New England -- Day One

When we got to the airport, the kids got their surprise...Leapfrogs. They were really excited and so was I because it kept them busy the entire trip. What a blessing those things are when you really need them. After our trip they may disappear, I am pretty sure. I don't want them to be addicted to the gaming system thing, but I am not going to worry about it on this trip, that is for sure. The flight also was delayed almost an hour, so I was very thankful we didn't have any layovers.


We arrived at our hotel in Harford, Connecticut last night at 11pm pacific time, so that means we were in bed by 2:30am eastern time. It was a long day of travel. We were very glad we made it. The kids fell asleep very easily as it was about 3 hours past their bedtime.

Today we arose at about 11am eastern time, which is about right. I am sure we will inch our way back to adjust to the time change. When we finally got out of the hotel, we went in search of the Fidelity branch so that Rinar could visit one of his old co-workers, Matt. We found the branch once we realized there are two Hartfords: West Hartford and Hartford. The branch is in West Hartford, so it took us a while to get there. There is a stark difference between the two, by the way. Hartford is pretty run down and not a tourist destination, that is for sure.


Once our visit was finished, we headed north to Springfield, MA to go to the Basketball Hall of Fame. We stopped and ate lunch at this hole-in-the-wall Italian place, where the owner is obsessed with Bocce. He was really nice and the sandwiches were top-notch. I had an eggplant sandwich that was quite tasty and everyone else did turkey.


The Hall of Fame was fun but we were short on time as we had a little less than an hour to look at everything before it closed. So we quickly perused the exhibits and headed to the games, which we thought the kids would enjoy the most. They had a lot of fun playing different basketball games. There was one game that was virtual and it was really funny.



Now we are staying at a Residence Inn in Franklin, MA which is just north of Providence, RI. We have a suite and it is awesome. There are two separate bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a living area. I am loving this. Usually you are held prisoner by the kids because you can't go anywhere, but it needs to be dark so the kids can sleep. I will have that kind of hotel starting on Sunday, but for now I will enjoy this as much as possible. I will post pics of the hotel later.