I have a problem with being idle on vacation.  After having cancer, I want to see everything and do everything because I don't know when or if I'll get another chance.  It probably isn't the most stress-free way to live, but it also ensures I have as few regrets as possible.

I'm getting better about padding our trip itinerary with rest and slower days.  I was grateful for my diligence in including those times because we definitely needed them.  It gives me insight into planning future trips, with honoring our bodies, energy levels, and mental health high on the list. 

On our third day in Boston, we took full advantage of our slower morning to rest before we headed back downtown to meet up with my friend and former Boston roommate.  We spent the next two days leading up to concert time visiting with her and attempting to see some more of Boston.

A slower morning was much-needed by Day 3 (Day 4 if you count travel days).  I was still doing a lot better energy-wise than I've done on previous trips.  It's taken a long time since cancer to feel more even.  We dined on Dunkin' before Sean ran an early morning errand, taking the T alone!  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

By lunchtime, we returned to Downtown Boston to meet my friend Shala, whom I hadn't seen in nine years.  She just landed in town that morning so we were all running low on steam.  Even low on steam, Miss Shala is a talker.  She talked sun up until well past sundown.  And she could have kept going somehow.  At home, I live a quiet life where I work from home and don't usually come in contact with people other than my husband.  Being present in conversation while walking cobblestone sidewalks, watching for traffic, and everything else was a LOT for my brain to take on.  I powered through and we had a lot of fun walking around a little bit of Downtown Boston.  In doing so, I also had the opportunity to nurture a closer friendship with her.  We had some important conversations and learned more about who we are as people now, especially when we reminisced about living in Boston twenty-four years ago and just how far we have come in that time.

We shopped stores in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace.  A few places carried 2X and 3X options in tees and sweatshirts.  It was actually way more than I usually see anywhere on vacation.  We browsed the kiosks, talked to pigeons, listened to a violinist play, and headed to Quincy Market for lunch.  We ate tacos, lobster rolls, and clam chowder under the rotunda.

After our late lunch, we took the T to the Public Garden.  Sean roamed around taking photos while Shala and I acted silly, hugged trees, talked to squirrels, and laughed and cried in the warm light.  I was so grateful to get that time with her to connect and get excited for concert day!  We made sure Shala caught her train, and then we caught our own back to the hotel.  It was a takeout noodle kinda night before we promptly fell asleep.

Let's count travel days.  Day 5 was concert day!!  We were exhausted from our journeys thus far, so another slow morning was had.  Shala met us at our hotel to drop off her concert clothes and we walked to Wahlburgers for lunch.  Shala and I have been New Kids On The Block fans for a very long time.  It's because of New Kids that we met, so it was fun to visit Wahlburgers together.  

The service at this Fenway Wahlburgers was incredibly slow though.  We sat in the restaurant in the back and it took an hour and a half to get two burgers and a salad.  The food tasted fine enough, but it wasn't worth the extra time it took to wait there.  Because of this delay, we had to skip checking out our old apartment together and head back to the hotel to get ready for the concert.