Day 8: Salem and Boston
Our Coach at the Ocean - Heading Home
Just another hour or two in the bus. We stopped in Salem and made sure that the witches were all still dead. And finished up in Boston where we went to the airport and back to Philly to rest up from our vacation.
Coast of Maine near Bush Compound
Day 7: North Conway to Kennebunkport
We talked ourselves into the Wildcat Mountain gondola. Great view of Mt Washington and more red, orange and yellow leaves than I thought I’d be able to see. We drove through the countryside to Kennebunkport. There were no reported sightings of any Bushes, but we did get a good look at the family summer place – pretty nice.
Wildcat Mountain, NH in the Fall
Covered Brides of Jackson County
White Mountains
Day 6: Cabot and North Conway, NH
We stopped at Cabot Creamery, where they make great cheddar – we watched them do it and followed up by eating a good amount. The leaves were turning a nice color once we got here (October 1) and the “fall foliage” part of the trip is starting to get redeemed quite nicely. I think ”Bridges of Madison County” took place in Iowa, but Clint Eastwood could have come here and found all he needed.
Day 5: The New England Culinary Institute in Essex Junction, VT
New England Culinary Institute in Essex Junction
This is the learning part of the culinary program. We stayed at the New England Culinary Institute in Essex. Dinner involved a “cooking” demo by the culinary institute people, followed by a “dining” demo by our crowd.
Day 4: Stockbridge, MA
Covered Bridge
Norman Rockwell's Studio
We drove to Stockbridge in the Berkshire Mountains. I didn’t know, but should have guessed that Norman Rockwell of the Saturday Evening Post covers lived in this area. We visited his studio/museum which looks just like it should for the Saturday Evening Post.
Day 3: Newport, RI
Today was Newport, RI. We visited Ocean Drive where the robber barons that we learned about in high school social studies spent all their money on a spectacular string of mansions along the ocean. Vanderbilt was one of them.
Day 2: Gloucester
Gloucester, Mass
We spent the day doing the historic sights in Boston including Paul Revere territory around Old North Church. The highlight was a short drive away in Gloucester (Perfect Storm country) where we did a Harbor Cruise looking for George Clooney and finished up with an outdoor lobster dinner.
Old North Church
Day 1: Boston
My mom and I flew from Philly to Boston in time for a seafood dinner at the Union Oyster House, which they told us has been open since 1826, making it the oldest restaurant in the country. It was a nice place to meet the rest of the 30 some odd people who were on this tour with us.
One destination always stirred my inner Ansel Adams – the Canadian Rockies, Banff to Lake Louise and Jasper. Maria and I got the chance to go this summer and jumped on it.
We went on a Tauck Tour, one that we knew covered everything well. But it was our first time with them and we weren’t sure exactly what to expect. We started off by flying into Calgary and stayed overnight at a beautiful resort where the G8 Summit was held in 2002. Calgary is a lot like Denver, a decent sized city at the edge of the Rockies.
Elk Herds and Photo Opps
The first morning we went to Lake Louise and rode up the Icefields Parkway. Right away we saw some animals – a bear, a lot of elk and mountain goats.
Once we settled in we realized that the scenery was spectacular and – with our digital camera – we could take pictures of all of it. My favorite photo spots were Maligne Lake in Jasper and Peytoe Lake, near Banff. Peytoe involved a little hike to get to the best view and photo opp point. But it is worth it. The blue water in the lake is a different blue than I’ve seen anywhere else.
We also walked most of the way around Lake Louise, which is another bluer than blue bodies of water.
Athabasca Glacier and Athabasca Falls
Another highlight and great photo opp was the Athabasca Glacier and Athabasca Falls. We were near the continental divide, 5,000 feet up. It was a short walk on the glacier – not too slippery where we were. It was cool on the glacier, but a sweater was enough. The falls and the glacier are about an hour apart on the bus, so we had a chance to rest for a few minutes. Then we needed about a half hour to get to the falls, take pictures and get back to the parking area.
Bison Dinner in Jasper
We ate well on this trip – the highlight was the bison dinner in Jasper.
Just Active Enough For Us
This trip was just active enough for us. You could do a little hiking and we went on a bike ride in Jasper. It was just enough exercise that we enjoyed the short break before cocktail hour and dinner. That seemed pretty typical. Most of the people in our group were 50+ and weren’t going to go for the river rafting option – but one couple did and survived to tell us what we had missed.
Longer Trip Next Time
We had only one vacation week for this trip and concentrated on the Rockies. Some of the people we met were going on to Vancouver on the train – vintage cars from the 50’s. Vintage and 50’s doesn’t sound quite right –I was commuting on “vintage cars” when I started working in the 60’s – but VIA Rail Canada has saved their good cars. Maybe next year?
July 4:
Another Day in Washington D.C.
The tour was officially over after breakfast, but we opted for an additional night. From our hotel we could see the Washington Monument to our left, the Capital to our right and a part of the White House straight ahead. We enjoyed seeing them lit the 2 nights on the tour, but now we got to see the fireworks from our balcony. We moved the chairs to the balcony and left the TV on to the music and experienced a magical evening. Many of our tour had the same idea, and we had a wonderful extra day to see the sights.
Festival on the Mall
The Smithsonian was holding a festival on the mall. This coincided with our dates so we also had the opportunity to learn, hear music and taste food from Wales, the Latin America and African American cultures as we walked on the mall in Washington DC. We packed so many experiences into just 7 days. What we took away was priceless!
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