Sightseeing while in NH

[Becca]

Hi all,

I am just curious if any of the ladies that have had the procedure did much sightseeing? I told my hubby we can’t spend all that money and fly back there without spending some time sightseeing too. 🙂 If you did, where did you go? I am also wondering how long you were at the clinic each day, and how many days did you stay? I have heard some say they did two days at the clinic and others say three. What determines if you do two or three days when you have your procedure done? Okay, that is a lot of questions. 🙂 Looking forward to hearing from all of you. 🙂

[Heather34]

Hi Becca. This is an excellent post and it’s such a good idea to do some sightseeing while you are here. What exactly would you guys be interested in (i.e. cafes, museums, etc.)? I have written a bunch on Boston as I live in the neighboring town of Medford, MA and Janet has written some excellent suggestions for NH. In addition, Nakitalab has provided excellent insight on visiting both NH and Boston. Hope this helps

My posts:
If you guys plan a trip to Boston for any of the days you will be here, it’s only about an hour South and is a very fun place to visit and explore.

Here is the list of things to do in Boston:

http://www.vaginismusmd.com/patient-info/during-your-stay/visiting-the-area/

AND

http://www.vaginismusmd.com/patient-info/during-your-stay/visiting-boston-part-ii/

Cafes
I would seriously suggest visiting Newbury Street in Boston for the best cafes and shopping around. Here is a review for just one of the many cafes on this street:
L’Aroma Café
85 Newbury Street
Boston, MA
617-412-4001
Wonderful overall!
This little cafe is just right. The staff is amazing. Everyone is so nice and always smiling. It’s the perfect place to people watch and enjoy some of the best coffee and/or hot chocolate around.

Skating and Cinema
“A hopping spot for ice-skating is Frog Pond on the Boston Common. Frog Pond offers skate rentals and hot cocoa at the Pond Cottage.
The prime location of Frog Pond makes it easy to squeeze in just an hour or so of ice skating. Why not go skating while waiting for a movie at the Boston Common Loews Theater? Or go skating to relax after a crazy day of shopping in the nearby Downtown Crossing. And for the hopeless romantics out there, go skating under the starlit sky.
The 2012-2013 Frog Pond hours of operation are Sunday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. (except Monday when the rink closes at 4 p.m.), Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For more information, call 617-635-2120.”

Museums
2 Excellent Museums in Boston are the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts) and MOS (Museum of Science).
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BOSTON
Founded in 1870, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is one of the largest art museums in the world, consisting of nearly 450,000 pieces of art. Over one million people visit the museum every year. Collections include Egyptian artifacts, French impressionist, post-impressionist, 18th and 19th century American art, a large collection of Chinese art, the largest collection of Japanese art outside of Japan, and a Japanese Garden. Guests can also shop at one of three gift shops and dine at one of four restaurants.
Hours
Saturday through Tuesday 10:00 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Wednesday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 9:45 p.m.
465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
617-267-9300
BOSTON MUSEUM OF SCIENCE
The Boston Museum of Science is a museum in Boston which features a large collection of temporary and permanent scientific exhibits. Regular exhibits include topics such as electricity, wildlife, space travel, and a planetarium. There is a Children’s Discovery Center for children under five years of age. Other popular features include the Science Live Stage, an IMAX theater, Cahner’s Computer Place and the Colossal Fossil Exhibit. Children up to eight years old can explore the Discovery Center with their parents.
Regular Hours
Saturday through Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Friday 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
1 Science Park, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
617-723-2500

Janet:
We have maps and brochures in the office of things to do in our surrounding area. We also have a few articles on our website http://www.vaginismusmd.com/patient-info/during-your-stay/ under Patient Information “During Your Stay”.

We have a wonderful free newspaper in Manchester, NH called “The Hippo”. Every year The Hippo declares “The Best of” and is published in their newspaper and also on-line. To view the listing on-line please click on this link: http://hippopress.com/read-article/and-the-hippo-goes-to This is such a complete listing of all the highlights of Manchester and surrounding areas. The nice thing about this listing, is that you get links to the individual websites and telephone numbers. When you do arrive in Manchester, make sure you pick up a free copy of “The Hippo” as it should be available at most hotels and around Manchester. This will give you current events of things happening in Manchester.

Nakitalab:
My sister and I loved driving over to the coast. We did it the same day as my procedure. I’m sure I looked so funny walking around with my dilator in but it definitely was doable 🙂 But our favorite was taking a trolley tour around Cambridge, and Boston and walking the grounds of Harvard. we both wished that we had more time to tour the area.

[Becca]

Thank you Heather! Those are all great resources I will have to look into. 🙂 I am really wanting to see beautiful scenic coastal areas for sure, and then if there are other fun attractions. I have to say, I am SO EXCITED to eat at the Mr. Mac’s Macaroni and Cheese. One of my coworkers when on a trip to the area last year and posted a picture of the restaurant and I was so jealous (mac and cheese is my favorite food ever), but I never imagined I would be making a trip to that area anytime soon – little did I know! 🙂

I’m also wondering how much free time did you have on the 2-3 days when you were having your procedure/dilating/counseling at the clinic?

[Heather34]

OMG! What a great place. I just read a Yelp review of it:

“Super duper awesome. This is definitely a mac ‘n’ cheese lover’s heaven.

With so many different varieties to choose from (not to mention you can “build your own” dish) I had a tough time deciding. I finally went for the Lobstah Mac, and my husband opted for the Cajun Mac. Seating is open, and one of the staff brings your order to your table. Food came out in about 5 minutes.

Both were excellent – mine was chock full of lobster meat and gooey, melty cheese, and my husband’s (also super cheesy) had a nice spicy heat to it. You can tell the cheese is a higher quality. Yum yum.

Choosing size can be tricky. I should have listened to the other reviewers who said the Small is plenty. It is! They have example pans behind the counter that illustrate the diameter, but appear to be very shallow (this is where we were misled). So we went with the Medium. The actual pans are deeper, meaning much more macaroni goodness than expected. We could only eat half, but the plus side is we got to enjoy our meals again as leftovers (never a bad thing!).

Something I thought was pretty cool and forward-thinking was that they had the styrofoam containers right out on a counter, along with napkins, plastic forks, basically everything you need to take home your leftovers. They also offer take-and-bake meals to cook at home.”

Concerning the timing, on day 1 – procedure day, my hubby and I were in the clinic from early morning (7-8ish) through early afternoon (1-2ish). We then left the clinic and I had the purple (medium sized) silicone dilator in place. This did not hurt but just felt strange on our hour drive home. I felt better sitting on the right side of my butt and reclining the seat in my car. Then, on day 2, I was up there from around the same time (7-8ish) through early afternoon (1-2ish). On day 2, I practiced with all of the dilators and we had comprehensive counseling with Dr. P and Ellen about all aspects of vaginismus, dilating, anxiety, tips for transitioning, life after vaginismus, and so many more topics. It was such a great experience and I found it to be so important in my journey of overcoming. I remember actually taking notes and using these tips when I got home and was dilating on my own and then in transitioning with my husband. I did not return to the office on day 3 nor did my roommate. Some patients do decide to return on the morning of day 3 for additional support with the dilators and this is really decided on a case by case basis and whether Dr. Pacik and Ellen and the staff think it would be beneficial. Hope this helps and I now want to try Mr. Mac’s so bad the next time we are in Manchester. We actually go up there off and on for AHL hockey games and I told my husband that we will have to try this place as we both LOVE mac and cheese and it just sounds so good!!!!