I arrived on Saturday and checked into the Howard Johnson's in Quincy. Even HoJo's far away from the action is expensive - oy! I need to make my arrangements earlier before all the prices go sky-high. Quaint little town. You might recognize a couple of people associated with it:
(While John Adams' name is legible, John Hancock's signature might not be easily seen here.)
On my way down to the expo, I had to take a few of the obligatory photos, though I didn't ask anyone to take a photo with me in it.
And I felt compelled to take a couple of photos of the memorial.
It's always touching walking and running past this spot. I doff my hat in tribute every time I am running full-speed towards the finish line. I hope my timing getting into town next year will enable me to attend whatever ceremony they have for the 10th anniversary of the bombing.
This year, the expo was pretty decent. Not quite back to it's pre-pandemic self, but pretty close. Alas, my arrival was a little too late to attend the few speakers that I really wanted to. Having passed up the Fan Fest and the Adidas Makerslab on my way in, I decided to make a stop there to personalize my jacket. I got the patch they were offering up and customized it with my bib number -- 7032 -- finally getting a Wave 1 red bib!
While I originally figured I would go to the meet-up for one of the Facebook groups I'm a member of, I was feeling more my introverted self, and decided to bail on it -- heading straight off to the North End for some really good Italian food. Giacomo's already had a line outside of it when I arrived at 5pm, but it only took 15 minutes for me to get seated upstairs. And a great view of the street -- and of the next line that I would be standing in one block away: Mike's Pastry.
I got the Frutti di Mare Fra Diavolo. One of my favorite Italian dishes. And, dang, was it good, tasty, chock full of seafood, and a huge portion. (Sorry, no photo. Too hungry.)
And while the line for Mike's stretched just around the corner of the block from their store, it took less than 15 minutes to get inside and get my goodies. I got three desserts, to last me through Marathon Monday night: Nutella cannoli, black & white cookie, and mousse cannoli. All scrumptious.
Sunday, after having a surprisingly good breakfast at HoJo's (no need to go to Thornton's this time 'round), I hung out a little while before heading off to meet some friends for a non-Easter brunch and then a couple of hours at Boda Borg. For anyone who likes escape rooms, make sure to take a trip here at some point. And splurge on the 4 hours rather than 2 hours. You'll want it, given how often you'll fail in some of these quests and go back continually to figure them out and move on to the subsequent rooms within the quest. And if you're in Sweden, you'll have lots more opportunities, as the vast majority of their businesses are there -- Malden, MA has the only one within the U.S. Loads of fun.
I swung back down to meet my mom, who was coming in to track and watch me at the marathon, and we went for dinner back in Quincy at Liberty Tavern. The portions were huge, good prices, and friendly waitstaff, even if the place was overly loud for our tastes.
Nice relaxing day with minimal walking or other activity, all in the lead up to the big day: Marathon Monday -- my 5th in-person Boston Marathon (been running it since 2017).
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