Our third day in Boston (back in March…) began with a bus ride from Jamaica Plain to the Hynes Convention Center where PAX East was being held. We never use the buses in Richmond, so it feels kind of glamorous when we ride on public transportation when we travel.

The first thing we did when we arrived was compete in a Magic: The Gathering tournament. John and I were eliminated in the first round. My opponent was a total jerk, and Dash was fussing during most of the game. But Eric won his first round, got a bye for the second round, and made it to the third round. We all got a few booster packs for participating which fueled our new hobby.

After the tournament, we managed to find a seat in the main theater to listen to the Penny-Arcade Q&A Panel. The questions were great, the answers were hilarious, and there was even am arm-wrestling match between Mike and Jerry. It was epic.

The convention was pretty much over by lunch time. We had seen and done everything that we wanted to see and do. On our way out, we checked on Chris to see if he wanted to leave with us. He was still playing in the Settlers of Catan tournament, so we left him to finish and agreed to meet later.

We said goodbye to the very first PAX East and ventured into Boston for sightseeing.

John unlocked his bike, and we found his roommate, Andrea, a few blocks away. Andrea is in graduate school to get a degree in Library Science, and yes, I am jealous. She had just come from an event that was rallying against library closings.

Andrea gave us a quick personal tour of the Boston Public Library. The interior was lined with yellow marble and gilded with golden embellishments and statuary.

After leaving the library, we settled at a group of tables near the bay window at the front of L’Aroma Cafe and called the rest of our group to meet us there. The coffee at L’Aroma was the best I had in Boston, and the chocolate cake was perfect – not too sweet, almost like chocolate bread.

Chris met us there shortly after we got our coffee. He had won the Settlers of Catan tournament and he got a shiny medal on a red ribbon to prove it!

Cat and John’s girlfriend, Lindsey, met us at the cafe, too. This was our first time meeting Lindsey and we most definitely approve. She’s silly and quirky, just like us.

When we left the cafe, we decided to walk to the Boston Common.

John and Lindsey found a good climbing tree in the park.

Everybody jumped on the tree except me. It’s not that I was afraid necessarily, but I blame my trepidation on breaking both of my arms by falling out of trees when I was younger.

I recorded this great video of Cat and Andrea playing hand clapping games in the tree. I’ve been taking more videos than photos lately, especially of Dash. I hope to have time to catch up on blogging and post them soon!

As we left the park, we encountered a fearless squirrel. Cat fed him an almond.

Then, Cat led us on a tour of part of the Freedom Trail. She knew an impressive amount of Boston history, so it felt like we had a personal tour guide.

I really liked the old brick buildings around the Boston Common. They reminded me of the neighborhood in Richmond where I lived with Cat while we were in college.

Just before it got dark, we jumped on a train back to Jamaica Plain. We walked to an Indian restaurant for dinner and shared an assortment of food family-style. Indian food is one of my favorite kinds of food. I love naan and the assorted chutneys that they served.

When we got back to John’s and Andrea’s apartment, Andrea read Dash some children books before bed. This handkerchief is a map of Paris, and it covered the light on the ceiling in Andrea’s bedroom. So cool!

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