From the Mayflower to Fenway

October 12

We boarded the Mayflower II this morning and viewed the ship. About an hour later we boarded the “T” for another trip into Boston. The mass transit system here makes it so easy to see the city. We took the subway from the Boston train station to Fenway which was preparing for the night’s ALCS game. Then we crossed town in the subway to visit Lesley University through which Barb received her masters years ago. We rode the day neath the streets of Boston and returned to the RV about 6 p.m.

Pictures are the Mayflower II in Plymouth Harbor, the street outside Fenway, and Barb touching the Green Monster.

Cod is grey, Cod is good.

October 11

We try to schedule our activities around the weather here. It has been cloudy and raining lightly at times. The forecast was to clear up in the afternoon so we headed to Cape Cod. We enjoyed the villages of Falmouth, Hyannis (Kennedy land) and Provincetown (at the tip). However, the fog and mist continued to increase as the day progressed. Therefore, we never got to enjoy the views and beauty of this incredible landscape. The Puritans first landed here and found the weather we experienced (probably 30 degrees colder when they landed) and so they headed on to present day Plymouth. Cape Cod is charming and alluring even in the fog. It is understandable that so many have their vacation homes here. One of the interesting things we noted was the number of libraries and book stores on the cape. It seemed that at every few miles there was a sign for a public library and book stores where present at most intersections. The picture is the Cape Cod lighthouse which George Washington commissioned to be built in 1797. It has been renovated several times.

Colonist side

Pictures here include the colony proper, Barb talking to Miles Standish, Barb discussing gardens in 1626, and the homemaker discussing her daily chores in her home.

The Mayflower Compact has been highly regarded as one of the major documents that led to the founding of our republic. I was struck particularly by a comment by one of the colonists. He spoke of the ill planning of the colony landing in the new world in December, the loss of life as a result, and the on going struggles to make the colony successful. He also spoke of the ongoing process of electing effective leaders and the responsibility of each individual being diligent in their tasks. He highlighted the challenges, however, by stating, "The great work of living is living with others."

I contemplated this statement for a while. Then Barb and I returned to the almost empty RV campground and spent the evening alone.

Plimouth

October 10

Today we visited the Plimouth (You see it spelled two ways. Governor Bradford spelled with an “i” so that spelling is used here.) Colony. It is a reproduction of the village as it stood in 1626, six years after the landing. There were native and colonist actors staying in character during our conversations. We readily mixed with them, asking questions and discussing their present and past conditions. We were told by some other people in our campground that it would take two hours. Barb and I spent 6 hours there. It was amazing. The role players were so eloquent, so knowledgeable, so dedicated to preserving this part of our culture. A truly informative day.

I did ask the museum curator as we exited as to why the difference in the spelling of Plymouth. She related that many words were spelled in a variety of ways. Since there was no Webster dictionary to canonize spelling in colonial times, the writer could show his/her creativity in spelling a word in a variety of ways. I don’t think it is creativity that causes me to use “creative spelling” at times.

Pictures from the native side: Wampanoag Hut, women cooking inside, children, and native Vanessa, a recent grad from UMass and will attend Harvard graduate school starting in September.

Was it one if by land and two if by sea, or was it two if by land...

October 9

We rode the MTA into Boston today. Boston Harbor, the Old North Church, Paul Revere’s house, Old Ironsides, Bunker Hill, Old South Meeting Hall, the Boston Commons. So rich in history is this city I cannot put today’s events into description. Except, I will try one venue. In the Old South Meeting Hall, which was just down the street of the site of the Boston massacre, I sat in the pews and tried to imagine how it must have been in that church (churches were meeting halls where secular issues were regularly debated) to listen to Paul Revere, George Washington, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Adams, and others as they spoke and openly debated the issues of the times. There were no marketing geniuses or public relation analysts. It must have been substance rather than party affiliation. How informative and genuine those words must have been.

The pictures are Paul Revere's house, inside the North Church where the lamps signaled the arrival of the British, and the memorial to Mary Dyer, who was hanged in the Boston Common in 1660 because she professed to be a Quaker, not a Puritan.

Plymouth

October 8

The weather has definitely changed. It rained most of the night but stopped for most of the day. The trip into Massachusetts was fairly dry but we saw no sun. Traffic was heavy even though we skirted Boston. We are in a RV park in Plymouth, thus the pictures. There was a walk through another graveyard and a visit to the landing site. I am again reminded of the severe challenges that this colony faced in the first two years, losing over half to death. Meanwhile, our only sacrifice here is being without cable TV and not be able to see Cleveland beat the Yankees. Tuesday will hopefully find us boarding a train just 10 minutes from the RV camp and taking the hour ride into Boston.

President Bush I

October 7, 2007

FYI: If you want a more detailed image on any of the pictures in our blog, click on them and they will be shown in a much larger format.

Kennebunkport is famous for its beautiful shoreline, its historic roots, the mansions, and the Bush compound.

This morning we drove a short distance north looking for St. Ann’s Church, an old Episcopal church frequented by the Bush family. We found it, but it was closed for the season. We drove on a bit further along Ocean Drive and found ourselves looking directly at the Bush compound over about a 100 yards of water. It sits on Walker Point which is the only designation given to this area on the tourist maps. There is no mention of the location of the Bush compound but you can find that on the internet.

We stopped to take some pictures and noticed some people gathering. They were locals. “The boat is at the dock,” they shared. “That means that GHW Bush is taking someone out for a cruise.” Soon a Secret Service boat appeared and we could see them preparing the Bush boat for launching. Within a few minutes GHW appeared and walked with a group to the boat and boarded. GHW took control of the boat and eased it from the dock. Before exiting the harbor, he reved up all three outboards and did a quick 360 for the party on shore. Then, at high speed, they headed out for the open water. We did not find out who was on the boat with the former president. About an hour later, the boat returned and docked in the same fashion, except without the fanfare of the 360.

There were some interesting dynamics on shore. First of all, other than the secret service boat, we saw no security on the shore. Several cars stopped as we did and there must have been forty or so people taking pictures. Many were parked on the road illegally, and there was no police presence evident.

When we first stopped the car, Barb got out to inquire as to what was going on. Meanwhile, I temporarily parked the Jeep in a parking lot labeled “Reserved for Langley B&B Only”. However, it appeared that the B&B was closed so I left it parked there. Barb wanted to walk down further to take pictures but I did not want to leave sight of the Jeep for fear of it being ticketed or towed. I stood about 100 yards from the Jeep watching the compound and the Jeep. Barb was another 100 yards down the road closer to the compound.

I was standing there alone, looking back at the Jeep back down the road then turning my attention on the boat. I continued the surveillance of both the Jeep and the boarding preparations when I saw four adults watching me. The two couples were about 20 yards from me and they would look at me then turn away. One would say something then another one would look at me. I soon figured out what their interest was. So to play the game, I turned toward the compound and brought my watch up to my mouth and spoke a few words into it. Then I went back to watching the Jeep, then the compound. In the next few minutes, while we were waiting for the Bush party to board, I did this several times. I was about ready to break up in laughter and I finally walked over to them and told them that I was not from the Secret Service. They howled. They were tourists from New York and were experiencing this for the first time, just like Barb and I.

About three hours later, I was sitting on a bench in the Kennebunkport town square (which is actually a triangle) talking to a couple from Boston. One of the hundreds of cars that passed by us during that time stopped and rolled down the window. A lady from the two couples back on the road at the Bush compound stuck her head out the window and yelled, “Look out for that guy. He’s from the CIA.” We both laughed and, of course, I had to explain the comment to the Boston couple.

After Kennebunkport Barb visited one of the local light houses.

Tomorrow we head for the area south of Plymouth, MA and west of Cape Cod. It is called East Falmouth. We plan to settle in for a few days there to see Boston, Cape Cod and Plymouth.