New England - Days 3 and 4 Rhode Island/Massachusetts

We awaken early to the sound of construction in the streets below.  Apparently there aren't any noise restriction laws here.  Oh well, we have a busy day ahead and so this is probably a good thing.  We check out and walk around the corner to the Avis dealer located in the parking garage (yep, you read that right). We pick up our car and turn on the GPS to get us on the way out of the city and in the direction of Plymouth.





We have arranged for a walking tour with the Jenny Gristmill at 10am. We are early, so we drive downtown, park and walk around for a little while.  Kiskadee Coffee Company catches our attention so we stop in for a coffee and snack.  While eating, we watched a group of local men gathering chairs into a circle and having a political discussion.  It was interesting to watch and hear and nice to see that polite discussions could still be had and people were willing to listen to each other.  We finished up and drove to the mill to start our tour.  As we were walking to the meeting spot, a little cranberry bog caught my eye and made me giggle.  I am so hoping to see larger ones today.

Our tour guide, Leo Martin, arrives and we are off.  He is amazing -- absolutely one of the best guides I have ever had the pleasure of listening to.  He led us all through Plymouth on foot, sharing stories and history along the way.  I actually think he is a Pilgrim that has never aged.  We learned about the grist mill, the Mayflower, and Plymouth rock during our history lesson, but those were not the highlights, he was.  This tour simply has to be taken to be appreciated.  Honestly.

We were also able to see some of the oldest churches:  The First Parish Church in Plymouth, a Unitarian Church founded in 1620.  Also, The Church of the Pilgrimage which was built much later in 1840.

As we were walking back from the tour, we ran into a small but wonderful farmers market.  The vendors had a variety of products and samples and music.  Mister went for the local wines while I found a booth with jewelry that I fell in love with.  I bought a necklace and earring set made from light purple shells which she called "wampum".  We got a small little lunch of homemade vegetable egg rolls and were on our way again.


Stopping down at the harbor, we checked out the Mayflower II which is an exact replica of the original, and were absolutely shocked at how small it was.  Oh my.  It is amazing that no one died during the journey.



It was time to get on the road towards Carver and the Flax Pond Farms to tour their cranberry bog. We are here during harvest, so we get to see how they are harvested and processed.  We arrive and are surprised to discover that it is "dry harvesting" - obviously I didn't read the email close enough.  We walk around the bog and watch the harvesters at work.
















We go into the shop and watch the old sorter at work.  They are filling orders and they use this old machine. I give it a go and have a great time.

As we are leaving, we ask about any wet harvesting going on in the area  Following her directions,  we notice a pond (bog) that is starting to turn red and do a quick turn around in the road.  Pulling off in a driveway, we get out and wander down by the water to watch the harvester.  The pond is the most wonderful color of red from the berries floating to the top.  So very cool.

Back on the road with Newport as our next destination, we settle in and enjoy the scenery on the drive as we enter into Rhode Island.  Arriving in Newport, we drive out toward the mansions to ooh and awe a bit.  Most of them have fees to get on the grounds, but we are able to take a few distant pictures.

We head down to the cliff walk and wander out towards the ocean to feel the mist and smell the clean air.

It's time to point the car towards Providence and the NYLO Hotel in Warwick.  This has to be the coolest hotel room ever.  It is an old factory that has been converted into a hotel, leaving a lot of the old brick, concrete and factory machines in place.  Chic!  Apt description.  We drop bags and then drive into Providence for Waterfire.





Waterfire only happens a few times a year. The city places firepits all along the river that flows through downtown. Some are on poles, other are floating in the river. A boat goes along stocking the fires with wood throughout the evening. There is classical music playing, food and drink stand all along the river, and performers working with fire as well.  It is amazing and definitely peaceful to sit and watch.  We stop several times along the river to see the different fire formations and performers.  I love it and wish we could stay forever.

As we are leaving, I discover that I have set down one of the umbrellas somewhere along the way and retrace my steps to no avail.  Sucks.  We are starving and I have heard about an Italian restaurant called Al Forno as a must-see, and it's right downtown. We find it and drive in circles a few times looking for parking.  We wait upstairs at the bar area to wait for our table - 1/2 an hour later we have a table - not too bad for no reservations on a Saturday night.  The meal is delicious and I am so glad we have taken the time to find the place.  Back to the hotel and in for the night.

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We sleep in a little today and then say good-bye to Rhode Island, pass through a corner of Connecticut (which we never get out of the car so can't count it as a state I've been in), and back into Massachusetts.    I am still learning about the camera, but I managed to take this pic while stopped on a bridge.  Mister would not have had a blur at all, but I'm doing better than I used to.

Our first stop is the Old Sturbridge Village and I am really looking forward to it.  It is an actual working museum depicting life in the late 1700's and early 1800's.  The museum is a village and the costumed historians work and live just as they did back then complete with antique buildings, water-powered mills, heritage breed animals, and hands-on crafts.  We stop at as many "businesses" along the trail as we can and spend several hours enjoying the place.  All I can think is how much my grandchildren would love it here.  The grounds have carriages, meeting houses, churches, etc.  It is all very well laid out and makes perfect sense.

First stop -- yarn dyeing.  It looks like hard work, but I figure if I lived back then I would have worked with either yarn or fabric in some way.  I love them today so why think it would be different back then?



We take a water tour in which we learn how they used water as a source of power to operate many of the mills.








We stop in at the sawmill,









the potter, the tinsmith, the blacksmith, and the cider maker.  Quick stops at the printer and others round out the experience and I don't want to leave.  I would like to stop in each and every shop and learn from the historians -- this place is fantastic.






Alas, we do have to continue on so we get back on the road to Deerfield and Greenfield.  We drive through historic Deerfield to see an entire block of homes from the 18th century which are still intact.  I love the history here in New England and the way they have saved and embraced it.

It is getting late and tonight's place to lay our heads is at a B&B on the top of a mountain. We head out of town and up a narrow rural road.  The West Winds Inn is so incredible that I do not have words for it.  The room is romantic and our view is not to be believed.  We are greeted by wild turkeys as we pull into the driveway and I cannot keep the smile from my face.

The silly hunger is getting to us again so we drive back down the mountain into Greenfield and the People's Pint Brewpub for dinner.  This is a great little place in this small town and very busy for a Sunday night.  We share a yummy cheese plate at the bar and visit with some other tourists before heading back up the mountain to our amazing room.  What an absolutely great day!

New England - Days 1 and 2 - Salem, Massachusetts

Mister and I are facing the fact that we are getting old so we are heading to New England to become "leaf peepers". Our plan is to spend our anniversary amid the glorious beauty that nature provides during the Fall in the Northeast.  I honestly don't think I have been more excited for a trip in a very long time.  It is all I talked about for the past month.  This is our first flight on jetBlue. We arrive at DFW for the early flight only to miss it by one seat.  Drat.  We have seats on the next flight so we get to hang around the airport for several hours.  I take advantage and finish our itinerary while Mister settles into one of the comfy chairs and sleeps for awhile.  Soon we are on our way to Boston,   Sooooo excited.  We arrive at Logan and walk outside the terminal to grab the bus headed towards Salem.

The trip does not take very long and there is a bus stop right next to the Salem Waterfront Hotel. We walk past band members dressed in Halloween costumes and enter the warm and cozy lobby with it's fireplace and hot apple cider.  Yay!  What a great start.  The front desk clerk tells us the Grand Parade starting the Halloween season in Salem is tonight.  With their history of witches and all, this city plays up Halloween big time.  She also tells us that there is a Farmers Market going on down at Derby Square so we drop our bags in the room and hurry off in that direction, hoping to catch a bit of the market before it closes.  It is late and people are rushing about preparing for the parade so many of the stalls have already been taken down.  We do spot a few and I am able to buy a couple of hard rolls to snack on while we are walking around.







As we walk back towards the parade route, we pass many shops, all catering to the "witch" business here - very touristy.  I peek into the doorway of a bookstore and am absolutely flabbergasted. The store is stacked to the ceiling with books. I go in and giggle when I see that even the clerk at the counter has to reach through a small space between stacks of books to take your money.

We continue on our way and find a spot on a street corner behind a barricade.  We pass the time visiting with other people and laughing at children all decked out in their costumes and bursting with excitement.  It is a very community-oriented parade and it seems that everyone is taking part in the parade.  Waves and shouts of hellos are all around and the atmosphere is very festive indeed.

As the parade winds down, we walk back to the town square looking for a cafe that I had read about prior to the trip.  Ah, there it is, just past the Bewitched statue - Samantha Stevens in all her glory sitting on a broom in the center of a quarter moon.  I love it.  Into the Gulu-Gulu Cafe we go, grab a couple of spots at the bar and order a pumpkin ale that is being served from a real hollowed out pumpkin, fun.  For dinner, I get out of my comfort zone a little and order JackMax n' Cheese, made with goat cheese, cheddar, and roasted red peppers.  It is yummy.  Mister has a Savory Crepe and is equally happy with his dinner.

 We have been up for quite awhile and want to explore Salem tomorrow morning bright and early so we walk back to the hotel and settle in for the night.  Great first day.
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It is a beautiful morning so let's go. How can we treat our eyes and taste buds today?  I wonder if that isn't a question we should ask ourselves each day.  Leaving our bags at the desk, we are off on foot for today's adventure.  We start out just down the street seeing the sailing ship "Friendship" in the harbor.


I wander into a little cul-de-sac filled with cute little stores and find a wand store that just cracks me up.  I almost want one.




Okay, time for a small breakfast -- around the corner is Jaho Coffee Shop.  A couple of drinks and a sweet treat later, we are back on the street heading along the harbor.



The Halloween decorations are evident everywhere and many people go all out.





At the end of the street, we come to the House of Seven Gables with it's interesting architecture and history.  I have to admit that I have never read the book by Nathaniel Hawthorne and will be ordering it for my Kindle when I return home.

I wander down an alley near the house and spot a nice view of the Derby Wharf Lighthouse -- woohoo.  Lighthouses and covered bridges are high on my list of things to see while on this trip.  This one is from 1871, 25 feet high and made of brick.

We head back into town and locate the Witch Trials Memorial and the Charter Street Cemetery.  I love old cemeteries and always try to stop when I spot them on trips.  The Memorial touched my heart in its simplicity and profound statement. Each "witch" has her own stone ledge, where people leave flowers and other offerings.


We walked through the cemetery for awhile and are always fascinated by the names we spot and dates that people were born and died.  Mister and I were always under the impression that lives were short in the previous centuries, but the tombstones tell a different story up in New England.  During the 1800's, lifespans were actually quite long and that is most interesting to us.  This tombstone, though, is contrary to that.

As we continue up and down the streets, we pass the Nathaniel Hawthorne statue and are both stopped in our tracks by the beauty of the tree behind it and the light upon it.  This is why we are taking this trip. The color!  So beautiful.

Just up the road is the Salem Witch Museum, our next stop.  The story of the Salem Witch Trials is presented accurately and in such a way as to let us know how easily people are manipulated.  It didn't take much to create the witch panic and the ensuing mess.  I enjoyed the presentation and came away with a better understanding of human nature and our ability to understand those different from ourselves.


Our tummy's are getting rumbly and so we are off in search of food.  We stop at Cafe Polonia - a little Polish shop in Lappin Park (on the same square as Gulu-Gulu).  I order the Kielbasa sandwich and ask the waitress to hold the potato salad since I wasn't that hungry.  Mister orders the stuffed cabbage rolls.  We sit and visit and soon are presented with our lunch.  OMG!  Seriously?  The waitress has brought not only what we ordered, but additional coleslaw AND a large amount of the potato salad AND the biggest kielbasa sandwich I have ever seen.  She says the owner doesn't want anyone to go away hungry.  At this point I am so shocked that I don't even say anything and I know she thinks I am rude.  I eat 1/3 of the sandwich (Mister eats another 1/3) and some of my fries.  When she returns I try and explain to her that we hate to waste food and she agrees the servings are too big.  The whole thing was delicious, but insane.



Now to walk off all those calories, oh my.  Next stop is the First Church of Salem and its beautiful gardens.  There are butterflies in abundance here and I am in wonder of it all.  The colorful flowers are brilliant in the sunlight and I spend quite a bit of time trying to get an awesome picture or two.  I am not as experienced with my camera and so this can be frustrating to me but I think a few of them came out nicely.

We follow an architectural walking map that we got at the Visitors' Center and wander through the old neighborhoods and houses as we make a large circle back to the hotel. We collect our bags and walk to the pier where we will take the ferry back into Boston.  It is a short walk and our bags hop and skip over the cobblestone sidewalks causing me to walk in the road with mine.  Once the tickets are purchased, we board the ferry and settle in for the 45 minute voyage. Mister wanders around the boat taking pictures of the harbor and the skyline of Boston and then returns to share a soda with me.

When we reach the landing, we walk to the subway and zoom to our stop, the Boston Common Hotel.  Checking in - we drop our bags off and admire the view from our window.  I do so love Boston.  As we are getting ready to leave the room, we hear a key and the door opens with someone else trying to check into our room.  Nice.  We all laugh and they head back down to the desk.


We head for Newberry Street and do some window shopping along the way.  We spot a window full of Singer sewing machines -- oh my -- I would love one of these.

This area of town is one of my favorites and we walk up and down the streets until we find The Cafeteria, a nice little dinner spot where we sit outside on the street patio.  A nice steak for me, fish dinner for Mister, and a jar of sangria later we walk back to the hotel only to discover that the keys don't work.  I slink to the floor outside the hotel room and wait for Mister to go get them fixed.  Once we are in the room, another sure sign of age -- we fall in a heap and crash.

San Francisco / Napa / Sonoma

As we were driving to Austin, last weekend, I asked Mister if he felt like he could do a spontaneous trip and gave him the weekend to think about it.  When we returned on Saturday, I asked again and he said sure, so we rapidly put together a trip to San Francisco and the Napa/Sonoma Valleys. I had read that they were in the middle of their grape harvest and it was going to be a good year.  I have always wanted to watch the process and so with some emails fired off quickly, we arranged some tours, booked a couple of hotels and headed to the airport 3 days later.  Exciting!

Tuesday:  We fly Virgin America airlines for the first time.  We are greeted warmly at the counter and are told that we will not have any problems getting a seat as the plane is only 1/2 full.  Yay!  After boarding, we settle in and I take a nap.  Upon waking, I discover an electronic Mahjong game as one of the entertainment choices on the headrest computer that is at every seat.  Cool, I am good for the remainder of the flight.  We arrive in San Francisco and take a cab just a few miles away to pick up our rental car.  From there, we head for Napa, get lost a few times, and manage to get stuck in traffic that is absolutely unbelievable.  I will NEVER complain about the traffic in Dallas ever again -- I do not know how people cope with going 12 miles in an hour - I know that I am not coping well and some horrid person has inhabited my body -- my poor Mister.  We are routed over the Bay Bridge which is about the only good part of this drive.  It takes us 3 hours to travel the distance we should have gone in 1 hour, but we arrive and check into our hotel.  After dropping off our luggage, we are off to locate some food which we are both in dire need of.  We find a place off the main road called Fume Bistro and Bar. Mostly locals, which is fine with us, so we sit back and enjoy a nice meal before returning to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Wednesday:  We wake early and point the car in the direction of Yountville, a quaint little town north of Napa.  We stop at a group of old train cars that have been turned into a coffee shop, The Yountville Coffee Caboose. Sitting outside in the brisk morning air, we enjoy crepes, coffee, and hot chocolate.  We are treated to watching hummingbirds, looking at beautiful flowers, and watching the locals start their day.

Back in Austin

First let me say -- I Love Austin!!  I think that it is one of the places that we go and it never gets old and is always just such a nice time.  Now, why are we here this time?  Well, Cassie is down here working at the Austin Airport and so we combined a stop in Temple to help Jen with parent/teacher conferences and then spend some time with Cass.  We drove down to Austin after finishing up with Jen and checked into our hotel, while thinking that Cass's hotel was right across the parking lot.  The next morning we get up and find a funky coffee shop called Summermoon Wood Fired Coffee for Mister and then as we are heading downtown, we come across a banner for the "Capital of Texas Quiltfest".  I cannot resist when Mister says we should go.  We spend 3 hours there - where does the time go?  I am once again motivated to start quilting this Fall when we settle down from traveling.  We find so many cool quilts and critique them as if we are the judges -- I have fun and Mister is wonderful as usual.  We come across an iron and a "magic" foot for my sewing machine that I just have to own and so we order them and am looking forward to arrivals in October.  From there, we head to Hops & Grains, a local brewery.  As we are walking in, I spot the East Side Glass Studio and peek in to find some beautiful pieces of art and meet Leigh and Shara, the artists themselves.  They tell us that they will be blowing glass in just a short time so we decide to stop back in after Hops and Grains.  It is a cool little brewery and we are lucky enough to find a spot at the bar where we can talk with the brewers and learn their history.

As we are there, one tour group after another stops in and the place is totally packed with standing room only many times.  There is a vendor outside the door that is selling brats and so I go out and order one for us to share.  It is very good.  As we pass the glass shop, we stop in and watch for a few minutes and talk with the girls.  Their work is really good -- would like to get a piece sometime.

From there, we head to where we "think" Cassie's hotel is only to discover that it is a few miles down the road so we pick her up late --oh well.  We drive downtown to walk around for a little while and show her around and grab dinner at Piranha Killer Sushi -- which is WONDERFUL!  When we finish with our order, Mister tells the Chef to make us one of his choice.  I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Soooo fun.  We walk down the street to the Congress Bridge and watch the bats take flight at dusk.  No matter how many times I see this, I love it each and every time.  We end the night by walking over to  Chez Nous for a little French dessert.  We share the Crepe Normande and Creme Caramel -- oh my, how do the French stay even remotely slim?  So very good.  The night comes to an end and we drop Cass off at her hotel and head to ours for some needed sleep. What an eclectic night! 

The next day, we find another funky little coffee shop located in front of a little garden shop so we sit outside on the patio enjoying our drinks and breakfast.  From there we go to the Bob Bullock Texas State Museum to discover that the film I want to see isn't for several hours and in our old age, we have forgotten that we have already been to the Museum itself.  Ugh.  We go to the Whip In Parlour Cafe -- which used to be a Quick-Trip , but is now a wine bar, restaurant, and Namaste Brewery.

We sit at the bar and are entertained by the bartender as he converses with co-workers and locals.  We then drive to the north end of the city for a BBQ hosted by Adelbert's Brewing and after tasting their product and gathering some freebies,

we head North and stop at BlackStar Brewery and Co-op. A quick drink there and we grab one of their growlers and are on the road to Dallas.  Absolutely love Austin.

Soccer time - Fall is here!

We drove over to Arlington to meet up with Jen, Jacob, Josh, and Bekah for a soccer tournament for Bekah.  She is really becoming such a great player and it was fun to watch her.  We meet up with Scott and Cass for lunch at OTB -- (kinda made an oath not to ever go there again) and enjoyed our time together.  Bekah's team won their game and would be playing again the next morning.  We drove back over the next day to watch again (AND to deliver Jen's laptop that we forgot the day before - smack forehead) but the team was not as successful and so the tourney came to an end for her.  Cass and Scott came over to the game again that morning and so the cheerleading section was in full force.

Lakewood Brewing

We are trying to check out the local breweries that are popping up in the Dallas area with a regular frequency.  Next up, Lakewood Brewing.  It is a Saturday morning and they are doing a tasting/tour complete with band and food truck.  We sit and visit with a couple of older gentlemen (yes, it is possible to find people older than us) and get to try their new brew - The Temptress.  We snagged a couple of tulip glasses (one of the few shapes we didn't have) and enjoyed our time there.

Franconia Brewing

We took the tour of Franconia Brewing in McKinney and enjoyed the presentation by Cam, the head brewer.  He took us through their process and then afterwards stayed around and answered a ton of questions about the methods and requirements in brewing by following the German Purity Law.  We learned a ton and thoroughly enjoyed the tasting.  Best comment -- "the activity of the yeast can be compared to a pac-man, munching up the starches and then peeing alcohol and farting CO2".  I loved it!!