July 18, 2009
The third part of our recent trip up to Massachusetts was a visit to the Tall Ships which were in town as part of Sail Boston 2009. It was pretty impressive to see these international sailing ships up close and personal. We visited the ones at Fish Pier/World Trade Center, many of which were open to the public to walk right on board and poke around.
The first ship was a Portuguese ship, Sagres II. It was amazing to get on board the ship and look up at all the gear.
You can get a real sense of the scale of the ship with the smaller ones in the foreground.
A Romanian Ship (above).
The Romanian ship’s figurehead (above)
You wouldn’t catch me climbing up there.
The sun starting setting and all the boats lit up.
The Sagres II all lit up at night.
There were so many boats out on the water. The tall ships were docked along two sides of a closed ended pier. All sorts of smaller and larger boats came in alongside the tall ships to get a water side view. It was quite a traffic jam out there.
July 17, 2009
You might remember I posted recently here and here about some of our blankets that recently made their way all the way to Bolivia to benefit the boys at Bolivia Life Center Orphanage. I received a nice email the other day from the Project Development Coordinator at Children’s International Network who relayed the fact that the boys loved their new blankets and the warmth and security that they brought them.
She included this great picture of the boys with their new blankets. So cute!
July 16, 2009
As I lay in bed last night, I tried to calculate exactly how many clam rolls I ate while on vacation up in Massachusetts. I figured I had six of them while I was there. That’s not too bad, right? Don’t answer that. It’s bad. And yet, so so good. Every one of them was worth it. Each time, I convinced myself that this was a ‘treat’. When do I get to have clam rolls? Answer–only in the summer up in New England.
That accounts for why this week, I’ve fixed all vegetarian delicious meals. I made a yummy grilled portobello and ricotta dish on Tuesday night, and a grilled tomato, mozzarella & basil dish last night. Tonight it was a light israeli couscous and vegetable salad. I need to get those photos up and going.
But, to continue vacation photos…there’s a Mass Audubon Sanctuary on the way from Logan to my inlaws house. We’ve passed by dozens of times, and finally went to check it out this visit. We’ve been to another Sanctuary in the opposite direction, but never this one. It was definitely worth it. What a beautiful place. The weather cooperated well, and the shady parts of the trail were a nice break from the sunny open parts.
We got some great shots out there. Waterlilies in bloom, a waterfall that was running strong due to the rain, and a Green Heron! The kids watched it intently as it fished just feet away from us. The heron was the epitome of patience. He sat there on his branch without a twitch of distraction from the boys. We saw him catch two fish!
I don’t know how he could see the fish through all the duckweed on the surface.
He was a pretty intimidating guy up close.
I’m not usually impressed with your average Canadian goose, but these were so pretty gliding across the green surface.
I suppose if I were a goose, I’d want to live here. It beats a field next to a busy parking lot, which is where I usually see them.
Is it me? Or are these prettier geese than your typical office park dweller?
A pretty waterfall was further up the trail. Supposedly, there’s an old mill along the trail. I say supposedly, because after two trips here during the week, we never actually made it far enough up the trail to see the mill.
I tried to fiddle with my camera settings to slow the shutter speed in order to get the water flow effect. I had no tripod, so I had to rest the camera on the ground to keep it steady. Eventually the kids got tired of me going through the trial and error necessary to get the water to have the look I was going for.
The shady parts of the trail were thanks in part to the huge pine trees along the path.
One of these trips, we’ll make it to actually see the mill along the trail.
July 15, 2009
We’re back from our annual vacation to visit with family up in the Boston area. We had so much fun. The weather didn’t cooperate for most of the time, but that was okay. We made the best of it. The first part of our trip we headed to Newport RI for a few days. The ride down included a thunderstorm directly overhead, and hail. Yes, hail. In July. Strange, strange weather.
There were a few breaks in the weather which allowed us to head down to the wharf. I think it was at this point that I had Clam Roll #1 of the trip. It would be the first of many.
I love the original buildings along the wharf in Newport. They have the same style and feel as another one of my favorite places, old town Alexandria, Virginia. It’s probably no coincidence since the buildings date back to the same time in both places. You can sort of imagine what the docks may have looked like back then when you walk up and down the narrow streets.
The last day there, the weather finally cleared. At least for a while. We managed to get in a walk along Newport’s famous Cliff Walk.
The view from up above is beautiful. No beach front here–just rocky cliffs heading straight into the Atlantic below.
A few butterflies along the way…
We saw these bushes all the way down to Newport. I’ll definitely be looking for these at our local nursery in the spring. I believe they’re a lace cap hyndrangea that just happens to be blue. I’ve seen them in white, but never blue. It is absolutely the most beautiful color.
There are lots more pictures to follow!
