Tag Archives: Travel

Writer’s Block

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Well it was bound to happen one of these days. I set a pretty ambitious goal to post something 6 days a week. The biggest problem is time. There is lots to write about but I like to give you up to date information and pictures. In fact, I subscribe to the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words so if I have no pictures, I have no tales.

The past few days were a combination of things including weather that kept me from getting much exploring done. I didn’t even have much time to take pictures for my photo blog. I had my car in for maintenance so with no wheels to get around I missed being out and about gathering stories. It still need some more work too so I hope it won’t be tied up too long. After all I have places to go and people to see and things to do and then tell you all about it all here!

I asked Scout if he had any new tips and he admitted he hadn’t put anything together. He said he could have some in a day or two but by then I should be back on track.

I thought my friend Julie would bail me out with stories of her recent trip to Arizona and California but she had the day off so I haven’t caught up with her at work yet.

My cuz in Florida is going to share her experiences on trip she took to Ireland but she’s still putting that together. I have another co-worker that went to Ireland as well but I haven’t set up a time to get his stories yet. My fault on that one.

My friend Diane still has many, many stories and pictures to share but again I dropped the ball and didn’t leave myself enough time to get together  with her.

Another friend and co-worker, Jay, just got back from his rafting vacation but we haven’t had a chance to chat about that in any detail yet. I can’t wait to see his pictures and he says I can share them here. That will be a treat for us all, I am sure!

Well, sometimes it seems I spend more time making excuses and if I’d just taken that same time I would have had something to write but it’s just human nature, I guess.

I will be on my work schedule now for the next 2 days so I won’t have any time to go anywhere but maybe I can dredge something out of the archives that you might enjoy.

Or maybe I should remind you that you’re welcome to contribute too! I love your comments but you can also share you travel experiences too. Don’t be shy. Sometimes a fresh voice is just what’s needed. In the meantime I’ll share some photos from some of my jaunts. I’ve written about all of the trips shown in these photos but selecting the pictures makes me think that there may be more stories in them to share. Something to think about.

Well enjoy the pictures until I get my next post together. Remember my next trip is fast approaching and we know there will be a lot of things to share from that.

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Cape Cod Spring

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It was a beautiful, warm spring day in Taunton. The sun was shining, the breeze was warm, the kind of day when you can believe that anything is possible.  I spent the morning running errands and generally puttering around but after lunch wanderlust kicked in. I’ve been working on a post about Cape Cod National Seashore, not to mention that there was a good possibility that there would still be whales around that might be seen from shore so it was easy to talk myself into an afternoon jaunt to the cape.

One of the nice things about Cape Cod this time of year is that everything is fresh and new. Trees are budding and folks are sprucing everything up to get ready for the summer season but the tourists haven’t arrived yet…at least not “en-mass”. There are a few vacationers but they are the exception so travel is easy. No traffic jams. It seemed like a good time to try to get pictures for that post.

It seemed like a good idea that is until I hit Bourne. I hadn’t even got to the bridges when the fog rolled in. Not little wispy fog but great , dense fog and over cast skies. I worked my way from scenic overlook to scenic overlook, debating all the way if I should turn around and save the gas or gamble that the fog was localized near the canal. Gambling won and it was a pretty good gamble.

By the time I reached the Salt Pond Visitor Center in Eastham the sun was shining again. There were a few hikers around but the Visitor Center was quiet. The Ranger at the desk asked me if I needed help  as soon as I walked in to ask about the fog conditions around the cape and if any whales had been sighted  today. He said the tip of the cape, Provincetown, Race Point and part of Truro on the bay side were pretty much socked in by fog but the ocean side of the cape was still clear with just a haze filtering the sunlight. He said most of the whales were down around Race Point but that some had been seen near Head of the Meadow Beaches in Truro.

Always the optimist I set off to look for the whales again. This time I had a new camera lens and I hoped it would be enough to let me catch some shots from shore. I went to Nauset Light first as that was where I saw the whales the last time. Nothing today. I moved on down to Marconi Beach. Struck out again. By now the clouds were starting to gather and the breeze was turning into more of a wind.

I decided one last stop and if I struck out there I would take the long way home and sight see up 6A  to the Sagamore Bridge. I pulled down to Coast Guard Beach and there I hit pay dirt. As soon as I pulled in I could see multiple blows on the horizon. The wind was really starting to blow too so I pulled on a wind breaker, gathered my 500 mm lens and the monopod and stepped up to the fence to brace against the wind.

Through the camera I could see the whales quite clearly. They were very active. The sun was still shining but it wasn’t as intense as it had been and there was definitely a slight mist. The blue sky seemed to blend into the ocean making the horizon line a fuzzy blur. It was really different and I was happy to try to capture those unusual conditions. It made me think of a piece of art or a multi-hued tapestry as it seemed to have a texture all of its own.

It was almost more mesmerizing than whales as they were so far out as to be tiny specs and spots in the mist.

I tried for pictures again without much better luck. Better lens, worse weather conditions, can’t win. I was joined by a couple from New Hampshire who were trying to video tape the action. He was having trouble holding his little video camera steady in the now gale like winds. He tried a tripod but that was shaking too. I was having my own troubles holding my big lens steady on the monopod. I wouldn’t have had any luck if not for the fence.

Before too long we had quite a crowd lined up watching for spouts. With that many people watching I doubt if any sightings were missed. Over the sound of the wind you heard an almost continuous chorus of there’s one, and there’s another , oh there’s two and I see a tail, that’s a flipper and so on. I was there over 3 hours before finally packing it in just before 6pm. I was tempted to stay around to see if there would be enough of a break in the clouds for a nice sunset but thought better of it. It was getting quite cold and sunset was still over an hour away.

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I said good-bye to my fellow whale watchers and headed home. I was anxious to see if I had caught anything under these conditions. The result was disappointing, again, but the day was not! I will keep trying until the whales move on or I get that “money” shot.

An Interesting Evening

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Good Morning. This will be a short post because between work and my trip into Boston last night I just haven’t had time to properly prepare anything. Still I owe you something if I am going to meet my goal of 6 posts a week.

Last night instead of applying myself and preparing today’s adventure, I went into Boston to the BCAE (stands for Boston Center for Adult Education) to take a class called Travel Writing. It was taught by a feature writer from the Boston Globe, David Abel. I read the Boston Globe travel section regularly and get lots of ideas in the New England section for places to go and see that I then write about here.

David Abel’s pieces tend to be the international stories, the features that lead the travel section. Those are the premier spots so it was really exciting and kind of intimidating to be in a class taught by someone whose work I read every Sunday.

Right out of the gate, David had us write a lead in to a story. Then he had each of us read our lead in out loud. There were 7 of us in all and it seemed that I was the only one that did not have international travel experience. I also had the lead in that needed the most work. I don’t think I do my best writing under those conditions but the class critique was ok. As usual I was harder on myself than my classmates or the teacher 🙂

The class was about 3 hours long and consisted of 6 women and one man. It went fast, always a sign of an interesting topic. We touched on blogs as a way to develop our writing skills and to provide examples of our writing to potential editors. He asked how many of us have blogs and 3 of us raised our hands. In reply he said, then start one! He also looked at my Blog Book and pronounced it well done and showed it to the class.

The main thrust of the class was to  GET PUBLISHED!  David addressed the differences in writing for a magazine vs a newspaper such as the Boston Globe. How to “pitch” a story and what you might expect to be paid. He spent a good part of the class stressing the different parts of the story and how each part supports the lead in. I am not going to share too much of that here. If you are interested there’s another class coming up later in the year.

He wrapped up the class by telling us we were all his collegues and that we can get published even without journalism degrees and experience. We have to be open to the editors suggestions as they are bound to take our story and shred it, returning the bare bones to be reworked whether we agree with it or not. But David said leave the ego at the door and develop a good working relationship with the editors and making good money on each trip is not out of the question.

Wow! What a positive experience! Could there possibly be a Dusty Roads by-line in my future? A big Thank You to my friend Diane of the Mexican travels for suggesting  this class to me. I’m really glad I took the class!

Day Trip to Deerfield

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It’s not every week that I get a Friday off so I wanted to take advantage of having a day that was almost the weekend. As I was going through my notes of “Places to go and things to do” I ran across some discount coupons for Magic Wings in Deerfield Ma. Magic Wings is a Butterfly Conservatory. I’ve been to similar ones before. There’s Butterfly World in Florida, and The Butterfly Place in Westford, Ma. but Magic Wings was a new one.

I met the folks from Magic Wings at the AAA Travel Show. I was impressed by their enthusiasm and was anxious to see how this compared with the places I’d been before.

Magic Wings sounded really nice in the publicity material. It said it features an 8,000 square ft tropical conservatory which is home to nearly 4,000 exotic and domestic butterflies. There is even a restaurant called the “Monarch”.

The only draw back was that it is quite a hike from Taunton to Deerfield. Mapquest puts the distance at just under 130 miles and 2.5 hours. I was planning to spend some time with my friend Nancy and her 2 children but I was concerned that the drive would be too much for the kids who are only 5 & 7 but Nancy said no, they would be fine. So with that assurance I filled the tank with gas ($3.77/ gal.) loaded up the camera and headed off to pick them up for the road trip.

We got on the road a few minutes after 10 AM. The kids did great for such a long drive. As we got farther out toward western Ma. we got into much more rural areas. The kids had a great time looking for cows and goats and horses. Horses were a big hit. They also liked watching for hawks soaring over the highway. If they started to get too restless we sang songs like 3 Blind Mice and Old MacDonald had a farm. We made one stop quick stop for bathroom breaks and leg stretches and then it was back on the Mass Pike. I actually think the kids handled the ride better than us grown ups. By the time we got to Magic Wings we adults were fading fast and wanted lunch. The kids wanted to get right to the butterflies.:)

This was one time when the adults won. The Monarch Restaurant is pretty small and it was almoxt full when we got there. We were seated quickly but I heard the hostess telling other people that there was a 45 minute wait. The service was pretty good as far as taking our food orders and bringing the soft drinks but then it broke down. We didn’t order anything elaborate yet we waited over 45 minutes for our food to be served. The restaurant that was packed when we were seated was empty by the time we got our food.

While we waited Nancy took the kids to the restrooms and came back to report that there was a cafeteria style restaurant where we could have picked up trays and selected our food from warming stations. We might have gotten served faster there but we had already given our orders.

On the plus side the food was good and it was hot when it came. The kids both ate well as did Nancy and I. Nancy and I both had the scallop roll plate. Alex (7 years old) had a grilled cheese and cup of clam chowder. Dawn (5 years old) had a hamburger and a cup of chicken noodle soup. The soups definitely looked homemade! We rounded the meal out with a platter of onion rings. The french fries were a little soggy but the kids didn’t seem to care and made short work of them. Wow this post is starting to sound like a restaurant review:)

By now it was after 2pm and we still hadn’t been able to get started on the Main Event. We took the kids to the restroom one more time before heading into the exhibit. If we never went any further the atrium then the trip was still worth it. Beautifully decorated with banners and butterfly themed articles, even the stone fireplace had a huge butterfly decoration, it was bright and comfortable with tables and even a butterfly bench.

There was a table with information on having weddings in the conservatory and a gift shop. Can you imagine getting married with butterflys all around! What better way to start a marriage.

Off the atrium was a large coat room. The attendant selling the tickets said it was really warm inside and the best bet was to leave our coats. She assured me it would be perfectly safe so that was what we did.

After taking the kid’s pictures on the butterfly bench and getting our hands stamped it was time to enter the inner sanctum.

More on that in my next post!

Minute Man National Historical Park

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Boy when it rains around here it pours…buckets…and it was a cold rain. I wore my hoodie and brought my winter jacket plus a rain poncho. I still got cold and soaked but it’s a good thing I came up or I’d be in big trouble on Monday!

It’s easy to find the park but not so easy to find the Visitor Center. I made 3 stops before I found it and even then it’s quite a walk from the parking lot. On a nice day I am sure it’s beautiful but in the cold rain, not so much. It didn’t seem to stop the visitors. I saw quite a few with umbrellas and there were school buses of kids  at every stop I made.

Even so when I got to the Visitor Center it was quiet.

 I chatted with the rangers and took come pictures of the life-size cut-outs on exhibit.

 One of the rangers was asking me questions about my camera because I was taking pictures without the flash. As much as possible I prefer to use ambient light. (Of course that may change when I upgrade the flash) I demonstrated it to him by taking one shot with a flash and one without. Then I asked him which he liked better. He picked the one without the flash.

There was a woman dressed in period dress carrying ing a gun. I think they called them flint locks.

 I asked her if I could take her picture and if it was ok for me to post it. She said sure as long as I told everyone that she was a Park Ranger, not a volunteer.  So here’s the picture of the Park Ranger in period attire. 🙂

I found the National Park cancellation stamp and got my Passbook verified. Then I started asking questions. Turns out that the National Park does all of their events for Patriot’s Day on this weekend and it’s only done this time of year. They had a list of events on the desk and I asked them why it showed a whole list of things including a craft fair for Monday. The rangers explained that those events were by the town of Lexington and were not connected to the Park. With the ranger’s blessing I took a schedule of events for Monday. He told me that if I had never seen the reenactment that I should see it at least once because it is quite impressive.

They suggested I stick around and watch the movie The Road to Revolution. I was the only one in the theatre and one of the rangers remarked that I might be getting private showing. It was not to be. A group of kids came in. They were pretty rowdy at first but I have to give the chaperone’s credit. Once the movie started they quieted the kids down  right away.The movie was really good. I found it very moving as they explained the events that led up to the bloody battle and the start of the Revolutionary War. It story was presented in a multi media format. A holographic type figure narrated and comments came from invisible men in the tavern. The battle was shown in a movie to the right of the central figure. It’s hard to explain but it was very well done.

After the movie I headed back to the car and went in search of the places on the agenda in Lexington.  I found the Stop and Shop which is where the ranger suggested I park. I found the Green where the reenactment takes place. There is a sloping hill to the right of the green. I hope I can set up there because I should be able to shoot over the heads of the crowd.

I stopped for gas in Lexington and asked the attendant about the events. He wasn’t too enthusiastic at first but then he kind of perked up and said that if I had never seen it, that it was worth the early morning wake-up call.

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With that I turned my car back south toward home. I was wet and cold and ready to call it a day.