We are back from a 2-week trip to New England and I decided to document our trip this year. Just some comments and a bunch of pictures as a reminder of what we did.
Oct 7 - We flew to Boston on US Airways and transferred from
the airport to the Embassy Suites. The hotel is nice and has free wi-fi. It was definitely cooler up there and we had
time to take a walk in the park next to the hotel. Since this was an Embassy
Suites there was a managers reception in the evening where Penny and I got
enough food, cheese, fruit and chips and salsa for us to call it supper.
The initial Caravan meeting was at 8 PM and we met our tour
guide, Lindy. She did not appear to be
up to par with the other 5 tour guides we have had - and she wasn't. She did a competent job but she was rusty. She hadn't guided a tour for 5 yrs.
Oct-8 - Our bus tour began with a drive to Boston's Old
North Church where Paul Revere began his
midnight ride. This is the church
steeple where the lanterns were hung to indicate which course the British were
taking. We had a talk inside the church explaining the social structure and ownership of church seating.
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| Old North Church |
We drove by the state capitol building, Cheers and Boston Commons on the way to a rest stop / coffee break to Fanueil
Hall and Quincy Market. It was snack
time and Penny and I had a cup of frozen yogurt.
We continued on to Lexington. Lexington was a short stop to see the green where our Revolution
began.
We then followed the route of
Paul Revere from Lexington to Concord stopping at the Old North Bridge where
the "shot heard round the world" was fired.
Next it was off to Plymouth Rock and the replica of the Mayflower On the way we passed Sleepy Hollow cemetery - I snapped a quick picture as we passed.
Neither Plymouth Rock or the Mayflower were that impressive. It's not even certain that the Pilgrims landed here and much of the rock has been broken off and taken to other locations. But it is a must see tourist stop and now we can say we saw it.
Next
was lunch time and I had my first lobster roll. A traditional lobster roll is a sandwich filled with lobster meat soaked in butter and served on a steamed hot dog bun or similar roll, so that the opening is on top rather than the side. I found out later that this was a "tourist size" lobster roll. One I got later on Martha's Vineyard was the real thing as you will see.
There is a little noted monument in Plymouth. It is 81-feet tall and is tucked away in a
neighborhood away from the tourist area.
It is the Monument to our Forefathers, dedicated in 1889. "On
the main pedestal stands the heroic figure of "Faith" with her right
hand pointing toward heaven and her left hand clutching the Bible." Can you see anyone building a monument like
this now? At first sight this monument is surreal. The bus winds its way through backstreets of a Plymouth neighborhood. Then it comes to a gravel road that circles this huge statue. It reminded me of the movie Planet of the Apes when they discover the arm of the Statue of Liberty sticking out of the sand. It's an impressive monument and in good shape. I'm sure at the time it was carved here it got great notice. It is not an insignificant piece of art. It just reflects a bygone era when faith was deeper in society.
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You can get an idea of the size of the monument by noting the people at the base.
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The day ended with a drive to Hyannis to stay 2 nights at
the Double tree. The hotel was very nice and Penny and I parked ourselves by the
outside fire pit. Before long there were
about 20 people, mostly from our group, around the fire chatting it up and
keeping warm.
Oct-9 - Today it was off to Cape Cod to catch a ferry to
Martha's Vineyard. It was a cool clear
morning and we stayed outside on-deck taking pictures for the ride over.
Our bus came over with us on the ferry and once there we got
on it and were taken to a small originally Methodist retreat community on the
Vineyard now called the Martha’s Vineyard Campmeeting
Association. It's full of "Martha’s
Vineyard” cottages built between 1859-1880.
It has an iron Tabernacle erected in 1879. We wandered among the cottages and took
pictures. This is the cottage Penny and I liked best.
We then got back on the bus to go to the town of Edgarton - a historic whaling town.
Here we had "leisure time". In other words we were on our own to get lunch and wander the narrow streets with elegant homes.
We had lunch at a seafood restaurant right on the water. I had another lobster roll but this time it was the real thing - big and full of lobster.
Then we walked along the road that paralleled the shoreline until we found a path out to the lighthouse. We spent the rest of our time walking on the sand until it was time to get back to the bus.
The bus returned us to the ferry landing where we had some
more time to wander and see the expensive houses in the area.
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| We also saw this neat 3-wheeled car. |
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| This house is owned by the Norton Family (anti-virus) |
By this time the sky was getting ugly so we headed for the shelter at the landing. We made it there just before the rain started.
The rain stopped just in time for us to board the
ferry. We stayed inside for the return
trip to Cape Cod.
Dinner was at the hotel and we shared a table with a couple
in our group. We had wood fired pizza.
Oct-10 - Today we visited Newport, RI and Mystic,
CT. The first stop in Newport was the
Vanderbilt "summer cottage" The Breakers. This 70-room Renaissance style palace is on
the water and kept in very nice condition.
You are given headphones and can walk through the place at the pace you choose
depending on how much info you want. We
toured the house and grounds taking pictures and marveling at the sheer
opulence. (No pictures were allowed inside)
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| Again - note the size of this place! |
We then had a sightseeing drive viewing other mansions and noteworthy sites on our way to downtown Newport . Here we were turned loose for lunch and wandering - and for me to sprain my ankle. This was my first of 3 falls I had on this trip and by far the worst. I stepped off a tricky curb that looked like it was level with the street but wasn't quite. I caught it with just the inside edge of my right heel and turned my ankle painfully as I lost my balance and went to the ground. I heard my camera lens hit the ground and hit on my right knee, right elbow and left hand. My camera was OK but my ankle was very painful.
I got up and started walking- not being able to put weight on the foot at first but gradually being able to walk with endurable pain. I was wearing my hiking boots with good ankle support. I don't know if I tripped because of the boot's larger footprint but I'm fairly certain my ankle would have been in much worse shape without that support.
I limped on and Penny and I picked a place to eat called the Barking Crab. We both had flatbreads and then went off to take pictures of restored houses and other things in Newport
My ankle did swell up and turn black and blue but I could walk on it without being too uncomfortable. I was fortunate that I didn't break my ankle - that would have ended the tour for me. After Newport we drove to Mystic CT to see Mystic Seaport. We had plenty of time to explore the seaport from one end to the other. Penny and I really enjoyed this location. It was the first stop on the tour where we had the opportunity to play around with the cameras and be more creative setting up the pictures we took. We had sunshine and blue skies with pleasant temperatures.
On the way to our hotel we drove through downtown Mystic and saw the Mystic Pizza restaurant made famous by the movie.
Dinner that evening was a walk across the street to 5-Guys. The Mystic Hilton where we stayed had just been renovated and was very comfortable.
Oct-11 - Our itinerary today brought us through the
Berkshire Mountains of MA - a nice
scenic drive - to the Norman Rockwell Museum.
I didn't know if this would really be an interesting site but it turned
out to be OK. The museum does a good job
documenting Rockwell's life and works and the grounds were pleasant. The color here was just beginning. There was an apple tree with ripe fruit on it
and they encouraged us to pick one.
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I had some fun
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The next stop was in Bennington VT at a civil war memorial
there. Penny and I had been here before
and also to a cemetery nearby where Robert Frost is buried. We were pleased to learn our tour guide was
aware of the cemetery and included it in the stop. Penny and I had taken many good pictures here
in the past and this gave us the opportunity to take more with our new cameras.
Our stopping point today
was a ski resort on Stratton Mountain in the Green Mountains of VT. The bus stopped at a general store before we
got there and we got wine and cheese for dinner. The condo we stayed in here had 2-floors, 2
bedrooms and bathrooms and a balcony with a nice view of a courtyard and the
other resort lodgings.
That evening our bus driver, Craig, set up a keyboard and
entertained the group with memorable tunes and a sing-along. It was fun and entertaining.
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| "at the Y-M-C-A" |
We found out later that Tony and Donna's cabin is very close
to this place.
The next stop was a maple syrup "sugar
house". I didn't think I would
learn anything new here but I was wrong.
This is a modern maple syrup factory and the guide describe the complete
maple syrup production process with detailed and interesting facts starting
with the trees, collecting the sap,the reverse osmosis process, government
standards, grades of syrup and whether to buy it in plastic or glass
containers. Once again Penny was the
smart one and skipped out at the end of the talk and had our syrup bought and
shipped before anyone else in our group got to the store.
The grounds here were interesting with vintage functional autos and old buildings.
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| doesn't this look like a painting? |
From here we went to a resort in North Conway NH. This was the most disappointing part of the
tour for me. It was getting to be dusk.
We were now in northern NH near one of the best leaf peeping drives and
the leaves here were at their peak. To
avoid holiday traffic and to keep to the schedule the bus took an alternate
route and made no stops to see the leaves.
With their schedule it was too dark to see the leaves anyway so Caravan
just missed the boat. Having been in this
area before both Penny and I expected that the tour would stop in this area
during the peak of color.
The North Conway resort was away from any restaurants so the
dinner at the hotel restaurant was provided by Caravan.
Oct-13 - My day started with another fall off the doorstep
of the hotel on the way to the bus. I
had my camera in 1 hand and a coffee in the other-backed through the door to
open it and expected the door stoop to extend out a little further than it
did. I did the missed step thing and went
down - losing my coffee and once again my camera lens hit the ground. I got a couple scrapes but the ankle was OK
this time.
Today we went to the Portland ME waterfront. Our tour director had set up a boat tour of
the Portland lighthouses but the weather was foggy and rainy on and off so we
wouldn't find out if we would go until it was launch time.
Penny and I had lunch at an Irish Pub. I had fish and chips that came with a huge
hunk of fish. It also was very good.
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| Our view from the pub |
The resort we stayed in for this last night was a great
place. The location was on the water,
the staff was welcoming and very friendly.
Pictures at sunrise were brighter
Our farewell dinner was a whole Maine lobster. One of the staff demonstrated the proper technique for eating lobster and we all were given plastic lobster bibs to protect or clothes.
Oct-14 - After breakfast at the hotel we boarded the bus for the ride to the airport where we would pick up our rental car from Alamo an begin part 2 of our New England visit.
