A Month in Massachusetts (7/12/25)

 I grew up in Massachusetts, and spent much of my adult life there. It’s where Paul and I met, and where my kids grew up. All of my siblings are still here, and most of my childhood friends.

These days when we visit, its usually for a week or so, and many times I fly in on my own. Although our daughter lives in L.A., our son still lives here in MA. We booked a month in an RV park near him with several thoughts in mind, mostly some leisurely visits with family, and also the opportunity to see more people than we usually have time to see. We succeeded on both fronts.

Basically our time there can be divided into two: visits with friends and family, and outings with Stephen, our son. The highlights from some of our more notable outings-

Our first day trip was to the historic town of New Bedford MA, an old coastal fishing town. By the mid 1800s, New Bedford was considered to be one of the richest cities in the country, in large part due to the whaling industry.

Two types of whales were hunted the most frequently on the east coast- the Right Whale and the Sperm whale. In fact the Right whale got its name because it was the “right” whale to hunt. It moved slowly and floated after it was killed.  Interestingly, species such as Humpbacks were not sought after because when they died, they sank, making it virtually impossible to harvest them. By the late 1800s, the Right Whale had been hunted almost to extinction. Now the biggest threat to the Right Whale is entanglement in fishing gear. Estimates say that 83% of all Right Whales have been entangled at least once.

The Blue Whale is the largest mammal on the planet and can grow to be 100 feet long. Their tongue weighs as much as an elephant.

In keeping with our whale theme, another of our outings was a whale watch that we took from Boston.  Any excuse to be on the ocean is probably what went through our minds. Stellwagen Bank is a marine sanctuary off the coast of Massachusetts.

Paul and I made several trips there many years ago, on our own boat  and were enthralled with the whales. We had a family of 3 circling around our boat for a short while, actually rolling to look at us. The thought “we need a bigger boat” went through our minds.

This trip was not a disappointment either, with plenty of opportunity to enjoy the humpback whales.

In and amongst our trips to the beach, shopping, etc. we took another day trip up to the town of Lowell, where the Lowell National Historic Park is located.

Lowell was a planned industrial city, which made use of a canal system to generate power for the mills. We booked a tour of the Pawtucket Canal by boat, getting a different take on the whole system.

The canal system diverts some of  the water from the Merrimac River to the Pawtucket Canal and into the town of Lowell.

One of the problems with re-routing a river to come through town via canals is that when there is a serious flood-the town will be what floods.

 

Until 1850 there was no flood protection for the town, but that year, an engineer named James Francis built a massive flood gate. Many townspeople thought he was crazy, and they called it Francis’s Folly.  The wooden gate was 25’ x 27’ and at least a foot thick.

It was held up by a shackle. Well, on April 22, 1852, the call went out to drop the gate. the only way to drop it was to take a hammer and chisel to the shackle- which they did, and the gate worked exactly as it was supposed to, holding back the flood waters.

Thereafter it was called the Great Gate.

The rest of our time was spent visiting family and friends, although we did find a lighting store that was going out of business and we bought some light fixtures and fans for the new house. Our rig is packed to the gills.

So…

We saw my brothers and sisters several times..

We met up with Rich, one of Paul’s fraternity brothers….

We had dinner with long time boating friends Peter and Susan, on their boat…

And we saw our good friend Maryellen a couple of times- once with her daughter and her family. Maryellen was our next door neighbor for years… “Best neighbor Evah”.

We actually saw quite a few more people but I am terrible at taking pictures when I am with friends and family. Guess I am having too much fun to think of it!

The house is now starting to look like a house:

Beaches, Baby! (6/4/25)

 

Living much of the year in the western half of the country, I really miss the ocean. I grew up swimming in the Atlantic, in MA and New Hampshire.  Hitting the beach was high on my list of things to do, and hitting the beaches further south than MA was even higher. The water felt toasty warm!

Our first beach stop was Emerald Isle North Carolina. We have never been here before, but it is now high on our list of places to return to…

The RV park we were in was walking distance to the beach, which is a huge deal.

Our first day we had to take care of some business in the morning, but spent the afternoon reading on the beach.

Our second day we combined the beach with hiking. We packed up towels, and lunch, in our beach chairs, which we can wear like backpacks.

We walked two miles down the beach, stopping whenever we felt like it. At the two mile mark we stopped for lunch,

and then meandered back, again, stopping to relax and enjoy the water.

That night we decided to go out to eat, and were delighted to learn that a seafood restaurant featuring live music was within walking distance.

We sat and enjoyed a drink while waiting for a table for dinner.

Our second beach stop was Virginia Beach, Virginia. Our RV park was not on the water this time, but it was a close second. There is a trolley that runs all day, until after 9 pm, every 20 minutes. You can get dropped off anywhere along the beach.  We packed a lunch and chairs and headed to the water.

The ocean here is a bit colder, and a bit rougher than North Carolina, but we still loved it. (that is not us, lol)

The trolley was so easy to use that we took it to the beach, then back to the campground to change for dinner, and back to the beach again.

Walking along the boardwalk, we looked for a souvenir to buy but came away with nothing. There had to be 20-30 beach volley ball courts all along the beach.

Again we couldn’t resist a restaurant with a view of the ocean, so we headed to Waterman’s for an early dinner.

We only had two nights in Virginia Beach before we needed to move on.

Skipping ahead, our third beach stop was Niantic Connecticut. It took a couple of days of driving to get this far because we were avoiding cities. We did stop a couple of museums along the way, but I will insert those posts after this one.

I lived in Connecticut for about 6 years but I had never been to Niantic. The RV park we stayed in here was also not on the beach, but has a free shuttle that will pick you up and drop you off wherever you want.

We didn’t have as much time here so we didn’t bother with chairs. The shuttle driver dropped us off at the far end of the 1 mile boardwalk, and we walked all along the beach towards town. Once there we had a late lunch at a restaurant before heading back to the campground. We are only an hour and a half from our destination in Massachusetts.

New House Update:

On  our way to the beaches we made a short stop in the small town of Hickory North Carolina, which has some fantastic furniture at fantastic prices. After shopping the huge furniture mall, we ordered our great room furniture from one of the stores. Since they are custom, it will take several months to get them.  Good timing- I hope.

Now that we have officially broken ground on the new house in Green Valley, we are receiving regular updates from the Supervisor: