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Saturday, May 1, 2010

Boston or Bust!

Elizabeth and I travelled to Boston a couple of weeks ago to visit MIT. This was the last school Elizabeth needed to visit before making her decision on where to go to college. Unfortunately, it started off rather bleakly when our plane out of Tucson had mechanical problems! We thought we wouldn't get to Boston, until Friday night. Too late for the tour, classes, Institute, etc. After talking, and talking, and talking to several ticketing agents, and then going on standby on one plane, we arrived in Boston at 9:30 Friday morning, with only 3 hours sleep! Whew! We were able to make the 11:00 tour, and let Elizabeth go to an Astrophysics class. (She loved that class! Crazy Woman!) We also went an LDS Institute class. It was phenomenal! (Cute boys too.) Overall Elizabeth's impressions were favorable. The biggest problem was finding your way around campus where the buildings all run into one another. They are all named by numerals (Building 6, Building 22, etc.) but they aren't all in numerical order! HUH?!? We wandered around for a while trying to find the Institute class in Building 11, only to find out there are two Building 11's. How confusing! The picture above is of the famous MIT dome. This grassy area is where many activities are held, including graduation.
Elizabeth wasn't sure she liked the subways at first...but she seemed to get used to them by the end of our trip.

Saturday we set out to see the sights of Boston. It was COLD! and RAINY! Here we are in front of Paul Revere's house.

A bell made by Paul Revere.

If you look towards the back of this picture you can see the North Church where the lanterns were placed at the start of the Revolutionary War. The steeple blends in with the clouds.

Elizabeth by the Boston Harbor. It was sooo cold, right after we took this picture we headed right for Starbucks for some hot chocolate.

We had to stop by Boston Commons to see the "Make Way for Ducklings" statue! Unfortunately, the swan boats were not running because of the weather.

We took a tour of the Freedom Trail. I learned so much about American History. Its fun to walk the places you have only read about in history books.


We stopped by Quincey Market for dinner. Yummy clam chowder. These street performers outside of Faneuil Hall were so fun. They juggled knives, hats, juggling pins....everything.

Here are Elizabeth and I in Cambridge where we spent most of the day Sunday.

In front of the Stata Center at MIT. (Looks like Dr. Seuss designed it.)

The view of downtown Boston from MIT.

Several LDS students get together on Sunday afternoons to make dinner for each other. They invited Elizabeth. What fun! We were able to see some the dorms, and Elizabeth was able to ask all the questions she wanted about life at MIT.
So what was the final outcome of all of this? .....
Elizabeth has chosen to go to MIT!

6 comments:

Mindi said...

Wow, sounds like whirlwind of a trip!! So glad you got there in time to do everything. Congratulations to Elizabeth for choosing MIT! It looks like you will have a good group of people to help you get settled. Boston..wow.

kellie said...

OH she is just the lady! How did that happen Janelle? I am sure that this all boggles your mind...I am so glad you had a great time together!

kidding...right? said...

What a fun trip and it sounds like she made a great decision on where to go to school!

Rena said...

YaHOOOO! Very exciting. I am glad the "decision" is finally made for you and for her! Congrats on having an MIT kid!! CRAZY!!!

AND NOW, FURTHER ADO said...

sniff. sniff. I still can't believe Elizabeth's all grown up and headed off to MIT. I kinda hope it's all a dream and I'm going to wake up with Charlie in the high chair and a barbie stuck to my face waiting for you to return home from your date. Do you think it'll happen? Sniff. sniff.

AND NOW, FURTHER ADO said...

p.s. I'm pretty sure there's an algorithm to navigating the campus.