Vacation: the Photo Essay

There are those who think of vacations as a time to get out and go, and those who think of them as a time to relax and recharge. My ideal vacation has a combination of both, and my cousin and I managed to do some of each during her week here, though the balance probably went toward getting out. Hey, nobody's perfect! The thing about New England is that there's so much to see and do, in a relatively and deceptively compact space, that you can find yourself saying sure, we could do that, too! And that! And why not that as well?

So, JL arrived Thursday afternoon, and I picked her up and we got settled in, and I promptly abandoned her (with her prior permission) to go Yarn Harlotting. The next day, I worked in the morning, and in the afternoon, we went into Boston despite the high 90s* temperatures. When we were kids and JL visited, we loved to go in to Boston and visit the Faneuil Hall area, wandering through all the little shops. On Friday, of course, we were most interested in the ones with the best air conditioning! How times change. Still, it was fun. Afterwards, we had a great dinner in the suburbs (yes! it can be done!) and hung out chatting before bed.

*that's mid-30s Celsius for the rest of the world

Saturday we headed north of the city (generally referred to as the North Shore), up to the Cape Ann area, and stopped in Gloucester, where they were having a sort of festival thing with booths and music and it was fun. I found this sign interesting; I've seen signs for Objets d'Art, but never seen it translated into English before:


It is a little hard to read, but it actually does say Objects of Art. Interesting. Anyone seen that elsewhere?

Then in Rockport, a lovely town itself:


I saw a sign I liked for a different reason. Here's a word for you: seafencibles. My goodness!


I hate it when all my seafencibles are taken prisoner. Plus, if you're using your stockings as slings to hurl rocks, they better have been well-knit to begin with, don't you think? Go, knitters of Rockport!

All right, on to some pretty pictures. A flowery thing (still in Rockport):


And a beach scene, which means now it's Sunday and we're in Rhode Island. Isn't it pretty?


Caution: low-flying sea-gulls:


Dunes and beaches and grasses, oh my:


On Monday, somewhat worn from the weekend, we were a little less active. In fact, we went to the movies! We saw No Reservations, which we both enjoyed (although it's not all sunshine and light, it's still overall fun), and we also saw a preview for August Rush*, which was the only one of the many previews they showed that made both of us say Absolutely Yes. (Of course, it doesn't come out until November.) So many of these things make me say no way: I have to agree with my brother, who refers to the things as Repulsions, instead of Attractions.

*It has Freddie Highmore, the child actor who was so great in Finding Neverland as well as in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; it has Keri Russell, who I just loved in Waitress; it has Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who I loved in Bend It Like Beckham; and oh-by-the-way it has Robin Williams.

On Tuesday, a beach of another style, what we called ghost beach:


This was Nantasket Beach in Hull, south of Boston, and the spray/surf/whatever was rolling in. Perhaps if it had been super-hot, the temperature change and steady breeze would have been a nice change, but as it was ... we gave it a try, but the sand was soaking wet, the water was cool, and after a while we decided that it wasn't fun. We drove around looking at the pretty town:


Then, on our way back toward home, found that only a short distance away, the sun was out, over another beach! So we stayed there for a while, soaking up sunshine, and it was nice, and check out the scenic New England-ness of the view.


Even the gulls were lined up looking out over the water:




And we were in time to see the west-bound goose crossing, too.


Finally, as the sun sank slowly in the west (I know, where else would it sink?), we packed up again and once more headed home (and to dinner at Legal Sea Foods, JL living in a landlocked locale).

When I was at work on Wednesday morning, someone asked, "Do you have any big plans for the last night?"

I said, "Yes, we're going to Vermont."

To fully get the look I got, you have to understand, I can drive to the closest edge of New Hampshire in less than an hour. Same with Maine, Rhode Island, and probably Connecticut. Vermont is probably more like two hours just to get to the border. I, of course, was planning to go to Ben and Jerry's, which is in Waterbury, which is three hours from me. Each way. After I've worked all morning. So it was a crazy plan, but we really wanted to go.

Before you ask, the reason we didn't go on the weekend is that, although they do give tours on the weekends, the production floor isn't running on the weekends, and we felt like that would make a difference. It just wouldn't be as neat when things weren't running.

Sure, we're crazy. Everyone's crazy about something. At least we were compatibly crazy on this.

So, here's something you see in Vermont that you don't see everywhere you go:


And B&J plants some pretty flowers on their grounds:



Now you know you're getting closer:




I am proud of number 8; JL claims number 5 as her personal best:


This is my idea of a factory:


And the views of the neighborhood aren't half-bad either:


It can be a little spooky, though.


We went into Burlington for dinner, and that's certainly a city I'd like to explore at more length another time. We went down to the water to look at Lake Champlain, and I loved this name on one of the boats (being as we were near Stowe, Vermont):


I also liked this window display, especially the blue rubber duckie in the middle:


And that about wraps it up for the photos, since my camera felt that the stars were too far away to capture (silly camera! they were so close, and there were a million of them!). We got home late on Wednesday, and Thursday was hanging out and packing, and airport and goodbyes, and then it was over. Next time, I suppose, I'll visit her, and hang out with her boys, and think of silly things to teach them (I wonder if they can do fish-face yet?), and it will be a different kind of fun. But this was a good vacation.

On the other hand, I haven't knit since the Yarn Harlot left. I have to finish that sock!

Did you realize, by the way, that I've been blogging for a year now? Amazing ... already, it's part of my life to the point that, for example, when I saw that boat, I took a picture because "that's blog-worthy". I've missed blogging the past week. I've really gotten used to doing this regularly. Funny, that. I wonder if there's a post there...