A dedication to the New England (and nearby) areas—travel, food, lifestyle.
I have to be the only parent who has to beg a child to go to a fair, but since Lydia needed to take festival photos and Lieren was at work, I “dragged” Lydia to the King Richard’s Faire in Carver, Massachusetts. Not only was she delighted at how fun it was but she really wants to go back next year, with her sister!! We watched an old-time duels, and enjoyed the wild costumes and reenactments from a time long ago. Our one fun souvenir, besides photos, was a fidget-spinner ring, for each of us.
This morning, Lydia and I went out to take some local photos. We started in Cohasset on Jerusalem Avenue and took photos on our favorite bridge looking at some boats in the hazy morning. Then we went to Marshfield to Roht’s Marine on the North River, which I recently learned has wonderful food in addition to a great nautical environment!!
In the late afternoon yesterday we took a ride up to Newbury, MA to visit the Colby Farm’s Sunflower Fields. We arrived just an hour before closing, and there was little wait to park, and while we had a lot of company it was by no means overcrowded. The same can’t be said for today, as the news stations are reporting a 40 minute wait to just pull into the parking lot. So, yes, the last minute venture was a good plan!! The sunflowers were peak and the photographers were out everywhere.
We were trying to resurrect a daytrip that wasn’t going well, and our Plan B brought us to Whitehall State Park in Hopkinton, MA. What a beautiful day and place for a short hike. I love paths where the pine needles are soft under your feet and the sun shines through the branches!! We did a quick shake to avoid bringing home any ticks prior to getting back in the car!
We took another opportunity to enjoy our new Zoo New England passes and visited the Stone Zoo today. It was typical for a zoo, although to be honest I think we all enjoyed last month’s Franklin Park Zoo visit better.
I love hot air balloons! About 30 years ago I had the privilege of seeing the Albuquerque International Hot Air Balloon Festival, which lasted eight days and took over the desert skies during the Southwestern Autumn! So, when I saw the Hudson Hot Air Balloon Festival advertised, I couldn’t wait to share it with the girls. And boy was I disappointed. I knew it would never live up to Albuquerque’s festival, but quite frankly it was not worth the drive (and certainly not worth an admission fee, which we somehow missed). However, this failed on many levels. Not a single balloon took flight. Some left the ground but remained tethered, and others were just filled with hot air and were just as promptly deflated and packed away. I don’t know if weather was a factor (it was an absolutely gorgeous morning, but who knows), but it was very disappointing. And in no way was it worth the 4am wake-up call. The girls are very good sports and we made the best of a very early morning!
This weekend, we were driving home from our annual summer reunion in Albany, NY and decided for a quick “drive-by” at Mount Greylock. The timing was good as Lydia was finishing up her summer reading, A Walk in the Woods, which crosses through the Mt. Greylock area on the Appalachian Trail. What an amazing view. So glad we drove up instead of hiking, and definitely impressed with the one-legged cyclist who biked up to the summit!
So it wouldn’t be New England if we didn’t have the Patriots!! Now, Pats’ tickets are not only hard to come by but also not very cheap, so the next best thing is the preseason Pat’s Training Camps. We’ve gone for the past three years, and LOVE seeing all our favorites practicing. This year did not disappoint as we of course had Tom Brady and Jimmy Garapolo, but also Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Steven Gostkowski, and Danny Amendola to name a few of our favorites. And extra fun to get autographs after the practice!
It’s been awhile since we’ve gone to the zoo, since the girls were rather impatient when they were younger. Now that they are teenagers though, they are much happier strolling through the zoo. We bought a season pass so we can enjoy up with Zoo Lights in the winter months!! We spent just as much time chasing butterflies and bees as we did with the larger animals!
A quick local jaunt turned into a favorite. This week we walked around Bare Cove Park, in Hingham, Massachusetts. The girls talked about how they loved this “hike”, although to call it a hike would be rather misleading. It’s a flat and straight paved bike path. We took the out and back route to the harbor, and it was lovely and not remotely strenuous, or hike-like.
