So!  Over the weekend, a long-planned visit was brought to fruition: my good friend was finally able to come visit me in Massachusetts.  This is why I've been a little sluggish online for the last few days, since I'd been spending most of that time with her.  And a fine time it was, too. ^_^

It started in Boston on Saturday, when we visited the Museum of Science (my first time there in at least ten years).  She had scored us free passes because she had arranged to speak with a representative of the Museum's butterfly sanctuary, on behalf of the sanctuary she herself works at back in her home state.  After her (genuinely fascinating; it was actually really cool to see her knowledge of butterflies in action) talk with them, we took a look around the Museum itself, mostly the Dinosaur exhibit and the Electrical Theater (and its hilariously-outdated Computer section).  From there, we went to dinner (a Mexican restaurant; I can't remember its name, but we both got to enjoy their Burritos and Tortilla chips), and that closed out Day One.

Day Two was spent mostly in my home town of Andover; I had a small spot of trouble (and traffic lD; ) getting her there, but only enough to delay things a little, nothing too serious.  After giving her a brief tour of my house, we went over to the Clown Town carnival across the street, though we did not wind up going on any of the rides or buying any tickets.  That transitioned into a nice, calm walk around town before we went back to my house for a Pizza Lunch and my introducing her to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (a show she knew of but had never seen and was interested in trying out) with "Giant Spider Invasion", the first episode I ever saw.  Judging by how often she laughed, and how much she got into the show's riffing mentality, I think it was a successful introduction.  From there, we went to see "Iron Man 3" and finished our evening with dinner at Friendly's.  

Lastly came Sunday morning, where we met for breakfast at Boston's South Station before I saw her off on the bus home.

All in all, it was a genuinely enjoyable weekend.  The stuff we did was all fairly enjoyable, but the real fun, at least for me, was simply getting to talk.  Throughout literally everything else we did (with the obvious exception of "Iron Man 3"), we just talked to each other.  About fandom stuff, about real-life stuff, about each other, about whatever.  It was easy, and natural, and enjoyable, and I always found what she had to say fascinating or insightful or funny or pleasant or often all of those things at once.  And for that reason above all else, I'm extremely happy with how her visit went.  I hope she feels the same way, and I eagerly look forward to when we get to meet again.