back east!

We went back east to visit law schools and I got to see Philadelphia and Boston for the first time, and Manhattan from a distance, and a little bit of Connecticut and New Jersey in the process. We left Darren with his grandparents so this was a fun little getaway for us, although I missed the little guy a lot as this was the first time I have been away from him. I am glad to have him back now! Unfortunately, there are ZERO pictures of this trip since my camera decided to stop working and I am now in the market for a new one once again. Boo Minolta cameras! We went to Philly on Thursday night/Friday-- we walked all over the part of downtown called "Center City" where one of Paul's friends lives and walked down to the Liberty Bell. The parts of the city that we saw were nicer than I expected and I didn't see a single bum out on the streets while we walked - way safer than LA feels, since you practically can't drive through there without someone approaching your car to beg for your cash. On Saturday we drove the five hours or so to Boston and stayed till Sunday afternoon. I can tell that the area will be really pretty when there are leaves on the trees, but it was still wintery looking and in Boston it was freezing! I had to buy a sweatshirt from one of those cart vendors on the street when we were downtown because the four layers i was wearing were not enough to keep me warm with the icy winds blowing in my face. I can only imagine how it feels in the real winter. I am shivering just thinking about it. Boston and Cambridge were every bit as historic and charming as I imagined in my mind. We walked part of the Freedom Trail, which took us through a lot of cool streets with three story brick buildings with a shop or restaurant in the bottom floor and apartments above. It was a quick and busy trip, but loads of fun and very helpful in the decision-making process. East coast here we come.