Boston

 

Jeff and I had both only had quick trips to Boston before, so a long weekend there seemed like a chance to explore which we did.  However, covid did diminish our trip some since several museums and places we wanted to visit were still closed.  Having said that, Boston is very much alive right now.  The hotel seemed like it had a good occupancy level even though it only had room service food no restaurants or bars open.  We also had challenges getting served at restaurants because they were full or not taking reservations.  We stayed in the Back Bay area which is an upscale part of town.  Two blocks away is Newbury Street which is full of high end stores - window shopping only territory but also lots of restaurants.  Our hotel was attached to 2 malls one which had a Saks and stores like Gucci - again just window shopping for me.

Schooner sail of the bay

Since we no longer have a sailboat, any chance we get to go sailing we tend to take it.  So on Friday afternoon, we went on a harbor sail on an old schooner that sails to the Bahamas in the fall.  The sail was nice, but we got gypped a little bit.  Seems the harbor bottom is being blasted for dredging to make it deeper and when they are blasting ships can not be near.  Guess what they were doing that Friday afternoon.  Now don't get me wrong we did sail for a couple of hours, we just did not get to go explore the islands and we did some circles (lots of tacking - kind of like sailing the Mississippi). We saw the USS Constitution /Old Iron Sides which is still officially in service, went past Logan Airport, past some nice newer apartments/condo and just plain sailed.

Boston Commons

 

We walked a lot in Boston.  Part of the time we walked the red line(heritage trail), part of the time we were walking through Boston Commons and adjoining public gardens and then down a tree covered median back to our hotel.  

Boston Public Library

Jeff had read about the historic Boston Public Library and that it was full of gorgeous artwork.  I was surprised to find some religious references in some of the paintings - guess division of state and church was not a big thing back then!

Boston Public Garden

While he was on a run, Jeff took a selfie and a couple of pictures of the public gardens.  The lake behind him has some boats that you ride on with a huge swan in the back.  The spring flowers were dying or gone and summer flowers were starting to bloom.

Cambridge

A dining hall at Harvard

More from Harvard - we liked the duck design in the bricks

Yes this is a wild turkey in the middle of Cambridge!

Another day we spent walking around Cambridge.  We walked around Harvard's campus some before window shopping for awhile.  We walked out of a store and crossed the street to look closer at a light fixture when we found this turkey.  Squirrels, chipmunks, birds are the animals I expect in an inner city area - turkeys are not the norm!

Waterfront

Salem

All of these pictures are from the memorial to the people killed as witches.  Each of the jutting out stones is a memorial to one of the individuals.

While we were in Salem, we also visited the museum of the House of Seven Gables.  Seems that Nathaniel Hawthorne's cousin owned this house at the time he wrote his novel.  It is also interesting because parts of the house date back to before the revolutionary war time period.  The tours started in the 20th century by a lady who used the profits from the tours to aid immigrants to the city.  To this day, tour revenue still supports programs for immigrants in the community.

exterior of the house and its gardens

a room showing its original construction.  The house model in the background is how the house looked at one time when gables were no longer trendy.

secret stairway built into the chimney - added in the 30s to align with the novel

After a few hours exploring Salem, it was off for Ogunquit, Maine is our next stop.

Cape Cod

Chatham Train Museum/old depot

Chatham

We used Chatham, MA as our base for our week in Cape Cod.  I had wanted a town around the "elbow" of the Cape since that seemed to me like an area where we would be able to easily explore.  I was right on the ability to get around and got lucky in that I think I picked the best of the small towns in that part of the cape!  Chatham has a cute downtown that is several blocks long so plenty of window shopping and a good collection of eateries.  We stayed in a bed and breakfast for the week - The Queen Anne Inn Chatham, MA.  We had a tasty breakfast each morning and really enjoyed dinner there one night.  One of the joys of staying at a B&B is talking with the other guests, but that got difficult with covid.  However, with a firepit that was usually lit at night we could sit around it and comfortably talk with anyone else who came to enjoy it.

 

a local road sign

main street Chatham

Cape Cod National Seashore

One of the draws for Cape Cod was the Cape Cod National Seashore and the Cape Cod Rail Trail.  Not sure if it was covid or too early in their "season", but the National Park Service visitor center was not open - sigh.  However, we were still able to get a map and for Carol a long sleeve tee shirt - a little too chilly for my short sleeve and forgot my jacket!  We hiked for a little bit and then headed for the car to beat some rain. We hiked around the Nauset Marsh Trail and the Doane trail.  The first part of the hike gave us some pretty vistas and then we saw a large granite rock that was probably about 10 feet above ground and similarly below ground.  Rocks like this and some of the ponds are remnants of the ice age.

 It drizzled off and on, but we were able to drive along the coast some.  We saw lighthouses and seals.  We couldn't take a picture of the seals that looked like anything.  We were told that in one area where we stopped and saw seals that the sea bottom is 8 feet deep right at the end of the beach.

2 of the 3 sisters lighthouses.

Nauset Lighthouse

We learned that there were 3 locations of lighthouses on the cape each with a distinct light.  We noticed that the Nauset lighthouse alternated red and white lights.  We found down the road 3 lighthouses that had been in one location almost like a single lighthouse.  The three were called the 3 sisters.

While we were driving along the beach we also saw where the original transatlantic telegraph cable came across.  There was a hut there.  The area was aptly called Marconi Beach. After that it was still drizzly and we had hit the end of the car road in this area so we headed back.  Guess that means we left some of the seashore for another visit.

Whale watching

Whale watching was high on our list of "to dos", but we were both skeptical of how much whale we would really see.  We had gone on tours in other places and had been lucky to see a whale from a distance.  Our fears were unfounded.  We saw three different whales - yes 3 not 3 times of the same whale.  Our first whale hung around for about a half hour or so.  He would come up for a minute or two and then lazily go back under for a few minutes and then pop up on the other side of the boat.  We then moved to another area and found 2 separate whales.  I called the first whale a "he" because there was a naturalist on our boat who could identify the whales for us.  The first one was a juvenile who only has a number not a name yet.  One of the 2 whales we saw the second time is a 37 year old female who has had 7 calves.  The tails of the whales are all unique which is how they are identified.

Cape Cod Rail Trail

We went bike riding twice.  The first time we started right down the road from our inn which was great in our minds.  We were on a spur of the trail and when we got to the intersection with the main trail we ran into a truly Massachusetts solution - a roundabout!  It is pictured below.  The path had a lot of woody areas - we pretty much rode to one end of the trail.  On our way back - right before the roundabout, I saw a sign for a winery.  We decided it was time for a stop.  We did a couple of wine tastings and liked it so much we bought 2 bottles- the most we could fit on the bikes!  One was an early Father's Day present for Jeff.  We even drove back another day and visited First Crush the winery again for a glass of chardonnay each.

Our second bike ride required a short drive to Harwich a neighboring town.  The bike ride started out great.  We saw some ponds with beaches early on and knew there were places to stop and eat and drink along the way.  The weather forecast was for a sunny day.  The weatherman was wrong.  We hit a good stopping/turn around spot and started to think about where we wanted to stop for something to eat.  While we considering one spot, we noticed it was looking like rain and there was no place to get out from the rain if it did come.  We kept biking.  We weren't fast enough.  It started to drizzle - well okay we can live with that.  Then it POURED , lightened up only to pour again.  We were soaked.  We saw a small business with a porch harboring several other bikers - we joined them and waited.  It stopped after a little bit and we rode back to our car.  We were soaked and cold.  We stopped at an A and W afterwards and ate in our warm car - not sure if we were that hungry or what but the chicken fingers and root beer were great!

Bike trail roundabout

First Crush winery - great cookies and wine

Chatham Bars Inn

This is a well known resort in Chatham.  We had met a second cousin of Jeff and his wife who had suggested we visit it.  They were right.  Nice view and nice food in a nice building.

idea for a future planter at our condo?

Miscellaneous

We visited Provincetown as part of our whale watching trip.  It is the very end of the cape and is known for good art and good food.  It was a Friday evening when we were exploring the town which was good since it meant the galleries were open later than usual.  We were able to talk with several gallery owners and saw several very nice pieces.  There was also a store that sold tiles with artist approved copies of their artwork where Jeff found one as a souvenir.  By chance, the day we took the whale watching trip was the day the lobster diver was eaten by a whale.  When a gallery owner first told me the story, I thought he was pulling the tourist's tail.  Only to have him assure me he had heard the story a couple of times that day and it appeared real.  

Another day we went to Falmouth where the second cousin of Jeff's lives.  Jeff  had become friends with him on Facebook but they had never met in person.  We decided since we were going to be in the area he should reach out.  We met up with him, his wife and their dogs at their house and then went to their yacht club for dinner.  It was a very nice evening and now Jeff knows more of his relatives!  Also we now have plan to meet another cousin in Maine. 

lavender farm

I used to grow lavender in my perennial garden and enjoy its smell.  So of course we had to visit a farm when we heard about one in the area.  The plants were just starting to bloom.  The lavender farm was on our way out of the Cape.  We went to Plymouth and then our next destination of Boston.  

Plymouth Rock

Mayflower replica

The end of our time in Cape Cod.