Right, so that means trips
from Boston, not photos of Boston itself (although I do have a few of them in here). I very rarely escape Boston/Brookline/Cambridge/Somerville to all the nice towns in the vicinity, but thanks to visits from family members I've managed to hit a few places along the New England coast. Most of these are from last week, but some are older.
Might as well start in
Plymouth, Mass., where the Pilgrims landed in 1620, blah blah blah. Much celebration of "freedom" or something, with reference to what I assume were not exactly tolerant people. Here, the National Monument to the Forefathers. It's kind of huge.
And there's (a piece of) Plymouth Rock, the traditional landing site. I'm not sure if it's totally made up.
It's housed in this thing, which dates to 1920 or something.
A super thin peninsula lies across the harbor. Don't know if it's natural or not, but there are a few houses on it.
Mayflower replica, of course
A few from the main street in town
But the South Shore holds less interest. Maybe I just need to visit more to love it. Let's head north for now, though.
Salem is best known for events 320 years ago, and boy does this town try to capitalize on those witch trials. Besides that, though, it's an attractive enough town, although a cousin who used to live in one of its crummier neighborhoods could say how it's not all good. Must be that Lynn influence.
Anyway, kinda nice pedestrianized street downtown.
Now part of the Peabody Essex Museum, I think.
Witch Museum, of course. There are a few such sites.
Old burying ground, as is common in New England towns.
At the memorial to the witch trials and executions, someone still mourns the victims.
Over in the harbor, a little lighthouse
This has something to do with the House of The Seven Gables
From Salem we can head out on Cape Ann, where lies
Gloucester, the big fishing town.
And also
Rockport, home to the oft-painted and photographed shack known as Motif Number One.
And many lobster traps
On another day, we can go up to
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I don't know why, but I kind of love this town.
And we could cross the border to Maine.
Cape Neddick (a.k.a. Nubble) Light is just damn picturesque.
Then on to
Ogunquit. This is Perkins Cove, a nice section within the town.
This is a footbridge, and from what I could tell it appears to be a self-service drawbridge. Is that correct? Sounds mildly crazy. I didn't have the nerve to press the button.
From here you can walk along Marginal Way, a nice path along the coast. Here are a few shots from that walk.
Wavy but breezy
Yeah, in Maine the surfers appear even when it's pretty damn cold.
Two randoms north of Boston. First, a couple of pooches at
Hampton Beach, New Hampshire in winter.
And an interesting sign around
Newburyport, Massachusetts. This is an anti-nuclear sign on the only road to Plum Island, and it warns that evacuation of the island is not feasible when the nuclear power plant in nearby Seabrook, New Hampshire melts down.
And now I should return to
Boston with a handful of photos. First, here's a turkey that seems at ease wandering up and down my street in Cambridge.
During an 18 mile walk through Boston the other day, my sister and I picked up cannoli from Modern Pastry in the North End. They say tourists go to Mike's and locals go to Modern, but it's been too long since I had Mike's to make a proper comparison.
A moonrise over the Hancock buildings last week
Reconstruction of the Boston Tea Party Museum, which burned down a couple of times.
From the Fall, Boston Common
A couple from who knows when. Summer or something.
Looking across Pleasure Bay, South Boston
Again
Finally, a few from January, during pretty much the only time it snowed this winter.
That'll do. Thanks for looking!