Red Sox Nation

We just returned from a trip to Rhode Island, with ventures to Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.  Thanks to Oma and Grandpa Al for the hospitality and adventure!

 

 We started the trip with a party!  We had lots of fun playing with our second cousins.  (There are lots of them!)  Here we are with a group of our second cousins.

More second cousins arrived later (thanks for coming on your busy days, Monica, Josh, and Lindsey!) so we got another group photo.

 

 Day 2: Plymouth, Massachusetts.  It was neat to see Plimouth Plantation (not misspelled) and learn from the actors who did not deviate from their role as settlers in 1621.  Mom hopes we remember this when we are learning about this in school.  She's doesn't have good pictures to post, but her and Dad's favorite part was the Wampanoag village.  It was staffed with Wampanoag people who were not actors, and were happy to teach us about how their ancestors lived and what it may have been like for to have their land inhabited by the English Puritans in 1620, as well as teach us about their current culture.  We got to see a real fish being cooked over a fire, visit with a woman who traded grandparent stories with Oma, and learn about how clothing was made.  We also learned how to make bows and arrows from a young man who taught us a lot more about his current and past culture.  Mom was so fascinated and thankful for his time that she forgot to take pictures!

 

 Petting a goat.

 

 Checking out the livestock.



 Day 3: Pirate Adventure on Cape Cod.  We got to search for treasure.  We put together a map, hoisted the sails, shot water canons at a boat, saw a sunken ship, and pulled treasure out of the sea.

 

Arrrrrrrr, Matey!

 



 Later, we went to Sandy Neck on the Cape and got wet in the Atlantic Ocean.  Dad tells us it's really warm in September, October, and November, but in June it feels just like the Pacific!

 

 We had lots of fun climbing on and jumping off of this lifeguard stand.
 



Mmmmmm... Lobstah!

 

Day 3: Uncle Keith and Aunt Amanda drove all the way from western New Jersey to see us!

 

We went to the Providence Zoo with Aunt Amanda.

 

 Day 4: Road trip.  The four of us set out on our coastal tour.  We spent the first day at Cape Ann, Massachusettes.  Our first stop was Glouster.  The main industry is fishing, and for centuries, Glouster men (and now women) have set out to sea in all weather and conditions.  This is the Fisherman's Memorial.  It included panel after panel of almost 6000 Glouster men who have lost their lives at sea.  The mid-1800s were particularly rough, with over 500 men losing their lives some years.  It was sobering to see how many men shared the same name, likely fathers and sons on the same boats.  The crew from 'The Perfect Storm' were listed for 1991.  There was another sculpture down the walkway honoring the women who waited for their husbands and sons to return, and who often raised their children alone after they were widowed.

 

 We walked along the shore to Stage Fort.

 

 The view across the harbor.

 

 Next stop--Rockport.  It was pouring rain, but that didn't detract from the beauty of this fishing town.

 

Lovely Rockport, MA.

 

 We ended our day at the LL Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine.  It's a destination in itself, with stuffed moose, geese, deer, bears, cougars, lynx, and more inside.

 

And a 3500 gallon aquarium filled with different trout and fresh water salmon that we could get inside.

 

 On the second day of our road trip, we drove north to Bath, Maine, to visit the Maine Maritime Museum.  It was on the grounds of a shipyard where wooden schooners used to be built, including the Wyoming, which was the largest wooden ship ever built in the world.  We learned why this part of the Kennebuc River was known for it's ship building industry (perfect slope of the bank to launch ships when they were finished and depth of the river).  In fact, right next door is Bath Iron Works, which continues to build Destroyers for the Navy.  We also learned all about how the huge wooden ships were built, and even got to launch one -- the USS Mommy.

 

 Captaining a tugboat.  We even got to toot the horns.

 

 In the afternoon, we drove south to Cape Elizabeth, home to the Portland Head Lighthouse, which is the oldest working lighthouse in Maine.  There were great walking trails along the bluff.

 

Mom's attempt to be artsy.

 

 It was a beautiful day, so we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening playing at the beach.

 

 Cute travelers.

 

More like a fortress than a castle.

 

Whew!  All this play has got us worn out!  We're  looking forward to our next visit.  Mom is already making a list of the places she wants to go.