We also added lots more pics to our picasa web album for this trip.
Sunday we thought we'd drive around to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod, about an hour and a half each way...
Not thinking what traffic might be like on this Father's Day, off we went. Beautiful day for a drive. We soon realized that Cape Cod on a Father's Day Sunday was not to be trifled with. Crossing the Sagamore Bridge (what the locals refer to as "crossing onto the cape") we immediately saw the return traffic was very clogged and moving very slowly. Then there was a big flashing sign "PLAN YOUR TRIP! EXPECT HEAVY RETURN TRAFFIC FROM 2:00 TO 7:00 PM". Oh oh... it wasn't even noon yet and look at that traffic. Well, we decided that we were in it now, so might as well make a long day of it. We continued along, keeping an eye on the return traffic. The return traffic was heavy and very slowly moving all the way to Hyannis, about 18 miles, and we hadn't even turned north up the cape yet. Yikes!!! Time to get off the highway, get some gas to make sure we had a full tank lest we have to sit in that traffic later. Plus it was time to get some lunch. In Hyannis, we saw a sign proclaiming Cooke's Seafood to be "voted the best seafood on the cape", so we thought we'd give it a try. Pretty good chowder but the fish and clams were deep fried in a heavy batter and not as good as we'd hoped.
After lunch we continued on up the cape. Meanwhile, traffic in the other direction started to thin out a bit so maybe it is just the rather long bottleneck to get back across the Sagamore Bridge.
At North Eastham we stopped in the Cape Cod National Seashore (National Park). Wow, what a beautiful place. At the visitors center, the view across numerous kettle ponds is fabulous...
Continuing up the cape, we learned that the National Park actually extends all the way along the outer shore and around the tip of the cape. This is a huge park, nearly 44,000 acres with over 40 miles of seashore, most of it beautiful sand beaches...
The beaches are very popular but carry a hefty $20 daily parking fee (per car, so take lots of friends). Our National Parks pass which we procured last fall at Red Rock Canyon, near Las Vegas, starts to come in handy. We were able to visit a few beaches without having to pay at any of them. Nice. The annual pass cost $80; so far we have been in $124 worth of parks so the pass is definitely a good value.
We drove around the tip of the cape into Provincetown, a very pretty picturesque little town, but here's where we found the true impact of Father's Day Sunday on the cape... narrow streets with virtually bugger all for parking... and packed, to the gills, with tourists. We drove around for a bit, then decided that since it was now late afternoon we should consider heading back. It is about 60 miles back to the Sagamore Bridge and who knows what the traffic will still be like. Well, it looks like we timed it right. Being pretty well right at supper time there was a lull in the traffic and we made it back across the bridge in reasonably good time. Whew!
Later, back at the campground we were chatting with a few other campers and they were quite adamant..."Do not go up the cape on a Sunday!" Ok, so now we know.... or at least know to go with lots of time and a full tank of gas.
Anyway, back in Plymouth we stopped in at the CabbyShack, on the pier, for a decent meal of chowder, salad and steamer clams while we watched Canada beat Switzerland in Women's World Cup soccer. The wine was ok, but just. Long day.
Monday was to be our first foray into the life of a commuter into Boston. We were told, by the folks at the campground, that the best station to catch the commuter rail was Kingston, around 15 minutes away and it would take just under an hour to get to South Station where we could catch the subway, or The T, as they call it here. The commuter trains together with the subway and bus systems are collectively known as the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority). Looking at the schedule we noted that a train left the Kingston station at 10:05 AM on weekdays. Perfect, we would be in downtown Boston shortly after 11:00.
On the way to the Kingston station we stopped at a Starbucks. While there, we looked at the schedule to see what time we should plan on returning, when we realized that the 10:05 departure train doesn't arrive at South Station until going on noon. What happened to "just under an hour"? Crap, it goes south to Plymouth before heading north into Boston so adds an extra hour to the commute. Who needs that? We decide to drive closer into Boston and catch the T directly, thereby also avoiding a transfer. Off to the Braintree station, about a half hour drive closer to Boston. We get there to find the parking lot full! We go further in to the Quincy Adams station where we do find a parking spot. Now for tickets. To a newcomer, to the Boston system, it is a bit confusing. You don`t need to buy individual tickets for each person in the group. Apparently, you can buy a Charlie ticket and put whatever amount of money you want on it. Then, one person goes through the turnstile and can pass the ticket to the next person etc etc, and re-use the card until the money runs out. To not help matters, the poor attendant was a young woman who barely spoke passable English and she was having to deal with a lot of people, all asking at the same time, how this all works. We just bought separate tickets for the exact fare for each trip. For the few rides we plan to take this seemed to be much easier. Once on the platform we chatted with a couple of women (an older woman and her daughter) who were waiting for the same train. The older one told us "...it only gets worse the closer you get to Boston". They are from the area, have used the T for years and still don't really like it.
We took the Red Line from Quincy Adams to Park St then the Green Line to the Museum of Fine Art. We soon discovered that the Boston metro is the most antiquated one we have ever been on. Slow and not particularly comfortable. The Park St station is billed as the oldest subway station in the country (opened September 1897) and it shows.To this date it is not evident that anything has ever been cleaned. To the newcomer, it is a confusing station to navigate when changing from one line to the other and not knowing where to stand, on the platform, for any one of the four Green Line trains adds to the confusion. At one point we noticed several people just walk across the track (this one track is at platform level), a particularly dangerous practice. I later googled "Park Street Station" and got several hits about people being hit/killed by trains at this station. After asking one person where we catch the "Green Line to Heath" to get to the correct platform, we then had to ask another person where on the platform the "E" (one of the 4 green lines) stopped... "... way down that way!". We did finally get on the right train and were on our way to the Museum of Fine Arts. This particular train lumbered slowly through the labyrinth of turns at a pace that could easily have been matched by a brisk walk. BUT, we did make it to the Museum of Fine Arts, just a tad later than we thought we would..
This museum has a nice policy. When you buy your entrance ticket you not only get entrance on that day but you can come back again, one more time, within the next ten days. So, we decided that since we will be back in the area Thursday morning (Fenway Park is not too far away) we would not try to see "everything" in one visit.
We started with the special exhibit, Hokusai, a fabulous large display showing the work of Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, in particular woodblock prints such as The Great Wave of Kanagawa. WOW... what a display. It is on until August 9, 2015 (this link may not work after that time)...
After a bit, it was time to hit the New American Cafe, one of several dining options in the museum where a quesadilla for Kris and cod cakes for Brian made for a nice lunch.
After a brief walk through the American Wing and a look in the main gift shop, we left the museum and headed up the street to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, scene of the greatest art heist in history, some $500 million worth of art work stolen in one night. Fifteen years and still not solved. In the Dutch Room gallery, several frames hang empty as placeholders for paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Manet, and Degas, and others that were taken. There are many any neat objects of art in this museum but it is a bit on the eclectic side.It is like visiting someone's home; there are all sorts of things displayed with no labels. There are gallery guides available in each room, but that is really the only indication of what you are viewing. At one point, around a corner and above a cabinet (with no space to back up and admire the painting) was a Bottticcelli. The original terms of the endowment require that the museum remain as it was in Isabella's time, so there are no labels or explanatory descriptions for the artworks. The stolen being represented by their empty frames is so sad as this includes the Vermeer that Kris will probably never see. A testament to the notion that if the FBI tells you that the rumour mill says you are going to be robbed, you might consider spending some money on improved security.
The trip back to Park St station was a bit quicker, on a much newer car, but still agonizingly slow compared to other large city subways we have been on. Arriving back at the car we quickly realized that we were smack in the middle of late afternoon rush hour. Traffic on the freeway south was at a complete standstill. We quickly reconfigured our GPS to avoid highways to find another route back. Much nicer even if it might have ended up taking about the same length of time. We weren't sitting in traffic and we were seeing more of the local area. Along the way we stopped for a Starbucks then found a Trader Joe's where we picked up some grilling steak and salads for dinner back at the campground.
Tuesday we ventured back into Boston. This time we tried the earlier commuter train from Kingston. It left the Kingston station just after 8:30 AM and got us to the South Station, near downtown Boston, a bit before 9:30 AM. We were not sure if parking would be a problem, or how/where to get tickets so we arrived at the station with lots of time to spare. Lots of parking available with an interesting, and another antiquated, way of paying for parking. They have payment boards showing every one of the 1000+ spots in the lot. You get your parking spot number then find it on one of the boards where you fold up dollar bills (or use coins) and stuff them into the little slot numbered for your space...
... there is even a little metal "stuffer stick" you use to help push the folded up bill into the slot...
.... no credit cards here. This caused Kris to comment.. "Good grief, this is the best they can do? Come on, they have Harvard here!". While waiting we chatted with a younger man who told us that he avoids going into Boston whenever possible. Seems to be a common sentiment that we hear a lot!
We found that you can buy tickets at the little donut stand beside the track or get them from the conductor on board. We bought from the donut guy. One way is $10.50 for adults; $5.25 for seniors. These commuter trains are substantially more comfortable than the T, but that makes sense as it is essentially a train ride to a different city. The ride into Boston reminded us of many of the trains we took in Germany. South Station is a large connection point for numerous commuter lines and a couple of the T lines. We thought we would have to take the Red Line to get close to the historic area but the guy at the information desk convinced us that walking along Atlantic Ave would be nicer and likely just as fast. Based on yesterday's experience with the T, and it being a beautiful day we decided to walk and stop at a Starbucks for a break on the way. After coffee, our first stop for the day was Faneuil Hall, the historical meeting hall (1743) of colonial Boston.
After a talk, from a hall docent, we spent about a half hour looking through the different floors of the hall. Pretty interesting place. The main "meeting area" is still used and rented out for various functions. One regular function is for the swearing in of new Americans. Very appropriate place! Leaving the hall, we had lunch at the historic (over 100 years) Durgin-Park eatery in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. A cup of fish chowder and salad for Kris; a cup of clam chowder and fish cakes for Brian. Very good lunch. While waiting for our meals we chatted with a couple that sat at the table next to ours. They are both from San Diego and are in Boston for a Red Hat Summit (Linux) conference. They work for the kind of company that specializes in "cloud technology" which basically makes it possible for folks like us to have blogs like this.
Afterward we decided to follow along part of the Freedom Trail up into the North End district. This is the Italian part of the city and the aromas coming out of restaurants and the odd deli reminded us greatly of our times in Italy. Wonderful area to stroll around in. We stopped at the Paul Revere House...
, the Old North Church (no pics), where the famous "one if by land; two if by sea" signal was sent and finally Copp's Hill Burying Ground, Boston's second oldest cemetery...
That brought us to late afternoon so it was time to head back towards South Station and the commute home. Part of the way we walked through a section of the Boston Green Way that parallels Atlantic Avenue. Very nice indeed!
We got back to South Station with about 20 minutes to spare. Our train to Kingston showed up on the schedule board but no assigned departure track. It appears, and only makes sense, that the regular trains always leave from the same track, but they don't display the track, on the departure board until about 8-10 minutes before the scheduled departure time. We can only assume this is to avoid confusion if there are last minute changes. Not displaying the track, until the last few minutes is likely not an issue if you regularly commute on the same train, but for newbies, you can only stand there staring at the departure board then do the fast walk/jog/run to the farthest track in the station. When they finally displayed the track, for our train, there were not that many people hurrying to the assigned track but, somehow, by the time we got there, the train was almost full. Looks like the regular commuters know the drill, but we could only imagine the mad dash if, at the last minute, the train was assigned to a different track, say at the far end of the station.
We had planned to go to a Plymouth Pilgrims baseball game Tuesday night as they were scheduled to play the Newport Gulls who we saw a few nights ago down in Newport. However, by the time we got back to the campground, the weather had turned a tad inclement, actually quite inclement, to the point where there were tornado warnings up and down the coast. We joined a number of other campers in the large lodge building until the tornado warning was lifted, about an hour later. No damage, only lots of wind and a fair amount of rain. For dinner we drove back into the Plymouth harbor area to return to the CabbyShack for another round of steamed clams and some coconut shrimp. While there we saw a number of young guys in Plymouth Pilgrims uniforms so it looks like their game was cancelled due to the weather.
Wednesday we decided to take another shot at Cape Cod. We only drove up as far as North Eastham where we had a most excellent lunch of chowder and steamed clams at Arnold's Lobster & Clam Bar before going over near the visitor center at the Cape Cod National Seashore for a bit of sketching and water colour painting (mostly Kris). Another beautiful day. For dinner we just stopped in at the Stop & Shop for some chicken salad and green salad fixings to have back at the campground.
Thursday was our day to visit to Fenway Park and see the Red Sox host the Baltimore Orioles. We repeated the commute into Boston from the Kingston station. From South Station we only had a two stop T commute to Park St. We asked the woman at the information desk and she said we should "just walk", so we did. It was a pleasant walk through part of downtown and the Park Street station was easy to find and we now knew where to stand to get the Green Line E train to the museum where we would have well over an hour before heading to Fenway. Our tickets from Monday got us entry again today. First stop was the Post-Impressionism gallery for some Van Gogh, Renoir and others. One large painting by Monet, of his wife in a Japanese kimono, is spectacular. Apparently, this painting is so popular in Japan that there was an offer (not sure who from, but either a Japanese government agency or large business) to have the painting restored and cleaned (at a cost of more than a million dollars) on the condition that it could go to Japan for an extended loan. While in Japan, a kimono was commissioned to match the one in the painting, and people could have their photo taken posing in front of the painting while wearing the kimono. The painting had just been returned and hung a couple of days prior to our visit and had we been around for a few days we could have gone back giving Kris an opportunity to pose, with the kimono, in front of the painting...oh well, in this picture, sans kimono, Kris is there to give an idea of the size of the painting)...
... then the American wing for Edward Hopper... (they have a large Hopper collection, but only one on display??? come on, people! don't hide this stuff away!)...
...with some modern art in between... (Carey, this is for you!)...
... then back to the gift shop. By this time it was a bit past noon with the ball game scheduled for a 1:30 start. We were told it was about a 30 minute walk to the park so we still had time to grab some lunch and exchange our confirmation letter for some tickets but it would be a bit tight. When we walked out the door of the museum there was a cab right there so we went over and asked if he could take us to the ball park. Guess we should have asked to go to the "ball pahk" because he didn't know what we meant! "Fenway, you know where the Boston Red Sox play baseball!"... the cloud slowly lifted over his head and we were on our way. It seems we may have got the one cabby in all of Boston who didn't know the Red Sox! Even with the heavy traffic and one way streets this method of transport saved us easily 15 minutes and was a lot easier on the feet. There we were... the hallowed Fenway Park...
We were able to quickly get our tickets then chose Loretta's Last Call, across the street to grab a bite to eat. Mediocre salad and burger but about what we expected so all is good. Got through inspection, into the park, and found the main Team Store. This was sort of neat. The main Team Store is actually across the street from the ball park but they block off the entire block and it becomes "part of the park grounds" during ball games. It must be an interesting security thing because all the stores on the block now become part of the park so they must have some way of blocking entrance on the back side of the stores. Interesting! Anyway, we picked up our usual souvenirs of pins and patches and made our way to our seats in the lower grandstand up behind third base...
We did see a couple of balls hit off the Green Monster...
... and a couple of home runs; one by each team; but those were both to right field, so nothing over the monster. Our home team mojo failed, for the second game in a row, as the Red Sox came up short against the Orioles with the final scoring being 8-6. Unfortunately, for us, two of Boston's top players; Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez were injured in Wednesday's game and did not play in this one. We had also hoped to see Big Papi put one out of the park but not on this day, but his swing is spectacular to watch...
Fenway is so different from any other ball park we have been in. It is an old park, the seats are small and, where we were, you feel crowded. BUT... everyone was friendly, the fans cheered for their team even when the going got rough. The vast majority of fans stayed and cheered for their team right until the final out, in this case a losing cause (in other places, if the home team looks to be losing, the fans start to leave en mass as early as the eighth inning). The Boston pitcher got through the first 10 batters without a base runner (no hits, now walks, no errors) but then the floodgates opened. One error and seven hits later all of a sudden the score was 6-1 for the Orioles. When the Boston pitcher was pulled, the fans cheered for him and not sarcastically either; sort of a "nice try, maybe next time" kind of spirit. Compare this to the game we saw in Yankee Stadium where, after giving up a mere two runs, the Yankees fans booed their pitcher off the field, in the not so friendly spirit of "YA BUM". Much tougher crowd in New York!
For dinner later, back in Plymouth, we decided we should do something different so went into the Park Place Tavern, a small, funky bar where the wine, fish tacos and pepperoni/sausage pizza were decent.
Friday we packed up to head north. We did a wide loop west around Boston to the coastal town of Salisbury right on the border of New Hampshire. The drive was mostly freeway and at one point it ground to a halt and was slow going. We took an exit into Boxborough, MA for a restroom and lunch break at a Minuteman Lounge in a Holiday Inn. Very large Cobb salads. We arrived late afternoon at the Beach Rose RV Park in Salisbury, MA where we booked in for two nights. It was a pleasant evening so we drove down to the Salisbury beach area where the music was loud and the first of "every Friday night during the summer" classic car shows was starting to set up...
For dinner we sat out on the deck of Surfside restaurant overlooking the Atlantic and had some excellent steamed mussels which paired nicely with a couple of glasses of wine.
Saturday morning we drove into Newburyport to Starbucks and a quick wander around their quaint, albeit upscale, downtown area where Kris found the A Loom With a View knitting store and another pretty looking project to take away. Then we headed south to Salem to get a glimpse into the Salem witch trials where twenty people were put to death in 1692. There were no burnings at the stake in America. Most were by hanging. We visited the Salem Witch Museum...
which, if the truth were told is a tad on the hokey side. That said, we did learn more about the trials so we got something out of it. Afterwards we drove over to the House of Seven Gables...
... the historic house that was the setting for Nathanial Hawthorne's classic novel The House of the Seven Gables. We chose to do the house tour. It was really neat. Beautiful house and interesting stories behind it. No pics allowed though.
Leaving Salem we followed the coast to Gloucester where we had an excellent late lunch, of baked haddock for Kris and lobster mac and cheese for Brian, on the patio of The Gloucester House. It was a bit of a snark hunt finding parking in Gloucester as we managed to drive into the historic downtown area just as an annual fiesta started up. This was the festival of Sante Pietro, the blessing of the fleet. Hope they blessed the traffic jam, because that was certainly what we mostly saw! We didn't hang around too long though as we still had close to an hours drive back to Salisbury and the campground. We did, however, arrive back in Newburyport in time for a couple of early evening glasses of wine on the deck of Michael's Harborside Restaurant & Bar...
... then on the way home we came across a funny (altered) road sign...
... and that was it for the week :-)
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