An “Out of Boston” Experience

8 - 11 August 17, 2014

After a quick catch-up with my hosts after my late Thursday (7 Aug.2014) arrival it was off to bed, in the morning meeting the babies who, 15 months after meeting them at their first birthday party, aren’t babies any more. Gorgeous little people, non-stop action and chatter. The best part of my visit was catching up with the Boston crew. Such a happy time for me.

East of Boston is what I think of as typical picture-postcard New England perfection. Friday morning I was taken for a bit of a drive around the local area to see some places I hadn’t been before, including “Mary had a Little Lamb’s” school house, moved from its original Massachusetts location to a preservation area set up by Henry Ford. A church, Longfellow’s “Wayside Inn”, a barn with old vehicles and a mill were there too.

Mary's little lamb followed her to this school house

The old mill

The local library is rather lovely – but more on libraries later. There’s talk of abandonning it in favour of a new mega structure. What a pity if that happens.

Wayland Public Library

And then supermarket to stock up on provisions. That afternoon we set of for the quintessential American experience: a relaxing weekend in a cabin in the woods in Vermont. Closer to the woods we stopped off for yet more food, including lobster for that night’s dinner. Yum! I’d never eaten a whole lobster before. I rose to the challenge – messily!

Yummy, messy lobster and ...
super-fresh corn bought at a farm shop along the way

The cabin was everything I expected it to be: rustic (i.e. basic, raw inside, no plaster just undressed timber), one ‘dormitory’ bedroom (with patchwork quilt on my bed), and in an idyllic location by a stream.

The cabin in the Vermont woods

A corner inside the cabin

The quilt on my bed in the cabin

The next morning, after a relaxing start – for me, not for my hostess the chef! … Karon cooked a great breakfast, a new treat for me: biscuits (scones) and sauce (ground pork in a sort of gravy) – we went for a drive through the countryside, visiting some country towns, again, picture-postcard all the way.

The Boston Crew - visiting Grafton, Vermont

Town Hall, Grafton, Vermont

Sunday was brilliantly lazy, doing what I don’t normally do when I’m away – I stopped, sat out in the sun and read a book. Others did a spot of fishing, i.e. poking sticks in the stream 😊  

"Fishing" with daddy

Later, we played croquet – my first attempt, all a bit hit (or miss!) and giggle, the ground freshly mown but country-style, not the velvet lawn on which croquet is usually played. Another first in the evening – darts. By accident, I managed to come second!

Playing croquet on the 'lawn'

Then later in the day it was time to go home, stopping off to admire an historic covered bridge and to buy the last culinary treat, ice-cream (the rum tasted suspiciously like vanilla but the ginger was delish). Time had gone so quickly.

Dummerston Covered Bridge, 1872

Thanks so much to Joe, owner of the cabin, for making this part of my Boston stay possible.

Monday it was back to the supermarket again …. we’d got through a whole lot of food and the fridge and fruit bowl needed replenishing. This time though it was with the twins in tow. It’s been a while since I wheeled a trolley with a toddler on board. I’d only marginally lost my touch, i.e. I didn’t crash very often!! 😉 

Then it was time to pack my bags again. I did that while the twins had their afternoon nap and their mum and dad went off for coffee together, without the dynamic duo. They brought back dinner – another American treat: roast pork ribs (could leave those), pulled pork sandwiches (not bread but a type of hamburger bun) which I loved, and corn and black-eyed peas along with food I know, mash and coleslaw.

And at last, sadly, it was off to the airport. Words can’t convey what a happy time this visit was for me. “THANK YOU” to Piers and Karon and the little ones is so inadequate.

Travelling – Five sectors ….. so far!

7 & 11 August, 2014

Aaahhhh …. 7th August 2014, Business Class – where it’s civilised and you’re treated like a human being! It was so lovely from Melbourne to NYC. It was full. I had ex-SBS newsreader Mary Kostikidis sitting next to me from Sydney. We made a few comments to each other at various points along the way. An excellent travelling neighbour. And she looked as elegant as always, even in casual travelling clothes. The neighbours across the aisle were not so good. Children! Their mother (or was it a nanny?) slept right through their games and racket which kept a lot of us awake. Who can afford to travel Business with children. They shouldn’t be allowed!! Takes away from the civilised bit.

The Flying Kangaroo

But then, back to the real world – cattle class from JFK to Boston Logan. Thankfully such a short flight that only half the aircraft got served drinks.

That was four sectors: Melbourne > Sydney > LAX > JFK > Logan. Cleared Customs and Immigration in Los Angeles – a lot easier than last trip when I went into San Francisco. Boarding flights was a different matter: all suitably US-fashion paranoid, including full body scan.

The Nevada Desert ...
Not called a desert without reason!

But the fifth sector, Boston Logan to Keflavik in Iceland. The usual nonsense with security checks on boarding but as casual as you like on disembarking. What a relief! Only to be one of about 20 whose luggage didn’t appear, didn’t appear ….. until 30-40 minutes after everyone else. Already tired from lack of sleep (9.30pm departure, 5¼ hour flight, landed at 6.30am), it was a scratchy start to the day. But things looked up later.

Manhattan ...
The glimpse from the air that I didn't get last time
 - because in 2011 I arrived in NYC by train!