2354.08 is how many miles it is from my door step in Boston to my parents' door step in Utah. Two thousand three hundred and fifty four miles translates into thirty six hours and four minutes in the car. Sometimes I feel a bit misplaced on the other side of what seems to me to be the entire world. How did I end up tucked into this Northeast corner of the United States, I often wonder. Although I miss the towering Wasatch mountains which act as a compass directing me North and South, Sunday dinners with the family, weekend jaunts to hike the red rocks and the potential for Saturday sports, fortunately I also have fallen in love with everything Northeastern. I have a revolving list of New England spots to experience and over the past few months, we have been out and about experiencing what there is to do and see.
Over the Fourth of July we joined our friends for one of the many celebrations that dot the Metrowest. We set up our chairs and watched float after float, minuteman after minuteman and band after band march their way through the town of Natick. We then swam the afternoon away in the Gorman's pool.
One of our favorite local spots is Kimble Farms. They serve up the best ice cream around and if the kids are lucky, we drive a little further to their expanded sister location and add miniature golf and bumper boat rides to the outing. Grandma Ebert is a great sport, joining us for a little Kimble Farm excitement almost each time she visits. And for us, it is simply so much more fun with Grandma!
Each summer blueberry picking season arrives. We are just about the first to arrive when the gates open at our favorite farm stand, Honey Pot Hill Orchard. We venture out into their picking fields, baskets and boxes in hand and return with loads of fruit and blueberry juice dripping from our chins.
Each summer we can't help but head for a hike around Walden Pond, stopping along the way at various swimming holes. This summer Steve spent several mornings a week riding his bike to the pond and then swimming across and back to train for his up-coming triathlon. Walden Pond is not only a famous landmark but also serves as the quintessential New England setting for a summer afternoon.
In August, we discovered Odiorne State Park in New Hampshire. We spent the afternoon in a science museum picking up starfish and crabs. However, the real adventure began when we made our way to the tide pools. With the tide low, Emilie, Jonathan and Annelise waded out into the tidal basin. It wasn't long before they realized that under almost every rock lurked a lobster! They shrieked with delight, filling their nets with these crustaceans. We hung out at this spot until evening, examining the critters and then "letting them return to their families" in an attempt to dissuade Sophia from hauling one home!
Before school started we received a call from my good friend, Diane Zenger. She said that we just had to fit in a hike in Franconia State Park in New Hampshire. She knew of a spot called "the flume" and wanted to take us there with her cute daughter Josie. We were definitely up for the adventure. After a two and a half hour drive north, we arrived at a hiking wonderland. We crossed wooden covered bridges, climbed through a gorge with water gushing below us and then spent hours letting the kids explore a hillside of small caves. The day was complete with a picnic lunch in the woods and ice cream in an nearby ski village.
Over Labor Day Steve participated in a triathlon in Plymouth. We raced south to wait at the finish line and cheer him on. As soon as the kids spotted their hero of a dad, they went wild, shouting and giving him high fives as he headed to the finish line, which was a stone's throw from Plymouth Rock. We took a quick look at the very unimpressive landmark, visited a couple of monuments and the gift store named after our distant grandfather and then headed to the wharf for lunch, complete with lobster rolls, clam chowder, scallops and fresh fish.
One of my favorite day trips in New England has been to Southern Vermont. I had read about Adam's Farm in our travel book and wondered what all the hype associated with it was. There are many local farms but for some reason this farm was starred multiple times. Up until now the two and a half hour drive had deterred me. After all, we had been to Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake enough times to know everything there was to know about a farm, or so we thought. Luckily my curiosity prompted me to load up the car and head to the country. As soon as we stepped into the farm store, I realized that we were in for a treat. We were handed a woven basket full of fresh carrots, apples and celery and instructed to head to the barn. Inside, the kids held baby kittens, bunnies and goats. They placed the fruits and vegetables in their hands as the animals gobbled them up. We then headed around back for a horse back ride, up the hill to feed the calfs and goats with bottles and over to the sheep pen to watch a sheep herding demonstration, complete with a collie dog and a shepherd's crook. We then participated in milking a goat, feeding the lamas, and collecting eggs. We ended the day with a hay ride to a fishing pond, a picnic overlooking the farm and finally an exploration of the corn maze. Unfortunately my iphone photos don't do the day justice, but imagine all of this nestled in the green hills of Southern Vermont.
In September I stopped by a local farm stand in Weston. "Raspberry Picking" the sign said, so Sophia and Ezra and I grabbed a few baskets and headed into the bushes. I'm not sure if more berries ended in our baskets or in our mouths, but either way, the afternoon proved to be glorious, complete with red stained fingers and juice dripping from the little ones' lips. When we returned to pay for our goods, we spotted the cutting garden not far off. Sophia begged to make a bouquet and at 25 cents a stem, I was more than happy to let her pick to her heart's content. She wandered up and down the rows of zinnia choosing the brightest blossoms. We then returned home and dug the perfect vase out of the cupboard for Sophia's arrangement and enjoyed a cup of ice cream topped with our raspberries. It was one of those days that I know I will miss a few years from now when my children are no longer small.
Recently, when my parents were in town, we headed south to the whaling town of New Bedford. In the 1800's New Bedford was the whaling capitol of the world. We spent the morning in the whaling museum where we climbed aboard a whaling ship, examined a Blue Whale skeleton and learned about the dangerous life of whalers. We then crossed the street to visit the chapel where whalers would go to pray before they left for sea. It is also the chapel that is the setting for the beginning of Moby Dick. We then drove out onto Cape Cod, braving the cold but enjoying the quietness of "off season".
When my mother came for a visit she loaded up the children and took them on a whale watching cruise. This had been on my list of things to do with my children for the past three and a half years, so I greatly appreciated her adventurous spirit and willingness to head three hours off the Boston Harbor, despite her propensity for seasickness, to spot whale tails flipping above the surface of the Atlantic. The crew returned ecstatic at the gigantic tails that were indeed spotted.
On a regular basis Sophia and Ezra beg for me to take them to the Children's Museum in Boston. Each room is a delight, but it is the climbing structure that keeps us fighting traffic, paying sky high parking rates and dashing home just in time to meet the bus. Sophia climbs high into the twisted structure with Ezra in tow, peeking her head out as she goes. Not far from the museum is the aquarium, which has also been a big hit, especially with our family pass that we have enjoyed this past year. After a picnic in Christopher Columbus park, we always head over to watch the turtles, sharks and penguins. We usually time our visit around feedings so that we can watch the divers swim in the huge tanks with handfulls of lettuce. Afterward we stop at the touching tank to hold the horseshoe crabs and starfish. The highlight of the aquarium is always the fish hospital. We hear about the poor fish missing an eyeball or one with a ripped fin for weeks after our visits. Ezra, Sophia and I never take our passes to the museums and aquariums for granted.
I suppose the title of this post could be "Odds and Ends" or "Summing up Summer", but it is always these outings that help me fend off any homesickness. Although I am thousands of miles from home, each adventure we create makes me fall in love with the Northeast more and more.
