Boston, Mass., 06(26&27)2011

Our host Mary. Another delightful person with the Evergreen Club. She, like us, lives within walking distance to shopping and transportation.

I don't like to include photos of our host's homes, but this one is so unique. One of the very old houses that have been converted into apartments. Mary lives on the top floor. Two stories of narrow winding steps to climb. This has to be all the exercise she would need if she did this 2 or 3 times a day. The interior of her apartment is done very nicely. Our first evening here we walked around the neighborhood to admire the beautiful houses, many have been converted into multi-family dwellings.

DAY 1:

We parked the van at Riverside Station and took the "T" into Boston. Fortunately we received plenty of assistance from the regulars, so we managed to get on the right train, and were told what to do to get back to the station at the end of the day. Here is Linda on the Green Line heading into Boston. This was a fun experience.

We arrived in Boston at noon and had lunch at Cheers.

We were upstairs since that is where the replica of the Cheers set is. It was fun trying to imagine where Norm and the others would have been seated in the TV episodes. Great sandwiches.

After lunch we boarded the Old Towne Trolley to tour the city.

This fountain in Boston park invited people to sit on the edge and cool off their feet in the water. This shot is cropped to eliminate the waders.

Pond an Bridge in the park. This park is next to Boston Commons.

Dan just had to have a photo with the park officer who, by the way, was very helpful.

Another view of the pond.

Looking back from the marina.

This is one impressive sailing yacht. Notice the power boat passing by on it's way out of the docks.A street scene.

We took the Green Line of the "T" back to Riverside Station where we had parked the van and headed on to the house of our Evergreen Club host.

DAY 2:

We walked 3 blocks to the Amtrack Commuter stop and took the purple line directly into Boston this day. No need to drive to the Riverside station. This is a shot of the entrance to the track we need to go to for our return trip. We took this, an a couple of other photos in case we forgot where we would need to be at the end of the day.

The oldest public library in the U.S.

We opened this door to tour more of the library and was surprised with what was behind it.

The library court yard.

The famous Fenway Park baseball stadium.

The trolley never got us into a good position to get a photo of the front of the stadium.

The "new" State House

The Old State House where many events around the Revolution movement took place.

A replica of the stamp that was required during the time of the Stamp Act, a tax on the usage of paper for official and legal documents, even Bills of Sale. One of the many thorns to the Colonists.A cobble stone street, one of the original Boston roads.

Dan just could help but hob-nob with one of the Red Coats.

The house is still in use, as is many of the building from that time.

The Old North Church where the two lanterns were used to signal that the British soldiers were approaching by sea.This shot illustrates how the sleek new glass enclad structurs stand among the historical buildings erected by the colonists. Linda is not pleased with the modern buildings that intrude in the photos of the historical buildings. Not to mention the traffic lights & signs, and power lines.

We rode the Trolley part of the day, and walked the rest. We walked along 2/3 of the Freedom Trail. We had walked this trail several years ago while on a Fall Colors Cruise out of New York, but were rushed due to limited time ashore. This time we had time to stop longer where we wanted to. Walking on the cobblestone streets was rather precarious.

We were quite tired after spending the entire day in Boston. We found our way back to the Amtrack station and returned to our host's home where we promptly took a nap.

Sturbridge, Mass 06(24&25)2011

The weather was drizzly off and on this day, with dark clouds. We planned to camp in Wells State Park and hoped we wouldn't be rained on. When we stopped to check on the weather forcast rain was predicted. When we reached Sturbridge we decided that a hotel or motel would be a better idea. We saw the Super 8 and stopped to check in, but they were booked for the night.

We decided to go to the camp ground and hope for the best. We planned to spend 2 night here, and could get in that day, but not the next. So, Dan was being charming and working to convince a family to share their space with us the next night. They were amused, but looked like they were seriously considering the idea. We selected our site and got set up.

We were in a wooded area on a lake. The ground was damp from rain earlier in the day. The mosquitos were out already, in the middle of the day, so we applied the repellant, but not before being bitten a few times. We built a nice little fire to sit by until time for bed. We were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of thunder and the rain gently falling. The rain continued to increase and we turned on the lantern to check for leaks, but all seemed well, and we were warn enough. However, when we got up in the morning we noticed that the sleeping bag was wet at our feet, and there was some water on the floor on one side. The entrance flap had leaked some.

The minor leaking of the tent changed everything. We had to get to a laundromat to do laundry and dry out the sleeping bag. Dan dropped Linda off at the laundromat and went back to break camp. He returned with the bedding, sleeping bag and tent. The tent was spread out on pavement next to the building and we put the sleeping bag in a dryer for a few minutes. At least the weather was dry and warm so the tent could dry out. Dan said that as he was checking out of the campground the family he has tried to charm into sharing their space the second nigh said that thay would make room in their space. But by that time we had found a room in town for the night. He told them that we had "wimped out", but thanked them anyway.

The laundromat:

After we finished the laundry and checked into the hotel we visited the Old Town Sturbridge area. This was why Dan had planned the stop here. The village depicts life in the 1800's and is located on a farm that was active during that time.

Examples of fabric production in the home before American factories were producing fabrics and ready made clothing.

A typical kitchen setting.

There was a wagon for visitors pulled by Belgan Draft Horses. Here we saw them approaching from the covered bridge.

The area was set up like a typical village of the time. Some of the building have been moved to the property and some were originally here.

The typical general store and merchandise that would be stocked.

Fabrics and notions.

Various sewing items and shoes.The back room of the store.

A house of worship.

We really enjoyed this place, but when we were in heavily wooded areas there were mosquitos and we hadn't applied repellant that day. Of course we received more bites. Thank goodness we had a prescription cream to apply to the bites to help them heal and stop the itching.

By 8 o'clock that evening the sky was dark, lightning was flashing and thunder was pounding. The rain came down heavily. We were very glad to be in a building and not a tent.