“Running” Across the U.S. (10-10-18)

Once we re-entered the U.S., we had a decision to make…to go back to Virginia and the Carolinas to continue our genealogy research, or beeline for home. We decided to take the time and head to the Carolinas.  But that didn’t mean we couldn’t have fun along the way!

Our first, brief stop, was Acadia National Park, again. We stayed in the more remote Schoodic Peninsula area and spent one day hiking before moving on.













We also met with friends Lester and Sue in Maine- we missed them on the way north. Lester and Paul go way back and its always fun to catch up with them.

By mid September we had arrived back in Massachusetts for a brief visit.  The weather was cooperative so we finally got a chance to go to Lowell National Historic Park.

Lowell (dubbed the "Lowell Experiment" at the time) was built as a carefully planned industrial city, making use of the canals that connected the Merrimac River to the Charles for transportation, fishing, and power production. By the mid 1800s, it was a thriving, massive city, and the largest textile center in the country.

 By the early 1930s its role in the textile industry had severely declined and the city fell into disrepair and abandonment.  This is the Lowell I remember.  High unemployment, high crime- it wasn't somewhere you wanted to visit, never mind live.
Starting in the late 1900s ta re-birth began and over the years the city has begun to thrive again, embracing it's history. I was amazed at the cobblestone streets and the beauty of the waterfront area.

 Another neighborhood we visited while in MA was my own- the one I lived in growing up. The little blue house was ours.

 I am still friends with the women I grew up with on that street, and we all got together for a barbecue before we left town.

 As always, a visit to Boston feels too short, but
we were soon on our way.  We detoured to Cape Cod, (since it was after Labor Day-it would be too busy during the summer) and spent the evening with our friends Les and Alane. On the way to dinner we stopped to get a picture of the sunset.







The place we pulled off to watch the sunset was coincidentally the home of the actual Small Boat that performed the  greatest rescue in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.... the story was featured in the movie "The Finest Hours".  After watching the sunset and checking out the boat, we went back to Les and Alane's and watched the movie!

After leaving MA, we went to VA,  and also spent a brief time in the Carolinas, looking for more family history information.  Finding none, we bee lined for Texas to check up on Paul's mom before heading home to Havasu.