Massachusetts!

October 7, 2014 8:39 pm paula

First, The Truth of the Matter

I’m sure you are wondering how it is really going with ‘us’ – spending every waking moment together in sometimes tight quarters. Well, I will summarize how it so far; after one month:

We wake up and go to bed when we are awake or tired and when we want to; not when we have it or because it is a certain time. It is f’king fantastic.

Joe tells me every day, we aren’t in a hurry because he is retired. Joe says every day is Saturday, except Sunday. He has a very relaxed, open attitude. Yes, it is true.

We hold hands a lot. Mostly because we were terrified of losing each other on the streets of Chicago or New York, or worse yet, ON A SUBWAY. But now it is because we are having the time of our lives with the love of our lives.

We don’t argue and we are respectful of what the other one wants to do or see.

We aren’t sick of seeing the other one in the same clothes, over and over. Yet.

Together we watch our spending and think of ways to cut back. So far, we just THINK of ways. :0 That will change quickly,

Everyday we realize how lucky / smart / fortunate we are to be doing this. Every day is exciting.

Most mornings are laid back with coffee and iPads. Most evenings after dinner are quiet. Game of Thrones (is over!!), iPads, strolling. We have only watched TV once.

We are walking our asses off. But for some reason, our asses don’t see it that way. Translation: we feel like we are putting weight on, instead of taking it off. That is very bad and scary. We exercise / do yoga and walk walk walk. We eat pretty much the same as we did before (ok I am lying through my teeth now – too many french fries, bad carbs and bevies are the culprits!!). All that will wear off soon and we will get into a better routine with balancing eatin in vs eating out. It is hard though as we have literally no extra space in our suitcases to take non- perishables from place to place. Our spices consist of pepper or on special nights, celery salt. That being said, we are heading into a couple of 3-4 week road trips so will be able to stock pile a bit then. Overall, we eat well and never go hungry. Sushi is an easy to find, standby.

We both have jobs as this is an ongoing production that takes a lot of work:

Joe –

Chief Accoutant and budget tracker

Chef and Bartender

Daily Route Planner

Road Trip Coordinator / Driver

Paula –

Travel Agent / Navigator

Chief Financial Officer

Communication / IT Manager (blog, phones, travel messages)

Landry Department And Housekeeper

 

That is about how it is going so far – things are great! Back to the blog:

 

Sunday, Sept 28 (Good bye New York and Hello Martha’s Vineyard!)

Flight from NYC to Martha’s Vineyard was short but sweet – about 45 minutes. This was our second flight in a row where we had TSA pre-clearance. That just means we don’t have to pull out the liquids or computers nor remove jackets and shoes. Really speeds up the security clearance. Not sure how we qualified for this but we’ll take it!

We arrived in Martha’s Vineyard – talk about from one extreme to another! We were taken aback by the sharp change in everything. Although we loved New York it is busy, loud and no one talks to each other or you. We stepped off the plane in Martha’s Vineyard and the first thing I noticed were rocking chairs – yes – rocking chairs. One outside and several in the small airport. No ‘taxi’s’ but finally figured out we board a shuttle destined for Edgartown. We shared the ride with another couple from the Bronx – finally some New Yorkers talked to us, LOL!

Such a beautiful drive in; the roads are all tree lined so they form a canopy over top. Loved that – so picturisic.

We are staying at the Kelley Inn and it is very nice. But the room is a gentle reminder why we prefer apartments. We will enjoy the change for these few days. We went to the pub for New England Clam Chowder (of course!) then walked around the area. Houses are SO big they couldn’t possibly be single family homes but they are. Single family summer homes. Mostly people from Boston as we understand it. Very quiet – we are going to love it here.

 

Monday, Sept 29

This morning we returned to where we strolled last night, and went for a nice long walk (1 hr /3.5km). (thanks Brian Kerr – wish I had remembered my Walkmeter app for Chicago and New York!)

Had breakfast at a 50’s dinner so cool!

Went on a tour of the Island with our shuttle driver from yesterday. She and her sister are from Bulgaria and used to summer here in their youth. Gradually they both moved to Martha’s Vineyard and now own and run the taxi tour company. She was still quite young and had a strong accent but she gave us a great 3 hour tour of the entire island and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are 5 operational lighthouses on the island and the people are very proud of them. We paid $5 to climb to the top of one and stood right beside the lighthouse lights. It was HOT up there but pretty sweet and the view was incredible. Going back down the rickety spiral staircase required Joe to be in front of me so he could ‘break my fall’, should it occur. It didn’t but holy bejesus! We stopped at one more lighthouse on the tour but by then we had our fix of them for the day.

We saw where Obama has a home, Belushi is buried, the Kennedy’s lived and were told about the many rich and famous that have homes here. Lady Gaga, President of Norton Antivirus (LARGE beachfront property!!) to name a few. The homes on Martha’s Vineyard are massive and most have guest houses and huge garages and these are their summer homes.

We were reminded of the story about Chappaquiddick which is a short ferry away, learnt this is the Island where part of Jaws was filmed and also where  JFK Jr’s plane crashed off the coast.

About 20 thousand people have permanent residence here but in the summer the population increases to 200 thousand. Most of them left after Labor Day and shops and restaurants are starting to close down for the season; only a few will remain after Columbus Day. It was interesting to see men boarding up the windows for the season and all the landscapers out in full swing. The locals tell us it is pretty quiet now. In Edgertown, the town we stayed, the houses are only allowed to be grey (most are grey shingles), black or white. No retail chain or restaurant is allowed to set up shop on Martha’s Vineyard so everything is locally owned or a boutique. We never did any shopping except this cool book / decor store.

Other stops included a fishing village where fresh lobster was $65/lb. Can you say ‘that’s buying local?’ We didn’t buy any but decided then, that a lobster dinner was in order tonight. We have decided to allow ourselves a really nice dinner once or twice a month so – first up was l’etoile. This restaurant reminded us of being at Spencer and Lindsay’s and it was a wonderful evening. We had the entire outdoor area to ourselves and it was very romantic. Here is a little Food Porn for you:

Went for another after dinner walk; the evenings are warm and quiet.

 

Tuesday, Sept 30

This morning we skipped our morning walk and started with breakfast. The restaurant made great omelettes and didn’t skimp on the ingredients. It was cloudy and raining a little so we dressed accordingly and set our sights on South Beach. Our tour guide told us it was about 1.5 hours walk each way and she was pretty much bang on. We walked 12.6 KMs in 3 hrs 25 mins. The beach, which Trip Advisor ranked as #1 thing to do in Edgartown, was deserted. A little rain couldn’t scare away these Vancouver natives! We saw one other couple and two seals in the water and that was it. Next landmass – Europe! We walked quite aways on the beach; it was awesome. Here we are trying to pose ‘jumping in the air’ but we’re already tired from our walk and 10 pathetic attempts each at jumping in the air – senior style (lol):

 

Map of our hike:

 

We took a different route back and went down side streets and alleys and saw so many incredible homes. This huge mansion was way back on the water and had a donkey and two llamas / alpacas (we had different opinions) eating grass right near the front fence. They ignored my invitations to come closer; stuborn as a mule! Tee hee

Relaxed a bit when we got back and then went for soup (lobster bisque rules!!) and wings and a bevie for lunch.

Wednesday, Oct 1

Today we departed for Boston.

Loved it here in Martha’s Vineyard. Such a beautiful yet sleepy place. It was like something out of a movie. Very laidback lifestyle here. Would love to visit again just for the chance to see it alive with another 180 thousand people but think we picked the perfect time for this visit. Thank you Jane Stoltz for recommending we experience the uniqueness of Martha’s Vineyard!

The flight out of Martha’s was a story in itself – we flew on a 9 seater plane! Joe has flown on these small planes before but it was my first time and I found it thrilling! We had to have each piece of baggage weighed and tell them how much we weighed too, for balance apparently. When we boarded the plane, I was right behind the pilot and could see all the instrument panel, radar, etc. so cool! Very cramped seating, neither of our legs fit behind the seats so our knees were touching across the aisle. Very short flight – I loved this experience!!

Thursday, Oct 2 – Concord

Our stay in Boston wasn’t actually in Boston but in Historic Concord; about 45 minutes west of town. Concord is filled with references to the Minute Man National Historical Park and the opening battle of the Revolution. This is where Paul Revere rode and yelled “the British are coming!!’ It was interesting to see the Historical connections between each place we visited in our 3 days here.

Our hotel was walking distance to 3 restaurants, but nothing else so the car came in handy.

Friday, Oct 3

We drove into downtown Boston today.What an incredibly cool place! And right in the middle of the downtown core is a beautiful public garden. We walked up Beacon Hill area and explored for the day.

Outdoor Bookstore

 

Then we found Cheers! It was pretty exciting to see and we had a nice lunch there. Sadly, Sam was not behind the bar. 🙂 The gift shop is filled with lots of cool stuff – brought back good memories of a great TV show and cast!

Saturday, Oct 4 – THIS DATE MARKS ONE MONTH ON THE ROAD!

This morning we went for a beautiful hike around Walden Pond in Concord. The leaves are starting to turn and the trees were reflecting in the water. Love it!

Sunday, Oct 5

Today we depart Boston for our roadtrip – super excited about this!

We have had poor wifi in the last few locations so this caused a delay in posting….hope you are having a great day!!

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