HAVING FUN IN NEW ENGLAND

Monday, November 09, 2009

This will be my last post on our trip to New England. I fear becoming like the person who drags out all the slides of family vacations, special days, etc. and has you watch them for hours. Look at these ONLY if you are interested. I hope you are.

We enjoyed visiting the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. It is the official memorial to our nation's 35th President. It is situated on a 10-acre park overlooking Boston Harbor.

Sitting in front of the Fishermen's Memorial in Gloucester, MA. I could look out on the water where the boats come in from the sea. This Leonard Craske sculpture is dedicated to the memory of all Gloucester fishermen. It is often called "The Man at the Wheel." Gloucester's beauty and spirit have inspired generations of writers and artists.

This is the famous, much-painted Motif #1 fisherman's shack at Rockport harbor. It is a replica of the 1840's original which was swept into the harbor by a blizzard in 1978. The little seaport village of Rockport was one of my favorite places of all the ones we visited.

I loved the people we met in New England. Traveling through the back roads and by the ocean we stopped a few times to ask directions. Everyone was friendly, polite and helpful. I disturbed one couple who were eating their lunch and looking out at the beautiful waves breaking in on the rocky beach. The man ran to his car, came back with a map and described in glowing terms the places I just "couldn't afford to miss." I apologized to his wife for disturbing their lunch. She said, "he was just sitting here waiting for you to come along and ask for directions." I went into a little country store/restaurant and talked with the owner and a couple of customers and you would have thought that I was their long lost cousin. Great people!!

Here is Charlotte standing in front of a replica of the Mayflower. Mayflower II is a full-scale reproduction of the ship that crossed the Atlantic in 1620. I loved the Plymouth area and could have spent days there.

Here I am walking up to Spangler Hall at the Harvard School of Business. We ate a great lunch there in a huge dining room filled with students and faculty.

If you have never been to New England, I hope you get to go someday. For many years I had the dream of going in my mind but I didn't think I ever would. My dream came true! If you want to go--keep dreaming!! But don't go this time of the year if you can help it. You will see too many signs like the one above.

THE SIN OF OMISSION

Saturday, November 07, 2009

It isn't the thing you do;
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you a bit of heartache,
At the setting of the sun.

The tender word forgotten,
The letter you did not write,
The flower you might have sent,
Are your haunting ghosts tonight.

The stone you might have lifted
Out of a brother's way,
The bit of heartsome counsel
You were hurried too much to say.

The loving touch of the hand,
The gentle and winsome tone,
That you had no time or thought for
With troubles enough of your own.

The little acts of kindness,
So easily out of mind;
Those chances to be helpful
Which everyone may find--

No, it's not the thing you do,
It's the thing you leave undone,
Which gives you the bit of heartache
At the setting of the sun.

                           Margaret E. Sangster

FOOD AND FUN IN NEW ENGLAND

Friday, November 06, 2009

As far as I am concerned food and fun go together.

Our first meal in Boston was at our motel. They serve an evening meal Monday through Thursday. We arrived on Wednesday evening. We made it just in time for hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, fruit and cold beverages. We finished off the meal with coffee and hot chocolate chip cookies. I love hamburgers and hot dogs.

Our second meal was breakfast at the motel. Every morning they serve a wonderful breakfast. There are too many choices for me to name them all. I enjoyed eggs, sausage, biscuits, fruit, orange juice and coffee.

Our next meal was lunch at the Union Oyster House, America' oldest restaurant, established in 1826. It is a national historic landmark and a favorite eating place of the Kennedy family. It is now a favorite eating place for Clifton Ditmore although I may never have the pleasure of being there again.

We ate a lot of sea food while we were in New England. We loved the food at a little restaurant in the wonderful seaport village of Rockport, MA. It was scrumptious!

That's enough pictures of food. We  were eating and having fun through New Hampshire, up to Maine and all the way down to Cape Cod. We had our first canolis ever at Mike's famous pastry shop in the North End. There are Dunkin Donut Shops all over the Boston area. So of course we had one--or two. Hey, even diabetics are allowed to have fun on vacation, My doctor said so!

A DAY IN BOSTON

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Fortified and full from a great breakfast we headed for the train station. The ride into Boston from Woburn (twelve miles) took about twenty-five minutes with a few stops along the way. We enjoyed seeing the fall foliage and the few small towns we passed through. The trains last stop, where we got off, was in downtown Boston right at Boston Garden where their famous basketball team plays.

We took the trolley tour called City View which takes an hour and makes nine stops. We made an entire day of it by getting off at each stop and walking the area. We walked through the beautiful Public Garden, Boston Commons, past the old, original Cheers and the many,many sites along the Freedom Trail. We spent much of our time at the Quincy Market, Fanuel Hall area. We ate lunch at the wonderful Union Oyster House. One of the high lights of our walking tour was the Old North Church.We walked and walked and then walked some more. When we were on our "last leg" we stopped at the famous Mikes Pastry Shop and sat down to eat canolis. They were delicious. We had never had canolis before. We had only heard them talked about on Everybody Loves Raymond.

We rode the train back to our home away from home--The Marriott Residence Inn in Woburn where we enjoyed a splendid dinner.

When it was time to go to bed nobody had to rock us to sleep. We went to sleep with smiles on our faces and slept like babies (Happy babies).

BOOK REVIEW

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
One Fine Season
AuthorHouse (November 25, 2008)
by
Michael Sheehan


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Michael Sheehan is CEO and founder of BioResource, a company that distributes natural remedies including the popular INFLAMYAR ointment for sports injuries. He wrote One Fine Season to honor the memories of two childhood friends who died young, before they could realize their dreams.

One Fine Season is true to life. It draws on Sheehan’s religious education at a Catholic seminary and his experience as a high school baseball and collegiate soccer player. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Sheehan also earned a master’s degree in science journalism from Boston University. He lives in Northern California.


ABOUT THE BOOK

ONE FINE SEASON tells the story of a promising young athlete who must rise from the ashes of devastating personal loss to fulfill a pact made years earlier with his best friend.

Best friends Pete O’Brien and Danny Grace are gifted college athletes, both hoping for careers as professional baseball players. When tragedy strikes, Danny struggles to cope with his overwhelming grief and fulfill a pact the young men made years earlier: to play in the World Series.

Events unexpectedly thrust Danny into the spotlight with the new expansion team in Sacramento. Three guides – an aging catcher, spiritual centerfielder and wise manager – plus a beautiful woman lead him on a healing journey, revealing that even death cannot break the bonds of true friendship.

If you would like to read an excerpt from the first chapter of One Fine Season, go HERE

MY REVIEW
One Fine Season made my flight from Phoenix to Boston seem a lot shorter than it really was. It was difficult for me to put the book away and save the last half for my flight back to Phoenix. But thankfully I did and the last part of the book held my attention even more. I can't reveal the way the book ends but I can tell you that it is surprising, exciting and different. I liked the book and recommend it for all those interested in sports and stories about lasting friendship. But I was disappointed that the author had the hero of the book using the same foul language the other ball players used. And I was especially disappointed that the hero and his girlfriend participated in premarital sex. I don't live in a cave and I know what is going on in the world and I realize Michael Sheehan wanted to write a believable book. But he didn't hesitate to write other things in the book that are hard to believe. The book has a lot of truth about God, family and friendship that I respect and was pleased to read.

HOME FROM NEW ENGLAND

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Charlotte, our daughter, Carol and I arrived back at Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix yesterday afternoon around 1:20.

We had a wonderful time on our trip to New England.

Carol went to Boston earlier than we did and spent a week at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge.

The day Charlotte and I arrived on the Harvard campus we "lost" our way into Spangler Hall at the Graduate School of Business and had a wonderful meal in their excellent cafeteria. There were long lines of students at every food center accept where the "comfort food" was. Guess where we headed.

Charlotte and I spent one day touring Boston and soaking up all the history, food and fun.

After her week of school Carol joined us. We then drove up through the glorious back roads of New Hampshire "soaking in" all the beautiful fall foliage. It was spectacular. The rugged coastline and smooth beaches were awesome. We absolutely loved the small town atmosphere on a Saturday afternoon. We drove all the way to the lovely state of Maine. Another day we drove down to Plymouth and Cape Cod. We ate a wonderful sea food lunch while looking out on the bay and thinking about the pilgrims. We took pictures of Plymouth rock and a replica of the Mayflower.

After visiting the John F. Kennedy Memorial library and all the historical sites in Boston I am back home dusting off some of my history books.

I have books to read and review that I must get to and then I look forward to posting in detail about our exciting trip. If you haven't been to New England, I hope you get to go some day.

But, like you, I love where I live and I'm glad to be home. I hope you are too!