Tag Archives: Massachusetts

How we Spent our Morning In Brewster, MA

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Brewster Ma is located on Cape Cod, a wonderful place almost anytime unless you dislike snow. But spring, summer and fall are certainly beautiful times to explore the Cape and Brewster is right in the middle.

Mapquest wanted us to get there by following route  6A. This is a great way to see the sights as the little country-style road meanders through all the little hamlets and towns along the coast of the Cape.  However we had two young children in the car (Can you hear the famous query? “Are we there yet”) so we chose to take  the Cape Highway also known as RT 6. It’s not as scenic but it’s certainly faster. We got off at the Dennisport exit and crossed the cape back to 6A South for our last little bit to our destination.

We were heading to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.

 The Museum is pretty tiny but it’s really well-appointed. The mission statement or purpose is to increase awareness of the environment around us.

There’s a library for research, an activity room where the kids can look at terrariums with snakes and toads, or enjoy the stuffed animals and birds in glass cases.

 There was a video feed from the Osprey nest and a large window looked out on bird feeders and bird baths. There were binoculars supplied to help with the bird watching.

In the short time we were there I spotted a family of cardinals, a yellow finch as well as an assortment of sparrows. The chipmunks were in attendance too.

There’s also a long activity table where the kids can color or trace the animals etched on the surfaces.

 Downstairs was a small aquarium with local fish, crabs, lobsters  and turtles. The jelly fish tank is a see through tank. Everyone was taking pictures through the tank, myself included.

A large shallow tank that looked like a “touch tank” was really a “No Touch tank” which was monitored by a volunteer who answered questions and pointed out the various creatures.

 She also made sure that no little fingers made their way into the tank. This was a bit of a disappointment for the kids but there were quite a few animals in this tank that would not do well with handling.

The museum is set on the edge of a salt marsh and mud flat but there is no admission for the trails. The only admission is charged for going into the museum itself. Even that is nominal, less than $10.00 per person.

You can go through the museum fairly quickly as we did with 2 energetic children towing us along but if you are an adult and go without  the kids , you may want to linger at some of the exhibits or sit in the comfy chairs in front of that big window and spend some time bird watching. I could have spent more time there without question. But today’s trip was for the kids and we moved at their energetic pace.

If you get to Brewster this is definitely worth a stop.

Old Cape Cod

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The other day I posted about Cape Cod National Seashore. One of the best parts of writing that post was having an excuse to head down to the Cape.

There are a couple of places I like to go for lunch depending on where I’m heading on the Cape. One is in Chatham where I’m sure to be going soon as the Great White Sharks are back! That’s exciting..at least to me. They snack on the seals on Monemoy Island which is at the mouth of Chatham Harbor.

 I didn’t get to see one last year but maybe this year I’ll get lucky. Just don’t go in the water!

The day I went down to get the pictures to wrap up the National Seashore post I stopped at the Seafood Shanty.

This is on the northbound side of Route 6 in Bourne. That means that if you are heading for the Sagamore Bridge to go onto the Cape that you will have to cross 2 very busy northbound lanes of traffic to get into the parking lot. The lot is not paved either but is gravel covered dirt. Because Rt 6 is 4 lanes wide right there (2 north and 2 south)  you better  not hesitate once you decide to cross.

 I confess that one of the reasons I like this place is that every time I’ve stopped there’s been a little chipmunk who scoots out looking for dropped french fries or other delicacies. I’m sure it’s a different chipmunk each year. After all  how long does one live even if it survives to chipmunk old age?

Seems like when I was growing up there were chipmunks everywhere but now I only see them occasionally. Not so for squirrels, they’re everywhere. So I stop to say hello to my little striped friend and share my lunch. As long as I’m tossing out my french fries he’s my little buddy. This trip I ordered the scallop plate. It comes with fries so I had plenty to share with my fuzzy friend. 

The Seafood Shanty has a pretty view and tables with striped umbrellas so it’s a nice place to have lunch. You can also take your lunch with you and head over to the Herring Run recreation area.

 You’ll get a better view of the Cape Cod Canal so you can watch the boats pass by or the bikers on the bike path work up a sweat. Since you would be on the right hand side of RT 6 at the Recreation area it’s easy to get back on the highway to continue on to the bridges that lead to the lower cape.

The day I was there traffic was steady enough when I finished lunch  that I got tired of waiting to cross 2 lanes of northbound traffic to get back on the southbound side. Instead I chose  to join the northbound traffic  back to the Bourne Rotary, about 2 miles up the road. I drove around the rotary and picked up  southbound RT 6 there. It meant a little back tracking but it was easier than the mad dash through speeding cars. I’m not sure if that inconvenience is a blessing or a curse for this little seafood shack. The Seafood Shanty is certainly in a visible location but getting in and out can be a bit hair-raising to say the least. Still, I had to visit my little buddy and the scallops where delicious.

I don’t have a lot  more to offer in this post so I thought I would leave you with the words to an old Patty Page song that’s been running through my mind. Maybe it will make you think of visiting Old Cape Cod.

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If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air
Quaint little villages here and there
(You’re sure)You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
(Cape Cod, that old Cape Cod)

If you like the taste of a lobster stew
Served by a window with an ocean view
(You’re sure)You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod

Winding roads that seem to beckon you
Miles of green beneath a sky of blue
Church bells chimin’ on a Sunday morn
Remind you of the town where you were born

If you spend an evening you’ll want to stay
Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay
You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod

(aah, aah)

If you spend an evening you’ll want to stay (on Cape Cod Bay)
Watching the moonlight on Cape Cod Bay
You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod
You’re sure to fall in love
You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod

The Hot Weather is Here!

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Oh happy summer! The hot weather is here and I couldn’t be happier. I love this kind of weather. Even the humidity is ok as long as I don’t have to go to work. I feel a little different on work days because as much as I love the heat I don’t like going to work feeling like I need another shower. But on a day when I am free and clear and don’t have to worry about appearances there’s nothing better than working up a nice “sheen.” Always remember, horses sweat….ladies perspire.

Now that’s not to say I never use air conditioning. I do, especially in the car on the way to work but on a day off its open windows all the way. At home  I leave the central air on 80 and use the ceiling fans. As long as the air is moving I’m comfortable.

But I’m getting off track. I wanted to mention Nantasket Beach in Hull, Ma.

When I first moved to Massachusetts back in the early 1970’s Nantasket Beach was the place to go on a hot summer day. It wasn’t just the beach either. There was a substantial amusement park with a huge roller coaster. The amusement park was known as Paragon Park. Sadly the park closed in 1984 and the roller coaster was removed along with most of the other rides but the vintage carousel is still in action. One of the things I love about the Paragon Park carousel is that it’s all about the horses.

 Prancing steeds in all colors are just begging for a rider. Teams of spirited horses pull flying chariots if you’re prefer this kind of ride, but it’s all horses.

 There’s none of the elephants, giraffes or big cats with saddles like you see on so many other carousels. It’s just horses of all colors with flying manes and tossing heads.

 Well, at least they look like that even if they are made of wood.

 It’s wonderful what the imagination can see so of course the first stop was the carousel. I had to see it again.

 Then I headed over to the beach. The band stands are still there but I wasn’t looking for that. I wanted to see the beach. Too bad I came at high tide. Even so I waded out to about mid-calf only to get drenched by a breaking wave that hit me almost waist-high. I was amazed at how warm the water was but Nantasket Beach it shallow quite a ways out so the water has time to warm up.

To get to this little gem of a beach you follow Rt 228 as it winds through Rockland, Weymouth, Hingham and finally Hull. It’s a very scenic ride , especially the section after you cross RT 53  but be sure to wear your patience hat as it is a winding road, not a highway. As with any winding road, traffic can be a problem especially on a hot weekend day. But I was there on a mid-week afternoon so traffic wasn’t bad. There was even parking in some of the lots once I got to the beach. 

There is a small parking fee but I think as parking fees go that it’s pretty reasonable. $7.00 for the day $4.00 for seniors. I’m not sure what age they consider senior. The first lot I tried was full but retracing my route to the beginning of the beach I pulled into the first lot on the beach. Not only was there plenty of parking but there was no attendant! When no one came to take my money after a reasonable time, I pulled on into the parking lot.

Nantasket Beach was always known for its soft , gray sand. Here on the lower end of the beach the sand was courser and there were a lot of rocks. Still I saw several sand castles being built and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I spotted one of those surf paddlers…that new sport of standing on a surfboard and paddling it instead of surfing. Lots of people were in the water.

There were lines at all of the ice cream stands.

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 It looked like a perfect summer day. So many people making awesome memories. I could have stayed for hours but unfortunately for me responsibilities called and I had to drive away to meet them in the real world.

Franklin Park Zoo

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Another wonderful day, sunny and warm. I had to go to work for just an hour for a mandatory meeting. The meeting was at 11:00 in the morning so it kind of limited what I could do for the day landing right in the middle like that. So after the meeting I decided to run some errands while I reviewed my options for the afternoon. As I was driving up Rt 128 I saw a sign for the Franklin Park Zoo. That is on my bucket list but I hadn’t planned on that for today…still there was the sign…maybe that was where I was meant to be today.

So I wrapped up my last errand and headed north on RT 28.

Franklin Park Zoo is another Urban Zoo. This time within the confines of Boston. Rt 28 becomes a main road known as Blue Hill Avenue though Mattapan into Dorchester, both subsections of Boston. They are neighborhoods similar to the boroughs of New York City.

Traffic was heavy and I missed the entrance to the Zoo the first time and had to turn around and retrace my steps. When I found parking it was in a secondary, unpaved lot. That one was almost filled too.

The paved path from the parking lot to the zoo entrance was marked by stencilled “hoof prints”. The kids ahead of me on the path were finding these stencils a lot of fun.

I was at the Franklin Park Zoo a couple of years ago but so far nothing looked familiar, not even the entrance which I seemed to remember had a large statue in front of it. I was wondering if I was having a “senior moment” as I paid my admission and asked for a map.

Admission is a bit pricier than Buttonwood Zoo and their senior discount starts at 62 so I paid the full fee of $16.00. As I looked at my map I began to understand why it looked so different. This was the Zebra Entrance. I was at the Giraffe Entrance when I came here before! I wasn’t losing my mind.

Franklin Park is much larger than Buttonwood and has many more exotic animals. They have some fun interactive exhibits too but first things first. It was almost 2pm so lunch was on my mind. There’s an indoor-outdoor  snack bar call the Giddy-up grill.

As far as I know that’s the only option for food. You can get candy and snacks at the gift shop but I wanted  something a bit more lunch-like. I hesitate to say more healthy!:)

I ordered a cheeseburger and onion rings and a bottle of juice. Nothing was cooked to order. It was all in warming  ovens. It showed in the taste, the hamburger was warm but the bun was hard, very hard. There was a wilted lettuce leaf , a tomato slice topped with a pickle  slice. I only ate a few bites as it had a strange flavor that I just couldn’t put my finger on. I chose to sit outside so the little birds appreciated my “fussiness”. I had better luck with the onion rings which were very good.

As I sat at the little table under an umbrella I watched the carousel revolve and a couple of male peacocks with tail feathers trailing that would make a bride’s train look short! They never displayed but they were still beautiful.

The Franklin Farm was on the other side of the tables. Here are farm animals, horses, goats, sheep, chickens, to name just a few,  some of which are available for petting as long as a staff member was present.

After lunch I started to work my way back to the entrance so I could go through the Zoo in an orderly fashion but I kept getting side tracked.

My first detour was to an aviary. Here ducks were swimming around and although there was a feeding station, they weren’t too interested in the offerings the kids were throwing into the water. As you crossed the bridge you soon saw why, there was a big feeding tray and it was freshly filled so it looked as if everyone had already eaten their fill.

As I exited I saw a dirt mound off to my right. I decided to check that out before I went back to the entrance. What a nice surprise.

 There were those little prairie rodents! Yup, a small colony of prairie dogs. As I approached the sentinel dog went on alert but he didn’t “bark” or whistle. It was pretty clear that these guys were used to people and didn’t consider us a threat. It made taking pictures at lot easier than in the wild. That little sentinel dog was quite a ham. It was as if he was posing for you. Then he ran down into a hole , popped back out and threw him self down on the dirt, little paws stretched out as if to say…I’m done..too tired.

He was such a little drama queen.

That’s a good place to break for today. More tales from the Franklin Park Zoo and pictures coming up next post.

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Wine Trail New England

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I don’t know about you but when I think about wine country I think of France or Germany or domestically, California. I know a lot of other places are getting into the wine making business. I’ve enjoyed wine from Australia and South America but I just didn’t think of New England for wine.

Maybe I should just say that I didn’t think because we had grape vines  that were always covered with big purple grapes each summer where I grew up in the Adirondacks and my neighbor made his own wine from them. When I visited Peace Field House in Quincy there was a grape arbor so the signs that grapes grow here are all around me. Of course I have no idea if these grapes make good wine.

I enjoy a glass of wine occasionally with meals or with cheese and crackers. When I vacation with my sister that is one of our rituals, kicking back with a glass of wine after a long day of sight-seeing but I would never pretend to be an expert. I read descriptions about a note of this, a hint of that. Fruity vs dry, and I don’t know what it means. I just know what I like. The wine must be light (if white) and smooth and not too sweet. If a red it can be heavier but again, not too sweet.

So imagine my surprise when my friend Jay told me about the Wine Country in my backyard…literally!

I headed for the internet and there was the Wine Trail which winds through southern New England from the tip of Cape Cod through southern Rhode Island to Connecticut. 9 Vineyards make up the stops on the Wine Trail promoting Coastal wines of New England. Like the Passport program for the National Parks, these Vineyards promote the Coastal Wines of New England with a Passport Program of their own. For more information head to www.CoastalWineTrail.com

 The common thread that ties these 9 Vineyards is the Atlantic ocean. With the southeast facing coastline, warm gulf stream in summer and fall, a cool grape growing climate results in a section of fine wines, mostly of the white and sparkling variety with a few reds sprinkled in.

Since I was heading to Dartmouth anyway I thought I’d try to see one of the wineries. I’m not sure what I expected. I’ve never been to a wine tasting nor have I ever set foot in a winery. When we were in Sedona we thought about a wine tour but there were so many other things to do that we never got to that. I guess I imagined driving through the vineyard with rows of grapes rolling by until I reached the winery. With that vision in mind I headed off to find one of the Dartmouth wineries.

There are 2 located in the Dartmouth area, Sakonnet Vineyards and Running Brook Vineyards. The Web page for Sakonnet said they were open Friday, Saturday and Sunday so that eliminated them. Running Brook gave their hours as daily Noon- 5pm. so that’s where I headed.

Running Brook Vineyards is located at 335 Old Fall River Road, North Dartmouth. Their web page is www.runningbrookwine.com.

I left The Buttonwood Park Zoo and headed off to  find Old Fall River Road. It took me all of 10 minutes to get to Running Brook from the zoo! That was a little mind-boggling …from Urban Zoo to rural Winery in 10 minutes. The Winery is clearly marked with an attractive sign.

I took a right through the open gate onto a dirt track and drove slowly up to a large building.

 There was a tent set up outside with tables.

 I didn’t see any grape vines. The “road” continued on around the building but I thought it might be better to stop here first. A car had just driven off around the building and another man in work clothes was just getting into a truck. I stuck my head out of the car window and asked if I was in the right place for Running Brook.

The gentleman got back out of his truck and asked me if I’d seen the sign at the gate. I said yes. His response was , “Well you’re here.”

I pulled into a spot next to the tent and got out of the car. My host wasn’t the most talkative so I tried to think of questions to ask. Since I had nothing to compare  this experience with I’m sure he thought I was asking really stupid questions. I think he took pity on me because after a few minutes of my babbling he asked me if I wanted a tasting. It was afternoon so , why not? I said yes.

He told me to follow him and we went into the big building. A rough wooden counter  separated customers from the rows of big, wooden barrels. Almost immediately I noticed the aroma. It smells sooo good! Getting my nose back inline I noticed labels on the barrels indicating the type of wines apparently aging or fermenting or whatever wines do in each of the big casks.

 As I was looking around my host was setting out a row of wine bottles , a package of oyster crackers, a wine glass and a ceramic pitcher.

I confessed that I didn’t know what to do. Was I supposed to hold it in my mouth and then spit it out or  could I drink it. That finally got a smile. He explained that it was personal preference but that he’d suggest drinking  it. Now I was laughing and beginning to relax. I told him as long as I could walk out after the tasting then drink it I would. I was looking at the line of bottles he’s set out and wondered if I would be walking by the end of this experiment! 🙂

We started with the whites. The bouquet was wonderful. The wines varied from mellow and smooth to one that made me say ” it was having a party in my mouth. ” It wasn’t a sparkling wine yet it made my tongue tingle like a sparkling wine. I even tried a white Merlot. I’m not a fan of white Merlot and this was no exception but that’s just me. If you like white Merlot you would probably like this wine.

I tried the red Merlot and that was pretty good. We finished the tasting with a sweet dessert wine that was a little too sweet for my taste but that I am sure would hit the spot if you like that kind of wine.

I bought a bottle of the Pinot Gris to take home with me, picked up my passport  brochure and collected my stamp.

The tasting was well worth the $7.00. The wines ranged in price starting at around $15.00.

Running Brook Wines are not available in stores. You need to stop by the winery to pick them up. You can also buy them by the case. I never got to see the Vineyard but my host pointed out a lovely picture in the brochure of green grapes, not purple, on the vines. He said those were the Running Brook grapes.

There was a sign at the entrance that said wine tours and events on Sundays 1 pm but the winery itself is open 1-5 daily so stop in, have a tasting, buy a bottle ( or 2) and spread the word!

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Now I’ve only 8 more Vineyards to visit to complete the Coastal Wine Trail!