Exploring New England -- Gloucester

We finally made it to the North Shore! We've had it on our list of places to go for a while now and picked an absolutely beautiful fall day to explore.

Before we really got too far into our drive, we remembered that This Old House was working on a project in Bedford that was kind of on the way to Gloucester. We decided to drive by and see if it was complete -- it wasn't. There were Ask This Old House trailers in the yard and dumpsters etc. It appears they are in the process of painting the house gray. We wanted to stop and take pictures but it looked like the owner was in the yard and there really wasn't any place to park. We decided it might be a bit rude and intrusive to sit and take photos from the car so ... we kept going.

Then I remembered that Norm Abram lived in the area and pulled up his address. We went in search of his house in Carlisle (a beautiful little town with lots of historical landmark houses), hoping to get a glimpse of where he lives. We found it, but the house was down a private lane off the main road (according to the mailboxes, it appears there are 4 houses on the lane.) We again decided that it would be a tad bit over the top to drive down the lane just to see his house. So ... we made our way back to the highway and on to Gloucester. I will say I regret not at least getting a picture of his mailbox with the newspaper in it.

While our first intention was to have lunch at The Crow's Nest, the bar/restaurant depicted in the movie The Perfect Storm we decided it probably wasn't our cup of tea and opted for another place on the waterfront called Topside Grill and Pub. While the chowder was pretty good, the rest of the meal was just so-so. We had a rather crabby waitress and slow service (and not much of it) so chances are we won't go there again but we had a nice walk to the restaurant from where we parked and enjoyed checking out the shops, restaurants, and little points of interest along the way.

Here's a view of the street ... and I loved this doorway, steeple, and graffiti that we saw along the way ...

We parked along this street -- it was lined with trees and little shops.

I loved this doorway with the side windows and chipped paint.

This is the library? It was about 12' wide ... but has quite a unique history.

This steeple had seen better days but I loved the weather vane  at the very top.

Walking back to Main Street I spotted this bit of graffiti adorning the
painted image on the back of this shop.

After lunch we headed down the road to the Fishermen's Memorial along the waterfront. It's a beautiful statue and memorial to the fishermen who have been lost at sea. We met up with an older gentleman who grew up in Gloucester and still enjoys coming to the waterfront for walks (he lives in Rockport now.) He offered to take our picture and then shared a little bit about his life and what it was like to live in Gloucester. His grandfather (we think he probably meant his great-great-grandfather) was Angus McKay -- one of the men listed on the memorial wall as having been lost at sea in 1876.

The marker in front of the Fishermen's Memorial.

View of the harbor to the right when looking out to sea.

View of the lighthouse to the left of the memorial when looking out to sea.

The picture Mr. McKay took of us in front of the Fishermen's Memorial.

Mr. McKay's great-great-(great?) grandfather -- Angus McKay

The beginning of the memorial ... the rest of these plaques were all names of fishermen lost at sea.

The crew of the Andrea Gail -- as depicted in "The Perfect Storm"

To the right of the memorial, as you'd see from the water.

The Fishermen's Memorial at Gloucester MA

Looking out to the sea from the Fishermen's Memorial in Gloucester MA

Gloucester is definitely a working harbor and the town thrives on it's fishing industry. We were already feeling the day was getting away from us and wanted to get to Rockport so we didn't take too much time driving around. Off to Rockport!

Remembering: The Strong Museum of Play

I guess I should just forget about going back and trying to post about all the different things we've done since moving to Massachusetts. I've got a list (somewhere) of posts I'd like to write up but ... well, it probably won't happen.

But I'm hoping I can make up little videos as I come across pictures from fun days. And who knows  -- maybe I'll get to those blog posts this winter.

In the meantime, here's a little video of William at The Strong National Museum of Play. That was such a fun day. I didn't end up taking a lot of pictures that day. I sort of remember that my battery died and I didn't think the pictures would come out because of the indoor lighting. Oh well. William was still cuter than cute that day and watching the video reminds me how excited he was with all the cars and the train table ... especially the train table!!

Chatham Memories Video

Here's just one more video I made using some pictures from our first visit to Chatham on Cape Cod.

I'd always wanted to experience Cape Cod -- and our day there was simply "magic" ... I felt as though I could stay there forever and never wish to be anywhere else.

Here's the video I made for Dave as a reminder of the wonderful day we spent there.

Meghan's Ducati Video ...

I've mentioned that I've been playing around with making videos from my photos and video clips. It's been a lot of fun and I've been experimenting with different templates and music selections.

I made this video to showcase the great pictures Meghan had of her on her Ducati (motorcycle). I tried to incorporate Meghan's personality into the video (one version had a copy of a Folio Society Wind in the Willows book sitting on an end table, another had a picture of Monster of Florence cover.) Ultimately I decided to try to stick with the Italian theme since Meghan wants to visit there and has a little bit of a thing for Italian products, be it cars, shoes, food, or drink.

Anyway, here's the final version of the video ...

William's Birthday Video!

I've been having fun making videos lately and this is the video I made for William's third birthday ...

William's Third Birthday!

We had a fast but fun weekend in Rochester over Labor Day to celebrate William's third birthday. I can't believe three years have already flown by since the day he first entered our lives.

We arrived in town late Friday night -- traffic was terrible and very slow. Guess everyone had the same idea that we had, trying to skip the Saturday traffic. We stayed with Bree that night (she's willing to stay up for late night arrivals!) and were up early for a full day of activity on Saturday.

We took Bree to Perkins for breakfast -- but then we were off. Bree had massage clients and was anxious to get back home to work on William's cake afterwards. We wanted to get out to visit our moms.

I dropped Dave off at his mother's place and then headed out to see Mo. Josh met me there with the kids! That was a nice treat although I didn't get many pictures. Will brought his lunch ...

and Mo got her picture taken with Delilah (and me ... )

Next Dave and I headed for Josh and Jessica's house for a little grandparents celebration. Josh cooked out on the grill -- omgoodness! Chicken, ribs, pulled pork. He really went to town and it was incredible. Jessica made Dinosaur's version of Mac and Cheese to go with it. Sooo good ...

Will loved his gifts:







Sunday was party day -- we were up bright and early. Bree said she could use a hand with the cake (just coloring the frosting for her to use on the detail work) so I headed over there.

Here's the finished cake:

And a couple pictures of Dan and Renee -- just to prove they were there!

I'm making up a little video of the party that I'll post shortly.

Sweet Delilah ...

I made up a video with some of the pictures we took when Delilah was born ...

A Wonderful Day At OSV -- The Old Cars Show

Dave and I love to spend Saturdays out and about. One of our favorite things to do is visit Old Sturbridge Village. We especially wanted to visit this weekend because they had a showing of automobiles from the Edwardian era -- cars from 1918 and earlier.

It was just a gorgeous day and OSV was bustling with activity. The car owners were on-hand to share details and stories about their cars. We learned a lot just talking with people who were also checking them out.

Dave loved a blue Pierce Arrow from 1917. I snapped a few pictures of it and a video of it during the procession of the vehicles at the end of the showing.

We also took a few minutes to visit some of the houses and buildings around the Village Common. I really enjoyed watching the tinsmith as he worked and we had a great chat with an interpreter at the Towne House who told us all about the Freemason meetings and dances that were frequently held there.

Here's a video I made of our day together ...

Delilah at One Month!

I'm going to try to catch up a little bit on what we've been up to over the past couple weeks. It's been SO busy around here!

Of course Meghan is here so, for starters, Daniel had planned a trip up to visit. Bree decided it was time for her to come visit too since she hadn't see either Daniel or Meghan in quite some time. It was great having them all here! We had a lot of fun just hanging around but probably the highlight of our time together was seeing Harry Potter 7 (Part 2) and then going on a whale watch with Bree (which will be a separate post.)

Dave had the week off so on Monday, after our time together, we drove Bree back to Rochester and stayed a couple days. We went straight to Josh and Jessica's house so we could see the kids. I got lots of snuggle time with Delilah and even managed a few kisses from William. We then headed to Gma's and had some dinner before taking Bree home.

Tuesday was a full day -- we ran out to Brockport with hopes to see Mo but ended up just getting some breakfast at Wegs. We headed back to Gma's, hung out before having some lunch and then went to spend the afternoon with Jessica and the kids.

It was so wonderful to have snuggle time with them! Dave had some serious playtime with Will in the playroom while Gma and I snuggled and played with Lilah.

William seemed to really enjoy his time with Grandpa. At one point he had us laughing because he ran up the stairs, grabbed Jessica saying he had to go potty "RIGHT NOW!" and while in the bathroom yelled out, "I'll be right back Grandpa!" ... too sweet.

(This last picture is just a reminder of the fun game Will and Grandpa played -- stack 'em and smash 'em!)

After we took Gma home we went and got Bree so we could head to the Henrietta Schaller's for a garbage plate. YUM! We picked up some ice cream sandwiches at Abbott's afterwards and headed back to Josh's so we could say goodbye to the kids and share the treat.

Wednesday morning we slept in then went out to see Mo before heading for home.

It was great to see the kids -- especially to see how much Lilah has grown in the short time since we'd seen her. They're coming up to visit us mid-August and I'm sure we'll see some big differences again!

Old Sturbridge Village -- July 9, 2011

I simply love that Dave gave me a membership to Sturbridge Village for my birthday. It's one of my favorite places to go. We made a few get-away trips here while back when we were living in New York; never in a million years would I have believed I'd actually be living only a few miles away just a few years later.

We like to come and take in a few different parts of the Village each time we visit. This was probably our third visit this year. I have to admit, it's always a thrill to just get that member sticker at the gate and not have to pay the $20-per-adult admission fee! (And I like the discounts whenever we buy anything!)

It was so pretty to see the field of flags as we arrived at the entrance to the museum ... these represent donations made by members so that underprivileged kids can come visit. Nice huh?

Yesterday we took in a few of the demonstrations. The interpreters were dying wool that had been spun from the sheep's wool they sheared in the spring.

They explained the process of creating the different dyes (some are made from vegetables such as beets, others are crushed up herbs and ... bugs -- yuck!) They soak the yarn in pots suspended over a low fire (don't want that water to boil as it agitates the fibers and causes the wool to "felt".)

We really enjoyed talking with the interpreter at the Fenno Textile Exhibit about how they used the fibers they spun and dyed to weave cloth for clothing, household cloths (diapers, dish cloths, etc.) as well as rugs and blankets. She showed us how they set up the loom, let us take a look at examples of patterns weavers used in the 1830s, and talked a bit about how someone would learn the craft of weaving and how they might make money from the craft.

We stopped at the Grant Store and Bake Shop for a few souvenirs and a very yummy Cranberry Oatmeal Walnut cookie.

Then off to the Bullard Tavern for a quick lunch. Loved some of the sights along the way ...

We loved the demonstration at the Saw Mill -- but it was a bit crowded when we were there. The interpreters explained how they used water power to get the saw to work, how they set up a log to be sliced, and then how the saw actually worked. They have to sharpen the blades after cutting about 600 linear feet of wood, so while one is in use, the other is being sharpened.

It was just a beautiful day to be out in the fresh air and sunshine. Here are a few more pictures from the day -- including one of the kiln that has recently been repaired after a very hard Massachusetts winter!

All in all -- it was a great visit! There's so much more that we want to see. There's going to be a Revolutionary War Reenactment in a few weeks that we're hoping to attend and I'd sure like to take another ride on the river.

Eeks! I Need To Update This Blog!!

LOL -- here it is May and I have probably 35 blog posts I should have written since the last one.

I'm hoping to find a little time today to update the blog, get rid of the yucky font, and do a little catching up -- maybe starting with our weekend trip to Martha's Vineyard.

But first -- lunch!