Drive, Drive, Drive

We spent last night in Lebanon, New Hampshire, which is just across the river from Vermont. We drove to Sharon, Vermont (or what is now South Royalton) to the birthplace of Joseph Smith. It's an awesome feeling when your heart starts to burn just driving up the entrance-way to the monument. A 38.5 foot high granite obelisk has been placed on the property that formerly belonged to the Smith family placed to commemorate Joseph Smith (1 foot for each year of his life). Flat Zane was with us on out trip and he got to meet Flat Stanley at the Joseph Smith memorial. This chair was made by Joseph Smith (obviously made elsewhere when he was older, but it now resides in Vermont). The hearth stone is the original stone from the Smith home. Next we drove across Vermont and into New York while taking many local roads. We drove through Glens Falls, or "Jimmerville". Finally we got to the New York Thru-way where we happily paid $6.50 to drive fast! We got to the Whitmer Farm in Waterloo 10 minutes before closing. I felt "the burn" again as we neared the farm. A replica of the Whitmer home, a log cabin, has been built in the spot where the original log cabin sat. This is where the church and the Melchizedek priesthood was restored. Miles was happy to be free from his car seat and was upset to have to get back in his seat, even though we promised him it would be a short drive. We did a "repositioning" drive and are staying about 5 miles from our start point for tomorrow- Palmyra (and then another repositioning drive to the Niagara Falls area).

Yesterday We All Needed a Time Out

Seriously, yesterday was the day when we all needed break from each other. One woke up with an attitude, one with a tease-itude, one with an "I'm grumpy-ism", one who refused to listen to the navigator, and one is two.Massachusetts is the worst at labeling historic locations. I think their attitude is "if you don't know where it is, then you can't see it"! To find Plymouth Rock, we drove to Plymouth then headed toward the ocean and found it... no signs. We drove to Lexington to see the battle green there and we drove right past it because we didn't see the tiny "no parking" sized sign indicating what the green park in the center of the city was. The above picture is where the Lexington Minutemen who were killed are buried. Then we went to Concord and found the sign for the Minute Man National Historical Park, but couldn't find the visitors center. Finally, we did, but really, arrows on a sign or the word "ahead" would have been useful. There is a great multimedia presentation about Lexington and Concord at the visitor center. When we finished up at the historical park, we headed north to Maine.

We paid $3.59 per gallon for gas, and it was at a full service station too.

We drove up the coast of Maine. It's beautiful. We stopped at York Harbor's beach. Miles loved the sand and ocean (but didn't get to play in the ocean). Jonathan identified the classification of various ocean plant life that washed up on the shore. He, Nolan, and I hunted for polished rocks, shells, and sea glass. Love is finding 3 awesome pieces of sea glass... white, aqua, and red, then giving them to your son. The reflections on the sand were really cool too. Then we drove up to Perkin's Cove and took a walk along a paved trail on the coast. It was so pretty. The waves were crashing against the rocks sending spray up and everywhere. It reminded Dan and I of our Kauai trip (only there it was 85 degrees and humid, instead of 51 and chilly). At the end of the trail was a Miles-sized lighthouse that has a dual purpose... as a lighthouse and as a sewage pumping station. We walked back to the car then went in search of lobster for the boys but the idea was so poorly received that it was abandoned. We got in the car and drove to Lebanon, New Hampshire (near the Vermont border) and spent the night (in a non-smoking room that reeks of smoke).

Once the boys wake up, we're headed to Sharon, Vermont and then driving towards Palmyra.

Boston!

Boston!

We spent the day on the Freedom Trail.Note: Jonathan is in chains on the Freedom Trail. We went on a 3-hour guided tour. Our guide was Moses Michael Hayes, a Jew and a historian living in Boston around the time of the American Revolutionary War. We started off in Boston Common and then walked to the Massachusetts State house. The State House was built in 1798 and is still in use today as the state house. The dome of the building is gold plated. It was originally wood shingled, then copper plated (that was installed by Paul Revere) before being gold plated. Next we went to the Granary Burial Ground. Several early patriots are buried there including Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and the victims of the Boston Massacre. There were creepy things engraved on some tombstones.That tombstone belongs to Frank, John Hancock's servant. Next we visited the Old South Meeting House where the Boston Tea Party was planned. Then to the building where the Declaration of Independence was first read to all of Boston (and is still read every 4th of July from the building's balcony).Then we went to the site of the Boston Massacre (which is located on an island in the middle of an intersection. We ended the morning tour at Faneuil Hall which was/is a place for gatherings (and planning insurrections).

The afternoon tour started at Faneuil Hall. We were entertained by this Peruvian musician while we waited for the tour to start. We wandered past a slew of taverns, past the New England Holocaust Memorial, and into North End, Boston. We stopped at Copp's Hill Burying Ground where more patriots are buried. Then we walked down the hill to the Old North Church where Robert Newman (who is buried at Copp's Hill) hung Paul Revere's two lanterns. He exited the church through a rear window that has now been bricked in. We saw St. Stephen's church (the last remaining church in Boston designed by Charles Bulfinch who also designed Faneuil Hall and the State House) and finished the tour at Paul Revere's house. We also saw the house where Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy was born.

After the afternoon tour concluded we continued on the Freedom Trail to Charlestown, Boston. There we stopped by an ice cream parlor where Miles wanted to ride their painted cow
before heading over to the naval shipyard to see the USS Constitution

and the dry docked World War II destroyer. Our last stop was the Bunker Hill Monument. We headed back to Boston Common via Regina's Pizza in North End. When we got back to Boston Common, we let Miles loose at the playground. He was so happy to be free! It was dusk and we were about to head back to the hotel when 3 very close gun shots rang out. That motivated us (and nearly everyone in Boston Common) to leave quickly. We got to the train stop, hopped on a train, and got back to the hotel. It was a fun, interesting, and educational day.

Other fun pictures I took that really don't have anything to do with the Freedom Trail. He is a lovely "building topper" in downtown Boston. What were they thinking? The narrowest house in Boston's outside dimension is 8 feet wide. The boys had fun with this fish sculpture.

Massachusetts

Mapquest is a horrible predictor of travel time. In theory, taking the "long route" it should have taken us nearly 5 hours to drive from the JFK airport to Boston. I took us four hours, taking local roads instead of the interstates, to get to Plymouth. We visited Plymouth rock, which takes about 27 seconds to fully appreciate. We saw the Mayflower II, but opted to not to go on it. Miles spent the entire time in Plymouth sleeping in his car seat.

Next we headed towards Boston, but instead of going to Boston, we went in search of the Boston Temple. It was easy to find... right off the Concord Turnpike, just like the church website said. The Boston temple was different than other temples in that it had a floral motif in its design. We walked down the trail behind the temple which goes down a wooded hill to the ward house that is on the same property. Miles liked being free and running around the "lawn". Nolan preferred their trees. There was a local family at the temple when we arrived. The live on the other side of the turnpike and can see the temple from their house. The father said that he is a Hindu, but likes to come to the temple because "it's peaceful". Odd thing though, they like the temple because "it's peaceful", but his kids are playing frisbe on the lawn. I can't imagine going to a Hindu sacred place and playing frisbe out of respect for the Hindus and for fear of offending the Hindus. Whatever... I wasn't offended; I just thought it was odd. Finally we decided to try to find our hotel... we drove by Fenway where the Red Sox were playing the Yankees and then straight to our hotel. Mapquest had the directions right!!! We're laying low tonight and tomorrow we're walking the Freedom Trail... American Revolutionary War day!

Favorite Signs from the Road

Today we drove from Brooklyn to Boston, via Connecticut and Rhode Island. We thought Connecticut had some great road signs. The best street name sign I saw was "No Walkers Drive." Jonathan says that the senior citizens in the area must feel discriminated against since they don't think they can live on "No Walkers Drive." At exit 17 along some highway, there was an official highway sign that said that the name of the exit was "No exit". I guess you had to be there to think they were really funny. As we were crossing in to Massachusetts, I told Nolan to tell me what the green sign said (it said "Welcome to Massachusetts"). Nolan shouted out "Subway!" On the other side of the street there was a green Subway restaurant sign. Also, no offense to New Englanders, New England in April is pretty ugly... lots and tons of brown leafless trees. I'm sure that once the trees leaf out, then the region is beautiful- I guess I'll have to come back during the spring/fall and see the thousands of trees in all their glory.

The Big Apple, Day 2

I found an area where I think I could live in the NYC area. This morning we decided to walk into Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge. We got off the train in Brooklyn Heights. I really like the feel of that area. We spent about an hour wandering Brooklyn Heights (in search of the pedestrian entrance for the Brooklyn Bridge) and I enjoyed being in that neighborhood. We walked into Manhattan, which took much longer than we expected due to our inability to find the bridge and the human traffic jam across the bridge (too many bikers, rollerbladers, runners, normal speed walkers, and old people on the bridge). We took a train to Battery Park and made in just in time for our ferry to Liberty Island (thank you Congress for reaching a budget agreement at 11 p.m. last night so the government didn't get shut down today which kept Liberty Island open). We went to the museum and to the Pedestal view level at the Statue of Liberty. Then we took the ferry to Ellis Island. Ellis Island was really cool. Unfortunately, it's not the best place for a 2 year old. I felt rushed. Dan took Miles out and let him wander so he missed most of the museum. I'd like to go back there sans a toddler and have all the time I want to read and experience Ellis Island. After the ferry ride to Manhattan, we went to Chinatown where Miles had to have a Chinese flag. We ate mediocre Chinatown Chinese food for dinner. Jonathan and Nolan both tried new foods- Nolan tried broccoli chicken and Jonathan tried fried rice, lo mein, bamboo, water chestnut, bean sprouts, and scrambled egg. Then we headed over to the United Nations building (which was really lame because it was late evening on a Saturday and everything was locked up and no flags were flying) and then back to Times Square for souvenir shopping. The Big Ones bought picture frames to put a NYC picture that they took in. Miles got "I heart NY" pajamas. Our last stop of the night was to the Eugene Oneill theater to get a picture take by The Book of Mormon musical posters. It was a long, but fun day (and the boys were dragging by 4 p.m.)! Off to Boston tomorrow...

Oh, and I've decided that New Yorkers are the nicest people. We had people stop and ask us if we were lost or needed help. Kind people tried to interact with Miles. People gave us their seats to we could sit with Miles. My Metro card was being lame and not reading correctly so some nice guy exiting the station swiped his card for me so I could get through the turn-style. The real New Yorker City-ers are so much nicer than the tourists!