New England Vacation--Days 10 and 11--July 31,2010

Boston!   How do I describe Boston?  Well, when we first arrived on Friday morning, it was beautiful!  Boston is really a very pretty city.  But the quiet was short lived, however, because it didn't take long for it to become CROWDED!  And that's putting it mildly.  The first place we visited in Boston was the shipyard and the USS Constitution.  This is a beautiful ship and dates back to the 1700s.  It is the oldest floating vessel in the world.  It was a war ship for our newly founded nation and was never defeated in any battle.  It was amazing to look at how well all the things on the ship were preserved.  Paul and I both felt so honored to be aboard such a vessel.

We liked the swan boats, too.  How would you like to peddle people around a pound for a summer job?  It was a quiet ride and we got to see all sorts of sights along the way, even a wedding couple who'd just gotten married.

We also enjoyed the harbor cruise.  I know you guys aren't going to believe this, but this was the fourth cruise (counting the ferry ride) I went on, and I did not get sick!  That Dramamine is good stuff!

What did we NOT enjoy?  The extremely heavy traffic and so many people!  New York has nothing over Boston!  Boston may not be as big and New York, but the people and traffic are very similar to New York City!  Give me the country life any day!

We spent most of today in Plymouth, MA.  This was much different than Boston.  It was still a tourist spot and therefore lots of people, but not nearly as many as there were in Boston.  The Mayflower II is a beautiful replica of the original Mayflower.  It is much bigger than our Elizabeth II moored in Manteo.  It looks very similar on the outside, but the interior is better suited for transporting people.  When you think of how many people came across the Atlantic in this vessel, it doesn't seem suited for people at all.  One hundred and two passengers and about thirty crewmen sailed all the way from England in this small ship.  When you see how many actual beds were on the ship, you ask yourself where did they all sleep.  The obvious answer:  anywhere they could! 

I stood on the deck of this humble but impressive little ship and looked out over the harbor.  My thoughts turned to those first settlers who had so bravely fought their way across the mighty expanse of the Atlantic Ocean to face the hazards and hardships of this newly found world.  What thoughts ran through their minds so many years ago as they stood exactly where I was standing today?  If you go back and read the story of the Pilgrims, you'll come to realize that it was only by the grace of God and for the privilege of serving Him that these people made it safely to this new land.  And we are reaping the benefits of their courage, determination, and devotion to our mighty God!  Thank you, Pilgrims, for our Christian heritage!

 Another impressive place was Plymouth Rock.  Yes, there actually is a "rock".  It isn't as big now as it was when the Pilgrims moored the Mayflower to it.  When the Pilgrims first arrived, the Mayflower did not come into port here.  It was moored about a mile and a half out in the harbor.  All the people and supplies had to be hauled ashore by the smaller boats you see tied to the side of the ship in the picture above.  It was later when the actual Mayflower was brought in and actually moored to this rock.  All the attempts during the years to preserve the integrity of this rock actually caused it to become smaller and smaller.  It is still very impressive, however.  To think that we were actually standing and walking in the very spot that the Pilgrims' feet had walked.  Our country is truly an amazing place.

We stopped in a gift shop before we went up to Plymouth Plantation, a village much like Jamestown where everything was just as it was back in these early days of settlement.  My eye caught something hanging up above my head as we walked in.  It was a very beautiful picture of the lighthouses along the coast of New England.  I did a double-take, however, because one of them looked just like our Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  Much to my surprise and delight, they were NOT the lighthouses of New England, but our own beloved lighthouses along the coast of our beautiful North Carolina!

Today was our last "touring" day here in New England.  Tomorrow we head for Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland.  We'll visit Charity's grandparents-in-law in Connecticut for an hour or so and then head on toward home.  It will be two long driving days, and we'll see many new things along the way as we continue our "adventure" on the road.  Hopefully, we'll have "fair winds and seas to follow" as we turn the bow of our "ship" towards home.

New England Vacation--Day Nine--July 29,2010

What a long but fun-filled day!  When I think about all we've done today, how many miles we've traveled, how many states we have crossed over....I think my body is ready for bed!  If you look at all our pictures on Picassa (just click on the words "Our Pictures" to the left of this blog) you'll see what I mean.  Paul only put about half the pictures on Picassa.  We took a LOT of pictures, but there were just so many beautiful sights to see!

We left Bangor early this morning and arrived in Portland in time for our Trolley Tour.  It was so nice to see all the old houses in Portland and our guide was so knowledgeable about the history of Portland.  He also took us up to Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the world.  Then we went on a 90 minute cruise around the harbor.  We saw lots of other lighthouses.  A few of the pictures are here, but you'll see a lot more beautiful sights by clicking on Our Pictures.

                                                                   Portland Head Light
                      

An osprey and her babies.

Coastline near Portland Head Light

Seals sunbathing

New England Vacation--Day Eight--July 28,2010

                        This morning we drove from Banngor to Bar Harbor, via more road work.

 It took us an hour and a half to drive 45 miles, but the views we experienced once we got there was well worth it.  Here is one of them.

We parked and rode a trolley around Acadia National Park which includes Cadillac Mountain, the highest mountain in the US on the eastern coast.  Here is a view from the top of this mountain.

While we were on the trolley, the driver told us a lot of history about Bar Harbor.  It used to be named Eden and only the very wealthy lived in Bar Harbor, mostly in summer homes.  He told us a a true story about this house pictured below.  It's a tear jerker, so get your tissues.

 There was a wealthy widower that lived in Bar Harbor, and he had two children.  After his wife died he later went to Europe.  While there he fell in love with a young woman and wanted to marry her.  She loved him deeply but was afraid to cross the ocean; she was terrified to travel in a ship.  He came home without her, but would not give up on his hope of marrying her.  He pleaded with her and promised that he would build her the biggest, most luxurious house on the island if she would come.  She finally agreed and he began the work on the house above.  When it was almost finished she booked her passage on the "unsinkable ship".  Yes, that's right.  The Titanic!  She never reached her beloved nor lived in the beautiful house he had built especially for her.  But the sad story doesn't end there.  He was so grief stricken that he never moved into the house.  Months later when depression was about to overpower him, he was asked to help work on the trails in what is now Acadia National Park.  He readily agreed since this was something he enjoyed doing.  He thought it would help him overcome his grief.  Well,  he fell from the mountain while making these rails.  His body was found two days later.
How tragic!  No one lived in the house for many many years.  No one would buy it.  Many years later a woman offered to buy it for 25,000 dollars.  The family took the offer.

After our tour of the island, we went to the docks and had lunch out on the dock and watched the ships come and go.  Here are some pictures of the view from our table.

Not far from where we had lunch there was a small beach.  I just had to put my feet in the water to see if it was really as cold as everyone says it is.  Yep, it is!

There were many beautiful scenes everywhere!  Here's one of my favorites.

                 
                      Now it's time to put our feet up and rest and relax for tomorrow's busy day.

Night all!

New England Vacation--Day Seven--July 27,2010

Another long day on the road!  We left Burlington, VT, early and drove all the way to the Lost River in New Hampshire.  If you've never heard of the Lost River or are wondering why it's called the Lost River, I'll tell you.  IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO GO A LONG WAY UNDERGROUND TO FIND IT!
But it was so rewarding!  Yes, it takes a lot of hard work to get down to where it is, and then you have to climb, crawl on your knees, shimmy down rocks on your butt, crawl on your stomach, watch your head, s-q-u-e-e-z-e between things, and climb back out of dark places.  IT WAS WONDERFUL!

There were only a few places that I didn't do any of the things listed above.  The first time was when I climbed down a ladder into a dark chamber.  There was just enough light at the bottom from a kerosene lantern to expose this very tiny hole that we had to crawl through.  I panicked!  That's as close as I've ever come to an anxiety attack.  Paul tried to convince me I could do it, but I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT! So, I didn't.
I called back up the ladder to tell whoever was coming down to NOT come down that I was coming back up!  And up I came out of that black hole!  What was so strange was that I had already been in similar places in this gorge, so what was so different about that one?  I don't know.  Maybe it was because I couldn't see what was on the other side of the hole.  Maybe I was afraid of getting half way in and couldn't get out.  Whatever the reason, I choose to come out the way I came in!

The second time was when I would have had to crawl on my knees a long way to get through that particular passage.  I found out the hard way in one of the other passages that crawling on my knees was not a good thing.  I forgot about my knee I'd had surgery on and the other knee that still hasn't healed from my fall over the flower pot at school.  Needless to say, I'd already bruised both knees crawling through the first passage, so I wasn't about to add madness to mayhem!

The third time they had a "butt-gauge"!  Yes, I kid you not!  At this particular passage, they had a "squeeze detector", or what I call a "butt-gauge".  If you couldn't squeeze through the poles they had outside the passage, you'd not be able to squeeze through the passage.  I wasn't taking any chances with that one!  I walked on by.

The other passage I didn't try was one you had to literally crawl on your stomach a long way to get through--and I had on a new shirt--wasn't gonna get that dirty--I passed that one up too!

But it is an absolutely, amazing, God-created, place of wonder and spectacular beauty.  I highly recommend it if you're ever in New Hampshire.

Then we continued our l-o-n-n-n-g drive through the mountains of New Hampshire to Bangor, Maine.
Fortunately, there was a restaurant right across the parking lot form our hotel, so we didn't have to drive anywhere else to get some dinner.

Tomorrow, we tour Bar Harbor, Maine.
Night all!
Love ya!

                                                   My favorite picture from today!

New England Vacation--Day Six--July 26,2010

What an absolutely beautiful day in Vermont!  We got to the ferry early only to learn it didn't leave for another two hours.  So, we just switched our plans around.  We were going to take the ferry across Lake Champlain from Vermont to New York and then drive back around Grand Island to Vermont.  So, instead we did the drive first.  We drove all the way to the Canadian border, (funny thing, though, no border patrol there, just gates to check passports).  Then through part of New York to get to the ferry back to Vermont.  The view around Lake Champlain is absolutely stunning.  Everywhere we looked along the drive were wild flowers with the lake in the background.   Of course, there were farms and farmhouses along the way too.  Paul and I tried to imagine everything covered in snow.  We came to the same conclusion, it's a beautiful place to visit, but we wouldn't want to live here in the winter.  I know it is beautiful in the fall, though!  We'd love to come back one year in the autumn.

After we got back from our drive and ferry ride, we were going to visit the Shelburn Museum.  When we got there, it wasn't what we had pictured it would be.  We had seen a Goodwill store on the way, so when the museum didn't look so good, we looked at each other and KNEW where we were going!  You guessed it, to the Goodwill store!  Now, so far, Goodwill stores haven't impressed me much. I guess they just didn't have the kind of junk I was looking for.  But this one was SO different!  Paul finally found someplace to sit down! LOL  He is always so patient, though.  I found some beautiful glassware serving pieces to add to my collection.  I also found two things that I have been wanting!  I wanted a good new pillow and some nonstick round cake pans.  I found both!  Now don't go thinking I'm going to use a used pillow.  What made this store so amazing was the fact that they had a lot of brand new items, still in the original wrappers and labels.  It looked like a Home Bazaar store had gone out of business and donated all their items to Goodwill! So my pillow and cake pans were brand new for a fraction of the cost.  I got a brand new garden flag that said, "Count your blessings" for Thanksgiving.  I got some sort of iron wall plaque that is about 18 inches by 24 inches.  Paul wanted to know where I was going to put it!  Ahh, I have a plan, but I won't divulge it yet!  And, of course, books.  One on quilting, one on applique, and one on making bird houses.  Can you guess who I bought the last one for?  lol  He doesn't know about that, either

But the absolute highlight of the day was our dinner cruise along Lake Champlain.  Yes, the food was very good, but the lake itself was the star attraction.  After our dinner, we went out on the upper deck and sat side by side and watched the sun set.  We took picture after picture because with every passing minute the scene changed.  The weather was just right!  Nippy, just cool enough to have to snuggle close together to keep each other warm.  Then, when we could no longer see the sunset, we moved to the front of the boat because the moon was coming up!  So, we snuggled against each other and leaned against the bow of the boat and watched the moon ascend, first above the tree tops, then above the roof tops, and finally high enough that we could see the reflection shinning all the way from the shore to our boat.  Not only was it breathtakingly beautiful, but it was so peaceful.  It reminded me of a scripture song that I learned long ago:
"From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, my Lord's name is to be praised."  With so much beauty all around us, how can anyone not believe in our Creator God.
"Wonderful are the works of Your mighty hands, and that my soul knows very well!"
In good times and in bad my Lord has been faithful to me.  I will be the same to Him.
I will bless the Lord at all times.  His praise shall continually be in my mouth!
Tomorrow Paul wants to get maple syrup before we leave Vermont.  Then it's on to New Hampshire and Maine.
Later Gators!

New England Vacation--Day Five--July 25,2010

Today's blog will be short and sweet.  Follow along carefully.

Drive...stop for potty...drive....stop for gas and potty...drive...stop for potty...drive...stop for potty....drive....stop for gas....drive...stop for potty.

We arrived at the Norman Rockwell Museum about 12:15.  That was a neat place.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum, but we did take some outside.  The ones below of Paul and me were taken there.  Next:

Drive...stop for potty and lunch...drive....stop for gas and potty...drive...stop for potty...drive...stop for potty....drive....stop for gas....drive...arrived in Burlington, VT at 6:15.  We checked into our hotel and then drove to the waterfront of Lake Champlain where we"ll cruise tomorrow.  We stopped on the way back for Subway and came back to our hotel.

End of story.

I told you it would be short, even though our day was not.  Twelve hours on the road, but at least my feet aren't tired!

I pray you all have a good night!
Love you.

I told you the GPS was wrong!  Can't you see the arrows!

Our foot picture for the day!