Rhode Island

Roger Williams founded the state of Rhode Island after being kicked out of Massachusetts for his religious beliefs. He had come to America believing he could avoid persecution for his beliefs, but it was more of the same here. He left Massachusetts in the middle of the night, leaving his wife and family behind and walked for 13 days until he arrived in the Rhode Island area.

He had a good relationship with the Indians in the area because he took time to get to know them, their culture and traditions. He wrote books about the Indian's language, beliefs and how we shouldn't be taking their land.

Williams went to England a few times to get an official document to make it a colony with religious freedom. He was finally granted his charter and this was the first separation of church and state.

No one knows what he looked like- there aren’t any pictures of him so each artist that has portrayed him has used their own interpretation. One of the statues in the park has the face of baseball player Ted Williams because the artist assumed the two were related. The date of his birth and death aren't documented anywhere either.

Rhode Island was the last state to sign the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was included to provide for freedom of religion.

Rhode Island maybe the smallest state, but it has the longest official name of all the states-State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Connecticut in the Fall

We traveled around the seaport villages of Mystic and Stonington and up to Hartford. We loved the fall colors. After being in Hawaii and Italy for the past six autumns we haven’t seen the trees change colors so we really appreciated the colors.

Famous homes

We toured Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s homes in Hartford, CT. We were prohibited to take photos in both.

Mark Twain was born Nov. 30, 1835 in Missouri. He looked sickly, but his mom hoped that Halley’s comet, that blazed through the sky the night he was born, was a good sign for his future. Ironically, he died the night Halley’s comet returned in 1910. His home cost $40,000 to build which amounts to 3.8 million dollars today. The home has 28 rooms, 7 indoor bathrooms, and a phone (he was friends with Alexander Graham Bell). He wrote some of his most famous stories here- Tom Sawyer, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain put $200,000 into a printing press type of machine and lost all his money. The family had to sell the home and they moved to Europe where the cost of living was lower. They returned to the US years later.

Right across the yard from his home was Harriet Beecher Stowe’s home. At the time, Hartford was the place to be in the country. Harriet downsized to this 12 bedroom home. She had twin daughters that never married and lived with her and her husband.

Her father was in the seminary and they moved from the east coast to Ohio when she was younger. She ended up meeting her husband there while in an English club called Semicolon. They had twin daughters followed by another baby that died from cholera. While in Ohio she became more familiar with the slave situation since neighboring Kentucky was a slave state. After the loss of her child she felt for the loss the slaves felt as their families were torn apart and wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin. At one point she met President Lincoln and he said to her, “So you’re the little lady that started this war.” Harriet was 4’11”. Her book was so popular when it came out that the only book that outsold it was the bible. Her first royalty check was $10,000 while her husband made between $500 and $1000 a year as a professor.

Amici in Connecticut

We spent most of our days in Connecticut visiting with friends we were stationed with in Italy. The kids had a great time playing Just Dance and other video games, wrestling with Rick and jumping on the trampoline with the Mowry family.

We got lost in a corn maze with Lisa and Ally McGuinn, more friends from Italy. The maze had ten checkpoints and at each one we referred to our clue helper list to help us turn the correct way. Jacob had sports clues and Faith had American history.

Reconnecting with friends across the country is another bonus of this adventure!

Boston, Mass 02134

Newton’s first law of motion is that objects in motions tend to stay in motion/objects at rest will stay at rest unless a force acts upon it. We took two days off from sightseeing while it poured in the Boston area and it was hard to get up and get going that next day, but we had yet to see Boston!

Bunker Hill was our first stop. Have I mentioned that this trip has been like Jacob’s 5th grade history book coming to life? It’s been wonderful hearing about people we learned about last year. Faith will know all this history when she learns it next year. The battle took place around Breed and Bunker hills which were farms owned by Breed and Bunker. The American troops built a 6ft wall overnight on Breed’s Hill surprising the English when they woke up on their boats in the harbor the next morning. They had wanted the colonists to build barracks for months and thought the Americas were lazy because they never got anything done. The Americans were tired from working all night. They didn’t have training and they didn’t have much ammunition so they were told to “wait til you see the whites of their eyes” before shooting. The English won the battle, but paid a big price with a third of their men dying in the fight.

Our next stop was the North End for some Italian food. It was just like Italy- little shops, little roads and alleys… and no place to park! We did what you do in Italy- park a mile away and walk. We grabbed some pizza, saw the Old North Church where Paul Revere hung the “one if by land, two if by sea” lamps, walked past Paul Revere’s home and strolled through Boston Commons.

Old North church above. Paul Revere's house below.

We saw the Occupy Boston protesters, the Cheers! bar based on the tv show and cemeteries where Sam Adams, John Hancock, Ben Franklin’s parents, Paul Revere and other leaders were buried.

We walked through a Holocaust memorial with the numbers the prisoners were assigned etched on the sides of the walls. It was incredible how many there were covering the walls on each of each of the six columns. Each column represented a death camp and each had a million prisoner numbers on them to represent the six million Jews that died in those camps. Just overwhelming!

Plymouth

Many times during this trip we’ve been amazed that we are really here meaning 1) some place we’d never planned on being, like North Dakota, and 2) some place something incredible or historical happened. This was our feeling again in Plymouth, the start of our country.

I knew Plymouth Rock wasn’t huge. I’d read many reviews talking about how small it was so after reading that and then seeing it, I was surprised it was as big as it was. The rock was near the replica Mayflower II. Both may not be the original items in the original locations, but what they represent was still incredible.

The Mayflower trip took 66 days. There were 102 passengers and a crew of 30. The Pilgrims were kept below decks in darkness with the animals. After surviving the trip they had to survive the winter. By the time winter was over only half of the Pilgrims made it, most of them being children and men. Only one family made it with all the family members surviving. They began to plant crops and were able to harvest them in the fall, resulting in the first Thanksgiving in 1621.

Sleeping areas below decks for the Pilgrims


Our next stop in the area was Plimouth Plantation. Back in the 1600s they didn’t have dictionaries and spelling wasn’t regulated. Gov. William Bradford spelled Plimouth different ways. The organization chose Plimouth because he frequently spelled it that way and so it wouldn’t be confused with the city of Plymouth.

The plantation is broken up into an Indian village, an English village, a farm and craft center. The Indians in the village were Native Americans not actors playing a part as they were in the English village. They spoke in modern speech so they could explain their history and their culture. We were fascinated with them and their discoveries- that the bark from a tree peels easily in a four week period in the spring. They use the bark to cover their winter homes. They layer the sheets of bark so the wind will blow over them. Their homes lasted about twenty years.

We watched as he hollowed out a tree with fire to make a canoe. They would first peel the bark off the trees and then fell them with fire. They would then use the tree for a boat. He said you could make a boat in just a couple of days if you kept the fire burning through the night.

Above is the winter home. He said it would be about 80 degrees in there with the fires going. The summer house below was made with swamp grass that would absorb the rain and expand in size. When it was dry out the grass would decrease in size thereby allowing a breeze to come in. Amazing!

At the English village actors dressed and spoke the part of settlers in 1627. We talked with the black smith, with ladies who showed us what they’d made for supper, with a couple of men who were repairing a roof. They did a great job with their parts making us feel like we were back in time.

Cape Cod

I came across a list of food manufactures that have tours and Cape Cod potato chips was on there. I thought it would be fun to see how potato chips were made and get a crunchy sample at the end. We could see the potato slices in the vats of oil frying, then climbing up the ladder to be salted, seasoned and sorted. Pictures weren’t allowed.

Near one of the beaches was a memorial for JFK and service members from the Cape.

We headed to the beach. It was beautiful. The sand was so fine. The kids were beachcombing. There were many different shells, different shapes, different colors. I was just looking at what was in front of me and what the kids brought to me. I couldn’t get over how many shells there were and then Rick pointed out what was around me. There were yards and yards of shells!

I loved the sea grass, the driftwood, the bird prints in the sand. It was just lovely.

My Bog Blog

I was thrilled to find out there was a cranberry harvest festival when I was making plans to visit MA. I was tickled seeing the little red berries floating in the water being harvested.

Click images to enlarge

It was hot- mid 80s- for the festival. The vendors offered regular fair food and I wasn’t thrilled about eating it, but chowder didn’t appeal to me because it was too hot. A lady was handing out bisque samples. I picked one up and changed my mind. It was wonderful- creamy and filled with lobster, shrimp and scallops. Yum!

In Wisconsin, I learned that the cranberry season starts in the winter when they flood the fields and freeze the bogs to protect the plants. Quite interesting! In the spring they drain the fields and the blossoms appear followed by the berries. The harvest is from mid-September through November. We saw a wet harvest where the blog is flooded and the berries are gently knocked off the bushes by machines then corralled and sucked up and into a waiting truck. The dry harvest uses a walk behind machine to knock the berries off the vines and land into boxes or bags. The berries that are harvested wet are used for juice, relish or canned while the dry berries are sold as fresh.

Fresh out of the bog! Jacob said it was sour.

Freeing the berries from the vines

The Start of the American Revolution

Our first stop in Massachusetts was the Minute Man visitor center. We were surprised to find it was only about two miles from where we were staying at the base. We enjoyed their multimedia presentation of the days surrounding the start of the American Revolution. Our Jr. Ranger picked up her book and we proceeded to Paul Revere’s capture sight. We were surprised to find a lady walking six goats there! The grass was rather long so they had plenty to eat.

Our next stop was Hartwell Tavern. The trail is as it was during the days when the Regulars marched towards Concord to find stolen ammunition- a wide dirt/rock path lined with short rock walls. We listened to a ranger dressed in period clothing talk about the Minute Men then he demonstrated how to load and fire the gun. Cover your ears!

Just west of the trail is The Wayside, the former home of Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was closed the day we planned on seeing it, but it was a beautiful fall day. I imagined descriptive phrases rolling around in the writer’s heads as they lived there seeing the surrounding beauty. I loved the screened in porch.

The last stop on the trail was the Old North Bridge where the “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired to start the American Revolution. This was a great bridge although it's not the original bridge. It has been rebuilt six times since the 1700s. It was quite picturesque.

Down East

Right away we learned Bangor, Maine is pronounced Ban-gor unlike the subase in Washington where Rick was stationed which everyone pronounces Bang-er. We also learned people from Maine are called Mainers.

We spent several days at Acadia National Park. It was the first national park east of the Mississippi River. It was nice to see all the biodiversity- pine trees, sandy beach, rocky beach, tide pools, mountains, the changing fall trees. We especially enjoyed Thunder Hole where the sea comes in and out and splashes and thunders.

Thunder Hole


Most people head to the top of Cadillac Mountain for the sunrise, but we thought Thunder Hole would be more beautiful. It would’ve been, but the fog didn’t lift so we didn’t get the shot we wanted. I don’t think we would’ve been able to see the sun at the top of the mountain either. Originally, I didn’t want to get up for the sunrise so we saw the sunset from the top of Cadillac Mountain our first night. We had the fog to contend with for the sunset as well. I know this area is known for the fog and I don’t mind. It makes for a different picture. The kids weren’t happy to be awake for the sunrise when they couldn’t see the sun, but they were good sports. (It was a lot easier, and warmer!, to roll out of bed, go two blocks and see the sunrise over Diamond Head when we lived in Hawaii.)

Sunset at Cadillac Mountain

Sunrise at Thunder Hole wasn't very sunny

John D. Rockefeller had the carriage roads created in the park and felt the newfangled automobile would wreck the environment. (There is a push to reduce the number of vehicles visiting the park. They offer a shuttle and many people bike and hike.) The carriage roads still exist and cars are still off limits on those roads. There are 17 hand built granite bridges throughout the park as well. Rockefeller donated this road system and 11,000 acres to the park.

To complete Faith’s Jr Ranger badge we attended a hawk talk and learned about the different silhouettes of birds and their migratory patterns. We also went to a tide pool talk at College of the Atlantic where students major in human ecology. We learned some interesting things about these sea creatures- a crab’s claw can break your finger; female crabs have tails that curve up underneath, which is where she carries her eggs; sea stars (star fish) throw up their stomachs to eat food then suck it back in; sea stars have an eye at the end of each arm; urchins have five teeth in the center area on the bottom.

She has 17 patches on the back too! Busy girl!

When we pulled up to the school we saw a seal on a table. It wasn’t moving so I figured it was dead and it was. It had been called in a few hours earlier and the students were dissecting it right outside to try to determine why it died.

We were looking forward to going to Moosehead Lake in Greenville,Maine, where the ratio of moose to people is 3 to 1. I knew it would be a long shot to see a moose, but figured this would be the place to try. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any moose. Rick asked a lady in a convenience store there for a good location. She told us it was the right time to see them- dusk- but that they don’t like bad weather and is was drizzling. She didn’t think we’d see one, but she told us if we did we should buy a lotto ticket.

In Portland, I was greedy. I took a nice picture of a lighthouse in the afternoon and I thought it would look even better with some pinks in the sky so I drug the whole family out of bed for the sunrise for the second time in three days! Rick and I thought this time the sun would peak through. It didn’t look that foggy, but nope, nothing. Oh well. I still have a nice picture of the oldest lighthouse in America known affectionately as the Portland Headlight. George Washington commissioned it in 1791.

The lighthouse was beautiful and it felt like Maine. Next stop- lobster! It was fabulous! It was a good way to wrap up our trip to Maine. The next morning Becca turned 14 and we left Maine. She ended her birthday in Boston with the Cheesecake Factory, shopping and watching movies.

Rick goofing around

Birthday girl

PS Don’t worry about the economy- we’re paying tolls all over the place!