Extra Time in Massachusetts

 There was enough free time built into the Road Scholar trip so we could do some trips on our own, have a meal together, and talk around the fire in the evening (when we could stay awake long enough!).

The group walked to downtown Rockport. Motif #1 is supposed to be the most painted building in the United States. It was Labor Day weekend so the area was full of tourists, but cool. BTW, the weather all week was perfect. No rain and 60s to low 70s. Heaven compared to Florida weather.

I did my morning walk thing every morning. The first was to find a geocache near downtown. It was in an area that I had no idea existed. I love when geocaching takes me to unexpected places like this for sunrise.

The 2^nd morning was quite interesting. I was walking before the sun came up and saw something move on the sidewalk in front of me. When I took a picture, the flash came on before the picture when I realized it was a skunk! The actual picture is a blur as I moved quickly away. Otherwise, I found another geocache. The walk took me through town where I could see all the granite fences, buildings, and even curbs.

Granite was another big industry in town with quite a few quarries that are now waterholes. This was one that I saw the next day.

The hike to this quarry took Mark (fellow ONU’er and geocacher) and I under this bridge. It was great fun to stomp, scream, and clap to hear the echos under the bridge. Sure, we’re adults and even senior citizens.

Geocaching in the morning on the next day was a bit frustrating. I searched for quite a while using the flashlight on my phone since it was still dark in the woods. After I gave up and was leaving, I saw it immediately. Anyhow, here’s a granite home that’s now a museum.

For our free time afternoon, I talked most of the group into doing the weird stuff I like. The Paper House was enjoyed by all. The walls and furniture is all made of newspapers. Lots of work here!

We both geocached and hiked at a local state park. The park was on the ocean plus had a granite quarry too.

Why, though, was the most memorable part the granite statue we called “Sasquatch Taking a Dump”. I am SO cultured.

Our group dinner that evening was quite memorable too. The plates of food were both excellent and amazingly large. Most of us boxed up the leftovers and had it for breakfast the next day (I can highly recommend lobster ravioli as breakfast food). One of our ladies ordered a single order of key lime pie. It was so big it fed 6 of us perfectly.

Three of the group joined me the next morning for a hike through Dogtown. Lots of history here plus boulders that had different words carved into them. The humor was that the trails are not well marked and we weren’t quite sure where we were most of the time. At one point we found a rock that said “Be On Time” that we were sure was our tour guide speaking to us. We made it back in time after a 4-mile hike through the woods.

The final hike was a different section of Dogtown. This one had a marsh. Lots of good hiking during the week in perfect weather.

Maritime Trip

This blog is a bit late. I picked up a cold after the trip that caused me to sleep through half a week. I’m still catching up on my things-to-do after the trip and the cold. Anyhow…

This trip has been planned for almost 2 years. A bunch of college friends picked out a Road Scholar trip so we could hold a reunion while being fed and entertained. This trip was maritime themed. It wasn’t something I’d necessarily pick on my own, but was quite interesting. We were in Rockport, Gloucester, Salem, and Essex Massachusetts. This area was big with the fishing industry including building boats. They are still fishing, but it’s a greatly reduced business now.

The “Perfect Storm” ship Andrea Gail sailed from Gloucester. That crew’s names are on a nearby memorial along the 5,368 fishermen from the area who have died at sea since 1716. In some years there were hundreds of fishermen lost.

During the week we sailed on 5 different boats. The first was a schooner with full sails. Cindy (one of the ONU ladies) and I lifted the main sail. It was heavier than I expected and we needed help by the end! The 2^nd picture is by Angie.

Boat 2 was a whale watching boat. It took quite awhile to get to the whales, but we were much closer than I expected. The boat also rocked more than I expected when we stopped. Several people were sick, but luckily I didn’t have a problem. We saw a few whales breaching along our boat as we followed them around.

Road Scholar took us to Salem for another boat sailing the harbor.

We got to stop for lunch across from the Bewitched statue. A random tourist got this shot for me.

Our next boat took us down Essex River and through a marsh.

Lunch was fried clams at the restaurant that originated fried clams in 1916. The afternoon was a visit to a ship building museum. I’ve included this picture of Lignum Vitae. It’s considered one of the heaviest and hardest woods around, resistant to rot and insects, and even self-lubricated making it ideal for bearings and other maritime uses but very expensive. It was heavy!

The 5^th and last boat was a lobster boat. They only pulled a few example lobster traps. This one had crabs instead of lobsters. But still a fun trip.

Navy Day at Battleship Cove

 

In the Navy, John served on the USS Joseph P. Kennedy.  It’s a destroyer that is now a part of the exhibit at Battleship Cove.  Entrance to this place gives you access to this destroyer, a battleship, a submarine, a Russian ship, and lots of smaller exhibits.  Wear comfortable shoes, because it involves climbing through hatches and climbing steep stairs just like in the Navy.  Here’s John in the rack he used to sleep in (yes, I made him climb in).  The lockers for the three guys are below him.

We’d seen the ships a few years ago, but John wanted to revisit his ship.  It turned out there was another guy there that served on the ship a few years after John.  He took us on a personal tour including some areas that he unlocked for us.  John worked with the boilers.  That included climbing into small places to clean the tubes like going under and then inside the boiler in this picture.

 

Even back in the 60’s they had drones.  This one was operated with a joystick to take a torpedo to the target.

 

 

In the ordinance room.

 

Our guide was heavily involved in the process of getting the ship from the Navy and rebuilding it.  They work very hard in trying to make the ship as authentic as possible.  It means trips around the country to find parts on similar ships or searching ebay for parts.  Volunteers do much of the work to maintain it.  The place is a little expensive, but the money is going to keeping the ships afloat.

Birdnado

 

We’ve all heard (and seen!) Sharknado.  But I got to see Birdnado at our campsite along the Massachusetts coast.  Or maybe this is the scene from “The Birds”?! Hundreds of birds took flight and started circling.  It’s fun to watch when you’re far enough away from it.

We took a walk along the beach.  It’s different from the Maine rocky cliffs  and the Florida sandy beaches.  There’s some sand along with granite rocks along the beach. 

We walked out to an island that had this building on it.  We’re not sure what is was built for but it’s art now!

 

We’re assuming this was all found along the beach.  I liked the look of this.

 

Freedom Trail in Boston

The tourist thing to do in Boston is to walk the Freedom Trail.  It’s a path though the city streets that passes by multiple historic stops.  The trail itself is marked by a thin strip of red bricks or red paint.  Two and a half miles isn’t long when you’re hiking in the woods.  It is long when you walking in the city with cobblestone at times, weaving among lots of other tourists, and walking extra steps to see the historic places.  It took us around 4 hours to walk the trail one wayand then only ½ hour to return by a shorter path.

There were various gymnastic and music performances going on along the Boston streets.  Entertaining! Extra fun was going on the subway to get into town.  Boston traffic isn’t fun, but subways are always cool.  This is John’s look to me of “Really, you’re taking a picture of me in the subway?”

Off the trail, but near the start of Boston Commons is the Cheers bar. The story that goes along with this was when I was very pregnant with my son I went to the doctor eager for delivery soon.  “When can I have this baby?” I asked.  Due to minor complications, he decided on induced childbirth.  “When do you want it?  How about this Thursday?”  “No,” I answered, “that’s the final episode of Cheers.” So that’s why David wasn’t born until the next Monday.

Old Granary Burial Ground has the gravesites of people like Paul Revere and John Hancock.  Personally, I liked the smaller stones like this one for a servant of John Hancock.  Many of the stones had scary faces on the top to remind people how close death was to the living and show the piety of the departed.

 

The Old North Church was interesting with the pew boxes.  This is the church where the lamps were put to warn of the British plan (“One if by land, and two if by sea”).  When I looked at these stairs, all I can think of is what the guys were saying back in 1775. “Dang, whose plan is it that I have to climb these skinny stairs with a lamp?”  Matter of fact, I guess it took three people to send the signal.  One watched for the British while two people brought up the lamps.

Speaking of skinny, this is the skinniest house in Boston at just over 10’ wide.

Neat firehouse.  I just love the look of a city firehouse!

 

Old Ironsides (the U.S.S. Constitution) is located in the Boston Harbor.  There are all kinds of security, but you can tour the ship.

This is the dry dock in Charlestown Navy Yard.  Back in 1968, John worked for several months to repair the USS Joseph P. Kennedy while it was in this dry dock.  Ah, memories!  Mostly he remembers how cold it was and a greasy spoon restaurant that was nearby.

A long day!

The Shot Heard ‘Round the World

 

Besides the literary places, the Concord area is full of history since it is where the Revolutionary War began.  Again, I’m learning (or perhaps relearning) my history. The British had control of Boston.  They had heard reports that rebels (or patriots depending on your viewpoint) had stored arms in Concord.  The British planned to seize the arms. Patriot spies found out their plans.  There was a question of whether the British would go by land all the way to Concord, or by sea and land.  That was answered by the “One if by land, and two if by sea” signal lights in the Old North Church in Boston by patriots who had learned of the more detailed British plans. 

Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to Lexington and Concord to warn the people.  The arms were moved and militia gathered.  I’m realizing how wars are started almost accidentally.  The Redcoats shot our militia killing several in Lexington but without any orders to shoot.  When they reached Concord, the militia minutemen that had gathered had heard some of the story in Lexington.  The Redcoats went through the town looking for arm supplies.  They accidentally started a fire but then worked to put it out.  To the militia outside of town, it looked like they were burning the town.  The militia and a small group of Redcoats met on the North Bridge.  A shot was fired (probably by the British and probably without any orders). The American militia returned fired and killed several of the British.  Ta-dah, war!

Louisa May Alcott

I’m a fan of Henry David Thoreau but I love Louisa May Alcott.  Personally, I like that I can indulge in classic Alcott on a Kindle without having to go to the children’s section in the library.  While in Concord I had to visit where she grew up.

Orchard House is similar to the book in that there is a big garden beside it.  In the book it’s divided into plots for the girls, here it was wild flowers.  She really did have three sisters like in Little Women (she was the Jo-ish one).  But she never married.

 

As a kid reading Alcott, I didn’t realize the philosophy behind the books.  Her parents, and later Louisa, were part of the Transcendentalism movement in the early 1800’s.  The belief was in the inherent goodness of people, independence, and in nature.  She also believed in abolition and was a feminist.  I like her!

She is also buried in the family plot on the Author’s Ridge (Hawthorne and Emerson are also here).  Her grave was surrounded by remembrances including written notes.

 

 I loved today!