Visiting, more visiting, and there will be….more visiting! (Boston 06-12-13)

“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”                       
   Henry David Thoreau

It was our plan to do more sightseeing during this visit to Boston but several things have conspired against us.  First, we’re kinda busy, and second, the weather has been really lousy.  It’s rained more than half the time we’ve been here.  In fact, we saw on the news that New York is set to have one of the wettest Junes on record, and I am guessing Massachusetts is right behind them!

We have had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with friends and family though.  We invited Jack and Roseann, who we’ve been friends with for 20 years, over for dinner.  We laughed all night, recounting horrific boating stories with our kids.  Jack and Roseann are getting close to retirement, and we are trying to entice them into buying a 5th wheel.

   


Jess spent one of her few days here with her step-sisters. They all came back to the trailer afterwards for a fire and s’mores.

Jess goofed around taking some pictures and a friend of hers and Stephen’s added some appropriate verbiage.

I went out to dinner with 4 friends who I have known since before I remember.  We all grew up in the same neighborhood. All but one of us are in the picture on the left, taken many many years ago:















We tried to spend some time when Jess was here just hanging out at the trailer:




 

Our son told us about a hike called Purgatory Chasm, and we’ve been antsy to check it out.  However, on the park website it clearly states not to attempt the hike, which is mostly on rock, if has rained or the rocks are wet.  There hasn’t been a really dry day yet, so no hike for us. We did manage to make it to Walden Pond, made famous by poet Henry David Thoreau:




    

I’ve been here a few times, but surprisingly, this was Paul’s first visit. While we were hiking around the lake- about 2 miles or so, depending on which trail you take, an amazing amount of people were swimming the length of the lake. We talked to one woman who said the water temperature is actually not too bad- high 60s.

Paul and I have also been doing some summer planning, even going so far as to make a few reservations!  We’ll leave here on Tuesday and stop in Acadia to hike for a few days before heading into Canada.  

We always find time while in Boston to visit my uncle and aunt, who are two of the best people I have ever met. My aunt is originally from PEI and is Acadian. They are headed up to PEI for a family wedding in late June, so once we are in Canada we’ll head to PEI so we can time our visit with theirs. 

Day trip into Boston (06-05-13)

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on”  -JFK

We took advantage of the semi-nice weather, picked up Stephen and headed into Boston.  Our destination was the JFK Presidential Library.  After being impressed by the Carter Library, I was interested to see the Kennedy one.

I was 4 years old when he was assassinated and my only real memories of him are of those last few days.  I remember looking at the TV and instead of seeing the cartoons I expected, I saw his funeral procession.   I remember seeing the caparisoned horse with the backwards boot (used to signify a fallen leader), and thinking that maybe everyone was sad because the rider fell off the horse. This picture is of Ronald Reagan’s funeral.

First on the agenda was the introductory movie, which gave a synopsis of JFK’s life up till his run for the presidency.













 

One of the biggest challenges of the JFK administration was, of course, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Unbeknownst to most people, Kennedy secretly recorded many conversations that took place in the Oval office.

This special exhibit had several stations where you could listen to excerpts of conversations recorded during the crisis. The conversations start with discussions about the possibility that the Russians are building a nuclear missile base on Cuba.  In the excerpt, you hear the President receive confirmation from military advisors that photos have shown a base being built.

What followed were conversations over the course of the 13 day crisis, that detailed the decisions that were made in the White House, and what information the decisions were based on. Listening to the debate over what, if any action, should be taken by the U.S. was fascinating.  Ideas ranging from attacking Cuba/Russia to waiting and doing nothing, were debated and discussed.  




In the end, the decision was made to institute a military blockade (called a quarantine because “blockade” was considered to be an act of war). A very tense period ensued, until an agreement was finally reached between the U.S and Russia for the removal of the missiles.

The JFK library sits on prime real estate overlooking Boston harbor. The museum was good, but not in comparison to the Carter Library. After discussing it, I realized it was mostly because Kennedy was not President for very long, and of course, he died at such a young age, there isn’t as much material to showcase.

So, now our daughter Jessica has arrived, and a whirlwind 4 day visit has begun.

Sib Trip! (06-02-13)

Part of the reason we are spending so long in Boston, is that all of my siblings (two brothers, a sister and a sister-in-law) live here. Once we knew our dates for visiting, we planned a Sibling Trip to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

We all met at my brother’s house on Thursday morning, where we piled into the SUV we rented.  We thought the trip would be more fun if we were all in the same vehicle. My brother Ray volunteered to drive, since Paul drives so much on a regular basis. I think Paul enjoyed riding Shotgun!

North Conway is about a 3 hour drive, so we stopped to stretch our legs along the way.

Instead of getting hotel rooms, we rented a house-it had the advantage of giving us a common area where we could just hang out.

We also had no need to eat out for every meal- we cooked most of our own meals, and had fun doing it.
Ray and Paul were our master Barbequers.

With the weather forecast calling for reasonably clear skies and temperatures in the 90s (unbelievably warm for the New Hampshire mountains) we took a van ride and headed up to the top of Mount Washington.  Not the tallest peak on the east coast, but the one with the worst weather!

We were able to see quite a distance before we got to the peak, but once we got to the top, we were in and out of the clouds. 










in the clouds



out of the clouds













 
The wind wasn’t as bad as it usually is, and it wasn’t even that cold, so all in all, not a bad day to go up. 

Once we were back down the mountain, we had a picnic lunch and it was still early enough in the day to take a short hike to Glen Ellis Falls.  It was getting pretty warm by then, but the cold water kept it a little cooler.

My brother Richie is always up for a round of (miniature) golf, so we topped the day off with a quick, but by this time, very hot game of golf.









Our evenings were spent at the kitchen table, playing our favorite card game.  A lot of laughs were had by all!


my sister Debbie won the first night we played



my sister-in-law Dawn won the second night















Of course, you can’t visit a quaint town like North Conway and not go shopping, so Saturday morning we beat the heat and headed to the stores early in the day.  As usual, I didn’t buy anything!

    With afternoon temperatures expected to soar into the 90s, most of us headed to Diana’s Bath, one of the top rated natural swimming holes in the country.  After a short, half mile hike, we arrived at the waterfalls.

It is extremely unfortunate that the water is mind numbingly cold.  The guys dipped their feet in, but I was the only one who went all the way into the water.









Still, it was a great afternoon to relax by the waterfalls.














Sunday came much too quickly, and after a great breakfast at a local restaurant, we started the long trek back home.  We couldn’t resist making one more stop along the  way, though, so we found Lost River Gorge in Lincoln NH.  We all got some exercise hiking up and down the hundreds of steps.

There are numerous caves to explore in this gorge, but I think the consensus from all of us would be that this place is a young person’s place. Many of the caves would be perfect for kids to explore, but a bit of a challenge for us adults!

Back home, we have about 3 days to recover before our daughter Jessica flies in from California, and another whirlwind long weekend begins.

Boston/home (05-28-13)

Having lived most of my life here, there is no such thing as enough time in Boston for me.  There are so many things to do, and so many people to see, I could spend the whole summer here.  I said that to one of my friends, and she perked up, thinking we might decide to stay.  But no.  We did extend our stay another 5 days, so the stress of trying to squeeze in as much socializing as possible in a short time has lessened, but not by much.  But we are determined to spend the summer in Canada, so leave we must.
A few weeks ago, before we got here, Paul and I discussed the fact that since we’ve been on such a history kick lately, we should approach Boston from a tourist standpoint and explore all the historical sites.  Well, that plan has fall pretty much fallen apart, since we haven’t really had any time to go exploring yet.  Maybe we will, before we head out of town.  We’ll see.

So, what have we been doing?


We’ve been hanging out with our son Stephen.

We celebrated my birthday with my family at my brother’s house-and even face-timed with my daughter Jess on my ipad, so she could be with us too.  Of course, since then she has booked a flight, and will be with us in person in a little over a week!

We took the “T” in to Fenway Park with my brother Ray and his wife Dawn, to watch the Red Sox play the Cleveland Indians:

We had great seats to watch the action on the field.

I love the saying “it’s not over till Big Papi swings.”   Although David Ortiz didn’t hit his signature home run, he’s still one of my favorite players!

 

When a man as big as Ortiz steals third, it’s quite an accomplishment.  And although my brother says it’s called “Defensive Indifference”, I still call it stealing!

The game wasn’t the most exciting game ever, with the Red Sox down by three by the bottom of the 9th inning. Typical of Boston fans, though, the stands were still full and very few people had left.  Good thing, too! 

 

By the time there were two outs in the 9th, the Sox had scored another two runs, and Terry Francona, (who used to manage the Red Sox, but now manages Cleveland) was on the mound, changing pitchers. The game was  pretty exciting by that point, and ended in a win for the Red Sox when Jacoby Ellsbury drove in two runs when he hit a line drive with the bases loaded.  Now, that was fun!

It was very touching when the Yankees fans sang Sweet Caroline at the Yankees game after the Boston Marathon bombings, and it made it more emotional for me to hear it at the Red Sox game.

 

My clever sister-in-law Dawn had the foresight to make reservations at nearby Jerry Remy’s Restaurant for after the game, and dinner was delicious!










We spent a day out on the water with some old boating friends.  Their son bought a boat and we went out with them all on the shake down cruise.  It sure did make me miss boating on the ocean with our friends!










  
  Paul got his chance at the helm. 













We couldn’t have asked for better weather for lounging at anchor and zipping around the islands.  They keep their boat in Danvers Mass. and we took it out to Misery Island, off the coast of Beverly, MA.

So, that’s the short version of what we’ve been up to for the last week or so, with more craziness to come.