Circus Stress

Lizzie and I had a fun adventure planned for yesterday.  We were going to drive to Beverly and take the 5:03 train in to Boston.  We were going to walk over to Quincy Market for a quick dinner then head over to Government Center to catch the 6:30 pm Big Apple Circus show.  We had some friends also going to the show and we were going to take the T with them to their car and they were going to drive us back to the train station to get our car.  Sounds like fun, right?  Well, here is what really happened....

I picked Lizzie up from preschool around 4ish, changed her clothing and we hit the road.  We got to Beverly in good time, found a great parking spot next to the train station (on the outbound side, had to cross the tracks to get to the inbound side) then munched on some snacks I brought as we waited for the train.  I arrived on time, we boarded, Lizzie picked a seat, we sat down, the train started moving then quickly stopped (I would say it moved about 10 feet).  A couple minutes later I heard a police car and thought "crap, I bet someone or something was hit".  And I was right!  It turns out a woman was hit by the train as it started to pull away from the station.

http://www.salemnews.com/local/x712206998/Patient-32-airlifted-to-Boston-in-very-serious-condition

I should probably feel bad for this woman but I don't because you really shouldn't walk in front of a moving train or even a train pulled up to the station.  You just don't walk in front of a train.

The conductor initially said we would probably leave in about 40 minutes but as time ticked away and Lizzie started getting really restless I decided that it might be better for us to drive.  However the train was blocking the places where you would normally cross to get back to the outbound side so we we thought we might have to walk down the road to get to the other side.  I also ran in to another girl that was going to the circus and decided to offer her a ride.  She was by herself and was meeting her date in Boston.  So Lizzie, Chelsea and myself discovered that we were able to cross the tracks (illegally) behind the train to get to the car.

The drive started off fine however when we got to the Rte 1 exit off Rte 128 it was backed up.  I decided to keep going and take Rte 93 in.  Traffic slowed but it was moving so we were still hopeful we might get there in time.  Dinner beforehand was definitely out of the question but at least we'd see the whole circus.

Do you ever have those days where you feel like the universe is conspiring against you?  When we approached Boston we were suddenly stuck in really bad traffic.  We crawled for awhile and as we approached the North Station exit we decided to get off there and just figure out how to get to Government Center (they are pretty close but Boston is NOT easy to drive around and I didn't have my Garmin only my iPhone).  There was more traffic when we got off the exit so we crawled once again.  It was mainly for people getting off on Storrow Drive so thankfully once we got past that we were able to make our way towards North Station.  Finally things worked in our favor and we managed to find the Government Center garage.  Lizzie was being really good the whole time however as we were sitting in traffic she kept saying she was hungry and had to pee which was only adding to my rising stress levels.  Poor things.

It was such a relief to park the car and find our way to the circus.  Chelsea met up with date and we said goodbye.  I grabbed some food (hot dog, popcorn and Twizzlers - per Lizzie's request) when we got there and headed in to the show.  We had front row seats but only managed to see one act before the intermission.  We missed the horses which really bums me out but did get to see the dog act and the trapeze act.  Once I was able to relax we had a good time and Lizzie enjoyed herself.  Thankfully getting out of Boston was easy and the ride home was uneventful.  Taking the train was going to be a big part of the fun so we'll definitely have to make another trip in to Boston soon.  Today I still feel like I'm recovering from the high stress levels.

Lizzie and her friend at intermission. What's better than a dinner of popcorn and Twizzlers?!