October 9, 2013 Connecticul

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Good night.  Tide still low in the morning.  We drove to Falmouth at the far southwest corner of the cape to see Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and aquarium, only to discover that it is federally funded, so was closed because of the shutdown.  Pretty area, though, with lots of big older homes, sailboats, etc.  The ferry to Martha’s Vineyard leaves from here.

Woods Hole Novelty

Bade farewell to Cape Cod and headed through Rhode Island toward Hartford, Connecticut.  Stopped at a McDonalds for breakfast and a wi-fi break, then visited the Mark Twain House in Hartford. Samuel Clemens lived here for 17 years, raised his family and wrote many of his books, including Huckleberry Finn, Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Tom Sawyer. He was a fiery redhead whose wit and charm excused some of his excesses. His only direction to his architect (who mostly built churches) was that he wanted a red house.  Which he got.

We watched a brief film and then enjoyed a tour of the home, which cost $45,000, paid for by his wife Livy.  Twain was terrible with money, invested poorly, lost the house, declared bankruptcy and moved the family to Europe for several years.  He paid his debts by going on a world speaking tour and had someone help him with finances in order not to squander his second fortune.   Our British guide was very knowledgeable and sprinkled Twain’s witticisms throughout.  There were also displays in the Visitor’s Center, including this Lego Twain – and we thought a pirate ship was challenging!

Next stop was the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol.   It was in a very old brick warehouse-type building, along with a Firefighter Museum and a small room of Greek art.

The carousel museum was great, with displays as to how horses were carved as well as information on different styles and stances.  Some were from the 1800’s and some more current.  I got to ride on a carousel from Venice which was donated to the museum (but cost $90,000 to ship, assemble, and fortify the structure where it is located).  The up and down motion with the music brought back memories!

carousel menangerie

Free ride!

beautiful carving

One of many miniature carousels

They were holding an event there that evening, and were busy arranging tables, flowers, etc.  so our tour was a bit truncated, but we were free to roam.

The fireman’s museum had lots of equipment, alarms, clothing, photographs and other paraphenilia! 

We decided to push on a bit to Danbury, where we found a lovely Lowe’s which provided a great out-of-the-way but secure parking spot as well as free wi-fi which reached the Trek.

Thursday, October 10

Leisurely early morning, taking care of business, getting caught up on email, and Greg plotted our course for the day.

We headed north to two State Parks that sounded quite lovely, and were – even in the cloudy, drippy day.  As we got into more rural countryside, there were amazing homes , huge horse farms,  cattle and more.  With assorted lakes and streams and many stone fences, it was quite lush and lovely!

Our first stop was Lake Waramaug State Park.  It was closed for the season, but the roads and picnic areas were still open.  The park was very lovely and as we left the park and continued around the lake there were beautiful homes, some with boathouses, gazebos, docks, rolling lawns and gardens. Shades of Great Gatsby settings.

 Leaving Lake Waramaug, we put Kent Falls State Park into my map ap  and wound our way there.  Except that we were told to turn down Dugan Road, which ended up a very narrow, windy dirt road that did NOT go to the Falls.  It did have some lovely homes, including one with dozens of metal animal sculptures on the grounds!  Greg managed to turn around and exit Dugan Road, and we found the correct road to the Falls just a few yards later.

Greg heading for the Falls trail

There were at least a dozen falls with a rocky stairway climbing beside them.  The colors, smell of fall leaves , musical water, cool fresh air – a delight for the senses!

 We decided to head into New York and Letchworth State Park, which was one of my mother’s favorite places.  Quite a drive – 6 hours and it was very cloudy or rainy most of the way.  Someone "enhanced" these rocks near the highway with this fine fellow which was about five feet tall.

Finally, about half an hour from our destination, we saw a few patches of blue sky – hurray!

Taking no chances after the morning map escapade, I called the park and got easy directions.  We arrived about 5:30, found a campground, used the dump station and drove a bit to see the sun setting.  Spied this fox eating what I think was a bird and a few deer as well.  Lots of geese flying their noisey v’s overhead .

Red Fox having dinner

Geese at sunset - look closely!

Hoping for clear skies tomorrow.

Electric hookups and hot showers.  Steak, baked potatoes and salad for dinner!

October 7 Cape Cod

Tuesday, October 7

A few commuters and buses began arriving by 7:00, so we had breakfast, eyed the maps and headed out.   We were headed toward Provincetown, at the tip of the cape, but made a few stops along the way.

Most of the stops were within the Cape Cod National Park, which  is shut down. Some parking areas are open, some are blocked, but all the visitor’s centers are closed. There were still a few buses and other people seeing what they could.  First stop was Fort Hill where we walked the Red Maple Swamp trail and along  a marsh area where the golden grasses made a beautiful scene. The whaling captain's house looked interesting but wasn't open.

red maple swamp trail

marshland

Whaling captain's home

 Next stop was Nauset Beach, a pretty surfing beach with a bright lighthouse. There was a small building where the first transatlantic cable came ashore back in the late 1800’s. Quite an event at the time! Walked a trail to “the three sisters” lighthouses, a trio of small lighthouses that used to be in this area but are inactive.

 

Two of The Three Sisters

 A little further up the road we took a road to the Highland Lighthouse, one of oldest on the cape.  The parking lot was blocked, again due to the government shut-down, but we parked and walked into the grounds.  

Arrived in Provincetown, tiny narrow streets jam-packed with historical buildings, lots of shops, restaurants, B&B's, and the Pilgrim Memorial towering over all. We went to the library where the second floor is practically all taken up by a huge ship – interesting. Had lunch at a Deli-type place called Far Land Provisions which had been recommended. Checked out a few shops.

Library

Ship on 2nd floor of library

Provincetown

Busy streets of Provincetown

Pilgrim's Memorial, Provincetown

 Went a little further, to the end of the cape, Pilgrim Park, where there is a breakwater where  several men and women were fishing for blue fish - quite successfully!  Walked out as far as we could. According to some records, this is where the Pilgrims first landed.

 

Next we drove to Herring Cove and few other nearby beaches. Went through Wellsfleet and walked the Grand Island Trail for a while, collecting some pretty white rocks on the beach.

 Got the impression that there isn’t much unoccupied land on the cape.  Many, many beaches and each has resorts, cabins, hotels, etc.   Seems that most of the towns have expanded so that they all kind of run together. Most have several with similar names, like North Brewster, Brewster, East Brewster or Hyannis and Hyannisport.  Many of the buildings are finished with wood shingles which are weathered grey. Most of the beaches were sandy, some flat and others with dunes or cliffs.  Saw only a few shells; stones and seaweed.

Passed this interesting sign for a restaurant.

As the sun was about to set, we stopped at Cooks Brook Beach to watch, along with about a dozen other folks.  A policeman came by and was taking a sunset photo, so Greg asked if we could boondock here – he said technically no, but he didn’t mind, so that’s the plan.  After the sun was gone, everyone else left, so we’ve got the place to ourselves.

  This boat was afloat and you couldn't see the sandbars when we arrived, but the tide quickly went out.

 The colors were amazing. Changing every few minutes.

 Quiet night. Clouds, so not many stars.

October 6, 2013 at Brett & Dave's MA

Friday, October 3 – Sunday, October 6

Family Time! 

Brett and Dave are wonderful hosts and had prepared a fantastic array of dishes, including  kielbassi ,  a complete Turkey feast for Friday dinner, a wonderful barbque Saturday, fresh guacamole, an array of cheeses, and Lasagne dinner on Sunday.  Assorted libations too J. Greg’s Mother and Sister Gwynne arrived from PA on Friday, and other brother Garth and his wife Kathy and their daughter Carolyn, who live in Shrewsbury MA, also joined us  daily.  Kathy made the excellent pecan and pumpkin pies and dinner rolls and the lasagna dinner!  Dave's Mom and Dad, Doris and Joe, drove up from Rhode Island for the Saturday cookout. 

chef Brett

Chef Dave

Sable

Garth & Mom

Dave and his parents.

The Johnson Crew

Game time

 The highlight of the weekend, of course, was the Brain Tumor Walk on Sunday.  The weather didn’t cooperate, but there was a great turnout nonetheless and Brett’s team raised over twice their $10,000 goal!

Dave & Brett brave the rain

We made it!

Most of Team Oligo

We did do a few things other than eat and walk. As usual with Johnson get-togethers, there were games, including Attack Uno, Rummikube,  Ticket to Ride, and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - a fun game that Kathy has used with her Improv group. Watched a little bit of football too.  It was great to catch up on everyone’s activities.

Monday, October 6

After a pleasant breakfast, Mom and Gwynne headed back to PA and Greg I headed to Massachusetts’ North Shore and Cape Ann area.  Still kind of cold and rainy, but the rain did stop long enough for us to do a walking tour of Gloucester.  A very old fishing town, home to Gorton's seafood and others.

Gloucester harbor area

Fisherman's Memorial

The most interesting person we met was  Richard, the man running The Dive Locker, a small museum dedicated to diving equipment and a wild array of other historical pieces.  The movie The Perfect Storm was filmed here partly, so there were a few stories about that.   I especially liked the chess set made from pencils which the crew of the boat from The Perfect Storm made while  becalmed and bored while trying to cross the Atlantic after filming ended. The boat was later returned to Gloucester and this chess board found the day before the boat was destroyed by fire. Richard was a retired teacher (and diver) who obviously relished sharing his stories and knowledge.

Next stop was Rockport, an appropriately rocky port but rather grey today.

We went further north to Halibut Point, a nice State Park  built around an old granite quarry.  The quarry was abandoned in the mid 1900’s and promptly filled with water up to 60 feet deep.  The granite was shipped all over the US and even to Cuba and South America.

This really is a color picture!

Halibut Point

Quarry at Halibut Point

fire tower overlooking quarry

Fungus amongus

The sun managed to break through occasionally as we decided to head south to Cape Cod. A two-three hour drive took us to Chatham fishing pier where we saw a few seals.

Chatham Harbor

uncooperative seal

And then we tried to go to Monohony Wildlife Preserve, but it was closed down due to the government shut-down, as was the National Seashore visitor's center!   Ended up going to a Park and Ride lot where we spent a quiet night with just a few other vehicles.