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Published: October 17th 2015
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Hi Everyone
Just to let you know we are still alive and kicking and eternally grateful that our two sons bought Dave a Sat Nav for his birthday!
We are having an 'awesome' time. We appear to have hit New England at just the right time for 'leaf peeping'! The colours of the trees take your breath away, golds, reds, oranges and all shades of greens. It really is exactly as you imagine, as are the houses in the area. Typically New England style with clapboard and porches with rocking chairs, painted in subtle pastel colours, creams, whites, pale blues, greys, and so much space around them. And one of the first things we noticed was how BIG Halloween is here. Since we arrived on the 2nd October we have seen so many pumpkins adorning houses, steps, shops and the garden nurseries are overloaded with them. We have seen ghouls and ghosts, skeletons, corn dollies, black cats and huge spiders decorating the houses and we are actually quite looking forward to the big night!
We are staying in an apartment within one of the above said houses in a town called Pepperell and it is just perfect. Very
comfortable, with its own kitchen and bathroom and plenty big enough for the two of us. Our hosts give us our own space but are there if we need them. For our first experience with Airbnb it has been very good.
We have wasted no time in visiting some stunning places. First on the bucket list was Cape Cod and a lobster roll (another speciality of the area) and we drove right to the end to Provincetown, very quaint fishing village with lots of gift shops and eating places. On the beach we saw a seal pup sunbathing with its mum watching over him from the waves. Cape Cod is a National Seashore Park so is kept very natural. We went up the coast to Cape Ann (had to be done!) and Rockport which were also lovely areas. This was close to Ipswich Bay. It is quite disconcerting to see so many towns with the same names we have back in the UK such as Chelmsford, Billericay (although the y is left off??) Brentwood, Braintree, Portmouth, New London etc etc. Hence New England of course. This is where the first settlers came.
One day we drove along a
road called the Mowhawk trail from Greenfield to Williamstown, a college town with beautiful white churches and college and town buildings. The 'leaf peeping' was amazing on this road. We also drove through the Berkshires which is another affluent area with mansions sitting majestically off the roads. Last weekend was Columbus weekend and so a bank holiday for the States. We decided to go to Concord, a very historical town, where the war of independence started against the British. There was a lot to see and we were lucky enough to see a local volunteer Fife and Drum Corps band playing and walking over the bridge where it all started. They stopped and gave an impromptu performance on the river bank on what was a gloriously sunny day. They played tunes such as 'Yankee Doodle Dandy' and the American National Anthem where we all had to stand of course. They were dressed in the outfits of the time and apparently play all over the world. It was really enjoyable and pure luck that we saw it.
We have been into Boston a couple of times and walked the 'Freedom Trail' and seen where the Boston Tea Party took place
and the Boston Massacre, so again lots of history for the Spencers. We have driven to the White Mountains and went along the Kancamagus Highway (bit of a mouthful but gets shortened to 'the Kanc' we're told). Beautiful scenery along here with lots of streams and waterfalls as well as the ever present foliage display. Next week we plan to go to the Green Mountains to see what is going on there.
Over the past couple of days we went further up north to Maine and stayed at a place called South West Harbour near a better known town of Bar Harbour. This is in Acadia National Park and again is full of stopping off points for wonderful views. On the way we went through a town called Damariscotta where a pumpkin fest had taken place. Out on the main street were pumpkins that were huge (1700 lbs!) and had been decorated in very clever ways. Most were painted so they lasted longer and carved into items that you could easily recognise. For example an indian in a canoe or a shark or a fisherman. Will include some photos so you can see. They have a parade and at
the end of it all a pumpkin drop, which means picking up the pumpkins by a crane and dropping them on an old relic of a car! Fun to see we were told!
We are getting used to buying petrol for 40p per litre so to drive anywhere is very cheap which may be why we don't see many people walking unless they are wearing keep fit clothes! Doing the 'laundry' is quick even if it's not very environmentally friendly. Driving is fine as long as you get used to the undertaking on the 'Interstates' and people are generally very polite on the smaller roads always giving way to pedestrians. The food shopping is fun. Most supermarkets we have been too locally do not sell alcohol so off to a liquor store for that. Can't find Branston pickle anywhere! And do you buy chicken breasts with or without antibiotics?? ButOn the whole we are coping well with that and a whoopie cake is a must in this area. Even if its just the one 😊
Tomorrow we are doing a long drive, around 7 hours to Niagara Falls and staying on the Canadian side. We will spend two
nights there and then do the long drive back. We wont be any closer than this so feel it is worth the effort.
We are keeping in touch with friends and family via emails and facetime/skype etc which is a must for us as it makes us feel not so far away and is really good to know what is happening back home. Please feel free to message us via this blog or on our joint email davenann@gmail.com if you would like to.
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Karen and Keith
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Hi to you both, loving reading your blog. New England sounds and looks amazing, so glad to hear all is going well so far. First airbnb looks a great find too. We look forward to reading your blog, and enjoy seeing your photos too. Enjoy your Canadian experience we look forward to hearing all about it next.