After having a whirl-wind weekend with Elisabeth in the Boston area, things really slowed down as she left for home on Sunday night and then I left for a business trip to Pittsburgh on Tuesday morning.  That left Pat at the trailer for three rainy days!  She did get out to exercise at the gym at the Hanscom Air Force Force Base each day and to do a little shopping but it was mostly a relaxing time.

I flew back into to Boston’s Logan Airport on Thursday night and took the subway as far west as possible so that it was only a 15 minute drive for Pat to pick me up at 10:00 pm and the next day was sunny again—perfect timing to get in some more sightseeing!

Salem National Park

We toured Salem and had dinner at a recommended restaurant in Glouchester out on the coast north of Boston.  Salem was unique.  The national park area really focused on the economic history of the port—most of which I don’t ever remember from history classes but was fascinating!  The rest of the town focuses on the witch trials and all that that involved—lots of museums and gift shops.  The cemetery was interesting—lots of barely readable headstones from the 1600’s and 1700’s.  There was also a memorial to all of those executed as witches.  Dinner in Gloucester was at a very informal diner—we were expecting something more—but was delicious, best fried shrimp Pat has ever had!

Memorial to the “Innocents”

The next day we returned to the North Bridge in Concord—this time to kayak under it.  The Concord River is a scenic river—very wide right now with all the rain the area has had.  Bob enjoyed paddling right among the trees!  It was pleasant and relaxing as we took time to picture what it was like in 1774 when the Revolutionary War started there.  Afterwards we stopped for ice cream at the placed that was labeled by our campground hosts as having “big ice cream” (as opposed to the “bigger ice cream” a little farther down the road).

Kayaking on the Concord River

Sunday morning I  was back to work, flying out of Boston very early in the morning for Chicago.  This time Pat had five quiet days but the weather was much better so she did a lot of bike riding—west to Concord, east to Lexington and also onto base to do grocery shopping.

The weekend included a trip to Cape Cod with a stop in Plymouth to see Plymouth Rock where the Pilgrims landed and a replica of the Mayflower.  On Cape Cod we visited Hyannis and the JFK museum, the National Seashore and several lighthouses.  The day was cool but there were still people swimming in the cold Atlantic!  We didn’t try it.  We also managed to stop at the “bigger ice cream” shop for a banana split to share.

Mayflower II

JFK Memorial in Hyannis Port

Our next stop is Maine—Bar Harbor, here we come!