August 22-23, 2010: Maine and Kennebunkport

On August 22nd, we headed to Maine.  We stopped at this fishing village there.    Took a boat ride around the harbor.   It was pretty cloudy and rainy.    We weren't too impressed with Maine, but it was nice to visit it and say we had been to that state.

On August 23rd, we went to Kennebunkport, which is another place that the wealthy easterners vacation.  We both enjoyed this vacation spot.   They had alot of cute shops and restaurants.    It was raining pretty much all day.    We had the longest walk to our hotel and were drenched.      For dinner, we had a whole lobster. It was such a mess to eat.    We met some nice people on the trip, including Dana and her two children from Ohio. We saw where George Bush and his wife spent their summer vacations.  In fact, they were in town.  There was a huge area next to their home for the secret service.    I was hoping I would get a glimpse of him.   

August 21, 2010: Massachusetts and Vermont

We left Mystic, Connecticut early and headed towards Stockbridge, Massachusetts, to see the Norman Rockwell Museum.   We saw the downtown, which is featured in one of his Christmas paintings.    His studio used to be located behind the Red Lion Inn, but was moved to the land behind the museum.    He was meticulous about his studio.   Every night, he would clean all of the paint on the brushes and around the studio.       He enjoyed Coca Cola every day.      He was married 3 times in his lifetime.   Many of his paintings have a portrait of himself, his wife, or children in it.   

We stayed at the Stratton ski lodge in Vermont. It is a beautiful place in the mountains.    Our room was huge.   It had a living room, fireplace, kitchenette, and a separate bedroom and bathroom.   I had never stayed at a ski lodge before, as I don't ski.   I tried skiing one time and that was the last.   I could barely move my skis.   This was back in high school.    I think I would prefer cross country.  Then, again, I prefer no snow at all.   

There is a cute shopping area right across from our hotel. 

Our bus driver brought his keyboard with him and a bunch of us from the bus listened to him perform different tunes.   

August 20, 2010: Newport, Rhode Island & Mystic, Connecticut

Enjoyed our day today in Newport, Rhode Island.   We took a tour of the Cornelius Vanderbilt home, called the Breakers.    They only spent about 6 weeks in the summer at that house.    It is decorated pretty elaborately.    I wish we had time to do the Cliff Walk that goes along the cliffs and by the big mansions.      


We had lobster rolls at this restaurant called "Pick Pocket".    It's lobster meat mixed with mayo and put in a toasted slice of bread.  It is like the size of a hot dog roll.  I thought it was pretty good.    


Tonight, we had dinner at Mystic Pizza.    This restaurant was used in the Julia Roberts movie, 'Mystic Pizza' back in 1988.    I enjoyed the pizza.    There was a semi accident in downtown Mystic.  The semi hit a pole, so many of the shops had to close early.    The pizza place had a generator for back up power, so we had to wait 45 minutes for our pizza.    
Tonight, we are staying at the Hilton.   This town has about 4,200 year round inhabitants.   People seemed to know each other all over.  


Tomorrow, we go to the Norman Rockwell Museum, which I think will be interesting.  We stay in Stockton, Vermont tomorrow night.  

August 19, 2010: Martha's Vineyard

This morning, we took a ferry over to Martha's Vineyard for the day.   We did some shopping in Edgartown, which is the more affluent town on the island.   We weren't too impressed with the stores there.   They sold alot of the same kinds of things.      
We liked Oak Bluffs, which is where our ferry came to.    


In Oak Bluffs, there is this area with about 300 decorated cottages.   In the 1800s, these were built around the tabernacle, which is still there, but not used for religious services.       The cottages are privately owned and cost between $300, 000 to $500,000.   There was a little boy with a lemonade stand in front of one of the cottages selling lemonade for 25 cents.   It was very cute. He had a picture hanging of he and Steve Martin.  He told us that Bill Murray was there yesterday which I thought was pretty cool.


On our ferry ride over, there was news 5 Boston interviewing a lady regarding Obama's visit to the island. We were sitting next to she and her friends.  I was hoping we would be on TV.   I have to check their website to see if there is a video.  Someone on the ferry had a tshirt on that said " I am vacationing at Martha's Vineyward with the Obamas".


Tonight, we went to an impersonator show, which was fantastic.   They are 2 twin brothers, the Edwards, who did the characters.     One  guy does the men and the other guy impersonates the women charecters.    They are fantastic and definitely a must see.  They have entertained in Las Vegas for many years.  


I forgot to say yesterday that drivers on Boston highways are permitted to use the right side shoulder on the road for an express lane during rush hour.  Imagine trying to merge on the highway with cars going 80 mph in the shoulder.


Tomorrow, we are off to Newport, Rhode Island.  

August 18, 2010: Plymouth Rock & Cape Cod

This morning, we took a bus tour around Boston.   We stopped at the Old North church.   I had never seen boxed in pews before.     The families used to decorate them like home.  They were used to keep the families warm in the winter.   


Stopped at Quincy Street market to browse the shots and get a snack.


Glad we did our own exploring yesterday, so we could stop at some places and see more of the city.  There are about 600,000 people who live in Boston.


Drove out to Lexington, where the minutemen were gathered up to start the journey to the Revolutionary War.     The reason they were called minutemen was that they were given a minute to get out of bed and dressed.


Saw where the first shot occurred in the Revolutionary War.  Next door, was a house where Nathaniel Hawthorned lived for 3 years and where he wrote his famous books.


Stopped at Plymouth Rock. This is where the Mayflower sailed and where the Puritans set foot on American soil.  The rock is much smaller than I thought.   Over the years, chunks have been taken out and given to various places. There is a piece of it in Plymouth, Michigan.    We saw the Mayflower II, which is a replica of the original.


Now, we are in Hyannisport, Cape Cod for the evening.     I would like to have seen the Kennedy compound, but unfortunately, the bus does not fit down that street.


Tomorrow, we take the ferry to Martha's Vineyard.    President Obama and his family will be arriving tomorrow, too,  but they are staying at a home on the western side of the island.    Who knows, maybe I might see some of the secret service.     Of course, I found out on the internet where the house is that Obama will be staying at for the next 10 days.  

August 17, 2010: Grand Rapids to Boston

Well, we just made it on the flight from Grand Rapids to Cleveland.  I think we were the last ones to board.   We left at 4 a.m. but I had forgotten that the route to the airport is different than years ago.   I fly every year, but usually my aunt Charlene drives, so I don't pay attention.   Charlene, what can we pay you to drive us next time at 4 a.m.?   ha ha ha     Anyway, we went the old route and in the dark, could not remember the streets to get there.  


Got to Boston around 9:30 a.m. Our baggage came out so fast.  I am simply impressed with the airport and how quickly our bags came out.    We are staying at the Hilton Hotel at the airport tonight.    By around 10:30, we were taking the subway down to State Street to start touring.


We took a trolley tour around the whole city and saw Charlestown, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, the financial district, theater district, etc.      We took a Harbor Cruise which was very nice. I highly recommend it.   
We saw the USS Constitution ship, but did not have time to tour it.


We had lunch at the Cheers Cafe and then had drinks at the original "Cheers" restaurant in Beacon Hill.   That was pretty neat.  


Walked over to the Prudential Building to the Skywalk on the 50th floor and saw the best views of Boston and Cambridge.     Wish we had more time to take a tour of MIT and Harvard.    


Tomorrow, we take a tour of other parts of Boston, Lexington, and then stay in Cape Cod for 2 nights.


I will have to include pictures tomorrow night, as the Hilton does not have free wireless internet from my room.   I was so excited to see they had public computers on the 2nd floor which are FREE.   I am so excited. 

March 16, 2010: St. Augustine, FL

We had a nice breakfast at the Inn which included Belgium waffles with fruit and whipped cream.   Fruit, country ham, and toast was available. 

Toured the Oldest House in the U.S.   They used to have swinging shelves in their homes which were used to scare the rats. Rats didn't like the swinging so they would jump back down on the ground.  Imagine living in a home with rats and mice. 

Toured the Castille de San Marco (fort), Fountain of Youth (Ponce de Leon landed here), Old Jail, and the Oldest School.   I would highly recommend the jail tour.  Prisoners were treated very poorly back then.   They worked 12 hrs on roads, wearing weights around their ankles.    The jail cells could be as warm as 110 degrees.  Many of the prisoners died of disease within a month.
They might be lucky to get a bath once a month, in which all of them used the same water.
Women prisoners did the cooking for the men which consisted of mainly beans and coffee.

On the tour of the oldest school, we learned that the bad kids would have the dunce hats on. The extra bad kids would be put in a hole on the floor called a dungeon.     I had never heard that before.

Had a nice seafood dinner at O.C. Whites.  I would highly recommend this place.

Our B&B had appetizers and then dessert in the evening. We went to the 

Ale Works and had their famous root beer.  

There is a ghost story book of St. Augustine they have in the gift shop.  It talks about our room at the Inn, Lilly's room.    There have been sightings of Lillys ghost in the room.    Lilly was an African American servant here many years ago, who had a love affair with the house owner's nephew.   It was a forbidden love.    

Anyway, some guests who have stayed in Lillys room have had experiences with Lillys ghost.  Apparently, she doesn't like MTV, so I turned it on to see if she shows up tonight. 

Tomorrow, we are off to the Lighthouse in St. Augustine and then start our decent south towards Melbourne.

March 15, 2010: St. Augustine, FL

We left Zephyrhills in the morning and headed towards St. Augustine.    We thought we would take a side trip to the Villages retirement community near Leesburg.  
We stayed there 3 nights 1 1/2 yrs ago at a beautiful cottage home to check it out.   
My mom almost bought a home there at that time.  It is so cute to see all of the fancy golf carts zipping all over.  We had rented a golf cart when we were there in 2008 which was alot of fun.     Today, we just wanted to drive around that area to see the changes.   They keep building more and more each time we stop.    The latest is a bunch of new medical office buildings.    Every restaurant you can think of is at the Villages.

We had lunch at Panera Bread and I swear I was the youngest person in the restaurant.  lol      You have never seen so many old people in one place until you go to the Villages.     Just a little tidbit....I heard the Villages has one of the highest rates of STDs so the old people still have it going on. 

The drive from the Villages to St. Augustine was long and boring.  There isn't much in central FL except a bunch of trees and dumpy looking homes.    You have to be by the cities or near the water to get the more upscale surroundings.

We are staying at the St. Francis Bed and Breakfast which I highly recommend.   We are staying in the Lilly room.    They served us vegies, crackers, spinach artichoke dip, and wine around dinner time.   They call it social hour. Then,in the evening, they had delicious chocolate cake with lots of chocolate frosting.   They have their own chef on the premises.   Also, they have flavored coffees that are complimentary, as well as wine.  You feel like a rich person staying here.

We walked around the town for a bit and found the shopping, Flagler College, the oldest school in the US, and the oldest house.  We will go on tours tomorrow of the different places.

March 13-14, 2010: Lakeland and Plant City

Mom and I flew on Allegiant Air from Grand pids directly to St. Petersurg airport.    

It was nice to not have a layover anywhere. The plane was completely filled. 

Once we got to St. Petersburg, we got our rental car and drove down to Ruskin, which is about 45 minutes southeast of St. Pete.  We had dinner with my mom's friend, Abi, and her boyfriend, Bernie.

We went to find my mom's friend, Gloria's, mobile home, where her brother and sister-in law were staying for a month.   Judy and Stan were home so they showed us around.  We also took a walk to the lake, Lake Manatee.

We got to Grandma's around 8 p.m. and stayed and visited.  Grandma just had surgery so she wasn't feeling up to par Saturday night.  I always enjoy chatting with Grandma and Norm.

Today, mom and I drove around Lakeland, FL as that is where we were planning to 

move about 1 1/2 yrs ago.   I really like the area. There are alot of lakes there. We found Lakeside Village which is a shopping center on highway 586.   We went to Starbucks, Talbots, and Chicos.

Then, we went to Plant City to the Strawberry Festival.   Traffic was terrible. We had delicious strawberry shortcake from the local catholic church that sponsors this tasty treat.

Sara Evans, the country music star, performed in the afternoon. She sings 'Suds in the Bucket' and other tunes.

After the concert, we found her touring bus.    I peeked through the gate like a paparazzi that I am and got a couple of pictures of Sara and her husband. 

Then, headed back to Zephyrhills to visit more with Grandma and Norm. 

Grandma looked much better today.   I love seeing her!

Tim McGraw Concert with Lady Antebellum opening

Patty, Mirelda, Alex, and I had a nice dinner at Sam's Joint before going to the Tim Mcgraw concert at the VanAndel arena in Grand Rapids on Feb. 27th.  Although we had nose bleed seats, we still had a great time, listening to great music.    The concert was sold out.     


I was very thankful the weather was decent enough to drive there.