Most of the time, when we described this trip to people (many, many people we saw along the way), their responses ranged from impressed to incredulous to just plain confused. Like, "Why in the world did you decide to do it this way?" The simplest answer to that is we kind of had to. I had two good friends getting married two weeks apart. In the middle were two librarian conferences -- one Samantha was planning on attending (indeed, even got a scholarship to go to) and one of which we both were. What were we supposed to do? Fly back and forth three times?
So this is what we ended up with, approximately. The route is outlined in blue and the placemarks are all the spots where we slept. (I'm trying out Google Maps new My Maps feature. Did it work?) And you know what? It was a good time.
I'll spare you the blow-by-blow and give you the run down in two of my own trademark inimitable ways: by bullet point highlights and numerical overview!
- Amy's wedding. A little church in her lovely hometown in New Hampshire was the location. The ceremony was very musical and very Amy. We saw some old friends and had a good time hanging out with the younger crowd.
- Seeing Alison and Ramy in Boston while getting detoured on the T and crashing a potluck birthday party.
- A quiet evening and delicious dinner hosted by Tone.
- An awesomely efficient and thorough tour of Manhattan by my high school friend Erik.
- Seeing the Twins lose to the Mets at Shea Stadium (yes, still a highlight in spite of the loss).
- A mostly relaxing three days in Baltimore sightseeing while Samantha attended the RBMS pre-conference. I bummed around her mom's house reading and also spent a day wandering around Mount Vernon, seeing the Peabody Library, the Basilica of the Assumption, the Enoch Pratt Free Library, central branch, the Walters Art Museum, and (last but not least) a tour of Camden Yards.
- An educational and socially entertaining three days in Washington, DC at the ALA conference. Samantha continued her heavy schmoozing at several RBMS meetings, I attended a few sessions, and we caught up with friends both old and new over good food and drinks -- many of which were on the dime of vendors or alma maters.
- A day and a half in Bloomington, IN, visiting friends (and favorite eating establishments).
- Seeing relatives in Indianapolis and Chicago.
- Jen's wedding. This one was outside, at a resort near a lake in rural Wisconsin. Old friends and new were once again in attendance and the reception was a grand time.
- Seeing my parents briefly before catching an early flight back.
And! The second edition of The Trip Index (here's the first, in case you forgot):
17: Non-library friends seen (Gillian, Amy, Becky, Ramy, Tone, Erik, Leili, Corrine, Sam, Robert, David, Jon, Mari, Tony, Aaron, Hilary, Jen)
15: States visited
12: trips taken on public transit in Boston, NYC, Washington and Baltimore
9: nights staying with friends/family (thank you, all of you!)
8: family members seen (Mom, Dad, Cyndi, Rich and Jim, John and Marti, Alison)
7: library-related friends seen (Amy, Pete, Sarah, Hannah, Isabelle, Jaclyn, Susanna)
7: nights in hotels
5: nights in hotels paid for by work or gift certificates
4: airports (LAX, BOS, MSP, DFW)
2: conferences totally attended
2: friends totally got married
2: cars rented
2: hot dogs at Shea Stadium
1: road warrior wife who, amazingly, also thought this trip was a good time
0: performances of Um Ya Ya
0: visits to Waffle House??
Whew. Life after trip coming up next!