The weekend of freedom is about over. :-( Though we screwed up our rooms and almost failed room inspections on Friday (so we were told- too much dust...like we're going to get all of it cleaned up!) we still were granted off-base liberty Saturday and Sunday (though we had to drill on Saturday morning but at least we got that out of the way). So 5 of us- including Nikki, Micah and I- head to Boston on Saturday. The original plan was to take the Amtrak from Providence to Boston but we left to late to catch the train so decided to drive up to Boston, park at a subway station and take the subway to downtown. There we walked The Freedom Trail which is a trail that leads you to 16 (I think) historic sites such as Paul Revere's house, the site of the Boston Massacre and the USS Constitution. Of course we had to be in uniform- summer whites (OIS rules) and as annoying as that was/is we did look sharp. So after getting a free ride on the subway we had lunch at a quaint Italian place we found on a side street. The food was wonderful and we were stuffed BUT the manager/owner/boss wanted to treat us to dessert so we all had connoli (I hope I spelled that right) which was quite good! Then we walked the trail which is pretty much what we did all day. There is way too much to see in just one afternoon but it was a lot of fun. We were stopped by a lot of people who wanted to thank us for serving or ask other random questions. Sometimes it was cool but other times just annoying. :-) We got into one museum free which was good cuz I don't think it was worth the price had we had to pay. By the time we made it to the USS Constitution (nicknamed Old Ironsides, built in 1790's) it was closed for tours for the day BUT since it still has a crew of Navy sailors that give the tours (I think that would be a wonderful duty station!) and since we were in uniform (officer's at that!) they were happy to allow us to come on board and a first class petty officer gave us our own tour!! It was definitely a highlight of the day as we learned so much about the constitution. It was also weird boarding an official Navy vessel where everyone was saluting us! It's still a little hard for us to get used to people calling us sir/ma'am when they are twice our age and often have been in the Navy as long as we've been alive!! From that point, which is the end of the trail, we started back stopping at Coldstone Creamery for yummy ice cream. We caught the subway a little earlier this time and didn't walk all the way back to the start- again riding for free. :-) By this time I was ready to head home- too long in the sun and not enough water. But it was a great experience and I hope I can get back to Boston sometime while I am stationed on the East Coast. Today we went to a church that micah found an "ad" for in the Navy paper. It turned out that the pastor, Kerry Baker, graduated from Cedarville in '01 (at the age of 38 no less)!! And the members of the church were very friendly, the music really good and we sang a lot...so it was a very positive experience!! Then we spent the afternoon at Barnes and Noble, TJ Max, and Wal-mart...oh, after lunch at Taco Bell! It was very exciting...though still very annoying to have to wear summer whites! :-) This evening Nikki, Micah and I watched What a Girl Wants while we shined our shoes in preparation for service dress blues inspection tomorrow (don't be confused by the term "dress blues"- they are really black. And people think I am color blind!) :-) And now I have things to do and am wasting time in here. Oops! Well, I am almost done with OIS and I couldn't be happier...I'll make it!