NOV 04: WaterFire and Home

a view of Providence, RI, from 10 stories up

QUEBEC CITY to MONTREAL to BOSTON to PROVIDENCE

We headed to the airport after having a nice breakfast and an easy checkout. Traffic was so light that we made it in the minimum time the concierge estimated and arrived a little over an hour before our flight boarded.

Being it on an international flight, we needed to check in at the counter. The agent advised us that we were entitled to one free bag. She suggested that we just ship our carry-ons to our final destination. This was great news regarding lugging them around and dealing with the potential lack of space in overhead storage. Even better, it reduced the hassle of dealing with them going through US Customs in Montreal, where we had a reasonably tight connection. 

We had to transfer some items to our backpacks, such as lithium batteries, but since no one was behind us in line, the agent encouraged us to take our time.

Having sent our bags on their way, as we walked over to a bench to empty our pockets before going through security, a bus pulled up and disgorged 30-40 people who promptly queued up in the line that had been empty when we checked it. They all had big bags to check. They appeared to be off the Silver Seas cruise ship we saw from our hotel window this morning. Had we arrived at the airport 10 minutes later, we would have been at the back of that line. Instead, we had a leisurely check-in, no one ahead of us at security, and found some comfortable chairs with a table close to our departure gate.

When planning our trip back home, we found that there were no direct flights from Quebec City to Boston, so we first flew to Montreal.

The airport terminal in Montreal is laid out in a long rectilinear curve - i.e., a straight line. We landed at the last gate at one end of it.  We started following the "Connecting Flights" signs. We followed them and followed them and followed them. We passed the middle of the terminal, where security was located, and continued. We came to a promising checkpoint, only to be told that if we were going to the United States, we had to proceed down a parallel, secure corridor. Finally, we arrived at the US Customs checkpoint. 

We cleared Customs quickly and continued to the last gate at the other end of the terminal. It was a long walk from where we had started.

Our second flight was as uneventful as the first, except for a gate hold that caused us to arrive in Boston twenty minutes late.

In the "Coincidences Just Keep on Happening" category, as we made our way towards baggage claim, we ran into Chrissie Bascom, a longtime friend and fellow Marian resident. Had our flight not been late and had we not stopped to use the restrooms, the 15-second window in which our paths crossed would never have opened.

WaterFire cauldrons on the far right side of the picture

PROVIDENCE

Pam & I had received an invitation to the law offices of Pierce-Atwood to view WaterFire. We did not want to miss a great opportunity, so we had to go directly there after our flight arrived in Boston. We considered it our last excursion of the trip. It seemed all the more like one because we had to pay our driver to hang out with our luggage while we attended it.

Unfortunately, due to the glare from the windows, I did not get any good pictures of the river and cauldrons. We will have to do it again but at ground level.

HOME

We arrived home at about 8:00 PM to find the bag we had sent home from the ship waiting for us. Oh, good, even more to unpack tomorrow.