> I don't think there are many hotels in the area close enough to get to the starting line without using a car.

I can confirm this. As far as I know, there are no hotels in the town of Hopkinton, period.

https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/60850?page=baxter-state-parka

https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/61708?page=baxter-state-parka

If you get cold in one of those, it's too cold to be outside.

If you use the M-Ticket app, the Zone 1 ticket might still be active for the duration of the transfer. If you bought paper tickets, you probably have to do it your way.

Commuter Rail tickets are just by zone, not direction. A ticket from Zone 1 to South Station is also a ticket from South Station to Zone 1.

Tickets also aren't restricted to a particular line. If you want to use your tickets for a trip out of North Station, you can do that, too.

Also, why did you buy both 1 and 1A tickets?

https://www.boston.gov/departments/311/public-restrooms-city-boston

That thread is a train wreck. Will your partner be relocating with you, and if so, will your partner be working? Living is easier if you can rent a one bedroom apartment with two incomes.

Employment isn't, but family status is. "Single occupancy only" is frequently used as an example of things that it is illegal to say in a rental ad.

I was once waiting for a CR train from Back Bay to South Station when an Amtrak NE Regional stopped. The conductor told me to just get on. Most comfortable trip between those two stations I've ever had.

That's not a direct trip. That $8.75 is $3.50 for a ticket from Hyde Park to Canton Junction, and $5.25 for a second ticket from Canton Junction to Providence. You were looking at a time when there were no trains that stopped at both Hyde Park and Providence.

A single Interzone 8 ticket is $6.25.

https://www.mbta.com/trip-planner?_utf8=%E2%9C%93&plan%5Bfrom%5D=Hyde+Park&plan%5Bfrom_latitude%5D=42.25503&plan%5Bfrom_longitude%5D=-71.125526&plan%5Bto%5D=Providence&plan%5Bto_latitude%5D=41.829293&plan%5Bto_longitude%5D=-71.413301&plan%5Btime%5D=depart&plan%5Bdate_time%5D%5Bhour%5D=11&plan%5Bdate_time%5D%5Bminute%5D=00&plan%5Bdate_time%5D%5Bam_pm%5D=PM&plan%5Bdate_time%5D%5Bmonth%5D=2&plan%5Bdate_time%5D%5Bday%5D=1&plan%5Bdate_time%5D%5Byear%5D=2023&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bsubway%5D=false&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bsubway%5D=true&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bcommuter_rail%5D=false&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bcommuter_rail%5D=true&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bbus%5D=false&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bbus%5D=true&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bferry%5D=false&plan%5Bmodes%5D%5Bferry%5D=true&plan%5Boptimize_for%5D=fewest_transfers#plan_result_focus

I don't think that's what was meant by "club". Are you into running or birdwatching or model trains or TTRPGS or anything like that? There is probably an organization of similarly-interested individuals you can join.

Along with vastly superior public education and healthcare systems, public transit that will at least occasionally get you from where you are to where you want to go, and all four seasons (instead of almost summer, summer, still summer, and mud).

I spent a few years living in Birmingham. Cost of living here is staggeringly higher. Even for a (by Alabama standards) small condo, you're looking at $2000—$3000 month all-in (and that's assuming you can put a reasonable amount down). You'd probably need to look at $175–200K to match that $115K in AL.

As for quality of life, the BBQ up here is terrible, but just about everything else is better.

I agree to get there early and wait, but often you can't eat or drink for 12 hours prior to surgery if you're getting general anesthesia.

Good luck. My wife and I got our old dog when we were in Alabama (shoutout to Greater Birmingham Humane Society). Things are really different up here. We ended up going with a (responsible) breeder for our current pair of cats because none of the rescues wanted to adopt to us with a little kid (aside—one of those kittens bonded almost immediately with the kid and the pair are now inseparable).

You also need to keep in mind that kittens are seasonal, even more so here than down South. You'll have a (comparatively) easier time finding one in late spring or summer than you will right now.

> Not sure if Cuba requires apostille or not.

Cuba is not a contracting state of the Apostille Convention. I have no idea if Cuba requires legalization.

To the best of my knowledge, you don't have to get a RealID. If you have a passport card, trusted traveler card (eg Global Entry), CAC, etc, there's no real reason to jump through the hoops to get one. I was able to renew my "not for federal ID" license entirely on-line.

It's been a while, but Wings Over was always pretty reliable for me. I'm more a fan of the sweet chili and Jamaican jerk, but the chipotle BBQ was good too.

Wings Over does citrus chipotle BBQ.

There are still some private rail cars rolling around. For a fee, Amtrak will hitch one to the back of one of their regular trains. Sometimes they stop at South Station.

If they look like this they're horse chestnuts, and they're poisonous. If they look like this, chances are its an edible chestnut (the differences between the native species and the introduced ones are subtle); the American Chestnut Foundation has a service to ID trees (blight resistant North American chestnut trees are valuable in the effort to restore the species).

The American chestnut has driven nearly to extinction by chestnut blight. There are some groups trying to breed blight-resistant trees, but you're not going to find chestnut groves on the east coast.