New England

Last week I visited 4 states I'd never been to before. That brings my state visit count to 24. Almost half the country! :)

Anyway, we took a vacation to New England to visit Honey's family and friends and to give me an idea of where he comes from and see all his old stomping grounds/schools/homes. It was quite an informative trip for me. Different than any other vacation I've been on.

We flew into Boston MA and picked up a rental car. We drove straight west to a town called Springfield. It's a decent sized town, so you'd see it on a map if you looked. Honey's brother was in the area for a friend's wedding so we met him there with Honey's folks and spent a couple of days visiting, site seeing and they reminisced about the area. A town called Ware is near there and that is where they lived for a while and Honey was born. They also lived in another town near there called East Longmeadow.


Bridge of Flowers - Massachusetts

Coming from Texas, it was difficult getting used to Massachusetts. Trees line the roads and you have to turn left if you want to go right and vise versa. Well, that is if you CAN turn left. I'm glad we didn't spend the whole week there, I was getting frustrated. :p You can't see anything and you can't make U-Turns. Crazy!

We then drove up into Vermont and spent most of the day site seeing and enjoying the scenic byway we took. It's interesting to see how old the towns are, and the cemeteries. Considering that is where the English first settled, it's the oldest part of the country and I hadn't seen those things before. Alot of the buildings are close to the road because they were dirt paths for horses initially. And the roads wind around alot more. Other than the weather being hot and humid, Vermont was very nice and very beautiful.


Quechee Gorge - Vermont


Old Cemetery - Vermont

The next stop, and the last few days of our trip was spent in New Hampshire. This is where Honey spent most of his life before he came to Texas. We went to his parents' house and ate dinner with them again, and spent a couple of other days visiting some of his friends. If it hadn't rained so much we could have seen more of the White Mountains, but alas, the clouds were thick and the rain was cold so going up to the summit of Mount Washington and hiking out to some of the water falls will have to be done on the next trip. We were able to see one waterfall and it was worth it!


Glen Ellis Falls - New Hampshire

Along with learning more about Honey and where he comes from, I learned a bit more about New England. The old Grand Hotels are beautiful but also, to me, a sad story. Apparently there aren't many left because when the automobile was invented, there wasn't much need for large central gathering points for the wealthy. So most of these old hotels went out of business and have since been torn down. There are a few left and we briefly visited one. It's the Mount Washington Hotel. It made me wish I was there 100 years ago with a fancy ball to attend with a big beautiful dress and white gloves and a handsome gentleman waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs! It was quite a flashback in time and still as beautiful as the day it was built, I bet.


Mount Washington Hotel - New Hampshire

Another tid bit I picked up was that the white birch trees were apparently perfect for sail boat masts. And if I remember the history, the king of England declared that any white birch, 24 inches or larger were property of England and they were to be cut down and used for these ships. I'm guessing there was a price on these trees as well, so anyone who brought one down would get paid for it. Therefore, today, it's probably safe to say that there are virtually no white birch trees that large. It'll be a handful of years more before the smaller ones at that time they were being cut down are large enough to be desirable for ship masts. But of course by that point, they'll most likely be left to flourish. :)

The day before we came home we drove up the coast of New Hampshire and into Maine to see the ocean. It was windy and cold but wonderful. We walked out to the water and watched the waves roll in for a few minutes. It's been along time since I've experienced the smells and sounds of the ocean. It makes me feel good, and I'm glad we stopped there. We then drove up to a nearby lighthouse called Nubble Point and watched the waves crash in on the rocks. That was wonderful too!

Nubble Point - Maine

All in all, I can easily say I had a great vacation. And I look forward to our next trip up there. We'll plan to go in the fall or winter so I can see the beautiful trees change and all the snow!


Honey and Me - York Beach - Maine