Spectacle Island

Many of my adventures have taken me onto boats for this summer…and my trip to Spectacle Island was no different.

Spectacle Island is a 15-20 minute ferry ride out of Long Wharf in Boston and is part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Today’s island has been reshaped over the years with dumping, erosion, and the fill from the Big Dig to become one of the highest points in Boston Harbor.

The National Park has a green visitor center that has CLIVUS toilets, expansive views of the city, and covered picnic area.

There are a number of trails to walk along and view the city or the lighthouse.  One of these trails takes people along the shore that is scattered with rocks and the occasional dead fish:

The other main feature of the island is the trash that is coming out of the ground and washing up on the shore…seaglass and pottery shards. As an archaeologist, I am always looking down on the sand at the beach for seaglass and random things. At Spectacle, you don’t even have to search…it is all there, but not for the taking.

The ferry to the islands is almost done, just about another month. I hope to get back out to George’s sometime before then to find the dark space again!

Seek the Peak Re-Cap

So, I made it up and down the mountain without falling down once, which is actually quite an accomplishment for me.

The week began with some beer:

A sampler from Moat Mountain, lovely place to eat and lovely place to stay about 20 miles away from Mt. Washington and nice comfy beds.

Larry came along for the ride and the weather reminded him of traveling on the ocean with all the fog and rain.

The last of the snow from the winter…it wasn’t as impressive as last year since it was all gloomy when we went by in the morning. If we had come down the same trail (which we should have) the pictures would have been much better.

We made it up here in fairly record time for me. 4 miles in just about 4 hours…with the extra weather and some issues with breathing and a large group of people standing in the middle of the trail, so annoying.

A quick picture after we hit the summit going down Lion’s Head.

You can see how different the weather can be in just a few hours. It was lovely on the way down from the summit.

Remember, kiddies! Be Ice Smart! And remember to scream and wave your hands in the air while running away from large ice boulders.

I love $3 pint glasses!

But orgasmic, organic berries are even better!

Mountain Week, Summit Photos

Four times up and cloudy skies each time. I actually had some clear skies once while almost to the top, but they went away fairly quickly.  Mount Washington spends about 90% of its year in some sort of cover: fog, clouds, snow, sleet, rain. It looks like this time will be no different with showers predicted for the morning of our hike.

Hopefully by the time this summer is over, I will have two more summit pictures to show. One will be a true summit (in my mind) because I’ll walk up myself. The other one will be aided by a car ride (really a truck ride) up the Auto Road. As my birthday present to myself, I have booked myself a weekend at the Mount Washington Observatory. Not only do I get to be geeky and learn about weather, I get to sleep overnight on the summit. How cool is that? I would rather the clear skies for that because I am definitely bringing both my cameras (just got the new one) to try and take pictures of the stars! 🙂

A Day Spent

It wasn’t a great day, but it also wasn’t horrible.

Started out with me seeing Matt Lauer on TV and then Natalie Morales in front of Faneuil Hall.

Then, a trip to Dorchester Heights to wait for a group that never showed up because of the flu.

While there, I found an egg with something still inside 😦

Then off to the Public Garden where I saw some birds attacking and eating a sparrow, yuck! And I think I saw a baby duck dying. He let me get real close, the mallards that were around him kept biting at him, he was shivering and not making any noise…it was slightly worrisome and sad.

And I ended my day in the Granary Burial Ground watching a squirrel nibble upon something on top of a gravestone.

So, not too bad a day. Got some sun, took some pictures…and didn’t get rained on.

Paul Revere

Tomorrow is the actual Patriot’s Day here in Massachusetts, we just celebrate on the third Monday of April each year. However, tomorrow is also the first day of tours for us and I have the afternoon tour.

I have spent the last hour or so, looking over my notes and books from last year to refresh my memory and hoping that the jerk from Concord who interrupted my talk the other day does not have a cousin who will be walking with me for an hour.

I mean, really, do you think that the tourists care what famous people came from my hometown? I can only name 2 anyways, most of the rest were imported for the private high school and left soon after.

Paul Revere Gets His Horse

Anyways, I have printed up a copy of the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere…generally, you have someone on your tour who is about 58-65 who was made to memorize the poem as a younger child. The last paragraph makes a nice ending for our long walk together, though…

“So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere”
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If you are in the area tomorrow night, the annual Lantern Ceremony is taking place at Old North Church. It is an interesting event to go to as you get to see the Church completely full, including a fife corps, and hear from a variety of people. There is also an event at the Charlestown Navy Yard after the ceremony.

After this weekend, work ramps up, school ramps up, my family situation ramps up, and parties galore are happening. Looks like I won’t get too much sleep till November.

PS GO BRUINS!!!

The weather is turning…

Being from New England, you sometimes don’t get a lot of the Spring or Fall because Summer and Winter just barrel their way into your life. This year, however, we are enjoying a lovely fall so far. I can almost taste the cider donuts and have been planning my pumpkin design for this year.

I will be going down to part time starting this Monday (I think (Our schedules are slightly weird)) and if that happens, then I am going to make a trip to the old local farm to get donuts and visit with the sheeps.  And cows.  And llamas. And piggies. I love me some farms 🙂

I think I’ll have to find some local event to go to around here…maybe someone has cool decorations on their houses? Who knows!