A dedication to the New England (and nearby) areas—travel, food, lifestyle.
Over the past four weeks, there have been weekend invitationals, leagues and states to occupy our Saturdays (and thus tying up Sundays with work and homework). Two events have been at the Development Center in Wrentham, MA which lends itself to some great racing events.
This post isn’t so much about an actual destination but about finding your Halloween wherever you are. As someone who has hated this holiday for years (clowns jumping out aren’t really festive, if you ask me), I do enjoy a controlled party!
Well, somewhere along the line during the summer, we realized that we lived so close to paradise we really needed to take advantage. Just a short drive to Hull and Nantasket Beach, my favorite beach as I used to live a block away for 7 years before kids!! The sunsets are beautiful, the carnival comes twice a summer, sunrise and moonrise never disappoint, and spending every Sunday night at the beach gave us such a sense of gratitude for what we have right near by.
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.
It was actually a coincidence that we went to Canobie Lake on the opening day of Scream Fest! We were actually just going to meet up with Lieren’s China 106 travel group. We arrived in the late afternoon, and the weather and company could not have been better. Considering the beautiful night and the opening night of Screamfest, I did not find it crowded at all, and we had little to no wait on all rides. It was a beautiful night all around!! So happy to have other girls for Lieren to go on rides with, since Lydia and I like to keep more to the mild rides!
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!
