Boston Area

We moved from Cape Cod to just outside Boston so we could be closer to explore Boston and the upper part of Massachusetts.  We are staying in Littleton which is about 30 miles from downtown Boston.

Our first adventure was getting our rig into the space at the RV park.  The park we are staying at is beautiful set amongst some very large trees.  The roads are very narrow and the space we were assigned was a blind back-in site.  It required backing between two trees up a small hill.  Fortunately the campground host escorted us to the site then guided me in with backing directions.  It would have been very difficult to get into the spot without his assistance.  Once we were in I had to check to see if the slides would clear the two trees.  We just made it.

In between some major rain storms we have been able to get some sightseeing in.  We took a scenic drive up to Cape Ann which took us through some small New England towns that take you back in time.  We had lunch at little restaurant in Rockport, MA then made our way to Salem (the witch town).

A view of the harbor and town of Gloucester.

We were surprised with the size of Salem.  It is a fairly large city and very busy which made it a little difficult for us to find a parking spot for our large truck.  They have set up a line on the sidewalk you follow that takes you to all the major sights of the city.  It was about an hour and half walking tour.  The disappointment is that only one structure, the judges house, remains from the famous witch trials. 

Fran was caught and punished!

The only structure that remains.  Dates back to 1630.

Pretty cool, they have a statue for the TV show Bewitched.

Yesterday, Monday, we made our way into Boston.  We made two stops for the day.  The first was the JFK Library and Museum.  This continues our plan to see all the presidential libraries.  The library sits near the campus of the University of Massachusetts on  Columbia Point.  The view is spectacular as is the library building.  We were disappointed with contents of the museum as it seemed to be lacking any real substance, but it was still interesting.

View of Boston across the bay from the library.

Library and museum

JFK’s favorite sailboat.  He got it when he was 15 and sailed it his entire life.

Our second stop was a tour of Fenway Park.  It can be very costly to see a baseball game at Fenway so this is the next best alternative.  For $16 they take you into the stands, onto the “Green Monster”, along the upper deck, into the media room and end at the Red Sox museum.  I would highly recommend this tour, it was informative and fun.

The “Green Monster”

The stands

View from the press box

I have been to Wrigley Field and now Fenway Park, the two oldest parks in baseball.  I would have to say the Red Sox’s have done it right.  The park has been totally upgraded but has the old time feel and history to it.  Wrigley has been upgraded but not to this extent.  The coolest thing they did at Fenway was to add seats to the top of the “Green Monster”.  These have to be the best seats in baseball.  They are in such demand that they hold a lottery each year for the seats.  They get a list of over 100,000 people trying to get just 4 tickets for one game in these seats at $165 per ticket!

We are in this area for the rest of this week then into Maine for two weeks before we begin a 5 week tour through eastern Canada.

Lobsta, chowdah and beeyah

We finished up our stay on Cape Cod and now have moved to Littleton, MA, which is just outside Boston.  Let me bring you up to date on our final excursions on the cape.

As the title indicates I have been getting my fill of seafood as we move up the east coast.  It was crabs and crab cakes in the Outer Banks, Delaware and Maryland and now in New England it is lobster (lobster rolls), clam chowder and fried clams.  We have been eating out a lot, mainly lunches, as we do our sightseeing.

On our last weekend we drove through the Cape Cod National Seashore.  They are still recovering from the storm so the beaches were not open as there was no stair access from the parking lots.  I can see why people do love these beaches, they are just beautiful. 

The highway through the National Seashore leads you to the town of Provincetown which is at the tip of Cape Cod.  This town is famous for being where the Pilgrims originally landed, signed their declaration and then moved on to Plymouth.  There is a nice monument erected for this event (puts Plymouth Rock to shame). 

Monument for the Pilgrims landing

Lunch at a local restaurant (lobster Panini)

In more recent times the town has become more famous as a place for gays and lesbians to live and visit.

On Monday it was rainy and colder so we took a drive to Plymouth to see where the Pilgrims settled and then came back via Highway 6A, which takes you through many of the small towns on the cape.

Ok, as a child you learn early on about the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock and never do I remember seeing a picture of it in my textbooks.  I envisioned a large rock on the coast that was sort of a landmark. Well, see for yourself…

About 5 foot by 3 foot.

It is enclosed in a little monument near the shoreline.  From what I have read this is actually only half of the original rock as it was split many years ago and people took pieces of it.  Sometime in the past the year 1620 was carved into it.  Really, from sea the Pilgrims saw this rock and decided this is where they wanted to land!  I don’t think so. 

We have been busy

It has been a couple of weeks and we have been really busy on this leg of our trip.  It is evident now that we did not allow enough time at some of our stops here.  When I left you last we were in Connecticut our first week.  We stayed for one additional week taking us to just after Memorial Day.  Activities during that last week included visiting Hartford, CT where we toured Mark Twain’s home.  This was where he was living when he wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Another trip was to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.  This is a living history museum.  It is a recreated village from the 1830’s with people recreating the lifestyle and tasks at the various buildings.  It was a beautiful day and a great stroll through this town.

After Memorial Day we left for Cape Cod arriving in Eastham, Massachusetts.  This is down the cape, as they say.  Since arriving we spent the first full day hanging around the trailer as it was cold and rainy, but then the storm passed and it has been sunny and very hot.  First stop was a trip to Nantucket.  This required a drive, 28 miles, to the ferry terminal and then a ride on the high speed ferry, 1 hour, over to the island.  Round trip for two adults and two bikes was $128.00!!  We had been told that it was best to bike around on Nantucket as it is a small island and really only has the one town.  The issue we found is that at times you have to ride on the roads which can be treacherous and it was a little hilly.  Riding in the downtown area is almost prohibitive because of the cobblestone streets and the requirement you must walk you bikes on all one way streets, which most are.  The island was nice and the town of Nantucket was quaint and fun to walk around but it was not what neither of us expected.

View of homes from the bike trail.  All homes have to be built with shingled siding and roofs, so all are grey and white.

A view of one of the streets in the town.

A close up view of the cobblestone.  These are boulders!

On Friday we drove 50 miles to the ferry terminal in Woods Hole to take the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard.  This is a 45 minute ride on a slower ferry but only costs $16 round trip.  We did not take our bikes as this island is much larger with 6 towns so we decided a tour bus would be the better option. 

We arrived in Oak Bluffs (one of the towns), which is one of the tourist hot spots on the island.  This has a nice wharf with restaurants and bars, the famous gingerbread cottages in Camp City and the circle of homes around Ocean Park.

Here are some of the gingerbread cottages in Camp City.  This was originally a tent city for a religious group that became these small ornate cottages. 

Hopefully you can make this out but this is the circle of homes that have Ocean Park in front of them.  They all face the ocean.  The prominent home in the circle is owned by Peter Norton (Norton Anti-Virus creator).

One of the most beautiful stops on the bus tour was the town of Aquinnah which is on a cliff with a great view.

The Cliffs of Aquinnah

As Jaws was filmed on this island the tour guide pointed out all the places that were used in the filming.  The town of Edgartown was the setting for the town of Amity. We did not get to spend much time in Edgartown but we both agreed that if we come back this is one town we want to see more of.  We also did not get to spend any time in the other tourist area, Vineyard Haven. 

After the 3 hour tour, lunch and walking around Oak Bluffs there was no time left to go back to any of the spots we saw on the tour as we needed to catch the last ferry out of Oak Bluffs.  We definitely needed more time to enjoy this island.

Before we leave here we still plan on seeing the Cape Cod National Seashore, Provincetown, Plymouth Rock and possibly a whale watching boat tour.  On Tuesday we leave to Littleton, MA (just outside Boston).

New England

We left New York and moved into Connecticut last week as we continue our journey up the east coast.  We are in a little town called Chaplin, which is out in the middle of nowhere.  It is a very rural peaceful RV park and a great value compared to what we have been paying for sites on this trip.  The park is not that far from the places we wanted to see and the relatives we wanted to visit in Rhode Island.  As we could not find a decent park in Rhode Island we are staying at this park for two weeks to handle both states.

Here our activities for the first week. 

We drove to the coast of Connecticut to check out the towns of Mystic and Stonington.  Both are quaint little towns on the water with nice downtown areas to walk around.  You really get the feel of being in New England.  For you movie buffs there was a movie called Mystic Pizza which was the breakout role for Julia Roberts.  There really is a pizza restaurant called Mystic Pizza and some of the filming was done there.  We stopped in and bought a slice.

Mystic Pizza restaurant

View of the harbor with some sail boats

We had lunch at the next town over, Stonington, at a restaurant, Noah’s, recommended in our 1,000 places to see.  It was a very nice lunch. 

Noah’s restaurant

On Sunday we took a drive to see a couple of other little towns not far from here, East Haddam and Essex.  In East Haddam there is Gillette Castle state park which has a stone castle made at the turn of the 19th century by a man named Gillette.  He was famous for playing Sherlock Holmes on the stage during that period.  This house sits on a cliff and has amazing views of the area.  The amount of stone used is unreal.  Even the canopies over the windows are made of stone.

Gillette Castle

Stone canopies

The view

Part of the wall that surrounds the house

We had lunch in East Haddam at the Blue Oar.  This is right on the water and is a favorite place for boaters as there is a dock.  It was rainy and a little cold the day we went so no crowds.

Yesterday we drove to Newport, Rhode Island to check it out.  We ended up walking the downtown (wharf area), having lunch at the Black Pearl restaurant (fantastic clam chowder), driving on Bellevue Avenue (famous mansions) and Ocean Drive (more huge homes) and ending up walking on the cliff walk.  The town has built a nice walkway that extends 3 1/2 miles on the edge of the cliff and passes by many of the famous mansions.  About half the walk was closed when we visited but we did a little over a mile of it.

The cliff that the walkway follows

A small cottage!

Weekend retreat!

Newport was great and the weather was just perfect for the day.  The town was much larger than I had expected and I can see how it can get very busy on weekends and during the summer months. 

Next up is a visit to Hartford, Connecticut and a visit with relatives over the Memorial Day weekend.

New York

Last week we moved from New Jersey to Florida, New York, which is about 40 miles outside of New York City.  We have been here for a week and leave tomorrow, Tuesday, for Chaplin, Connecticut.  We did some sightseeing this past week so let me get you caught up.

We are in the Hudson Valley which is just a very beautiful area.  We picked this area as it is near a couple of sights we wanted to see, FDR Library and Home, West Point and it allowed us to get into New York City fairly easily by train.

First stop was the FDR Library and his Hyde Park home.  We were a little disappointed as the library is undergoing an extensive renovation so all they had open was a small exhibit following his life.  What was neat is his house.  You get to see it as it was when he last lived in it.  I could see why he loved to come to this house as the views of the Hudson Valley are spectacular.

Here is a picture of the library as it would look on the outside prior to the renovation.

His house

The view from the back of his house

His grave and his wife’s

Just down the road from FDR’s home is the summer home of one of the Vanderbilt’s.  They would use this house about 12 weeks out of the year.  It was given to the National Park Service back in the 40’s with all the original furnishings.  It represents the Gilded Age in America (turn of the century 1900’s).

Just a little weekend cottage!

Entry foyer with opening to second floor and skylight.

Next stop was a day trip into New York City.  We have been a few times so the plan was not to go to Times Square but rather to do some things we had not done.  I had not been to the 9/11 memorial so that was our first stop.  They have done a great job with this except for all the security.  It just so happened that the day we went was the day they officially topped the new building at 1776 feet by installing the last section of the spire.

The new Freedom Tower at 1776 feet.

One of the two memorial pools.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

We’re walking, we’re walking!

Then it was a subway ride back into Manhattan, Chelsea District, to walk the High Line and have lunch.

We’re walking some more!

That was our day in the city.  Today, our last day, we went out to West Point and took a bus tour of the facility.  What a impressive place and some fantastic views of the Hudson River.

One of the chapel’s and probably the most famous.

Inside the chapel.  That is stained glass on both sides that line the walls and at each end.

As graduation is in a couple of weeks a cadet was out getting some pictures taken in his uniform.

The superintendent’s house.  This is the oldest building on the facility.

View of the Hudson River where it makes a turn.  This is called Trophy Point.  West Point was placed here as fort to protect from an attack from the river.

We had a chance to visit with some old friends from our days living in Concord, California.  We had not seen them in 20 years so it was a nice evening of catching up. 

Time to move on!

Cape May, New Jersey

We arrived in Cape May on Tuesday, April 30th, and will be here until May 7th.  If you look at a map, and have been reading my blog, you will see that we took the looooooooooooong way to get here.  We were actually just a few miles across the water when we were in Delaware and there is a ferry we could have taken.  We decided against it as we wanted to stop in the Washington, D.C. area and in Amish Country, Pennsylvania, so here we are.  That also allowed us to put two more map stickers on our RV map, which is very important!

We picked this area as neither of us had been here and wanted to see the Jersey shore and Atlantic City.  The beaches here are just beautiful so I can see why everyone comes here in the summer.  The big attraction here is Wildwoods which is right on the ocean and has amusement parks and a huge boardwalk with many arcades, restaurants and shops.  It is not tourist season yet and the weather is still a little cold so the place looked like a ghost town.  It is amazing to see all the homes, cottages and hotels.  The boardwalk was very impressive and I can see where families would have a great time.

A portion of the boardwalk in Wildwoods

Cape May lighthouse

Beach at Cape May

We took a drive up to Atlantic City and stopped at a town just before Atlantic City called Margate.  We had been told by a friend who is from the area to check out the building shaped like an elephant, so we did.

The things you see on the road

Neither of us had been to Atlantic City and wanted to go see the famed boardwalk.  As we get the New York TV stations on our DirecTV we had heard that much of the boardwalk had been damaged by superstorm Sandy last year, but that was not the case.  There was a lot of construction activity in the town and on one of the hotels lining the boardwalk but other than that the boardwalk and all the shops and restaurants were fine.

Trump’s Casino

A view down the beach.  They have restored the dunes and planted shrubs to help keep the sand in place.

A portion of the boardwalk. You see the cart in the middle of the picture, that is the boardwalk taxi.  You get pushed by someone, so you go walking speed!!  They do not allow bikes on the boardwalk during most of the day so this is what enterprising individuals have come up with. Did I mention you sit and move at WALKING SPEED!  I did not bother to ask how much they charge as I probably would not have been able to contain my laughter.

Weather has been cool and downright cold on some days.  In Atlantic City it was pleasant, but in Wildwoods we were bundled up in heavy coats.  Where is Spring?

Headed to Florida, New York next week, which is about 50 miles outside New York City.