Wednesday - Off to Bean Town

Wednesday we headed to Boston to the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Terry figured we should park at a station and take the subway in. Good thing there are customer service people floating around the terminal ... so he helped us know what we needed to purchase and pointed us in the correct direction.


We arrived where we intended. Whew! We had a bite to eat at L'Aroma Cafe just down the street from the society. Pretty tasty and pricey! Most expensive lunch for two that we've ever eaten I think.

We enjoyed our day at the society and didn't realize what was brewing outside. A tornado watch was in effect! Our walk back to the subway was a very windy one. Our subway ride was about 40 minutes and our drive back to West Yarmouth would typically take about and hour. It was raining so hard the wipers couldn't keep up and visibility was pretty tough. Terry was only able to go about 40 mph. We hadn't eaten so we decided on Taco Bell. We found one and ran inside in the pouring rain. Off to wash our hands. Just finishing drying my hands and zap! the lights went out! No Taco Bell for supper ... off we headed ... Wendys instead.

We finally made it back to our room about 11 pm. It was a long day.

Tuesday - To the Top of a Lighthouse!

I wanted to see some lighthouses. Our map showed a couple of lighthouses at the tip of the cape. About half way there was a sign for the Cape Cod Lighthouse. Little did we know that it was open and we could tour it! ... and came to find out it was likely the only one we would be able to get in to see, let alone close enough. It was the first lighthouse on the cape and built in 1797. We went to the observatory at the edge of the Atlantic where the lighthouse used to stand. Originally 10 acres of land were purchased for this lighthouse and today less than 4 acres remain, the rest being lost to the ocean due to erosion. In 1996 the lighthouse was moved 570 feet inland in order to not lose this historical marker to the ocean. The guides there were very knowledgeable and interesting to listen to about the history. We bought the needed trinkets and off we went.

Off to the tip we continued. Our map indicated there were 2 lighthouses. We were not able to get close to either of these. Glad we stopped at the one we did! We took a short driving tour of Provincetown and saw the Pilgrims Monument and back to Barnstable we headed.

It was mid-afternoon when we stepped into the historic Sturgis Library in Barnstable. It is the oldest library in the United States. It originally was a house that was built by Chad and Brendan's 12th gr-grandfather and was later given to the town to be used as a library. Very interesting history in this old house. Lots of great genealogy records too!












The library also houses the 1605 Bible that Rev. John Lothropp brought with him to the United States in 1634.

Memorial Day Monday ...

Off to Rhode Island and Connecticut ...

The East Haddam Genealogical Society had a book signing today, so we figured it was going to be open. So off to Connecticut we headed. Getting off the cape proved to be interesting. Where were all these people at? The Cape isn't that big! Bumper to bumper traffic took us nearly an hour to get off the cape what should take about 20 minutes.

The society was open as we had hoped. The folks there were very nice and helpful. Charlie gave us the name of a gentleman who is researching some of the same folks we are. We left there with contact information in hand. Another nugget of information that Charlie shared with us was the directions to the house of an ancestor! Off we went in search of this 200+ year-old house. It would have a plaque with the name Moses Rowley. We drove up and down North Moodus Road, unable to locate the house, even stopping to ask a few residents, but to no avail.

Off to a few cemeteries now. Old Cove Burying Ground was on a dirt road. It's interesting that there is a home at the end of this road and these people have to go thru the cemetery to get to their home! Mount Parnassus and Duck River Cemetery also have ancestral burials that we visited and photographed. The Duck River Cemetery needs to have a 'Watch for Crab Crossing' sign! The cemetery is in a slightly marshy area and the little crabs loved the area. We crossed a little bridge and the crabs were scurrying in front of us to get out of the way.

We had pizza at Teddy's Old Lyme Pizza Palace before we headed back to the cape. The beach-goers were enjoying the beautiful day. The businesses there are very particular about who parks in their lots and who uses their bathroom! I'm sure the tow trucks are very busy on days like this towing those who are parked where they shouldn't be. Thankfully our car was still in the lot when we left ... we kept a close eye on it! Beings we were a business patron, it was safe.



We took a scenic drive back. We crossed the very high Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge.









This sign really made us laugh!













The traffic getting off of the cape was backed up for miles. Glad we were going the other way!

Catching up ...

It's now Sunday and we'll be going home tomorrow ... the week has flown by. We were without internet at Cape Code so I wasn't able to post the rest of the week ... so I'm playing catch-up now ....

Plymouth Rock ........ really???

Our day got off to a late start ... sleeping in until almost 10! Guess we made up for the 4 a.m. yesterday. Half the day already gone. Terry pointed out ... it's only about 8 back home. A lot of good that does us here!

We finally decided what we would do today ... off to Plymouth we went (at noon! sheeeesh).

It took us about 45 minutes to get to Plymouth. We drove along Water Street ... it was busy ... convenient places to park were taken. You know what they say 'The early bird gets the worm' ... and we were NOT the early birds today! Alas we found a spot. Beings it was lunchtime, we opted to eat before taking in the historic sites of the day. The Lobster Hut was nearby and looked enticing. More fried food ... I'm already tiring of it.


Off to see Plymouth Rock! Really? That was the infamous Plymouth Rock? I expected something a little more grandious. Took the obligatory picture and moved on.








The Mayflower II, a replica of the original Mayflower, was very interesting. As part of the Plimouth Plantation, those very knowledgable with the history were scattered on board to answer our questions and relayed other interesting information.












Across from the street we happened upon the monument of the first burying ground of the passengers of the Mayflower. Edward Fuller and his wife were among those that died during that first harsh winter spent in Plymouth and their mortal remains are those likely buried here. The Fullers are Terry's 10th great-grandfather/mother and Chad and Brendan's 12th great-grandfather/mother.













We also visited The National Monument to the Forefathers. It is the singlemost largest granite monument in the United States.








Our next stop ... Burial Hill cemetery. Those who have been laid to rest in this beautiful ground have a spectacular view.














We meandered our way back to the resort, crossing the Bourne bridge this time. We drove through Hyannis and saw the JFK memorial. Maybe another day we'll visit the museum. We were back to our room by 8.

What will tomorrow hold?

Cape Cod or Bust!

Over 2 years since I've blogged. Is my life that boring? Guess I just had other more important things to do ...

The radio blared and I'm certain the neighbors even woke up! 4 a.m. it was. Shower and finish packing. Put the shower supplies in the suitcase, remove a cat from the suitcase. Brush the teeth, put the toothbrush in the suitcase, remove a cat. This continued until the zippers were zipped. The cats really don't like when we go places and leave them home. I'm not sure that they like it so much when we go places (to Dad's in Iowa) and take them along either. They just want to be at home and us not go anywhere! Spoiled ... yes, very much!

We actually left the house a little ahead of time ... if you can believe that. Not usually our style.

We headed to School of Mines in Golden. Chad is to take us to the airport and then pick us up when we get back. About 20 minutes out, I start calling him, hoping to rouse him. Call three, voicemail ... call four, voicemail. Hopefully a door is unlock at the fraternity house when we get there. We pull into the parking lot and Cape Cod Catering is there! The chef at the house has a catering business and he was preparing for his day ... luckily early enough that a door was open and we were able to get in and wake Chad. Zeus was so happy to see him ... and Chad equally to Zeus. He really does love that dog. And who wouldn't? He's a great dog and sooooo cute!

Off to the airport. Chad and I sat in the backseat and he detailed all of the pictures he took on his field session that he had just gotten back from. I was interested in the scenery he saw and he was interested in telling me in detail about the inner-workings of these oil rigs and drills and fracturers ... I'm not even sure if I have the words right since I'm not a petroleum engineer like him!

Security at the airport was a piece of cake. Short lines, nice people ... nothing alarming there ... except somehow Terry lost a shoe! We looked around and it was nowhere to be found. Did it get stuck in the xray machine somewhere? Nope ... the wife had picked it up with her coat and it was in her arm the whole time! LOL Oh well, at least Terry won't have one bare foot!

United flight 744 leaving at 9:01 a.m. was right on time. YAY! And Terry was even cleaver enough to put us in a row with an empty seat. So we had room to spread out! It was great! The captain announces that we would arrive into Boston a half hour ahead of schedule. YIPPY! I planned it out well enough again to not have to use the bathroom on the airplane. I've yet to have to use that, so couldn't tell you what the inside of one looks like or how much lack of room to do your business there is! OK, I know ... TMI!

We head to baggage claim and our bag was waiting for us. We were in the 2nd to last row in the airplane, so they had plenty of time to get our luggage out, so no waiting at the carousel.

Now to find where to get our rental car. Off to find the shuttle bus. The first National/Alamo bus just drives on by ... hmmm, what's up with that? We showered and didn't stink! Wait another 10 or so minutes and the next one arrives and stops and we hop onboard. The kiosk at Alamo dispenses our paperwork, we pick out our car and we were off ... or so we thought. I think we took a right when we should've taken a left. We were back into the freight area of the airport. Ooops! U-turn! OK, so now we're off ...

Can't see the ocean through the trees on our drive to West Yarmouth. Only a few times we came to a stop. Overall the drive was pleasant and we traveled at the posted speeds (or at our usual 4 mph over). Our place here is a motor lodge that was converted into a timeshare. It is OK ... definitely not the best room we've ever stayed in. It is a place to rest our weary heads though. We arrived here a little after 5. Only a couple of times we had near misses with an accident!

Lots of people and traffic here!

For supper we headed to Orleans for what Kenny says is the best fish and chips at Sir Cricket's. Cash only. Terry tried out their Chowder soup ... he said it was pretty darned good! The fish and chips were pretty darned good too!






We meandered our way back and stopped to see the Atlantic Ocean. Oooed and aahhed at the view, clicked a couple of photographs and jumped back into the car.





Blondie's enticed us to turn in for an ice cream a few blocks from our place. Cash only again. Hmmm, hope we brought enough cash with us for the trip! We're credit card people. But thanks to MaryAnne for cluing us into this so we did bring some along. Nothing struck our fancy, so across the road to DQ we went ... and they take credit cards. :-)

Back at our room, Terry unpacked and organized. We got our electronics up and going. Couldn't connect to the wireless for the resort, so connected to a random unsecured wireless. Ahhh, we're connected to the outside world again.

9:55 we crawl into bed ... a queen-sized and we're used to a king. can we survive the week having to sleep so close to each other? Oh yes, there are no four-legged friends ... we'll be just fine in a queen then. Good night Cape Cod ... glad we've arrived safe and sound, see you in the morning.

Countdown to Graduation day ... 3 days to go ...

Got an early start today - 4:30. It's only 3 days til graduation and I'm starting to feel more stressed. Mostly due to the events which transpired yesterday.
Terry was cleaning up/rearranging the garage and getting things ready to work on the outside of th house. Well ... are you ready for it??? He knocked over the railing which we painted on Saturday and BROKE IT!!!!! I was in tears ... the stress-button got hit big-time. We contemplated what to do ... get the welding on the wrought-iron fixed, leave it 'for now' and put it up broken, what to do? ... so off to Home Depot we go. That store has got to LOVE do-it-yourselfers like us! I can only image what 'little' amount it would have cost to have someone else do all this work that Terry and I have simply because they prob wouldn't have had to make many trips to the store to buy 'another' of something because it got screwed up. But, where's the fun in that?? Just think of the peaceful evenings and weekends we would've had, the amount stress I wouldn't have to go thru ...
Now we'll have the wood railing that Terry always wanted between the kitchen and family rooms (hmmm, ulterior motive?). Then while we're in HD, we see the gazebos ... how nice would it be to have one on the back deck? Our back deck faces the West and gets unbarably hot in the afternoon ... so hot, we cannot be out there. Our thermometer consistently reads over 100. Would a gazebo help thwart the heat and make our deck usable? Well ... we think so! However, we're not going to be impulsive and buy the first thing we see! Plus, silly us, we took the CAR to HD! So, we purchase the material for the railing and home we go. We jump outta the car and into the pickup. Off to comparison shop. Planning our trip, we thought of Sears ... and we wanted to check Target and Home Depot again and maybe Lowe's and Costco. Well, of course, all of these stores can't be nicely clustered in the same area of town! So, we head southwest to Sears and there's a Target there and a Home Depot. Costco is on the east side of town, so we'd check everything out and then make another trip back to get what we decide on.
LOL ... we are SO compulsive! We ended up getting our stuff at Sears. Not without a HD gal trying really hard to gain our business on this ... but we really were sold on the Sears. A gazebo and table/chair set. And a grill! WAIT! A grill too? Not like we needed one of those - we have one and it works. Now how to get all of this home. Luckily the grill needed to be assembled (for free! woohoo - the best price). Yeah, yeah, I know ... nothing is free. I'm sure that was all built into the price. But at least it isn't something that can get screwed up and we'll have to buy more parts or something. So, home we go with a truck load.
Terry worked late last night getting things ready for me to sand and stain this morning. I thought I was done with that ... but silly me for thinking that!
So, I get up at 4:30, come downstairs to use the bathroom. I notice that the garage light is on ... don't think much of it ... I'm in the bathroom and here a light switch click (thinking - oh, the big light got hot and clicked off). I get done in the bathroom ... and now the garage light is off! Uh-oh! And I think Terry is still in bed. I open the door to the garage and the garage door is WIDE OPEN! I shut the door and lock it and go running upstairs to see where Terry was. HE'S IN BED! Someone was in the garage! Terry checked things out and nothing appeared to be missing! Whew! My heart was pounding! (Granted, if someone wanted to steal something, they'd probably have broken a leg trying to get something out of that garage - it's rather a pigsty!)
Oh Honey ... I know you'll read this ... I do love you and I just keep telling myself 'Just think how dull and boring my life would be without you!'.
OK ... now it's time to get to work!

Sorry, no picture today ... not even time to click the camera button. I'll try to take one and post later.

Did I say only 3 days til graduation? And the 'to-do before graduation list' is still quite long ...