us was a horrible part of town. Whatever... as long as we had a bad and private bathroom, I was happy! :)

On Monday we had our fill of early American History of the Revolutionary war. I fell in LOVE with Boston. The houses are adorable, the people were over the top kind to us, and we found the most precious, quaint little stores that we bought jewelry and trinkets at! We rode the BeanTown Trolley around town to see some sights. We also walked more than half of the Freedom Trail, a red brick road you follow around Boston to see historical sites. Among a few, we saw Bunker Hill Memorial (located on Breed's Hill, where the battle actually took place), The USS Constitution (which we could not tour because everything is closed on Monday), The Old North Church (where Paul Revere saw the 2 lanterns), Paul Revere's House (closed on Monday), cool cemeteries, and many other things! We ate lunch in Little Italy and I had the best Baked Ziti I've ever had EVER in my life.... I felt so "Soprano's".... and it only cost 7.50!!! What a smashing deal! We took the trolley to the famous park where the book "Make Way for Ducklings" was written and saw the statue.... then we walked across the street and saw the "Cheers" bar from the TV show. Of COURSE, we did more shopping and ate dinner at Quincy Market. I accidentally spilled clam chowder all over Chelsa when I was pointing out a very good looking man I was talking to in line..... Ahh.... good times.... We met a girl named Maria and spent the evening with her. We went to Fenway Park and took a few pictures.

On Tuesday, it was time to say goodbye to Boston..... I went to Rhode Island by Amtrak. I also fell in LOVE with Providence. I have decided I want to move to New England!! I took a flight back to Phoenix. In Boston, the temperature was 33*, not including the wind chill. When we got back to Phoenix, it was 85*. I quickly stripped off my 3 sweaters and long underwear! Man, what a difference!

Things I will remember from this trip:

** I love love love DC and Boston. I could move there in a heartbeat!
** People were constantly asking me for directions, which was ironic, because we were usually lost ourselves.... I guess I just have that look of "always knowing what's going on...." HA! ;)
** I got about 12 rocks in my shoe whilst walking around Boston. It was insanity!
** Chelsa withstood my for a week straight! She's going straight to heaven!
** I bought more jewelry than I ever have in my whole life! Chelsa was a bad influence ;)
** I am sad I did not get to see Kara :(
** If Chelsa and I ever move to NYC, I will live in Harlem, she will live on 5th Ave and have a little puppy, and we'll see which one of us is safer ;) (....inside JOKESSSSSS)
** What the HECK was up with all the people RUNNING in DC?? Runners EVERYWHERE!!!
** I am so thankful that it did NOT snow while we were there.
** It was awesome to be in Boston for St. Patrick's Day. What pride, what pride....
** I loved seeing Chelsa quiver in Harlem and in the hostel.... we come from two different traveling worlds, but with our powers combined, we made it through this trip!