Massachusetts - Day 8 or Mayflowers bring Pilgrims

On our way back to Boston, we stopped at Plimoth Plantation, which contains re-creations of the 17th-century English village of Plimoth (early spelling of Plymouth), a typical Wampanoag village from the time when the English first settled in Massachusetts, and the Mayflower. At each location, there were role-players who answered questions while staying in character and demonstrated typical tasks and games from the time period.

In the same way that Day 3's visit to Freedom Trail made me feel patriotic, the visit to Plimoth Plantation was a stark reminder of the darker side of our nation's history. As we celebrate freedom on July 4, it's worth keeping in mind that European settlers and, at times, the U.S. government, took freedom from many Native Americans in order to secure their own.

Well, this is basically the end of our journey. It was a very relaxing and beautiful vacation and obviously, we wish it didn't have to end. Enjoy the last set of pics!

Massachusetts - Day 7 or Moby Dick

Whale Watching was, in a word, awesome. We saw several species of whale, including the Humpback Whale and the Finback Whale - the tour guide estimated that we saw more than 30 individual whales. The tour guide was incredibly informative and the tour itself is very ecologically friendly - the boat does not use propellers to avoid hurting the animals and when we found a whale that was tangled in some netting, they contacted a local group that detangles whales (which is very dangerous work).

I've posted a few videos of some of the action we caught (videos made from our camera), but these videos don't even begin to do it justice. It was very hard to capture the whales' activity, because they would rise to the surface so quickly and then disappear back into the water. In addition, the camera fails to capture the enormous size of these creatures. We ordered a DVD of our trip that was filmed by professionals, so perhaps I'll post some pieces of the DVD when we get it.





After the whale watch, we hurried back to enjoy the beach for a while. It was cloudy, so it wasn't perfect beach weather, but at least it wasn't raining.

We ended our day at one of the best restaurants we have ever experienced. Peddler's Cafe & Grill (a.k.a. Peddler's Bistro) is a French restaurant tucked away off the main road, so the only way I found it was through TripAdvisor.com (which will be a crucial part of every trip we plan from here on out). It is a quaint little house that was decorated for the romantic in everyone (roses and candles). We shared a great bottle of Merlot, some delicious seafood (scallops and Paella), and Peach Melba for dessert. Not sure why this place wasn't packed, but by the end of the night, Leah and I were the only people in the restaurant. It was a very romantic way to spend our last night on the Cape.

Today we head back to Boston and hope to use the passes from Day 4 to see Plimoth Plantation. We might make some other stops along the way.

Enjoy the pics!

Massachusetts - Day 6 or Relaxation

So today we decided we'd been running around quite a bit and should relax a little. We drove up the cape to the Provincetown area and enjoyed the picturesque dunes and sitting on the beach for a while.

On our way back to our resort, we stopped at a lighthouse that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean and used to guide ships past the cape and into Boston.

We spent the afternoon at our resort, enjoying a few drinks and a good nap. We had planned to enjoy the pool area, but the rain kept us inside. All in all, though, the nap felt good and it was probably good timing.

Tomorrow, we plan to go on a whale watching cruise mid-day and do some shopping before returning to our resort to continue our relaxation.

Massachusetts - Day 5 or is there a vineyard on Martha's Vineyard?

Leah and I took a ferry from the cape to Martha's Vineyard today. The weather was perfect, so we just spent the day enjoying great scenery, long walks and being with each other. We basically strolled around the Vineyard, checking out the shops, museums, old homes, new homes, lighthouses and beaches on the way. The architecture on the island was amazing, and the views of the ocean from the different beaches were spectacular. Also, the ice cream at Mad Martha's was delicious - if you get to the Vineyard, try it.

I think the pictures pretty much explain Day 5 better than I ever could, so I'm going to let our photos do most of the talking:

Massachusetts - Day 4 or Rain, Rain, Go Away

So the weather didn't exactly cooperate today, but any day that ends with a sunset like this isn't exactly a bad day:

We left Boston mid-morning for our "scenic-route" drive to Cape Cod. The weather was great when we started, so we stopped along the way in Marshfield to have lunch at a little diner.

The next stop on our scenic route was Plimoth Plantation (original spelling of Plymouth), the site of the first English colony in the U.S. Unfortunately, though, the rain started to pour the minute after we bought our tickets. We toured a few indoor photo galleries and then sat down in a cafe to wait out the rain and see the plantation. We waited and waited and waited and well, the rain was not going away this time. So I asked if we could return on Saturday to tour the plantation and the replica of the Mayflower and was told that would be fine. We'll post pictures then.

We continued on our way to the Cape in a very hard rain that was causing flooding in places. Flooding problems seem to be following us this year...

We finally arrived at our resort and we love it. Our villa is basically an apartment, equipped with a full kitchen, living room and patio area overlooking a golf course. Leah loves the decor, which is exactly what you would imagine in a Cape Cod resort. The rain was falling off and on all day, so we just relaxed at our villa until dinner time.

After some great seafood at dinner, we left for Rock Harbor, which has the best sunsets on the cape (or so we had heard). We weren't expecting much, because it had been cloudy all day, but when we arrived, the sun was just falling below a storm cloud, but had not quite disappeared into the ocean. It was incredibly beautiful and because the rain was still falling lightly, a rainbow appeared as well. So despite the poor weather all day, the end of the day was one of the most beautiful sites we have ever seen.

Tomorrow we head to Martha's Vineyard and the forecast looks fantastic! Enjoy the pics!

Massachusetts - Day 3 or Yes, We're Tourists

We checked out a few great tourist spots in and around Boston today. It rained off and on, but we managed with our umbrella and tended to be near buildings when the rain really poured.

We started the day at Harvard Square in Cambridge, where we saw several old Harvard buildings and walked around some shops. We ended up eating lunch at the Border Cafe because we were standing right next to it when the rain started falling, but it ended up being great food. The food was a strange mix between Mexican and Cajun (for example, I had fish tacos with jumbalaya on the side). Not sure where anyone came up with that combination, but I have to say that it worked.

We then jetted into Boston to enjoy the Boston Public Garden and the Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is basically a red line in the sidewalks of Boston that takes you through some of the many historic sites, including Paul Revere's house, old churches, and burying grounds. Hard not to feel at least a little bit patriotic after seeing all these places that played such an important role in the beginnings of the United States.

I noticed that the Massachusetts State House had a General Hooker Entrance. Not sure that is the best way for Massachusetts government employees to spend their time, but it is very nice that they provide a general entrance for them, instead of sneaking them in the back like they probably do in most states.

Our favorite spot on the tour, though, was the North End, which was recommended to us by several people. It is the Italian area of Boston, which meant great food and coffee. Once again, we ended up eating at a restaurant because the rain started to pour and it was the nearest building. The food was alright, but we capped the night off at Mike's Pastry, which had some of the most fantastic desserts we have ever seen (the espresso wasn't bad either). If you ever come to Boston, go to Mike's Pastry - the desserts are great and the prices are as well.

We leave for Cape Cod tomorrow, but we are planning to take the scenic route and might stop through some other Massachusetts towns on the way. I can't wait to smell the ocean and feel sand beneath my toes (not to mention the fantastic seafood)!

Here's some more pics of Day 3:

Massachusetts - Day 2 or Go Sawx!

Had a great time at Fenway! The history of the stadium was enough to make the experience great for us (everything still looks like it is from the early parts of the 20th century), but the game was fantastic to boot. The experience was aided by the people all around us talking about the Red Sox (with typical Bostonian accents) as if their life depended on them winning another championship - very similar to the feeling at Lambeau.

There was a 1 hour delay due to rain, but honestly, I had never seen a tarp rolled out at a baseball game (having attended most of my games at the Metrodome and Miller Park), so at least it was a new experience. After that, the game was great, going into extra innings before a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 13th! At the height of the game (Papelbon trying to close it out in the 9th), Leah turned to me and said she liked the Red Sox more than the Twins. So we bought her a Red Sox hat, while I questioned whether I should leave her behind when I return home.

We didn't actually see the walk-off home run, because we decided we didn't want to lose our whole day in Boston at a baseball game. So we walked over to the Memorial Victory Garden near Fenway to enjoy a little piece of nature right in the city.

After that, we met up with Sydne Lee, a friend Leah and I attended grade school with and who graduated from high school with me. She moved to Boston a year and a half ago and is now dating an assistant district attorney, so we had a great time reminiscing about Marshfield and talking about law school and legal careers.

Today we hope to see some other sights in Boston, but the weather is not helping. It is thundering outside as I am typing this. Hopefully, we can find some indoor activities.

Here are some of our Day 2 pics:

Massachusetts - Day 1 or Anyone else hate traveling?

We made it to Boston - and we've never been so happy to be alive. Our flight from Chicago to Philadelphia was the worst we have ever experienced. It included lots of turbulence and the following quotes from the cockpit:

"Our flight will be delayed a few minutes while our competent and capable service people fix a seal on the engine - we apologize for the delay." (emphasis added)

"Flight attendants, please take your seats immediately." (emphasis not added - that is how it was said as we were jerking up and down and up down to the point where the woman across the aisle from us lost it in the bag provided)

The flight was then rerouted around the storm, which caused us to miss our connecting flight, so we had to wait another 2 hours in the Philly airport. Needless to say, we were happy to see that our new flight number to Boston was 777. Thankfully, it was one of the best flights we have ever been on. Here's some pics from the plane:

Leah's shirt also caused her some grief in getting through security in Madison- the loop in her belt was metal, so she was escorted away and examined by a TSA official. I guess the official was nice about it. I wanted to take a picture, but wasn't sure how that would go over.

Today we are hoping to catch a Red Sox game - I say "hoping" because the weather looks iffy. If we make it, pictures will follow.

"Challenge Stuff"

Ran into this article on Time about the "100 Thing Challenge." Basically, a blogger decided he was going to whittle down his possessions until he only had 100 things. Quite an idea. He writes about it on his blog here.

A few good quotes:

My buddy Todd summed it up better than I could today when we were talking about it. He said, "Things are to be used. People are to be loved." The crazy thing about our consumer culture is that we so often reverse it.

I believe that run-away consumerism is making many of us narcissistic jackasses. It dulls our wits. Keeps us from thinking and acting like we understand what's really important.

But you know it as well as I do, life is more important than the things we accumulate. Challenge stuff!

When we found out we were moving to Milwaukee this summer, Leah and I committed to getting rid of stuff we didn't use. We had a garage sale this spring and got rid of a lot of "stuff." We didn't go nearly as far as the 100 Thing Challenge, but it is a helpful exercise to consider what things in your life are actually useful and what things actually take away from your ability to attend to the things that matter.

Goodbye Mr. Russert

Very saddened by the news of Tim Russert's death.

"the most interesting and important hour on television"

I love(d) Meet the Press. There are less than 5 shows on television that I set my DVR to record every week and Meet the Press is one of them. Not exactly sure what it was that made Russert's interviews better than others, but I always enjoyed them. There was something about his delivery that made me certain that he really loved what he did.

I wish NBC luck in finding someone to take his place - they will not find someone who can do the job as well as he did.