Massachusetts Travel Adventures.
In the last eight weeks Drew and
I have been so busy we have neglected to blog about some of our best
adventures. We were lucky enough to have
both of our sisters and their significant others up to visit. Drew’s sister Rachel and her fiance Bryan
visited us mid-august. Rachel and Bryan
are both Boston enthusiast and showed us several sites they have enjoyed during
their travels. During their visit we
hired a tour guide and explored the freedom trail. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the Freedom
trail is a red line on the pavement that connects significant historical
landmarks in Boston.
Our tour guide was dressed as a “daughter of
liberty” during the revolutionary war. She guided us around the sites and
brought history alive for us using a creative blend of storytelling and humor. My favorite story from the tour was the
history of the Boston Common. The Boston Common is a beautiful park, and is the
oldest in the United States. Its
original owner was the first European settler named William Blaxton, who was a
little quirky and enjoyed riding his white bull naked. He was a compassionate man, and felt sorry
for the Puritans that settled at Plymouth Rock due to the fact that they had no
fresh water and pastures to graze their cattle.
Kindly, he invited them to the area to share in his available resources.
Not surprisingly, when the puritans
arrived they were less than thrilled with his nude bull riding habits. Frustrated with their constant judgment,
Blaxton sold the land to the puritans and moved to New Hampshire where naked
bull riding was not as taboo. Overall
the tour was illuminating in its information and enjoyable in its delivery.
The following day, Drew joined Rachael and Bryan
at Fenway Park to take part in one of the greatest historical rivalries in
sports, between the Boston Redsox and the New York Yankees. For those of you who are baseball enthusiasts,
you may remember this game in which pitcher Ryan Dempster beaned steroid using Alex Rodriguez. You could hear the crowd cheering on Dempster
blocks away from Fenway. Drew said that
he has never been a part of something so exhilarating in the sports arena.
It was
a wonderful weekend and was a great reminder that while traveling alone can be
freeing and convenient, it cannot compare to the joy of shared
adventure with people you love. With
that sentiment in our minds we were excited for our second set of visitors. My
sister Brianna and her husband Joel came up last weekend to celebrate Brianna’s
30th birthday.
During
this trip we drove to Providence town at the tip of Cape Cod. Ask any New Englander what town you should
visit at the Cape and 90% of them will say, “well P-town of course!” After visiting
I could understand their devotion to this small quaint fishing village. The town
is situated on the bayside of the cape and has a beautiful port filled with
sail boats, yachts and fishing rigs. Unlike many beaches in MA, the ocean meets
wide sandy beaches instead of a pebble and rock filled shore line. Historic homes, churches, and meeting houses
have been converted into shops, art galleries, theaters and cafés. We
enjoyed a day of leisure in p-town, walking the narrow streets, perusing the
art galleries, eating the seafood, strolling the beach and we even snuck in a
visit to a genuine Pirate Museum.
The
following day we headed into Boston. The
boys did a beer tour at the Harpoon Brewery while Brianna and I visited the
Museum of Fine Arts. Satisfied and hungry
from our adventures we ate at The Top of the Hub, a skyscraper restaurant
selling a view as much as their amazing cuisine. After a fabulous dinner we took the subway
into Cambridge for a night of slam poetry at the Lizard Lounge. This experience
was a throw back to my college days, without all the amazing poetry, beer, and underground
venues. In short, it was way better then
the college haunts Drew had at LBC and I had at Bloomsburg. I guess the saying
location, location, location, holds true again.
Speaking
of amazing locations, Drew and I were able to visit the playground of the rich
during the Industrial Era. Newport RI,
was the summer home to the Kennedys, Vanderbilts, and many other rich and
powerful people during early 20
th century. Eleven of these summer mansions are now opened
to the public to tour. These homes did not allow photography indoors, but we
did get some great shots of the properties. If you ever get a chance to visit Rhode Island, I would
make Newport one of your destinations. The tours were affordable, well
produced, and very relaxing.
While
there were many other fun experience and adventures during the Traveling Triad’s
time in New England these three were among some of our favorites. Thanks for
letting us share our adventures with you on this blog. Stay tuned for the photos
of our remodeled travel trailer, our continental road trip and arrival of puppy
Murphy into our family!
