Category Archives: Travel

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

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I am so excited I just have to share this news! In my part of the world one of the biggest newspapers is the  Boston Globe. I like the “Globe” and browsing the Sunday Travel Section recently I saw a new feature called “The Sight”. Apparently this alternates with “The Rave”.  “The Sight” is a reader submitted photo of something seen or experienced on a trip. “The Rave” is a 150 word story about an experience on a trip.

I thought it over and decided to submit a picture to “The Sight”. At first I was disappointed because all of the pictures being published were from exotic places, not the good old USA. I figured my little picture didn’t have much chance if they wanted foreign travel.

Well, just as I had given up an email came in confirming who took the picture and where the photographer lived. That was easy. Me and Taunton Ma.

Bingo. I got a response right back thanking me and telling me my picture will run in the Travel section of this Sunday’s Globe. WOW! My feet have not hit the ground since.

I know not everyone is from  here so I’m including the picture right here. You may recognize it as a cropped picture of the lighthouse that currently graces the header of this blog. It’s the North Lighthouse on Block Island.

So I guess I can now add that I had a photo published by the “Globe” to my photo credits. 🙂

And that’s enough bragging for one day!

Fog, a Lighthouse and Seals

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The Captain raised the anchor and turned our little vessel into the wind for the last leg of our 3 hour tour. There wasn’t much to see except grey, choppy seas and fog. The naturalist said we were about an hour out from Egg Rock Island, our next destination.

Hmmmm an hour and heading into the wind with wet clothes??? Not a good idea. I could see hypothermia being a problem so even though I didn’t want to go into the cabin I didn’t have much choice. I took a seat way up front by the “snack bar” (I use that term loosely) which also happened to be where the heater was located. The sick folks were all huddled in the back. Oh I have been there and done that. I know how miserable they were feeling.

I was almost dried out and semi warm when one of the few children still mobile popped into the cabin too. He felt that heat and glued himself to the grate effectively blocking the heat for anyone else in the room but at least he was warm and he is a child…women and children first and all..I took the high road and kept my mouth shut. If someone else wanted to tell him to move they could but it wasn’t going to be me. 🙂

In spite of the situation, once I warmed up the hour passed fairly quickly. I chatted with the Naturalist about the type of seals and tried to avoid looking in the back.  Eventually the Naturalist went outside. When he came back he announced that Egg Rock Island was in sight. Time to go back into the wind, spray, fog and cold.

Egg Rock Island is a big nesting site for many types of sea gulls. Its pretty flat and open without much cover. Consequently it is like an all you can eat buffet for passing eagles.

Our guide told me that last year there were so many eagles that not one sea-gull chick survived from that nesting season. They were all eaten by eagles. He said sometimes it was really hard to watch. Nature is beautiful but also cruel. Every creature is just struggling to survive. We didn’t see any eagles today  but judging from the number of gulls soaring over and around the island losing one season of chicks didn’t put much strain on the population.

As we came closer to the island we could see what looked like grey boulders only they moved. These were the seals of Egg Rock. The Island is a major haul out for Northern Grey seals and harbor seals.

We didn’t stop here, just slowly motored past then it was back to the harbor.

As we entered the outer harbor the sea changed again. Here the fog rolled back and the sun was out.

We passed a beautiful island with a cliff face.

Our guide said that the Navy used it for target practice. The “subs” used to come into the harbor and shoot torpedos at the cliff face where it dropped into the water.

Looking back I could see the line of demarcation between the foggy sea and the sunny inner harbor.

Back at the dock I let the sufferers off first. I enjoyed the trip. I doubt if the weather is always this bad but if anyone else plans to take this tour I recommend taking extra sweatshirts and even oilskins or rain gear…and of course your medication of choice for seasickness. You may have blue skies and fair sailing but you never know and it’s better to be prepared.

It was a 3 hour tour…a 3 hour tour

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“Just sit right back and you’ll hear tale

A tale of that fateful trip…..

…5 passengers set sail that day

on a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour…..”

Ah Gilligan how I missed you on that cruise. Remember how the Minnow was lost? Little did I know what an adventure lay ahead of me as I stood in line to board the tour boat.

The sun had burned off the fog and haze and it was a beautiful afternoon. The sea was calm, what more could anyone ask for. Well maybe a bigger boat?

There were 2 boats tied up to the dock as I stood in line. One was a fair-sized boat with  a sign “Nature Tours”.

The other was a smaller boat. I took a picture of the larger boat thinking that was the one I would be on…wrong it was it’s smaller cousin the Islander. About that time the theme song from Gilligan’s Island began to play in my head. This tour was supposed to be around 3 hours…a 3 hour tour…

What a happy little group we all were as we motored out of the harbor past picturesque islands, the water a sparkling blue. On board with us tourists were the Skipper, his mate, and a naturalist/guide.

We no sooner left the protection of the harbor when the seas began to roll and chop. Spray off the bow had me soaked in no time and that water was cold! I noticed many of the other passengers heading inside. I thought it was to get warm but in fact that was where the main mass of tourists went to share their misery…seasickness! Oh boy, it was not a pretty sight.  So far I was hanging tough but even as cold as I was, I didn’t want to press my luck by staying where I was surrounded by barfing , green faces. At least the sun was still shining…for now.

We slowed down as we passed Bear Island with  a very pretty lighthouse. Then picked up speed again to head for another island that was several miles out to sea. This island, known as Petit Manan Island, also had a lighthouse and this was where we hoped to find the Puffins.

The farther we went from land the rougher it got and more and more passengers retired to the “sick” room. Then the fog rolled in. The Gillian’s Island song started playing in my head again! 🙂 Louder this time.

Finally we spotted the island. The skipper brought us in as close as he could safely go and dropped anchor and there were the puffins. My they were tiny! Only about 10 inches and they were almost lost in the surf but there were so many of them.

They were on the land, in the water and in the air. Along with the puffins were laughing gulls, arctic terns and a few other sea birds whose names I have forgotten. On land and at a distance they made me think of penguins.Naturalist/guide broke away from his nursing duties long enough to explain that this island was the most southern point of the Puffin’s range. They don’t do well with any sea gulls except the laughing gulls so a few years ago the scientists removed all of the gulls, dug holes for puffins to nest in and put fake puffins around the island. Then they broadcast puffin calls.

The first year a few puffins stopped by to investigate but didn’t nest. The next year a few pairs came and they stayed this time. Now there is a thriving colony large enough that it can protect its territory  from gulls and other invaders.

It was soon time to head home. I didn’t get the ” National Geographic Shot” but at least I saw real live Puffins.

I learned about them and about another location where you can actually go on the land to see them. Sounds like a plan for another time. Heading back we were going by one last island, Egg Rock Island, where there were seals and possibly eagles.

So anchors away! Let’s get this ship turned around!

Congratulations Frates Drive-In Restaurant!

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Hey Taunton, Hey South Shore,  Hey visitors to our town! We have a really special restaurant right here in Taunton! Not too long ago I gave a shout-out right here to Frates Drive- In Restaurant because they were voted the Best Ice Cream in New England.

Well, they almost did it again. They were runner-up in the voting for the best Hot Dog! Not bad. This isn’t just a town thing…this is all of New England. This is NECN’s Baby you’re the Best contest.  Recently I tried the hot dog  and sure enough, they have my vote too.

Now I have to admit that I am partial to good seafood and I’ve had their fish sandwich and their fish & chips…both are A+ in my book so New England, can we make them #1 for seafood?

As you can see they were doing a steady business when I was there for my hot dog.

Look at the smiling face on one happy customer! 🙂

And the Ice Cream is still the best!

Frates Drive -in Restaurant is located 1423 Somerset Ave, Taunton, Ma. Stop in and try them out for yourself and if you are on Facebook why not give them a thumbs up with a
“Like”.

I want to thank the young lady and her family for allowing me to use her picture in today’s post. See what nice people eat at Frates! 🙂

Bar Harbor, walkin’ the walk

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Bar Harbor is a beautiful area sitting like it is in the heart of Acadia National Park.

Acadia is a bit different from most of the National Parks. It’s a patchwork made up mostly of land  and islands that have been donated for preservation. As I understand it, no more land is being accepted into the park although there are other preservation projects that may be available to potential donors.

The eastern portion of the park includes the 27 mile long loop road and 45 miles of carriage roads. The carriage roads are closed to automobiles but you can take a horse-drawn carriage ride or walk the well maintained roads.

We started our day with a traditional Maine breakfast at the Great Maine Breakfast. The traditional breakfast is the lumberjack breakfast, meat and potatoes, eggs and  pancakes. They had a jar of Berrylicious native blueberry jam on the table too.

Oh so good but neither JR or I could finish  our meal. It was a shame too because they were the best pancakes I’ve ever had in a restaurant…no offense to Denny’s or IHop.

After breakfast we (I anyway) waddled out to the car and picked up the cameras. I was hoping I’d see  a fellow we’d spotted the night before when I didn’t have my camera. He was providing me with my “kitty fix” for this trip. He had a pretty white and black cat that he was walking on a lease. I really wanted to take their picture but I didn’t see them this morning.

We moved the car to a better parking spot near a little park on the waterfront and began to explore.

There was a trail that reminded me of the Cliff Walk in Newport.

It ran along the water on one side and large homes and Inns on the other. I think it was about a mile long. We took our time taking plenty of pictures along the way.

Back at the car we decided to find the marina with the boat for the Puffin Tour. It looked to be too far to walk when we checked the map which is why we had the car this morning. It turned out that it would have been quite a hike.

From there we found our way to the visitor center at the park.  I forgot my National Park passport book in the room but I can get the stamp when we come back.  We picked up loads of handouts and information about the park, the trails and the activities. By then it was time to drive JR back to town where he planned to explore while I went looking for some funny little birds called Puffins!