I've just been scolded

I have been very lazy in writing about my New York adventures. Well, maybe "lazy" is not the best word. I think "too busy" works a bit better. On Monday I made a point to stay home at night, do laundry and catch up, and I even wrote about a trip to Boston. Somehow while writing I lost my wireless connection and I lost the entire post! So much for my good intentions. Now I get to try again and catch up.

So, where to begin? Maybe I'll just make a list of things and you guys can vote on what you want to read more about. I like this idea. Here's the list:
I went to Boston
I had my first guests to show around
I saw a Broadway play
More delicious restaurants
Halloween
I broke up with dessert
Floyd Landis/Cycling updates

I'll get everything started with my quickie trip to Boston. In September (yes, that long ago) I headed to Beantown. I found out that my cousin Alicia was going to be there to visit friends and go to the BYU/Boston College football game. Now, football is not one of my favorite sports, but I thought it would be fun to see my cousin. When I decided to go, I thought it would be great fun to take a train. Thanks to my time in France I have grown a great love for rail travel, and it is pretty popular here in the East Coast as well. However, it is not cheap. It would have cost about $200 for a trip to Boston which, by the way, is no great distance. Instead, I took the advice of my roommate and took the bus.

There are several bus lines in New York to help the car-less get to places like, Philly, DC, Montreal, and Boston. Buses are a lot less glamorous than the train but it was only $30 round trip--a definite bargain. Let us keep in mind, however, that you get what you pay for. For example, I got four and a half hours with my knees jammed into the seat in front of me.

The most famous of the bus lines are the ones based in Chinatown. In fact, the phrase "Chinatown Bus" describes any of the lines commencing in that neighborhod of NYC. The two lines that go to Boston are the Fung Hua and the Lucky Star. (Yes, I think of the early eighties Madonna song when I mention the Lucky Star.) Both bus lines offer the same features: low price, seats that don't have a lot of leg room, and a brief stop at a Chinese buffet in Connecticut. I decided to go with the Lucky Star, and it was not because wanted to hum Madonna during the trip. The week before my trip one of the Fung Hua buses overturned on the way back from Boston. That helped the decision process. You may be wondering how I enjoyed my meal at the Chinese buffet. Well, truth be told, I didn't eat at the buffet. I generally don't eat at Chinese restaurants that have tator tots next to the fried rice.

My time in Boston was pretty short because most of my trip was spent at the football game or at church. The game was good, as far as football games go. In the end BYU lost, but they lost in double overtime; so it was exciting to the end. To be honest, by the time the second overtime came around I didn't care who won. I should have kept that little secret quiet because a few people questioned my loyalty to my alma mater.

Saturday night after the game Alicia, her friends, and I had dinner in cajun/mexican restaurant in Harvard Yard (Square? I really wasn't there long enough to remember.) I was ready for dinner because we didn't have much to eat throughout the day, and if you know me you will also know that I need to be well-fed in order to avoid a low-blood sugar disaster. Normally when the blood sugar levels dips I start crying. On rare occasions I turn into the spawn of Satan. And that is what reared its ugly head at the restaurant. The restaurant was crowded, and we were lucky to get a table for nine, even though we had a wait a while to get it. Finally it was our turn, and we had to elbow our way through the throng to get to our table. The restaurant has a policy that it will not seat a party until everyone was present. We were all there, but only some of us were better at pushing through the hordes of hungry people. When only four of us made it through, the host asked if we were all there. I said, yes, the rest will be there soon. Then he told us the house rule that everyone had to be there. And then I snapped. Out of nowhere Angry Meredith came out and yelled at him, and said that we were all there but they were having troubles getting through the crowd. Doesn't seem that mean, right? On paper, no, but I must have been vicious because the restaurant manager ended up seating us. I also managed to have the blow-up in front of a group of servers, including the one assigned to our table. He jokingly asked if I was going to yell at him too, and from that point on I was worried that someone was going to spit in my food. I don't know if anyone actually did, and my pulled beef enchilada was delicious. I did apologize to the host on our way out.

Thoae were the memorable highlights of my trip to Boston. Like I said, I didn't have time to see the historic locations in Boston. But I did see Ben Affleck's/Jennifer Garner's house. I'll see the more important stuff on my next trip to Boston.

So now that you have read this, please write a comment and vote for the next entry. Will it be my first broadway play or my feelings about a tough break-up? Did I go trick-or-treating? You vote, I'll write.