This is it! The final chapter in the “INBOUND Trip” series!
It’s sort of bittersweet when a trip comes to an end. I typically feel both relieved and wistful during the waning hours of a travel adventure.
Those of you who read my 7-part “Disney Trip” series know that our rally cry for the final day at Walt Disney World was “We have to finish strong!”
It is in that spirit Jason, Jolene, Bridget, and I spent our last hours in Boston doing some “tourist things” before our flight back to Omaha.
I mentioned in my previous post that Bridget started to feel uneasy during our Friday night excursions, and she wasn’t feeling much better when Saturday morning rolled around. Travel has a way of doing that — especially on a trip jam-packed with activities. That is not a fun way to feel when you’re staring down several hours on an airplane.
While I was partaking in the free breakfast (a bowl of granola cereal) at the Residence Inn, Bridget had a glass of apple juice.
I also had to try some of the treats acquired from Mike’s Pastry the previous evening.
Bridget captures me in the most interesting poses when I’m not paying attention. Look at me holding a fork in one hand, with cupcake in the other, looking longingly at the mound of buttercream frosting:
We showered, packed up, checked out, and wheeled our bags down the block to meet up with Jason and Jolene at their hotel. They had arranged for late check out, and the four of us wanted to do something fun before our 3 p.m. flight out of Logan.
Jolene looked up potential activities within a reasonable walking distance.
We decided to visit the MIT Museum. The venue features various robotic creations and an extensive nautical collection.
The MIT Museum is located in fairly inauspicious surroundings with a rather small footprint. I learned that the venue is moving to a new location at Kendall Square in 2021.
The first floor of the museum featured an exhibit of robots built on campus:
There was a station demonstrating how seal whiskers work and also an exhibit showing people “in motion” and a gift shop on the first floor.
The second floor featured a number of fascinating exhibits including a nautical collection. It is among the oldest marine technology archives in the United States — showing the intricacies of marine design and shipbuilding.
The most fascinating items were from the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Much of the work presented laid the groundwork for success enjoyed by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company (HMCo]. There is an extensive digital archive you can peruse on large flatscreens. Pretty impressive stuff.
One of the most impressive collections at the museum is “Gestural Engineering: The Sculpture of Arthur Ganson.”
I took some pics of this, but it isn’t nearly as impressive as seeing the sculptures in motion. I found this video on YouTube showing the mesmerizing creations:
There was also a modernist graphic design exhibit in the hallway on the way to the restroom. Since graphic design is the way I make a living, I was happy to see these examples of “Swiss Design” style using the font Helvetica. Fun fact: “Helvetica” translated is “Swiss” — it is the Swiss typeface (I learned that in my favorite documentary “Helvetica” by Gary Hustwit).
When we first walked into the museum I was “underwhelmed,” but as we peeled back the layers on the various collections, we found a treasure trove of interesting items to peruse. Quite honestly, we would have liked to stay longer, but we had to catch an Uber and head to the airport.
On the way back to the hotel, we spotted this pretty building. It is part of the Novartis campus in Cambridge.
Jason and I spotted these stones on the stone patio in front of their Marriott. They feature inspirational quotes from technology pioneers. I had to get a pic of the one featuring the Steve Jobs quote (“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me ... Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful ... that’s what matters to me.”
The airport was an experience all its own.
Bridget was told that she could go through the body scanners with her Apple Watch on. She removed her shoes and put them in a tray with her laptop and sent them through the scanners, along with her backpack.
Unfortunately, the Apple Watch on her wrist turned out to be an issue, so she had to step back, remove the watch, and send it on a tray by itself.
Meanwhile, her other items were coming through piecemeal on the moving belt. One of the employees handed me her backpack and MacBook Air. Then the watch arrived. Her purse, shoes, and box of Mike’s Pastry was selected for special screening, so once she finally made it through, she went looking for that bin.
I pulled Bridget’s carry-ons over to a nearby bench where Jason and Jolene helped me reassemble everything. I almost knocked Bridget’s Apple Watch off the bench and onto the tile floor, but Jolene pointed it out in the nick of time.
Bridget’s last bin finally cleared security, but as she unpacked it, she realized it only had one of her shoes. She went back up to the desk and asked, “Where’s my shoe?”
A gentleman nearby said, “I heard them say something about a lost shoe.”
Moments later, Bridget's black Nike showed up.
I really felt for her. As I mentioned earlier, she wasn’t feeling all that hot, and moments like that can amp up the worry bugs.
As we were walking by a Hudson Booksellers on the way to the terminal, a display for the book “Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber” by Mike Isaac caught my eye. As I mentioned in a previous post, Bridget and I took our first Uber rides on this trip (thanks Jason!). I thought the book looked interesting and ordered a copy from Amazon later (review in an upcoming post):
They also had a nice play area for kids. I thought of my niece Scotland and nephews Blaise and Anson when I saw it. We traveled with them to Disney World in April, and they would have really enjoyed a place like that to play.
When we got to our gate, we plunked down our items and took shifts going to get refreshments and visit the restroom before our plane departed.
I took the first shift and watched the bags while Jason, Jolene, and Bridget ran their errands.
While I stood there, the fire alarm went off in the terminal. With my companions gone, I tried to devise a plan for how I’d carry all the backpacks and carry-on items under my care (should the need arise).
Jason and Jolene soon returned. Bridget walked up shortly thereafter. One of the workers at the snack shop told Bridget that this happens periodically. We were informed several times by announcement that the fire department had been notified and was responding. (Just before we boarded, the fire alarm stopped sounding … but we never did find out what happened.)
At this point, I think our group was just ready to get on the plane, pop in our headphones, and chill out for a few hours.
Southwest offers in-flight entertainment via web browser on your digital device — including live TV.
We were all wanting to watch the Husker Football game versus Colorado on the way back, and they just so happened to carry the network broadcasting the game.
Here is a pic of the four of us looking at our devices (I’ll bet Bridget was thankful she got the headphone adapter at Apple the night before):
We were able to watch the first half of the game on the leg from Boston to Chicago. It really made the time go by fast — thanks Southwest!
We had dinner at the Go-Go White Sox Bar and Grill at Midway. We were able to continue watching the Husker game on one of the TVs.
I ordered the Italian beef sandwich (sans peppers) and chips:
Bridget had the potato soup:
Jason ordered the burger (if I recall correctly) and Jolene had an epic-looking BLT sandwich (I can’t believe I didn’t get a pic of the most photogenic dish at our table).
When we finished up, it was time to get to our gate for the flight home. I mistakenly thought we had another hour before boarding, so I was thrown off to find we were ready to board (thankfully, my companions knew better).
We watched the closing moments of the Husker game (meh!) in the plane. Takeoff was delayed a bit (the pilot said over the intercom that they needed to fetch some bags before departure).
I watched “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” during the flight. Bridget and Jolene both read Vince Flynn novels. I think Jason was watching “Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” on Netflix.
My companions had us pose for this picture to conclude the blog (I had them all trained by the end of the trip to photograph everything):
That was pretty much it. Jason informed us that he’d earned enough frequent flyer miles for a free flight to Orlando (I like his thinking... we’ll make it to see “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” someday!)
We had a really good time attending the INBOUND conference with Jason and Jolene. The four of us hadn’t traveled together before, and you never know ahead of time how the group dynamic will flow when you traverse the globe for the first time.
I’m hoping we’ll get to travel together again soon!
P.S. — Our niece/goddaughter Scotland had this card ready for us when we returned home!
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