Thursday, June 30, 1988

1988 Vacation Cleveland, OH and Boston, MA (6/29-30/1988)

Wednesday, June 29, 1988
I was packing the clean clothes and getting ready, and went downstairs to see everyone was already eating breakfast together! Had a banana and freshly squeezed orange juice. Kent's parents had brought a bag of ugly little oranges from Florida, which tasted great! They had gotten back to Ohio the day before we arrived! The others had cereal and bagels.
I did some ironing, and when everyone else was ready, we piled into the Ss’ van to drive into Cleveland to the Museum of Natural History. Outside was a life-size stegosaurus, which Kyle and Erich were able to climb and slide down.
Erich and Kyle in the stegosaurus
We entered for free on the Ss’ membership, and first went to the Hall of Ethnology. Very nicely done with great displays at the floor level as well as above. Saw a video of an eaglet being born, and one display showed a variety of animals watching a TV showing the world’s most dangerous animals. Those most dangerous animals were us! A small temporary exhibit on Mayan temples. Went through the gift shop to the dinosaurs and early man. Saw the difference between a mastodon and a mammoth, the former having sharp ridges on their teeth, the latter being flat, although both were vegetarians. Saw a skeleton holding a baseball. Downstairs to see birds, a woman showing an owl, then a black snake to perhaps science teachers. Insects, butterflies, plants. There was also a room of stones and gems, and planets. The planetarium only opens on weekends. We went outside where a bald eagle was in a cage.
We drove back to the Ss’ house for a lunch of cold-cut sandwiches, chips, pickles, and watermelon from Florida, Kent had found out he had to go to a meeting at 8:15 in Boston tomorrow, so he had made plane and hotel reservations and invited me along! After I finished ironing and packing we went to Westlake Mall to the Higbee’s department store to exchange the shirt and tie Kent had received for his birthday. He needed a bigger size shirt and a different style tie. We drove to the airport, taking the long way by driving into Cleveland, and finding that Snow Road would take us back out to the airport. Parked and took the moving sidewalk to the terminal. There was a long line at the ticket counter. Kent got in line and I waited with the luggage. Suddenly it got darker, and I turned around to find a huge man blocking the light. I tried to gauge his height by comparing him to Kent and he seemed two feet taller! Just a big businessman!
Kent managed to pay for the tickets using travel order drafts, although they had to do a lot of checking. We walked out to Gate 47 that was unmarked. I went further to find a Continental desk marked 47, but the loading was done from the gate. We boarded the 16:00 direct flight to Boston, and it turned into a take-any-seat situation after we had settled in our proper seats. We then sat for an hour because the routine check found an emergency oxygen tank was empty. They were debating several options, then chose to take one from a plane that was out of service for the rest of the day. We took off after 17:00, and were given a snack. They offered free beer due to the delay. Arrived in Boston about 18:30, and it was very cool as we waited for a taxi. The taxi had to loop around to get through the tunnel, then make a big circle to get to the Marriot Long Wharf Hotel. We had closed the windows because it was cool, but opened them because of a stale smell of vomit in the taxi. The taxi cost $9.40.
Checked into the swanky hotel, and had a $210 room with a king-size bed, and there was a small display of toiletries that we collected for Kent’s mom. Had a decent view of the water and Columbus Park. The hotel was very convenient for walking out under the highway to Quincy Market. We browsed, and decided to eat a combo plate of Cajun dishes; red beans and rice with sausage, jambalaya with chicken and sausage in a spicy sauce, and Étouffée: shrimp with a fish sauce over rice, with iced teas. After we ate we roamed amongst the carts, and found a blue spoon rest with a goose to give to Kent’s mom as a hostess gift. We liked it enough to remember to come back here to get one of our own. We got dessert of a fudge nut brownie for me, and mocha fudge for Kent. We bought drinks to take back to the hotel. We settled in at the hotel, when all of a sudden it began to pour rain! The Red Sox game was called due to rain and hail.

Thursday, June 30, 1988
Kent was up at 7:00 to go to the ISPO meeting here in this hotel. I was hoping to go to the Ramses II exhibit at the Science Museum, but it was by reserved ticket and there were no openings today. So I wandered through Quincy Market and picked up a lunch for me and Kent. I returned to the hotel to pick up our things and called the front desk to use the express check-out. At noon, I went to the hotel lobby to wait for Kent, and when he arrived, we caught a cab for the airport. This time the route was more direct and we paid $5.70.
There was a long line to check into USAir’s 13:30 flight to Pittsburgh. We ate the Latino empanadas, one was broccoli and cheese and the other was supposed to be chicken, but was beef. We also had grapefruit and apple juice. Boarded and left on time, and we had the double seats at the emergency exit with lots of leg room. Another snack. Landed in Pittsburgh about 15:00, and walked the entire length of the airport, having to leave and re-enter security to reach the gate for the 16:35 flight for Cleveland. I fell asleep and Kent said I was nearly snoring. On the plane, there didn’t appear to be enough room for all the carry-on luggage, and the woman next to me was cranky. It took a while to takeoff, since we joined a line of a dozen USAir planes that took off alternating with the landing of USAir planes. The whole fleet has been mobilized!
We arrived at 17:15, found the car, and unparked it for $14 and found a shorter route back to Rocky River. The Ss had dinner ready of halibut marinated in Italian dressing and grilled, with rice and peas, rolls and fruit salad. And chocolate cake for dessert.
Meanwhile, the boys had enjoyed the pool at Jean L's.
Kyle (photo by Ada)
Ada with Kyle and Erich (photo by Bert)

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