A Day in Boston

We’re still driving north, but remember, Bob promised a trip into Boston.  There’s so much to see and do in Boston and when we were there previously Bob had meetings, work, or had to stay connected to work, or I was sort of stressed about a little run I was going to do.  This time it was just a visit to relax and enjoy ourselves, and we did!


It was easy to get to Boston from the RV Park, so we decided to make it a day trip.  We took the T, and the entire ride into Boston took one hour.  It takes an hour to drive to Harrisburg when we’re at home!  


Our first stop was Quincy Market for some lunch.  Yes, clam chowda!


We walked Freedom Trail again.  This was the first time we were able to see everything without Bob on the phone talking about a release at work.  Retirement is nice!!  Paul Revere lived in this house a long, long time ago.


Sorry, I didn’t see the sign that said NO PICTURES ALLOWED (honest), so I have this forbidden picture of Mrs. Revere’s kitchen. 


Paul Revere is riding with his lantern, but Bob is looking very confused.


It’s the Old North Church that Paul hung his lantern from.


The inside of The Old North Church was very nice, but the pews weren’t very comfy at all.  Look at those brass chandeliers.  So pretty!


Bostonians love their boats!


This ship was in dry dock, and I was really amazed at how skinny it is at the bottom!


Of course we went aboard the Constitution, Old Iron Sides, and it is gorgeous!


Come on Bob, you were a Marine, not a sailor!


With all these cannons lined up it’s easy to imagine the battles it won.


The officers quarters looked pretty cushy to me.


This lion looks cute, not fierce.


That’s the officers quarters at the end of the ship, with windows for an ocean view.


Another trip around Quincy Market, and we found Larry Bird’s shoes.


Right next to Larry’s shoes were Bill Rodger’s shoes.  He won the Boston Marathon four times!


No, we didn’t leave Boston without eating some raw oysters.  Yum!


We went back into Boston another day and visited the Kennedy Presidential Library, where his sailboat is prominently displayed outside.

   
Of course you can see the Oval Office the way it looked when JFK was president.


The library has a beautiful view of Boston Harbor.


The Profile in Courage Award


We finished our visit to Boston with a walk through Boston Common.


The Swan boats always look so nice.

It was great to visit Boston, but now it’s on to Bar Harbor!

In Search of Witches

As we headed north Bob said we can stay near Boston and go into the city if we want to.  If we want to?  Boston is always fun!!


We found a really nice campground near Boston called Minuteman Campground.  It was only about 30-35 miles from Boston, but so peaceful and quiet.


Since we were so close, a trip to Salem was in order.  This old cemetery was attracting a lot of attention so we took another look.


The cemetery had a memorial for the people condemned to death as witches.  Each stone had someone’s name carved on it and how they were killed. A rose and piece of rosemary were placed on the stone.  Rosemary…for remembrance.  


This one seemed particularly gruesome to me. 


I forget how many witches were memorialized here, but there were at least 20, I think.






















Wow! This witch looks pretty scary!!! Mean too!










Salem is home to a small National Historic Site along it’s harbor, so we toured the full sized replica of the three masted square rigged East Indiaman FRIENDSHIP. 



Bob found the construction of the ship very interesting.  I guess it’s because he worked on rebuilding our chicken house all summer long.


It takes a lot of rope to operate one of these ships.


I don’t think I could ever figure out where everything went, or what each rope was for.


We also toured Salem’s Customs House.  Every piece of goods the Colonies traded for came through this Customs House.


Nathaniel Hawthorne worked here, and it was here that he got his inspiration for The Scarlet Letter.


Mr. Hawthorne had an excellent view of the harbor, if he got bored.


This is The House of the Seven Gables, also in Salem.

OK, enough of Salem, we want to go to Boston!

Heading North

This year we decided to head to New England.  We were in New England a few years ago and really enjoyed it, but that was before we had the camper.  This time we’ll have our own home on wheels with us.

   
Our first stop was at River Beach Campground in the Delaware Water Gap.


We took a little drive to see Raymondskill Falls.


The falls were really pretty….and loud!


Bob went to look for fish, and he did take time to dip his line in the river.  He caught some bass, but threw them back.  He said they were too small.


I should have taken some pictures of the people tubing in the river.  It looked like fun, but the water was cold, and it was time to move on.  I want to go to BOSTON!!

Our Summer Trip to the top of The Mount

Mount LeConte Lodge is the highest inn in the eastern United States, and the only way to get there is on foot.  Last year we hiked the Alum Cave Trail and had a fun time at Mount LeConte Lodge, so we decided to do it again.



Bob’s always ready and eager to get started. 


There are several trails to the top of Mount LeConte, and this year we chose the Boulevard Trail, which followed the Appalachian Trail for a good while.  The Appalachian Trail is always well maintained, at least the sections we’ve hiked.


They have sign posts along the way to reassure you that you’re not lost….and to keep track of the mileage.


I liked this view of the Smokies from the trail, and you can see how far we are from the road.


It looks like we have 5.3 miles to go to reach Mount LeConte Lodge.


More of The Smokies.


It’s me, taking a little break.


The trail is  not always this flat, but it is almost always this pretty.

 
This is an Appalachian Trail shelter we passed.  It was the largest App Trail shelter we’ve come across, and the guy in the photo told us it can sleep up to approx. 15 people.  You must have reservations, and Mr. Ranger will check!


We made it!  This is Mount LeConte Lodge, and a few of the cabins.


This is the cabin we had this year.  It had three bedrooms and a common room, but NO bathroom, running water, or electricity.


This is the common room in our cabin, with the bed for one unlucky person.  I wouldn’t want to sleep in the common room!  The dishpan on the wall near our door is used to get hot water from the outside faucet near the kitchen.  Each room also has an oil lamp, no running water or electricity, remember?


They do have a small solar panel for the workers, but that’s it.


The cabin up the hill was where we stayed last year.  It was a one bedroom cabin, and we liked it better than the larger one.


The Lodge worker left this little girl ring the dinner bell.  You better listen, because there are no phones to call you for dinner.


All meals are served family style, and Bob s said the roast beef was really good.  I ate a lot of green beans and mashed potatoes, but not the beef which was swimming in thick, dark brown gravy.


We did it!  It was an eight mile hike and not too steep, but there were a lot of long ups, and long downs.  Next year we’ll try a third trail, it’s a fun place to hike.