As a kid I grew up swimming in a lake or a pool. I was never really a ocean person. First I hate the sand at the ocean, I tend to burn really bad, and the salt water makes me sticky. I know high maintenance. But as I got older and met John I became more of an ocean person. His family always vacations on the beaches of Maine so like the ocean was like a pre-requisite to enter the family... (ha ha!)

After a disturbing photo and article I read today confirms to me that the ocean is a scary place. You just do not know what is under you. You can not see anything but black and there are big fish, sharks, whales, etc... So a giant squid washed up in Australia 6.5 feet long and 606 pounds in weight. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!! That was swimming under someone. YIKES!!!! That is what freaks me out about the ocean. Sorry all you ocean lovers (my best friend Tina) watch out when you are swimming.

 

Well  as with everything, all good things must come to an end!  Girls weekend was a Blast and a much,much needed break for 3 very deserving mothers!!  This years trip brought us to sunny Ft. Lauderdale where we dreamed of beach, drinks and sleeping in!  As we sat in the airport at Logan the flight was overbooked and they started offering $400 vouchers.  As we were only going for the weekend we wanted to get there as soon as we could and the new flight wouldn't have gotten there until 7pm.  It was still hard to give up but we soldiered on with the original plan with only one thinking we should go for it! 

The flight is great and we excitedly get our bags and get picked up by a very interesting driver and hurry to the hotel.  We joke around during check in and the girl upgrades us to beach view and things are really going good.  We get our beach gear on and head to the bar (where else) on the beach order Corona's and as Kimmy runs over she says "Oh no look at those clouds"!!  All the sudden it is like a stampede of people and the beach just went dark some woman actually yelled "We are all going to Die"!!!  NO exaggeration!!  Well we ended up in a huge tropical storm but that did not get us down we found a great bar and laughed all day about it.  I guess maybe Kimmy was right we should have taken the voucher's seeing how it was beautiful in Boston on Friday!!  All the reports from then on out was that the weekend would be a washout, sad but what could you do we still did not have to pick up after anyone, cook for anyone, take anyone to the bathroom/change diapers we could just be us for the first time in a long time!

Well we woke up the next morning and the sun was shining so we took the opportunity to get to the beach for a little while.  The gods must have been smiling on us, we never saw even a glimpse of rain or a rain cloud after Friday night.  The beach was so beautiful and for me it is my happy place nothing else matters when I have my toes in the sand and sun on my face.  Unfortunately for one in the group she did not tan as well as Do'a and I (Sorry Kimmy I thought I covered your whole back)!!  We laughed, talked, laughed alot, drank and just plain relaxed.  We did miss the kids and were very grateful to the husbands that they were with. We made more memories that we didn't think possible after all these years since most of us have been friends since kindergarten.   It really made us appreciate what we do have back at home and be excited to come back to it all.  

I am not sure who though spent more money during the weekend the three girls or my husband and two girls?  Why yes its true that ours was liquid and nothing to show for it but a great tan, but you should see the stuff Jamie did with the girls.  Build a Bear, McDonalds, Papa Ginos, Chiles, Depot, Friendly's,Martins, just to name a few!!! I honestly think the girlies would like me to go away more often!!  And then there was the Sopranos, Kimmy would not allow me to watch it and then in turn Jamie couldn't watch it, so on Monday we spent the whole day with blinders singing La la la whenever anyone would mention it.  We all successfully avoided the hoopla just to be as disappointed as everyone else!

Well another trip came to an end with an extremely bumpy flight home and two very happy girls to wrap there arms around me and one extremely tired but awesome husband!  Well thank you Girls for a great weekend and I'm glad we are still all friends and remember what happens on girls trip stays on girls trip.......  Where to next?  

One of my favorite places in the world is London, England. When I was a junior in college I spent a semester in London to complete my internship. I lived in a very hip part of Northern London called Camden Town, which is about 20 minutes (via Tube) away from the main attractions of the city. My husband and I went back to London this past March for a week and stayed at the Regents Park Marriott (also Northern London). I thought I could share some of my favorite places and friendly pointers with anyone who might be considering a trip to England. We didn’t make it to any art galleries so I will not be commenting on those, sorry.

Pointers

- Use the Tube, London’s underground system and keep a tube map with you at all times. It is the fastest, easiest and least expensive way to get around the city. It also allows you to use the bus system. Just make sure to mind the gap :)

- Buy Theatre tickets at the half price booths in Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus. We saw Stomp for only $40 each.

- The British Pound (Quid) has been kicking the USA dollar’s sorry ass lately. We exchanged some money here but basically used our ATM and credit card for the majority of our expenses.

- Buy whatever you can before you go so you don’t have to pay credit card and bank conversion rates (such as weekly tube pass, tickets to amusements, eurostar tickets, etc.)

- Bring an umbrella and don’t expect perfect weather when in London.

- If you want to see all of the sites quickly you could do a Double Decker bus tour. These take about 2 hours and show you all the tourist sites in and around London.

- If you want to travel outside of England take the Eurostar train. Within a few hours you can go from Central London to Belgium, Paris or Calais. We went to Brussels for a night. If you do go to Brussels make sure you see the Grand Place, the Maneken Pis statue (yup, its exactly what it sounds like), eat Belgium waffles and try the Hoegaarden beer.

Favorite Places: Must See!

1. Camden Town (Camden Town Tube Stop): this isn’t typically on a best of list but it is fabulous. Camden Market boasts several outdoor and indoor markets. It is an awesome place to people watch, eat great food and to get a bargain. The original Dr. Martins store is also here and picture worthy! Make sure to stop at “The Worlds’ End” pub for a pint of beer. It’s a very neat and fun pub! Camden is also within walking distance of the London Zoo.
2. Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus (Leicester Square, Covent Garden or Piccadilly Tube Stop): several of the theaters are located around these areas. Piccadilly is London’s answer to New York’s Time Square, on a smaller level. Both areas also have many fun pubs and tasty restaurants. We ate at Bella Italia in Leicester Square, which was very tasty and reasonably priced.
3. Covent Garden (Leicester Square Tube Stop): this is also an outdoor and indoor market area. It’s fun to shop and every day there are new things to see. There are many street performers to amuse you while you visit. We saw a Bob Marley look alike who sounded just like Bob himself. Check out the Punch and Judy pub, which is both an indoor and outdoor pub. We ate at Maxwell’s Restaurant right in Covent Garden. The food was delicious!
4. The London Eye (Westminster Tube Stop): this is the world’s largest Ferris wheel. The wheel is huge and has several see through pods that hold about 15 people each. The wheel takes about 30 minutes to go around and you get a very impressive view of the city. You can even rent a private pod if you wish, very romantic but also very expensive! This was being built while I was in London and was completed in 2000. It is also called the “Millennium Wheel”.
5. Tower of London and Tower Bridge (Tower Bridge Tube Stop): the tower of London is very impressive. It served as a prison, royal palace, and a place of execution and even and holds the Royal Jewels! Don’t mistake the Tower Bridge for the London Bridge, which happens a lot. The Tower Bridge is very beautiful and adjacent to the Tower of London. The London Bridge is not much to see.
6. Changing of the Guards and Buckingham Palace (Green Park Tube Stop): they do the changing of the guards on a set schedule depending on the season. Also, if you walk through Green Park you can get to the original Hard Rock Café.
7. The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (Westminster Tube Stop): is a huge clock, we took about a million pictures without realizing it until after our trip. The houses of parliament are a beautiful architecture to look at and admire.
8. Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s Cathedral (Westminster Tube Stop): beautiful churches. Princess Diana was married at St. Paul’s and her funeral mass was at Westminster Abbey. Note: you have to pay to get into these churches.
9. Madame Tussauds wax museum (Baker Street Tube): if you haven’t been to a Madame Tussauds you should go. Somehow these artists create almost exact replicas of our favorite celebrities and we get to take pictures and pose with them. After you are done, cross the street to the Globe Pub for good food and a pint.
10. London Dungeon (London Bridge Tube Stop): this attraction brings you on a fun journey. There are live actors and scary wax figures as you make your way through London’s history. You even go on the traitor’s gate boat ride, which is somewhat similar, but better, than it’s a Small World in Disneyland.
11. Trafalgar Square and St. Patrick’s Day Parade and festivities (Trafalgar Square Tube Stop): we were lucky enough to see the St. Patty’s day parade in London. They had music, Irish music, lots of Guinness and funky hats. They even put green dye in the water of the Trafalgar Square fountains for this holiday. Unfortunately it snowed right after the parade ended but luckily the storm was short lived and we were able to have more Irish and British fun!
12. Any Genuine British Pub (Nearly every tube stop in London)! So you must be thinking “did these people do anything but drink beer on their trip?” The answer is yes, but we also threw back a few pints of beer. My husband liked to experiment with several of the British Beers (including bitter beer which has little or no carbonation) whereas I stuck to Becks and Fosters (which I realize aren’t British beers).

Have fun if you ever make it there!

With many of staff leaving the BostonsportZ.com office on "business" trips on occasion, I added this new page so they can share their trip with our readers. They will tell the good and bad of the trip along with photos and places to go and not to go. I on the other hand will remain here working hard in the office.