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:

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (6/12/25)

 

As we made our way towards Massachusetts, we realized that our trajectory would take us past the official Presidential Library of FDR, in Hyde Park, NY,  and of course we weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to see it. 

We have already been to his “little White House” –his cottage in Warm Springs Georgia that he visited as often as he could. He was at the cottage when he died in 1945.

My post about it:

( https://soos-ontheroad.blogspot.com/2013/04/f-d-r-state-park-03-27-13.html )

The library/museum in New York is totally different, and is unique in the sense that he always knew he was going to donate the property for his presidential library, so most of the contents are original.

When his parents bought the house in the mid 1800s it was a small two story farm house. In 1915 FDR  added 18 rooms.

His mother always lived with him.

FDR suffered from Polio but he never wanted to be seen as weak, so he found innovative ways to appear to be walking and standing on his own. Before a speech for example, he would have his crew bolt the podium to the floor so he could lean his weight on it. He had special braces made to help him move his legs more naturally. There are very few pictures of him in his wheelchair.

In his house, he modified the elevator that had been installed to move their trunks (suitcases) up and down  to fit his wheelchair.

Roosevelt was the longest serving president in U.S. history. He was actually elected four times, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. Until  him, there was a tradition, starting with George Washington, that no president should serve more than two terms. But it was a tradition, not a law.

During Roosevelt’s tenure, the  country was going through some very difficult times, including the Great Depression, which he is credited with helping to end. In 1936, his election to his second term was the biggest electoral landslide in U.S. history.

By the time his second term had ended, World War II was heating up, and the majority of the voters seemed to feel we needed someone in office who was experienced and already knowledgeable about the world situation. He was easily elected to his third term.

He ran for an unprecedented 4th term at the height of world war II, and won by a comfortable margin.  He died in office just months before the end of the war.

In 1955 the 22nd amendment was added to the constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office.

Without a doubt he accomplished a lot as president, putting into place programs such as the FDIC, Federal Trade Commission, Social Security, and the Federal Alcohol Administration to name just a few. As impressive as that is, in this library there was also information detailing that many of his programs did not survive the opposition and were either not implemented or were discontinued.

Green Valley House update:

Cement has been poured!

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (06/8/25)

 Leaving the coast, we didn’t want our path to Massachusetts to go through any big cities, so we took a longer route, with a  couple of one night stops. One of those was in Verona, Virginia. We weren’t actually planning on doing much there but we arrived early in the day so we looked around to see what was there. Turns out, the birthplace of President Woodrow Wilson was a mere 15 miles away.

Woodrow Wilson 1856-1924

U.S. President 1913-1921

It’s listed as his Presidential Library but the tour guide was quick to point out that it really is just the place he was born and his parents moved the family away from here when he was a year and a half old. His father was a Presbyterian minister making $1000 a year in Staunton Virginia, but a parish in Georgia offered him $3000 a year, so off they went. 

The Manse is the building his family lived in, and also served as the parish hub.  The private rooms were mostly on the lower level and the public rooms were on the second level and had a separate entrance.

 

Of course, the difference in luxury level was immediately obvious.

After high school Wilson attended several colleges, changing his concentration of study a couple of times. After finally receiving his bachelors degree from Princeton, (history and political philosophy) he eventually went on to receive his graduate degree from John’s Hopkins University.

After teaching at several colleges he went on to be the President of Princeton in 1902.

Being a man of action, he felt that the pace of accomplishing things in the academic world was too slow, so he  decided politics would be a better fit, and he ran for the office of governor of New Jersey.

The museum was interesting but left me with a lot of questions- more than I feel I should have had. The displays were very disjointed and only told part of the story.

Wilson was married twice. Several plaques talked about Ellen,  his first wife and their children, but it wasn’t until much later in the exhibit that you find out she died in 1914 and he eventually married his second wife, Edith.

Both wives were  apparently genuinely devoted to him and his wellbeing. In 1919 while touring the country by train, Wilson suffered an apparent stroke. His cognitive abilities seemed relatively intact, although he suffered some physical issues for quite a while.

During that time, his wife Edith worked to keep the public from discovering the severity of his infirmity, and helped him navigate the decisions he needed to make on a daily basis. Some called her the first female president.  Eventually he fully returned to his duties and finished out his second term.

Several momentous events took place while he was in office. To secure his re-election, he ran on a promise to keep the U.S. out of the (first world) War.  Unfortunately  Americans were being killed by German submarines, Germany was trying to convince Mexico to attack the U.S. and our “allies” were running out of steam.  It became clear that we may have to enter the war after all...

In 1917 Congress declared war and and army was amassed- from a force of 130,00 in 1917- to more than 2 million by 1918.

After untold US losses, the tide began to turn and late in 1918 the Germans looked for a way towards peace. The armistice took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month- a day Americans now call Veteran’s Day.

Several other events took place during this time:

Between 1918 and 1920 the deadliest pandemic in history (still?), the Great Flu Epidemic infected more than 500 million people, killing 50 million or more.

Several amendments to the constitution were enacted during his presidency.  Wilson, having traditional southern thoughts on women, was not exactly a champion of women’s rights, but in 1916, giving in to political pressure, he assured them he was fighting for their cause, and in 1920 they were granted the right to vote.

One of the more positive things he championed while in office was the federal reserve. It is still in place today.

One of the most significant changes in the world during his tenure as President was that in 1913, Great Britain was the world’s major power, and when he left in 2021, The United States was.

Wilson died in 1924, about 3 years after he finished his second term as president.