Nov. 22, 2007
by Carla Gilson and Cheryl Watts – I (Cheryl) woke up this morning to find that Carla (my roommate on the road – the one that ALWAYS sleeps in!) was already up and gone. It was actually the second time on this trip that she’d gotten up early to go work out. She never does that! I’m the early riser and she’s the night owl….that’s the way we work! Not this time though! I figured we both deserved to sleep in last night…we pulled out a 3-2 win at Boston College (for our first win ever in their gym!) and then went out for a nice seafood dinner, not pulling back up to the hotel until well after 10 p.m.
I (Carla) was so excited about the day that I figured I’d go ahead and get the ole workout out of the way early before heading out for a quick bagel breakfast and, more importantly, a DELICIOUS turkey dinner! I came back and Cheryl was reading one of the books that she brought on the trip (she’s either reading or working on the computer!) I turned it around pretty quickly and went with the team to grab a quick bagel breakfast before their workout in the nice weight room at our hotel, and when I returned Cheryl was getting ready to head out for run outdoors (can we say CRAZY? It’s cold in Boston!) … I’m guessing she, too, was thinking about our upcoming dinner!
Everyone finished up their respective workouts around 11 and had two hours to shower and get ready to depart for lunch at Durgin Park, family-owned home-cookin’-type of restaurant located in the Faneuil Hall Market Place in the heart of Boston. Click here to see a photo gallery! The food was delicious and the company was great, what else could we be thankful for? A lot, apparently … Before we ate, Bond had everyone stand up and talk about things that we were thankful for on this special day. The resounding answer was “family,” which we couldn’t be with this year. Also included in that list was the fact that although we couldn’t be with our immediate families, this group of people that we WERE with was pretty close! After that, we finally enjoyed our delicious turkey dinner and took a quick stroll around Faneuil Hall (to find that most places were closed for the holiday) before walking back to our vans to head to the airport.
We guess you could say that the coaches were strategic in their parking location, as on the way to the vans we had the chance to walk through the Holocaust Memorial on Freedom Trail. It was very sobering to read the accounts of those that survived that terrible period, and to see the identification numbers of all of those that didn’t, engraved upon beautiful glass structures.
We think that’s one thing that makes working and traveling with this team so special – the coaches treat the girls to several different experiences, whether it be new types of food or historic memorials or popular city spots, because they feel it important to embrace the areas that we travel to.
Now we’re sitting at the airport waiting for the flight to Baltimore, where we will face Maryland tomorrow (Friday) at 2 p.m. in our final regular season match of the year. We’ve won seven-straight matches and want to finish the season strong because selection for the NCAA Tournament takes place this weekend. With a 22-9 record entering tomorrow, we’d like to think we’re a lock, but it wouldn’t hurt to get a 23rd! Tune in to RamblinWreck.com on Friday afternoon for live stats for the match against Maryland and watch ESPNU at 8 p.m. Sunday night to find out the Jackets’ postseason fate!
