Blogs from Massachusetts, United States, North America - page 115

I just took off my nametag for the last time. Unwound its black cotton strap, and lifted off from around my neck the laminated slip of paper making me official here on the farm. Kids won’t have to know my name anymore. Pastors, teachers, parents and scout leaders won’t ask for me, ask of me, or commend me. Of course, it was my final school group this morning that gave me more frustration than any other. Perhaps it was their late arrival, the head teacher’s uppity attitude, the kids’ lack of manners, or the fact that we had to squeeze 3.5 hours of scheduled explorations into 1.5 hours of slightly jumbled explanations. After rotating three groups through the “barnyard” area (scratching goats, feeding Abu, gawking at turkeys and petting angora rabbits) I sat down with this ... read more

Robyn and I went to Salem today via the commuter Rail. Famous for the witch trials in 1692, the whole town has a creepy vibe to it. Interestingly, what seems like a dark page in the town’s history that it at one time wanted to forget about, now its seems as though the dark story has become a novelty item that has kept the town prosperous thanks to tourism. We went to a trial reenactment and then through a recreation of the Salem Dungeon that people were locked up and tortured. After that we walked around Salem and got a sense of the town. It is very calm and quiet today because there were big parties here yesterday for Halloween. Robyn and I stopped in the “Soup Factory” for some excellent Lobster Newburg soup and Calm ... read more

Our first day in Boston; Robyn and I made our way on the T to Harvard Square. After a bite at Grendel’s Den, this Beowulf made his way around the beautiful Harvard campus taking photos of the arbors which were positively bursting with colour. Robyn and I got off early and took a walk down Newbury St. We got an ostentatiously tasty apple cider at Espresso Royal Cafe. Then we made our way back to Fenway through one of the parks of the Emerald Necklace. The Boston Redsox won the world series just Sunday and there was much ado around the stadium. Robyn and I stopped by to peer at the players leaving the stadium. A mob of avid fans stood around cheering on the players as they exited the stadium in their big black SUV’s. ... read more

Ok, so I am a bit behind, but there a few photos worth posting... First, thank you to Cait for organizing such a great night...who would have known that a drag show could be so much fun!! We "randomly" met up with the guys on the side of the road, and that made for a few good photo ops...check 'em out...... read more

North America = United-States = Massachusetts = "Cutty Hunk Pond" Fri. Oct 26th. Hewitts Cove in Hingham,MA to Cutty Hunk Pond, MA. Vitto did the final provisioning and we got underway at 0835. Our destination was Cuttyhunk, RI. Winds were out of the east at 10 to 15 kts and the seas were 2 to 3 ft. which made for a bumpy ride. At 0928 we left the Boston’s Lt on our port side heading 240ºM. At 1035 we went by Minot Lt which was very impressive. All black very pretty. And then we entered Cape Cod Bay. This area has a lot of fish traps. The autopilot decided to take a rest and we hand steered through the many fish traps. We ended up taking 1 hour watches at the helm. We entered Cape Cod ... read more