Traveling Together - Salem and Plymouth

We had originally planned to enjoy the SEE Science Center on Tuesday, but sadly, it was closed for maintenance, so we decided to drive around Nashua and see all the places my sweetie stayed or ate dinner or whatever when he was working in Boston five years ago. We let the kids have a quick dip in the pool before we checked out, but the water was SO cold!

My sweetie really loves this beautiful place. First stop, Hayward ice cream (I know, ice cream for lunch...). My sweetie swears this is the best in the Boston area.

Our next stop was Salem. We considered the Salem Witch Museum, but decided against it since we had children with us. We did want to see Proctor's Ledge. They have erected a memorial where many of the alleged witches were hung.

Two of these women, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Esty, are many greats back aunts of ours. Their brother, Jacob, was our grandfather.

The Ledge was well preserved and the idea that these innocent people died here felt all too real.

Next, we went to the actual burial site of Rebecca Nurse. It is said that her children took her body away and gave her a proper Christian burial on their homestead. It was difficult to find this little cemetery and if you ever go there, make sure you have plenty of bug spray. We were only there for a few minutes and everyone had multiple bites.

Back on the road to Plymouth; we had warned the kids that Plymouth rock was pretty anticlimactic, but they were still excited to go there. 

We missed the last tour of the Mayflower II by about 15 minutes, so we headed for the little shops across the street. My old Plymouth shirt is nearly worn out...

We grabbed dinner near the dock and then the kids walked down to the water. Teach is leaving us in the morning and we hadn't been to the beach yet. I guess she will have to go when she gets back to New Jersey.

Traveling Together - Norman Rockwell Museum

Tuesday was supposed to be our down day, but my sweetie doesn't seem to want to waste a second of this dream vacation.

He had heard about the Norman Rockwell Museum, but at $20 each, it was pretty expensive. I pulled up the website and to our surprise, Tuesday was "free" day.

Can I just say that we absolutely loved this museum?

It was an amazing lesson in US history from an artist that our youngest kids had only barely heard of. 

After steeping ourselves in culture. Scout convinced us that it would be fun to window shop at the Outlet Mall. Yeah. Right. My sweetie's wallet was considerably lighter as we headed back to the condo.

We got the kids settled in and off to the pool before we drove half an hour to the nearest Walmart. After nearly an hour searching through an unfamiliar store, we made our way back to the condo to make dinner.

So much for a down day. I'm exhausted.

Traveling Together - South Lee

We arrived in South Lee, MA about 4:30 pm. It was just enough time for us to get some groceries, get unpacked and get settled. The kids were anxious to explore the property, but all we had time for was a quick swim before bed.

We got up bright and early on Saturday. It was my sweetie's birthday and he wanted to go to the Farmer's Market in South Lee. 

It was a nice little drive that ended with more of a boutique than a true Farmer's Market, but we took it in stride and we visited several of the booths, purchasing baked goods, vegetables, and fresh honey. It was mostly fun visiting with the locals.

After we left the market, we decided to walk down main street, just to see what we could see. There were plenty of small shops to explore, but we finally decided on the leather shop.

We bought my sweetie and the girls some very stylish hats. My sweetie was runnin the day (since it was his birthday) and he found a little train museum for us to visit.

We had the opportunity to ride their train about 100 yards and back... then we rode it again... 

The guide knew SO much about trains, but it was hard to hear him through his double mask.

Our little area in the Berkshires is the same place Norman Rockwell did some of his famous paintings, like the soda shop.

We decided that would be a great place to eat lunch. The food was good, but the atmosphere was better.

Back in our condo, we had the kids get caught up on homework before heading back to the activities. Then my sweetie cooked us an amazing dinner, trout, ravioli, and a little squash we bought at the Farmer's Market.

We finished the day with a chocolate bomb cake. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!

Traveling Together: Scottsdale

Weirdly, it rained in Scottsdale on Saturday, closing the pools, canceling the "dive-in" movie, and keeping us mostly indoors.

We did venture out to the local Wal-Mart before drops began to fall and it was interesting to see the local foliage. 

My sweetie is fascinated with the awkward beauty of the cactus plant.

Back in the room we played cards...

...and video games.

My sweetie and I worked on a puzzle we bought on Friday. The kids love the joke..."Mom is working on the Dam puzzle again!"

We probably need to find better things to do.