We arrived in Boston at about 11am. The traffic going into Boston was heavy. We parked the car underground and then when we came out of the lift (sorry elevator!)…. You find you are inside a marble floored conference centre.
But we were central Boston just where we needed to be.
I wanted to practice taking photos of buildings at odd angles and also to get a feel of what Boston is all about. I hope I succeeded….
We spent about 5 hours walking around looking at buildings and seeing the harbour etc. We walked through Quincy market. It was heaving with people buying street stall food. Plates of lobsters Asian food smoothies ice creams cookies seafoods and sticky chicken pieces everywhere
We had a little adventure when we were looking at the outside of the gold plated dome of Massachusetts State House.
We wandered into the open gate on the side to see the statue of a man on a horse Equestrian statue of General Joseph Hooker
We found a notice saying the public could look inside the building.
We went up the steps and opened the door. We found we had to go through security checks, posting our bags through the scanner like you do in the airport and being x -rayed.
We were told the next tour is about to start on the second floor! So although we really didn’t want a tour we obliged by getting up into the lift. The second floor was so beautiful. Paintings mosaic floors marble and sculptures and flags. We wandered through and no one stopped us so we explored it all ourselves! There was a grand staircase and also the podium where a speaker would address the audience
In one room a meeting was going on about South Africa we listened in for a little while and again no one stopped us . There was food on tables to help yourself to ….no we didn’t!
We walked down two flights of stairs on this grand staircase and tried to find our way out. We found different security guards and they were surprised to see us. “Are you going out? “They asked us.
“Yes and we’ve really enjoyed looking round! “ we said. When we got out we found we were at the back of the state house on a different street. No wonder they were puzzled ….they were guarding the back of the building!
On our return to the car park we had to pay $40 😩
We stopped at a crackle barrel for dinner on the way back. Not a good experience.
We have had lovely breakfasts there in the past but their dinner was poor.
So tomorrow we fly home leaving Boston at 7.40pm.
I will write one more page about tomorrow but then that’s it for now xxxx Here’s a few of my many pics I took today…
Manchester- by -the -sea and the scenic route along Cape Ann
Much better weather today
warm and much brighter.
We had tried to find a causeway we visited in 2018 but the one we found was not that one🤭never mind it was a lovely spot. Eastern point lighthouse and causeway.There were fishermen all along and a group scuba diving. I took a photo of the lighthouse but decided it needed a lot of sprucing up.
Today is Father’s Day in USA so we decided to keep away from the main tourist spots and follow the scenic coastal way.
We arrived at
Manchester -by -the -sea and sat by the harbour. A train passed by as we were there. It was the perfect temperature to while the afternoon away .
There were children on the corner selling their home made lemonade and across the road was an ice cream shop.
I had frozen low fat yoghurt ice cream it was supposed to be a small size but honestly it was big. We wondered what a large sized one would be!
The houses around the scenic byway were huge with lots of manicured land surrounding them. They looked very expensive in the areas overlooking the sea.
It was a case of how the other half live.
The weather has held out all day and hopefully tomorrow won’t be as wet as yesterday.
The forecast was for rain in the afternoon so we decided to travel to Rockport. We have been here twice before and it is a beautiful seaside village with a harbour and a jetty. We were planning to continue from here along the Essex coastal scenic byway. But that didn’t happen …..
We eventually found a free park and ride shuttle (as there was very little public parking and only for limited times)
We stopped for coffee alongside the harbour with views of boats and reflections. The little shops are very artistic and different. We walked right to the end of bearskin neck in a mist with poor visibility. It was warm and dry but by 12 .30 pm the rain started. We dived eventually into a restaurant overlooking the sea. We sat under an awning and had chowder soup and a sandwich with salad grandad had mussels in garlic cream with other veg . The rain became heavy and the temperature dropped , so we moved indoors to keep warmer. We were in light summer clothes no rain gear and only one umbrella ! We were quite a walk from the bus stop and by the time we got there we were drowned rats 🌧️🌧️☔️
We sheltered under a tree but it wasn’t much help
When we got off the bus the water was like a river flowing over the car park. So got soaking wet feet too!
The rain was monsoonal and the driving was slow. There were huge floods in areas along the highway and water even spraying from cars on the other side too. At one exit the firemen were pumping the water from the road and had closed the exit.
We came back to the hotel to dry out and did not venture out again. It was 4.30 pm so not too early.
My photos are from the morning before the rain started.
Travelled from Gorham in Appellations to Waltham near Boston ma
Our last travel day to our last destination close to Boston where we fly out on Tuesday evening
We planned our route with sat nav help and decided to break our journey at a lake destination at a loon sanctuary.
Loon Preservation Committee in Moultonborough, New Hampshire ‧
A loon is a duck like creature with distinctive red eyes and pretty plumage of black and white and a blue collar and greenish head.
We went into the centre first to get a map of the walk down to see the lake and the loons nesting. It seemed simple and we set off. It was a walk through the woods with board walks over boggy parts. It was a path over and between large stones and boulders and over tree roots.
It was a walk where you could hear the water and hear the birds but never quite managed to spot them! At the furthest part you had a view of a loon on a nest in the middle of the lake but far away. The draw back was the biting flies. I was eaten up all over my arms neck shoulders forehead and fingers and I had repellent on. Fortunately I had long trousers on. So as you can imagine tonight I’m in a bad way 😩. Vince who wore shorts had about 3 bites only…. Typical
The rest of the journey was good but we saw a horrific crash on the other side of the motorway and jams going on for miles as people were leaving Boston.
Tonight we treated ourselves to a steakhouse dinner and it was melt in the mouth good.
Only a few photos today as every time I stopped to take one I got bitten by the black flies ahhhhhh!
White mountain national forest New Hampshire Today is hot very hot
We knew it was forecast for a hot day but not prepared for the humidity. By midday it was in the 90s Fahrenheit.
We were curious to see what
Santas village was like as it was only about 15 miles away. It was a lovely place for children but not for us…
So we travelled Gorham Jefferson Whitefield Carroll Lincoln
At Lincoln we wanted to revisit the moon bakery but it is shut Thursdays and Fridays! Along from there we found the moose cafe and were able to pick up their WiFi.
We found poor Louis is in hospital in Freiburg Germany having appendicitis and about to have the operation to remove them. He is on school camp (from france)and his teachers are looking after him. Matthew is on his way to be with him. He has a long journey…..What a shock and a shame Louis is away from his family. Such a worry for them.
It is so hot and we stopped to photograph a train. The nasty black flies are out today and vince has been bitten on his legs as he had shorts on. I have nasty bites too.
We went to a pharmacy and were able to buy strong antihistamines and sting kill. So different from UK but expensive to buy!
Thunderstorms are forecast over the next 24 hours and cooler air but hot again by Sunday when we will be back to Boston ( and hopefully away from the nasty biting black flies)
We spent some time by lower falls. Again grandad took more photos with timed release so the water looks milky.
Hope I can upload the waterfall pics soon but its difficult atm tomorrow we will be in Boston area and should have good WiFi
This beautiful road follows the great divide where the americas and Africa collided eons ago
(We have followed this in Iceland and Newfoundland too)
It is largely a ridge between granite formed mountains
At Lincoln we visited the paper mill market. There was a moon cafe that sold the best coffee and croissants.
We started on the Kancamagus highway. It is a pleasing winding road through the divide. It is called after an Indian chief who tried to protect his people’s rights to the land.
A deer ran across the road and we saw some birds of prey.
We stopped at all the pull ins and viewed the mountains. The visibility is not so good today but it is smoky from Canada fires and a heat haze. Last stop was the lower falls near to Conway. I sat for ages on the huge rocks near the fierce flowing river bouncing between and over boulders.
So rewarding lost in my thoughts and writing my blog!
People were paddling in the cold water and jumping over the rocks. Those large yellow butterflies were there as well as flies. It was a relaxing sunny day.
New Hampshire white mountains and cog railway to summit mt Washington
A lovely clear crisp morning with blue skies.
Sadly we heard our grandchildren’s cat ziggy was run over and died. They are so sad he was barely a kitten.
We travelled through the white mountains from Gorham to the cog railway up to the summit of mt Washington.
The train was a diesel and the cogs on the line pull it up the steep hillsides. The views and commentary were superb. At the top we were at 6 000 feet (so not like Denver cog railway at 14000 where I felt sick and dizzy)
We had an hour up there. There was some snow up there and we saw the ice crystals melting and falling from the meteorological station up there. So pretty…
I took quite a few pictures of the trains and the views over the mountains. We really enjoyed this
The Appalachian mountains are beautiful in spring. Everything is bright green and fresh. There are square miles of state parks and paths to follow. The appellation trail is hundreds of miles across.
We stopped by Ellis Falls on the way back
You walk by the river and down steep stone steps to see the water falling along the river bed. The highest fall is 60 foot drop.
I was proud I managed this with two replacement knees!
We saw huge yellow and black butterflies but they moved by so quick I couldn’t photo them.
Today was a good day and we have have two more full days here so with the sun forecasted for the week we should get clear views.
(I will post photos of the Ellis falls soon as I have to reduce them in size and also WiFi is poor here)
Leaving Quebec Canada to travel to New Hampshire USA
We had a good run all the way once we mastered the spaghetti style junctions around Quebec to get on the correct highway!
We followed very flat wooded and agricultural lands with many fruit trees and vegetable farming.
The hills of the Appellations started as we headed south from near to Montreal.
The hills are low and divided by many valleys. There were small lakes and marshy lands and signs for moose and deer. Even a sign beware of the wild hairy mountain man
At the border to Vermouth and America we had no probs in crossing. Just asked where we had been how long and when were we leaving. The border guard was the most Viking type man I’ve ever met with masses of bright ginger hair and bright ginger beard.
You travel very soon to the next state of North Hampshire (but at least we can tick Vermont off our list of American states we have been in)
All the way we were deep into the Appellations until we arrived at Mt Madison Inn Gorham. Our first motel not hotel.
Nearby we passed through
Milan then Berlin
So washing machine here was soon in use and we have a heated outside swimming pool.
Last full day in Quebec City Wendake long house and First Nation museum
Sadly our last day is also cloudy rainy and colder. We needed to visit somewhere indoors and decided to visit the First Nation museum at Wendake.
It is situated by Saint Charles river and near to the Kabir Kouba chute.
We had an interactive headphone commentary in English and really enjoyed ourselves. As well as a museum there is a huge hotel and restaurant.
We saw loads of interesting artifacts from the Huron Indian tribe.
We learnt about their culture and went into a huge reconstructed authentic long house. In here all families slept in bunks on animal skins and two families shared one fire. So there were a series of fires along the centre of the long house.
Outside we saw how they cultivated beans squash and grain for cooking caught fish and hunted animals
Later we went to the Kabir Kouba chute that provides electricity too.
I took loads of photos as I know Xavie is very interested in cowboys and Indian reservations.
Here are a few for my blog too.
In the afternoon we went back to our favourite restaurant Cochon Dingue and I had poutine with chicken and peas. Then we explored the gift shops
Goodbye Quebec we stayed 9 nights and will miss you!
On to USA New Hampshire tomorrow a long travelling day .
Retirement Here I Come 