East Coast Trip

In 2012, Melanie & I toured on the east coast of the United States. A couple of days in Maine, a week in Boston and a week in upstate New York.
	When we got to Portland, Maine, it was raining. Mel rested in the car, and I explored around an area that had some lighthouses.
	It also was the place of the where many of the liberty ships were made during WWII. The wall on the left was part of a dry dock for that effort.
	Our B&B room had a private outside entrance with a sitting area.
	So many buildings had intriguing character in Portand.
	Often, the doors were especially interesting.
	The sidewalks were interesting too. I don't know why they were so wavy (although I have some ideas).
	The brick and cobble stone certainly gave the city an old-country character.
	We toured this house that was extremely modern and luxurious for pre-civil war times.
	We also had to have Maine lobster. This device was supposed to tell us when our food was ready. Melanie was hungry already!
	We chatted with a couple while waiting. When our meal came, they gave us advice for how to eat these things. And they assured us that the bibs were a good thing to wear. The fast-food lobster was excellent! :-)
	On our way down to Boston, we put our feet into the Atlantic.
	The water certainly was warmer than the Puget Sound, but I would still have a hard time swimming in it for long.
	Our first day in Boston, we took a Segway tour of the city. Wow, that was fun. And we saw so much as well:
	Amazing private homes.
	And grand buildings like this church. (We went back there on Sunday.)
	This was the inside of the Old North Church. Lanterns were displayed from it's tower for Paul Revere before his famous ride. It had box pews. People would pay for a box, and then decorate it as they liked. Also, since the church was not heated in winter, the people in each box could bring their own heater to church.
	In the old parts of Boston, there also were cobblestones. It started to rain, so we looked for something inside that we could do.
	It happened that the Museum of Fine Arts was free on that day at that time, so we saw their Egypt exhibit.
	Next day, we set off for Cape Cod. On the way, we went to see Plymouth Rock
	Yup, it is a rock. And it has an engraved date on it! :-)
	More interesting was this reproduction of the Mayflower. It had been built in Europe and then sailed on a reenactment voyage to Plymouth 60 years ago.
	It seemed quite sturdy, but it wasn't big inside.
	When we got to the Cape, we happened on a lovely park overlooking to the ocean.
	And on the way back, we took in a summer concert at the town of Sandwich put on by their community band. What fun!
	Our hotel was conveniently at the end of one of the trolley lines into Boston. We went in to Boston Commons on the next day.
	The Frog Pond was THE place to be if you were young and in a swim suit.
	That evening we saw the Blue Man Group show. It was very entertaining; we laughed so much!
	Next day we went kayaking with friends on the Concord River.
	Under the old bridge to the town of Concord.
	This brilliant plant was flowering along the banks.
	We had pizza at the town of Wellesley, and this was their town hall. It felt like it should have been set in Germany!
	On Sunday we went back into Boston to attend the Old South Church. Beautiful music, a good message & friendly people.
	Finally we went to Binghamton to be with Alan & Katie. Alan gave us a tour of where he works.
	And we drove to Ithaca to see the town and waterfalls.
	Later in the week the rest of the family flew in for Alan's wedding. We all stayed in the same hotel.
	The wedding was so much fun together!
	The next day, we went to the zoo, rode a carousel,
	And we had dinner with Katie's dad at his place.
	He made a delicious spread including the locally distinctive salt potatoes and chicken Spiedie.
	The next day we u-picked blueberries. More than a few were tasted!
	The whole family together.
	Finally it was time to travel back home. Camden was very connected to her Uncle Andrew, and played peak-a-boo games while we waited.
Jessi stayed with us a while longer in Seattle, and life slowly returned to normal.