We took a few days and drove to Gloucester, MA for a mini-vacation. It was a bit past "peak," but the colors were gorgeous. En route to Gloucester, we stopped in Old Sturbridge Village. The largest outdoor history museum in the Northeast, OSV is a journey through time to a rural New England town of the 1830s. There are more than 40 original buildings, each carefully researched, restored, and brought to the museum site from towns throughout New England. These include homes, meetinghouses, a district school, country store, bank, law office, printing office, carding mill, sawmill, gristmill, pottery, blacksmith shop, shoe shop, and cooper shop. Authentically costumed staff carry out the daily activities of an early 19th-century community. Here you may wander country roads and visit with a farmer plowing fields, listen to the blacksmith's rhythmic hammering, or smell the aroma of bread baking in a fireplace oven. I even tried my hand at dipping candles, while Jim and Elizabeth made a tin candle holder for my tapers.
We then moved on to Gloucester, MA. America's oldest seaport, Gloucester is part of Cape Ann and located 30 miles northeast of Boston. The main portion of Gloucester is an island, connected only by two bridges. Other towns making up "Cape Ann" are Rockport, Manchester and Essex. We spent some time shopping in Rockport and visited the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. The rest of our time was spent on the beach flying kites, collecting seashells and building sandcastles. Elizabeth asked us to find a house in Gloucester, so we could go to the beach every day. I think Jim was considering it. We did opt to stay at the oceanfront motel where we'd spent a night on our honeymoon some 17 years ago, and this was the sunrise from our balcony. Worth every penny.
Elizabeth is a great traveler. She passed the hours in the car drawing in her activity books, making rainbows on her Light Brite, and playing Leapster games (as well as an occasional "I Spy" game with Mama). She relished every new experience, well, except for one. The Whale Watch could have gone better. It turns out that our girl gets motion sickness. In all fairness, however, many of the folks on that trip got sick - it was a
VERY rough ride (and I've got the bruises to prove it)! Still, after throwing up her toes, she mustered a smile and a "Wow!" when she saw the humpback whale. And it didn't take long for her to recover. As soon as her feet hit solid ground, she was ready to roll again. Looks like she's gonna be a landlubber like her Mama.
Despite the battering, I have to say that I got a real thrill out of seeing the animals in their natural habitat. We started out heading for the popular Stellwagen Bank, but the Captain changed course to Jeffreys Ledge after communicating with other boats. We weren't disappointed. We first saw a group of Atlantic dolphins that came right up alongside the boat. We then met a humpback whale named "Flask" (for a specific marking on his fluke). On the way back to Gloucester, we saw a Minke whale breach twice (or maybe it was 2 whales). The Naturalist on board (from the Whale Center of New England) said they believe that breaching is a form of communication between whales. It seemed logical as we then watched a humpback whale breach in the far distance, seemingly in response to the Minke whale(s).
In the end, although the stunning fall foliage and dramatic ocean vistas may have set the stage for a fabulous vacation, I think the 3 things I will remember most are: (1) the absolute pleasure Elizabeth took in building her sandcastle and decorating it with seashells she'd discovered along the shore, (2) watching Elizabeth fly a kite with her Dad, and (3) hearing Elizabeth laugh hysterically as she ran from the waves lapping at her feet. It just doesn't get any better.
We took a few days and drove to Gloucester, MA for a mini-vacation. It was a bit past "peak," but the colors were gorgeous. En route to Gloucester, we stopped in Old Sturbridge Village. The largest outdoor history museum in the Northeast, OSV is a journey through time to a rural New England town of the 1830s. There are more than 40 original buildings, each carefully researched, restored, and brought to the museum site from towns throughout New England. These include homes, meetinghouses, a district school, country store, bank, law office, printing office, carding mill, sawmill, gristmill, pottery, blacksmith shop, shoe shop, and cooper shop. Authentically costumed staff carry out the daily activities of an early 19th-century community. Here you may wander country roads and visit with a farmer plowing fields, listen to the blacksmith's rhythmic hammering, or smell the aroma of bread baking in a fireplace oven. I even tried my hand at dipping candles, while Jim and Elizabeth made a tin candle holder for my tapers.
We then moved on to Gloucester, MA. America's oldest seaport, Gloucester is part of Cape Ann and located 30 miles northeast of Boston. The main portion of Gloucester is an island, connected only by two bridges. Other towns making up "Cape Ann" are Rockport, Manchester and Essex. We spent some time shopping in Rockport and visited the Essex Shipbuilding Museum. The rest of our time was spent on the beach flying kites, collecting seashells and building sandcastles. Elizabeth asked us to find a house in Gloucester, so we could go to the beach every day. I think Jim was considering it. We did opt to stay at the oceanfront motel where we'd spent a night on our honeymoon some 17 years ago, and this was the sunrise from our balcony. Worth every penny.
Elizabeth is a great traveler. She passed the hours in the car drawing in her activity books, making rainbows on her Light Brite, and playing Leapster games (as well as an occasional "I Spy" game with Mama). She relished every new experience, well, except for one. The Whale Watch could have gone better. It turns out that our girl gets motion sickness. In all fairness, however, many of the folks on that trip got sick - it was a VERY rough ride (and I've got the bruises to prove it)! Still, after throwing up her toes, she mustered a smile and a "Wow!" when she saw the humpback whale. And it didn't take long for her to recover. As soon as her feet hit solid ground, she was ready to roll again. Looks like she's gonna be a landlubber like her Mama.
Despite the battering, I have to say that I got a real thrill out of seeing the animals in their natural habitat. We started out heading for the popular Stellwagen Bank, but the Captain changed course to Jeffreys Ledge after communicating with other boats. We weren't disappointed. We first saw a group of Atlantic dolphins that came right up alongside the boat. We then met a humpback whale named "Flask" (for a specific marking on his fluke). On the way back to Gloucester, we saw a Minke whale breach twice (or maybe it was 2 whales). The Naturalist on board (from the Whale Center of New England) said they believe that breaching is a form of communication between whales. It seemed logical as we then watched a humpback whale breach in the far distance, seemingly in response to the Minke whale(s).
In the end, although the stunning fall foliage and dramatic ocean vistas may have set the stage for a fabulous vacation, I think the 3 things I will remember most are: (1) the absolute pleasure Elizabeth took in building her sandcastle and decorating it with seashells she'd discovered along the shore, (2) watching Elizabeth fly a kite with her Dad, and (3) hearing Elizabeth laugh hysterically as she ran from the waves lapping at her feet. It just doesn't get any better.
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