September 30: Our Day in Boston and Meeting Chickie

I woke up this morning especially eager to get the day going for it was the long awaited event of finally meeting my online friend, Chickie in Boston! Richard and I showered, dressed, and had a light breakfast in preparation of the big meeting. We were the first in line to disembark the ship when we were given the all clear at 10:00 a.m. Chickie had emailed me to let us know where she and her friend Cindy would be waiting on us. While we were waiting to come off the ship, Chickie called Richard’s cell phone to tell her precisely where she and Cindy were located. We were walking through headed to the area when we heard our names being called in highly Bostonian accents. Looking across the way, I saw Chickie waving her arms. We sped up and got to them quickly as I was ready for our hug to take place. Having been online friends for years and knowing each other and our families inside out and sharing lots of pictures along the journey of our friendship, it was FANTASTIC to meet Chickie in person. Her hug was warm and loving and we shared the joy of getting together.

We were whisked to Chickie’s waiting car and Cindy was our chauffeur for the day. She was such a nice gal and a dear friend of Chickies so we thoroughly enjoyed her company, too. They took us on a grand tour of Boston with Chickie showing us the house where she lived as a kid, where her parents lived out their later years, and we even saw the big building where Chickie worked in a law firm for some 25+ years. All the way, we were chatting and enjoying the sights that Chickie and Cindy were pointing out. We ended up at a lovely restaurant called "Phillip’s." Cindy knew the Maitre D as he is her neighbor and it turned out that Chickie knew his brother and that he knew Chickie’s dad. It was fun to watch all of those connections being made. As a result of the connections, Lou (the Mait) treated us to two wonderful appetizers. Chickie had a gift bag which she presented to me and my oh my…. She gave me the BEAUTIFUL cookbook that was produced as a fundraiser for the Interfaith Social Services where Chickie volunteers her time and talents in ministry. There was also a beautiful cross "penny charm" magnet, which says: "A little wish, a little prayer, God keep you in His loving care." That will go on our refrigerator at home! Chickie had also included two editions of the Thrift Shop newsletter that she and Cindy produce which I really enjoyed reading. And then there were some informational pamphlets and papers about Quincy (Chickie’s town). And all of that came with a fantastic black "courier" bag that has a fantastic logo, which reads: "REFLECTING HIS GLORY" and has a silhouette of a boy y and girl praying before a cross. It is a shoulder bag and will come in handy for the rest of our trip!! Oh my…………. I was blown away by Chickie’s thoughtful and meaningful gifts.

We ordered our meals. I had heard so much about Boston’s specialty (Lobster Rolls) so ordered a lobster roll, Richard had the Cod Cakes, Chickie had the Scrod Fish, and Cindy also had the cod cakes, I believe. All of it was delectable. During lunch, Chickie received a cell phone call from her friend Lorrayne (whom Chickie had mentioned often in emails about her work in the Catholic Church) so Lorrayne came on out to the restaurant so we could meet her. She was as sweet as could be (I didn’t know Yankees are so nice!!) and we enjoyed chatting with Lorrayne. Richard and I had determined ahead of time that we would treat Chickie and Cindy and asked for one ticket at the beginning of the meal, but SOMEHOW Chickie ended up with the bill and would not hear of us taking care of it.

Chickie and Cindy drove us back to the ship terminal after a wonderful 3 hours together and we had to have our final hug good-bye. It was difficult to say good-bye to Chickie and so I told her that if I didn’t see her again on this earth that I would look for her in Heaven. It was truly the highlight for me that I was able to meet Chickie. By the way, we had our camera but had left the card in the laptop from our last uploading of pics. Thankfully Chickie and Cindy both had cameras and made lots of pics so when I am able to access my email and receive them, I will certainly post a few of them here.

After leaving Chickie and Cindy, Richard and I came back onboard the ship to freshen up and get ready for our 2:20 call for the Boston Harbor cruise and then a Boston City bus tour. It had been a very cloudy morning but the sun broke through and shone bright during our cruise. We enjoyed seeing a lot of the city on the 2-hour bus tour and thoroughly enjoyed our time spent in Boston today.

We returned to the ship at about 6:00, came up and dressed for dinner, and reported to the dining room. We sat with delightful folks tonight and one couple is from Huntsville and knew of Capshaw Baptist Church where Chip is the youth pastor. Chip, they go to the church where John Ferry goes but they didn’t know him. They were real nice. Another neat couple at our table was from New Mexico and they were great folks, too. She reminded me a lot of Carol Hicks and low and behold if she doesn’t raise chickens. (You who know Carol will understand that reference.) Then there was another nice couple from Nevada and his elderly mother as well. It was a very lively dinner conversation and we enjoyed getting to know these folks.

It was a very fun day full of God’s best blessings in Boston, MA.