Blog on the Lillypad
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Jeri and Kevin Do Boston! (United Fan Con East)
 | Thursday
In Raleigh, temperatures were mild and the sky clear. I woke up at 3:35 a.m., shut off both alarm clocks, and briskly followed my routine: Check e-mail, make coffee, shower, don travel clothes (anything with lots of pockets) dry hair, pack car, etc. I arrived at the Raleigh station 30 minutes in advance. At the desk, the clerk told me that the train would be at least two hours late. Uh-oh: First complication. |
I returned home and goofed around for a while. When I returned to the station at 7:30, the train was predicted to be another hour late. Several of us in the waiting area got acquainted. A Christian school was sending a dozen or so middle school kids and their chaperones up to DC for a field trip. Another woman was returning home to New Jersey from vacation, a young girl was heading to New York to see her family, and a woman a few years older than I was going to DC to visit her elderly parents. Her name was Donna, and yes, she had watched Dr. Who with her husband all through the '80s.
 | Finally, three hours late, the train pulled in. Dawn had passed, and we had a clear, sunny day of early spring. We lined up on the platform and boarded the train. People aboard were still sleeping, exhausted after the numerous delays. I called my friend Bruce on my cellphone and cancelled our lunch plans in DC. What bothered me most was that it was now certain I would miss my 2:00 connector in DC and thus would miss meeting my convention buddy Kevin, who has a lot of big city savvy (like knowing how to read train and subway schedules). |
The thought of getting into Boston at around midnight, getting on a subway (after finding it first), then catching a taxi, intimidated me. I tried not to worry as I sat on the train and watched the brick churches and rows of tidy houses slip by on the North Carolina landscape. But even more delays followed, as we had to wait for CSX freight trains to clear the tracks for us at various intervals.
I decided to pray and ask the Lord to get me on a train with Kevin, but I did so with a sinking heart. I realized that it was probably already too late.
But two thirds of the way into the trip, I checked my voice mail on my cellphone. Kevin had left a message. He'd checked the Amtrack website, knew I'd never make the connector, and offered to meet me on the 4:00 train. He even told me the train number, as several were leaving for the Boston area at that time. I was very grateful to him and realized that God had answered my prayer.
| We pulled in to DC, four hours late, at 3:00 p.m. The group of us who had gotten acquainted at the Raleigh station was still chatting away. Donna offered to show me around the DC station so that I could find the ticket desk and switch my ticket and then get to the right gate. With no difficulty, thanks to her assistance, I switched to the 4:00 train and then found lunch at the Sbarro gourmet food bar. While in Sbarro, I struck up a conversation with a young woman from England who had just finished a job interview in DC at the British embassy. She thought it delightful that I was going to a Doctor Who convention! I wished her every success and then hurried off to find my gate. |  |
I was going Business Class (to assure that I got a seat), so I moved to the head of the line and boarded with my two carry-on bags. The seats in Business class are slightly roomier but other than that I found them less comfortable than the seats in coach. But in business class you get free soft drinks and bottled water from the train's snack bar, as much as you want. I am supposed to drink 10 glasses of water a day, but on the trip from DC to Boston, I think I made my quota!
| Just outside of DC, in New Carrollton, Kevin came aboard. And yes, I had every reason to be thankful to travel with him. Aside from being likeable and considerate (he gave me his jacket when I got cold), he knew how to find subways, what token machines are, how to get a Pullman suitcase through a turnstyle, and how to read a subway schedule. He navigated us to the Red line on the Boston "T", selected the right track, and explained how crucial it is to know the difference between "inbound" and "outbound".
By this time, I had been traveling for over 15 hours and was really, really, weary. At the Quincy Adams station, we called a taxi. The driver sped us up the steep hill where the Quincy Marriott sits like the king of the hill. We got to the hotel at 12:30 a.m. |  |
We checked in, and I bid him good night at his door, then found my own room. After a 21 hour day, that king sized bed sure looked great! But just to get myself settled down, I took about ten minutes to unpack and hang up my clothes. Then I made up the bed with my own flannel top sheet and flannel pillowcases. I've found when I travel that I sleep better on my own sheets.
I washed up, got into my pajamas (which felt wonderfully clean after clothing grubby from travel), and tumbled into bed at 1:10 a.m.
