Beantown or bust

I'm sure it's very unusual for a Yankee fan to say they love Boston but when you're talking about the city and not the baseball team....I think it's allowed ;-)

Jonathan & I "shipped" ourselves up to Boston, as the song goes, this past weekend for something called Boston Megafest. It took place on Saturday and Sunday but we spent all of Friday getting up there. We opted to take the train instead of driving (which we should have done, we later admitted to ourselves). Our train departed from Penn Station at 11:33am and we BARELY made it. Just barely. I felt like I was a part of the airport scene in Home Alone. Once on the train, we had about 3 hours to breathe before getting off in Springfield, MA. When we got there, a three hour wait awaited us. I really wish we hadn't had a delay but it was the only option for a late morning ride. Anyway, we really did make the best of it. Walked aimlessly for five minutes and found a mall (if you even want to call it that) to eat.

At ten to six we boarded the second train to Framingham, MA. We stayed at the Sheraton (where Megafest was being held) and the outside was like a castle. The hotel was HUGE! Our room was pretty sweet too. We had dinner at Molly Malone's, one of two restaurants inside the hotel. Also at the restaurant was Tony Atlas (WWE Hall of Famer), Frank Stallone, Seka, and Norman Reedus.

The next morning, the festivities began. We got a late start thanks to being so tired from the previous days travels so the ballroom where the Megafest was being held was already busy busy busy. We immediately got on line to meet Christopher Lloyd. When I was there, I totally forgot the man is 72 years old but he looks good for his age. By the time we got a chance to meet him (two hours later thanks to a serious delay), he seemed tired but when Jonathan spoke about being a big fan, he had a very kind smile on his face. And he gave me a warm smile when I shook his hand. Pleasant meeting all around.

The only other people we paid to meet (well, Jonathan did) was James Tolkan (best known as the principal from Back to the Future). Jonathan got him to utter the line "You're a slacker, Jonathan" on camera which was amazing! The man sounded and looked just like he did in the movie! -geek moment- Then we made a beeline to meet Howard Finkel, who was a very nice guy and I know Jonathan was THRILLED to meet him, as a life long wrestling fan. Fortunately for me, Monday Night Raw had an "old school night" the Monday of that week so I got be familiar with him prior to the meeting.

Other people who were in attendance (very random selection) were Kristin Bauer from True Blood, Marina Sirtis of Star Trek fame, Cathy St. George, a former playmate (and whom we were on the Amtrak train with going to MA, though I didn't know it at the time), Caroll Spinney, the voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch and Sean Patrick Flanery, to name a few. Besides the "celebrities", there were also memorabilia galore. Seriously. For all you Queens natives, it was like a massive Royal Collectibles. The only thing I bought (besides the autograph/pictures) that day was a $4 original copy of Freaky Friday. Once a bookworm, always a bookworm.

But we were feeling restless after all that (not to mention hungry) so we got the hotel shuttle to take us to the nearest mall which ended up being in a town called Natick. The Natick Collection was about a 10 minute drive and we quickly found a Friendly's inside there to eat. Shopped around a bit and ended up taking a cab back to the hotel since the shuttle service had ended by the time we left the mall. In budgeting this trip, we seriously forgot to think about how far things were from the hotel. (This is where thoughts of "damn, we should have driven to Boston" started). The next morning we had to check out of the hotel but we decided (after a nice big breakfast of course) to give the convention one more look-see.

That's where things went downhill. Our train from Framingham to Boston, where we were to check into another hotel, was leaving at 11:40. At 11:11, I texted Jonathan, who was still downstairs checking out stuff, to hurry back to the room so we could get our stuff and get the next shuttle to the Amtrak station. We rushed and got downstairs in time but to our horror, the shuttle wasn't able to get back on time. The next train didn't leave until 3pm and there was NO way we were waiting that long. The concierge called a cab for us but even that took long! The shuttle driver came back before the cab driver did! Needless to say, when the cab finally came, we told him the dilemma and he got us there right in time to see the train in the station. However, to even more horror, we saw we had to access the platform via an overpass from the side we were dropped on. We RAN. Ran with our backpacks and suitcases. Ran like a knife wielding murderer was at our backs!! As we're running over the overpass, the bells start to ring, signaling the train was about to leave. At this point our limbs were about to fall off but we still kept running. As we're leaping down the stairs....the train pulls out of the station. In a fit of rage, Jonathan threw his suitcase in front of him and flipped the departing train the finger. It was incredibly comical but really frustrating.

We tried to call various bus companies and even a passing police officer tried to help us. We found out that we could go to the closest airport via "nearby" bus stop. From the airport, we could take the Silver Line into Boston. But...how to get to the bus stop? After standing in the middle of nowhere for about 20 minutes, at loss for words, who comes pulling up but the shuttle driver from the Sheraton Hotel?! The very one who took us to the mall the night before. (The man upstairs is a clever one). By the time we checked into the Best Western Roundhouse Suites, it was close to 3pm. A whole afternoon wasted. We unpacked, rested for a bit and headed downtown to where we would be seeing Harry Potter 7, Part 1. We walked around to find a place to eat and found Vapiano's, which I absolutely loved. Very laid back place. You place your own order at the bar and watch as they cook your food in front of you. Next stop was the AMC Loews by Boston Commons. Gorgeous movie theater! Seriously, puts our AMC's in Manhattan to shame. The movie itself was perfection. I wasn't sure how they were going to split the movie but they did it so well. By the time we left, it was creeping towards midnight. It was too cold to walk around aimlessly (not to mention dark) so we waited forever and a day for a cab to take us back to the hotel. Seriously, the cab service we were provided with blew hardcore. Fortunately we found a cab driver in the parking lot of a Dunkin Donuts who was willing to take us back to our hotel.

Since we were leaving the next afternoon, we knew the chances of seeing the places we wanted to see were slim to none. The incident with missing our train on Sunday morning really screwed us over but luckily we were able to walk around Prudential Center for an hour before we headed back home.

All in all, the trip was worth it. Yes, our main goal was to attend Boston Megafest but we also really had wanted to explore the city a bit. We already spoke about going back early next year or at least when it's warmer out. I know my sister wants to go. Time to gather up a group!

For all photos, check out my Flickr. I didn't get to take any of the photos I hoped for but, there's always next time.