Back from Massachusetts
Thursday August 16, 2007
Flight was on time. Pretty easy until we hit a bunch of unhappy turbulence. Got to Marcy’s after taking a cab past BU (including the HoJo!). Visited with Marcy until late.
Friday August 17, 2007
Had a real bagel with cream cheese courtesy of Marcy. Took the express bus to Fenway, then the rest of the Green Line to North Station. We had Dunkin Donuts (yay donuts!) waiting for the commuter train to Gloucester. When we got to Gloucester, we took a pit stop to look at the murals in City Hall before heading to an Italian bakery. We had canolli! They only serve freshly made ones at this bakery and they were terrific. After picking up some groceries, we headed to Annisquam where Julia’s family has their cottage. We ate lunch (yay more eating!) before taking a nap. We woke up and went for a swim in Lobster Cove with her father, Tom. To say the water was brisk is an understatement. After cleaning up and having dinner, we went to see a musical called Souls of the Sea. It was all about the fishermen’s life and the town of Gloucester. The choreography was designed by Julia’s family’s carpenter!
Saturday August 18, 2007
After breakfast, we went with Julia’s parents, Tom and Libby, to Halibut Point State Park. We walked around the granite quarry first which had a very steep drop off and was filled with water. Very beautiful views from up there. We watched seagulls and swallows playing around in the water. Eventually we moseyed over to the ocean and watched big waves crashing into rocks. We also investigated many tide pools finding crabs, sea urchins, mussels, and plenty of seaweed. There were also many seagulls and cormorants around. There was much climbing over rocks to get to better and better views. For lunch we went into Rockport to a Cohen family favorite: The Greenery. Julia and I both had fresh cut slices of poultry with avocado on sandwiches while her parents had crab rolls. The highlight of course was the blueberry pie after lunch. The secondary highlight was walking down the block to Tuck’s Candy Factory where we got salt water taffy. After that, we headed back to Annisquam where Julia and I took a nap while her parents went to Logan Airport to pick up her brother. We eventually got up and read some before Julia’s parents/brother returned. After dinner, we walked to the meadow and ultimately the beach for much stargazing. What a great day!
Sunday August 19, 2007
We started the day with some wonderful pancakes. The pancakes were more crepe style wrapped around a wide variety of fruit with delicious blueberries in great abundance. After breakfast, Julia’s dominance in puzzles was put on display as she left everyone else in her dust putting together The Harvest by Vincent Van Gogh. In the afternoon, we drove out to Eastern Point and looked at the lighthouse. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to walk out on to the breakwater. We did get a close look at some rather obscenely large houses though with a smattering of “these belong here?” tiny houses in between. Then we went back to Rockport with a reprise of Tuck’s Candy Factory (most of the taffy was already gone and plus we needed fudge!) and The Greenery for dinner. Before eating we walked along Bear Skin Neck for general shopping where Julia got a gorgeous opal necklace. We also stopped at the beach and Julia stuck her feet in the ocean. In the evening we ate more pie from The Greenery (we brought it home with us-not blueberry, this time we had turtle cheesecake and key lime pie) and Julia finished the puzzle with some help from Libby. Her father and I were no help at all and mostly just got in the way.
Monday August 20, 2007
We got up this morning and had breakfast. After breakfast, Julia went back to finish the night’s sleep while I helped Tom figure out how to download photos from his new digital camera. After that, Julia and I took a visit to Squam Rock but did not climb that monstrosity of stone. Instead we enjoyed the view from a slightly smaller yet adjacent large rock. Then we walked down to the beach, picked at shells, and generally played around in the sand. After a long leisurely lunch, we took another nap followed by a silly game of badminton. It turns out that neither of us are very good but it was fun anyway even without a net. We followed that up with a nice walk to the Bridge Walkway over Lobster Cove. Then Julia, her father, and I took a canoe and a kayak around Lobster Cove and into Annisquam River. Finally we had dinner together and began the packing up process of the family house to leave for the summer.
Tuesday August 21,2007
Came back today. Plane was delayed and only slightly bumpy. Time to get back to work!
Flight was on time. Pretty easy until we hit a bunch of unhappy turbulence. Got to Marcy’s after taking a cab past BU (including the HoJo!). Visited with Marcy until late.
Friday August 17, 2007
Had a real bagel with cream cheese courtesy of Marcy. Took the express bus to Fenway, then the rest of the Green Line to North Station. We had Dunkin Donuts (yay donuts!) waiting for the commuter train to Gloucester. When we got to Gloucester, we took a pit stop to look at the murals in City Hall before heading to an Italian bakery. We had canolli! They only serve freshly made ones at this bakery and they were terrific. After picking up some groceries, we headed to Annisquam where Julia’s family has their cottage. We ate lunch (yay more eating!) before taking a nap. We woke up and went for a swim in Lobster Cove with her father, Tom. To say the water was brisk is an understatement. After cleaning up and having dinner, we went to see a musical called Souls of the Sea. It was all about the fishermen’s life and the town of Gloucester. The choreography was designed by Julia’s family’s carpenter!
Saturday August 18, 2007
After breakfast, we went with Julia’s parents, Tom and Libby, to Halibut Point State Park. We walked around the granite quarry first which had a very steep drop off and was filled with water. Very beautiful views from up there. We watched seagulls and swallows playing around in the water. Eventually we moseyed over to the ocean and watched big waves crashing into rocks. We also investigated many tide pools finding crabs, sea urchins, mussels, and plenty of seaweed. There were also many seagulls and cormorants around. There was much climbing over rocks to get to better and better views. For lunch we went into Rockport to a Cohen family favorite: The Greenery. Julia and I both had fresh cut slices of poultry with avocado on sandwiches while her parents had crab rolls. The highlight of course was the blueberry pie after lunch. The secondary highlight was walking down the block to Tuck’s Candy Factory where we got salt water taffy. After that, we headed back to Annisquam where Julia and I took a nap while her parents went to Logan Airport to pick up her brother. We eventually got up and read some before Julia’s parents/brother returned. After dinner, we walked to the meadow and ultimately the beach for much stargazing. What a great day!
Sunday August 19, 2007
We started the day with some wonderful pancakes. The pancakes were more crepe style wrapped around a wide variety of fruit with delicious blueberries in great abundance. After breakfast, Julia’s dominance in puzzles was put on display as she left everyone else in her dust putting together The Harvest by Vincent Van Gogh. In the afternoon, we drove out to Eastern Point and looked at the lighthouse. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to walk out on to the breakwater. We did get a close look at some rather obscenely large houses though with a smattering of “these belong here?” tiny houses in between. Then we went back to Rockport with a reprise of Tuck’s Candy Factory (most of the taffy was already gone and plus we needed fudge!) and The Greenery for dinner. Before eating we walked along Bear Skin Neck for general shopping where Julia got a gorgeous opal necklace. We also stopped at the beach and Julia stuck her feet in the ocean. In the evening we ate more pie from The Greenery (we brought it home with us-not blueberry, this time we had turtle cheesecake and key lime pie) and Julia finished the puzzle with some help from Libby. Her father and I were no help at all and mostly just got in the way.
Monday August 20, 2007
We got up this morning and had breakfast. After breakfast, Julia went back to finish the night’s sleep while I helped Tom figure out how to download photos from his new digital camera. After that, Julia and I took a visit to Squam Rock but did not climb that monstrosity of stone. Instead we enjoyed the view from a slightly smaller yet adjacent large rock. Then we walked down to the beach, picked at shells, and generally played around in the sand. After a long leisurely lunch, we took another nap followed by a silly game of badminton. It turns out that neither of us are very good but it was fun anyway even without a net. We followed that up with a nice walk to the Bridge Walkway over Lobster Cove. Then Julia, her father, and I took a canoe and a kayak around Lobster Cove and into Annisquam River. Finally we had dinner together and began the packing up process of the family house to leave for the summer.
Tuesday August 21,2007
Came back today. Plane was delayed and only slightly bumpy. Time to get back to work!