In all of the spring breaks that I have had in my life rarely did I do anything interesting or fun. Since this was my last spring break as a student I decided that I was going to fly from one coast of the United States to the other.
First Stop: Los Angeles, CA
The NASPA annual conference for higher education professionals was held in LA this year. At the conference I wrapped up the end of my volunteer position that I had this past year. I was able to serve on NASPA’s Region III board as the graduate student representative representing all of the grad students in the southeastern area of the U.S., spanning from Texas to Virginia. In this volunteer position I attended board meetings, traveled to conferences, and planned a breakfast at the annual conference for graduate students and senior level student affairs officers (I didn’t get a photo of this as I was busy!).
Getting to work with the board has been such a great experience and I got to meet a bunch of great folks along the way!
I also found out that I received a scholarship at last minute that helped me cover some of the expenses of traveling to the conference based on a video I created about the Hazlewood Act (the thing that allowed me to get two degrees with no debt… thanks again, Dad for going into the Air Force!).
Next Stop: Boston
Since moving from College Station last summer, Alan and I greatly wanted to go visit our best friend, Steve, in his natural habitat of Boston, Massachusetts (yes, I had to Google how to spell that). However, while this week was my spring break Steve still had school and work so there were times Alan and I had to make our own plans.
Day one – Wednesday
After flying for 6+ hours, I was tired so Alan and I just grabbed dinner and called it an early night.
Day two – Thursday
I surprised Alan by spontaneously taking a road trip to Portland, Maine (based on a friend’s recommendation) to see the Portland Head lighthouse. Since I turned 25 this year, I reserved the rental car so we could get that old driver discount. Getting out of downtown Boston was interesting since I HATE crazy drivers and traffic, which Boston has no shortage of either. Also, like what are roundabouts?!?!
We ate lunch at the Snow Squall and stopped by a bakery on the way back for dessert! We also decided to swing by Salem, but many of the stores were still on winter hours and closed early so there wasn’t a ton to see but now we can say we’ve been!
I have a goal of trying to go to all 50 states by the time I’m 50 and Massachusetts and Maine bump me up to 23 states so far!!
Day three – Friday
Being in Boston we ~had~ to make a stop at Dunkin Donuts. Once we got our breakfast and coffee, we walked around the Boston Common in the morning and took the train to Harvard. As a higher ed major I definitely geeked out when I got to see one of the first universities in the country. It started raining so we took shelter in a bookstore across the street and ended up browsing for quite a while.
After that we stopped at a local brewery, Lamplighter Brewing, to take a break from walking and shared a flight. Later that night, we met Steve for dinner and bar hopped near Fenway. Fun times were had by all.
Day four – Saturday
Because we stayed out pretty late we slept in on Saturday. Once we got ready for the day, we grabbed some sushi at a place near our hostel and headed to the Samuel Adams Brewery. Probably one of the better brewery tours we’ve been on and the place where we heard the strongest accents. A great place to go with a group of friends!
After that, we headed to the JFK presidential library because I always like to learn something new whenever I travel. We chatted to the front desk attendant about the differences between the presidential library and the 6th floor museum in Dallas since I used my student ID to get that discounted ticket price. His museum has the best view of the harbor too.
Fun fact: JFK was the one who established the Peace Corps!
From the museum, we invited Steve to join us for our nine year anniversary dinner at L’Osteria in the North End for some Italian food. We wanted to get dessert at Mike’s Pastry but the line was too long so we stopped at a different place down the street. Alan made us all friendship bracelets out of the string tied around the pastry box, but our Aggie rings make us family.
Final Stop: Texas
Alan and I grabbed the first few flights out of Boston because it was cheaper, but honestly it was probably a good idea we left early because Sunday was St. Patrick’s Day and things were starting to get a little weird…
I slept for 5 hours once I got home and honestly I think I’m still tired two weeks later but I wouldn’t trade it for anything!!
Our Adventure Book 