October’s Bright Blue WeatherO suns and skies and clouds of June,
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I believe I was in 5th grade when we had to memorize this for English Class. Here I am, all these many years later, and it is still one of my favorite poems. It seemed a fitting post for October 1.
Moored proudly in Salem Harbor is the majestic reconstruction of the tall ship Friendship of Salem. The original Friendship was built in 1796 for merchants Jerathmiel Peirce and Aaron Waite by the same shipwright that built the Essex which gained fame in the War of 1812.
The Friendship is a 342 ton, 3 masted , square-rigged East Indiaman that made 15 voyages during her career to Batavia, India, China, South America, the Caribbean, England, Germany, the Mediterranean, and Russia in her search for exotic spices, sugar and coffee. Her hold filled with cargo, she would return after a 2 year mission in triumph.
Her career ended when she was taken as a prize of war by the British in September of 1812.
The reconstruction is based on a model of the original Friendship that resides in the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) along with paintings and the ships logs.
The 171 ft. vessel took 2 years to construct in the ship yards in Albany, NY. arriving at the National Park’s Maritime National Historic Site in September 1998. She is the largest wooden, Coast Guard certified, sailing vessel to be built in New England in more than a century.
The new Friendship is part of the National Park Service’s larger exhibit area at Salem Maritime National Historic Site. She is a fully operational sailing vessel but stays close to home so that everyone can come aboard.
The ship is operated by a volunteer crew under supervision of the National Park Service. Friendship sails as an ambassador ship for the Essex National Heritage Area.
She is a beautiful work of art as she sits serenely a rest but it is hard to imagine what everyday life must have been like for the sailors that crewed these merchantmen.
| Name: | Friendship of Salem |
| Owner: | National Park Service |
| Builder: | Scarano Brothers Shipyard |
| Launched: | November 1996 |
| Acquired: | September 1, 1998 |
| Homeport: | Salem, MA |
| Status: | in service |
| Badge: | Woman in classical dress offering a bouqet of flowers |
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Full rigged ship |
| Length: | 171 feet bowsprit to spanker boom |
| Beam: | 30 feet |
| Height: | 20 feet keel to deck at midship |
| Decks: | main deck, ‘tween deck, and holds |
| Installed power: | onboard generators |
| Propulsion: | 21 sails, twin diesel engines |
| Speed: | 7.2 maximum / 5.8 average knots |
| Boats and landing craft carried: |
1 jolly boat |
| Complement: | 25 crew, up to 45 persons |
I guess somewhere in the back of my mind I had heard of turkey vultures but they certainly weren’t a bird that commanded much thought from me. Certainly not like Bald Eagles or Osprey or Red Tailed Hawks. Vultures are just kind of….spooky.
I think one almost hit us as we were driving through Hot Springs S.D. I know it scared me half to death (I was the driver ) and it was one ugly bird. By the time I was able to pull over for a look it was long gone. It happened so fast.
My next encounter was on the RiverQuest cruise in Connecticut. We were looking for bald eagles and we spotted a huge bird soaring on the thermals. Everyone got very excited. Cameras came out and then the bombshell…turkey vulture no eagle.
That brings us up to the present. Amid my distractions over the Alaska Cruise info I have been keeping my eyes open for chances to grab pictures of the fall foliage especially the cranberry bogs with their bright red berries.
Sis sent me a link to the Yankee Magazine and suggested I enter one of my pictures of Rocky in the Cutest Cat in New England Photo Contest. While I was doing that I saw the Fall Foliage Photo Contest. Although the leaves are only just starting to “pink” here in southern MA, the cranberry bogs are in full color and some are already harvesting.
In my search for the “perfect” bog picture I found what appears to be an abandoned cranberry bog. 
There’s plenty of cranberries but it is filled with stumps and old dead trees. Even though it looks like it’s neglected there was something attractive about the way it was going back to the wild. As I was taking pictures of the bog I happened to look up at the tops of the dead trees and what to my wondering eyes did appear…not 8 tiny reindeer but about 15 – 20 big , big birds!
Just like the river cruise my first reaction was EAGLES! My heart began to pound and I tried to get a better look. They all had their heads tucked under their wings and against the cloudy sky I could only make out the silhouettes, not plumage or details. Then as I watched the one at the very top raised its head. As if on signal so did most of the others and they were clearly Not Eagles. They were Turkey Vultures and I couldn’t help but think of that old Saturday morning cartoon with the 3 vultures on the dead tree.
I remember the slow talking Beaky Buzzard from LooneyToons (Nope..nope…nope)
and I think there was a buzzard in Jungle Book 
and of course Vultures are prominent this time of year along with Ravens and black cats and witches.
In any case I didn’t realize that vultures roost in large flocks like that or that they resemble their cartoon caricatures so closely!
I’m told that the flocks of vultures will stay pretty close to their roost so I may have a chance to try again to capture this in pictures.
I need a little better light and a little longer lens. I can see a great Halloween shot in my future!
When I started this blog I said it was Sights, Scenes and Travel of an everyday person. The intention was that you could follow along with my adventures and mishaps as I began to get my travel legs. I did not then nor now feel that I am an expert although I’m a lot more seasoned than I was. 🙂
When I travel with my sister and we get misdirected (aka lost) she laughs and says “We’re not lost, we’re “sight-seeing”. And what a great idea that is. Why do we care when we’re on vacation if we get twisted around a little? Unless we’re trying to make it to a Tour, we have all day. We never would have had our little adventure on the Longest Dirt Road In the World if we’d been worried about getting a little lost..oops , misdirected.
In Hawaii we went looking for a green sand beach. We never found it but we found the Southernmost Point and some beautiful sights we would have missed if we hadn’t taken that detour.
I ran across another travel quote that I think needs to be added to our travel lexicon. Rita Rudner is credited with this gem: “I never panic when I get lost. I just change where it is I want to go.”
I love it and I have done it! Sure takes the stress out of traveling!
We haven’t done a travel trivia quiz for a while so for a change of pace I thought it might be fun to try one again. Let’s see how you do.
1. If you wanted to order a frozen hot chocolate in the place where it was invented, where would you go?
A) Chicago B) Los Angeles C) New York City D) Miami
2. If you wanted to see the longest river in the United States, which river would you head to?
A) The Colorado B) the Mississippi C) The Missouri D) The Ohio
3. If you wanted to see the smallest state in the nation, where would you go?
A) Hawaii B) Delaware C) New York D) Rhode Island
4. If you want to visit Yellowstone National Park, which state do you go to?
A) Arizona B) Iowa C) Wyoming D) Utah
5. Which four presidents are immortalized on Mount Rushmore?
A) Washington, Lincoln, Adams, Roosevelt B) Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson C) Washington, Grant, Roosevelt, Jefferson D) Lincoln, Grant, Roosevelt, Madison
6. What is the fastest roller coaster in the United States?
A) Space Mountain, Disneyland, Caifornia B) Superman The Escape, Six Flags Magic Mountain, California C) Kingda Ka, Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey D) Top Thrill Dragster, Cedar Point, Ohio
7. In 2005, GQ Magazine listed the best hamburgers in America. Where can you get the best hamburger in the country?
A) Le Tub, Hollywood, Florida B) Peter Luger Steak House, Brooklyn, NY C) Louis’ Lunch, New Haven, CT D)Rouge, Philadelphia, PA
8. What California town was named after the movie studio?
A) MGM B) Universal C) Paramount D) Columbia
9. In what city will you find Coit Tower?
A) Chicago B) San Francisco C) Los Angeles D) New York
10. If you wanted to stay in the most expensive hotel in America, where would you stay?
The Mansion at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas D) Inn at Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina
11. If you wanted to see Carlsbad Caverns National Park, where would you go?
A) Arizona B) California C) New Mexico D) Nevada
12. If you want to see the capital city of Florida, which city should you visit?
A) Miami B) Daytona C) Tallahassee D) Kissimmee
Answers:
| 1. If you wanted to order a frozen hot chocolate in the place where it was invented, where would you go? |
| Correct Answer: New York City |
| 2. If you wanted to see the longest river in the United States, which river would you head to? |
| Correct Answer: The Mississippi River |
| 3. If you wanted to see the smallest state in the nation, where would you go? |
| Correct Answer: Rhode Island |
| 4. If you want to visit Yellowstone National Park, which state do you go to? |
| Correct Answer: Wyoming |
| 5. Which four presidents are immortalized on Mount Rushmore? |
| Correct Answer: Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson |
| 6. What is the fastest roller coaster in the United States? |
| Correct Answer: Kingda Ka, Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey |
| 7. In 2005, GQ Magazine listed the best hamburgers in America. Where can you get the best hamburger in the country? |
| Correct Answer: Le Tub, Hollywood, Florida |
| 8. What California town was named after the movie studio? |
| Correct Answer: Paramount |
| 9. In what city will you find Coit Tower? |
| Correct Answer: San Francisco |
| 10. If you wanted to stay in the most expensive hotel in America, where would you stay? |
| Correct Answer: The Mansion at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas |
| 11. If you wanted to see Carlsbad Caverns National Park, where would you go? |
| Correct Answer: New Mexico |
| 12. If you want to see the capital city of Florida, which city should you visit? |
| Correct Answer: Tallahassee |
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| How’d you do? |