Tis the season for road trippin'

Last week we headed to the great white north, braving the frigid rain and downright cold climes of Boston for a birthday party. We packed up a our new little car and prayed that the EZPass would work smoothly on its inaugural voyage and that the car would not decide to surprise with anything (mostly breaking down). I freelanced on Saturday, so we headed out as soon as I got home/ cleaned up, around 4pm or so.

I-95 led us straight into the remnants of NYC rush hour (yes, on Saturday). We sat in traffic for about an hour until we reached the toll booth, where we zipped through with our properly functioning EZPass transponder. It was smooth sailing for a few more hours until the wintry skies opened and dumped torrents of icy rain upon us. We had the customary response to such weather: put the wipers on high speed, lean forward to the windshield, turn the radio off, and follow the tail lights of the car in front of you with 100% confidence that that driver knows where the road is. (She/he did.) We arrived in Bostonia a little after ten and slid into party mode. Good times -- and happy birthday, Maria!

On Sunday we set our sights on getting to know Mary Baker Eddy. She was the founder -- nay, discover -- of Christian Science. Yeah, not Scientology, but it's equally as fascinating. We went to the MBE Library which, along with a Hall of Ideas, houses a really big walk-in inverted stained glass globe that depicts the world as it was in 1935. See below for stock photography of the place because they don't allow mortals to take photos:


Amazing, yes? As you can see, it's pretty big and there is indeed a catwalk through the middle of it. A tour guide led us through this in a group of about 30 and instructed us to be quiet as the slightest sounds can be heard very easily. So, of course when you hear instructions like that you immediately look around for....children. And there he was, about 2 years old. The guide spoke quietly, and sure enough, we heard everything with great clarity: his voice, shuffling of feet, nervous rustling of paper, and oh yes -- "shriek! shriek! shriek! ha ha ha ha ha." A good time was had by all.

At the end the guide let us talk amongst ourselves while we looked around, and I felt like Bruce Almighty when all of a sudden Jim Carrey can hear the prayers of every person in the world all at once. Yes, 30 or so voices all sounding as if they are speaking directly into your ear...plus "shriek!"

Luckily the drive back to our balmy southern home was quick and uneventful, with mostly clear sailing home.

This weekend (aka tomorrow) we head further south to visit some folks we met in an airport in Miami about three years ago. Somehow this couple exceeds all standards of awesomeness and we're super stoked to spend some time with them. We had high hopes of visiting for 1 or 2 weeks and now it has been whittled down to one skimpy little weekend (dangit work, sometimes we hatecha!) but we'll take what we can get. Ben and Alexis, be prepared for a sleep-deprived coffee-fueled good time weekend. Waxhaw or bust!