No Regrets

When we first moved to Boston, we thought we'd be here two, maybe three years tops. Jeremy is in a Post-doc, so we knew it wouldn't be forever. Now that he's accepted a job, the end is in sight. By the time we move back to San Diego next summer, we will have been here five years.

Five years is the longest we've been in any place since leaving home. I was in LA for 3 years, we spent just under 2 in DC, another year and a half in Atlanta, and 3 more in Savannah. We've been here so long, we're almost locals. (Don't tell the real locals that.) I can actually give directions when people ask and I haven't gotten lost in Salem in a long time.

Now that the end is approaching, I'm thinking of everything in terms of a countdown. This fall will be the last time we go apple picking in New England. This winter will be the last time we can sled right outside our door (and the last time to shovel out the cars. and shovel them again. and again.).

So I started thinking, is there anything really obvious, really Boston-y, that we haven't done yet? If we move home and talk to people about living in Boston, is there anything we've missed that will cause them to say, "You lived there for five years and you never...?"

What have we done? We've been to Fenway, the Aquarium, the Museum of Science. We've been whale watching and apple picking. We've seen Quincy Market, the Common, and the Public Garden. And yes, we've walked the Freedom Trail. (In the rain. While I was pregnant.)

We've walked through downtown Salem on Halloween night. We've dressed our kids up as ducks for the Duckling Day Parade. We've eaten amazing Italian food in the North End.

One very obvious thing we've never done is the duck tour... but c'mon. Isn't that really for the tourists?

What's left? I've got an entire year to cram full of must-see Boston adventures. I just need to figure out what they are.

(So leave me a comment already and tell me!)