Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Fenway Park and Laguna Beach Art

Ahh, but this painting of my beautiful bride will sell for millions! The Cottage Gallery is across PCH from the Sand and Surf Hotel.

On another note, My Laguna Beach neighbor, Burt Newton called to check in and told me that a local art gallery, the Cottage Gallery, had a painting of Jenée on display. The artist, September is a very talented local artist and Jenée sat for her in 2009 before we set sail. September had me in a couple of paintings as well. Let's just say those are not as high in demand - probably a seasonal thing.

Yo, how you doin?

Capt. Ed is a local fisherman (Marshfield and Nantuket) and is head of the Massachusetts Fishermen's Partnership. Massachusetts is the last of the small local fishing concerns and supplies our famous seafood. The super sized commercial boats are not allowed into Massachusetts waters and that's a good thing. Ed does a good job watching over the fishermen's needs and the local consumers (us). In his representation of the local fishermen, Ed stands with others against Nantucket's proposed offshore windmill farm. Besides the negative environmental impact to Nantucket shores and taking away some of the finest fishing grounds in New England, Cape Wind hasn't provided a delivery solution for the power. It's one thing to generate the electricity, the other is to effectively deliver it 30 -50 miles inland. There is a huge loss of power over lines and the solution here will be in the $ billions. Surprise Massachusetts taxpayers! Good luck Eddie B. - a good man.

My buddy Ed Barrett called me up with tickets to go see the Red Sox. I'm a sucker for Fenway Franks, so I'm in! Here is the action on the field - uh, actually it's the Fenway ground crew finishing up before the start of the game. Nice red shirts.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Boston Walking History Tour

Bob and Marilyn really like their drink umbrellas. Crazy kids.

Hey Jim, how's your water? Enjoy.

Jenée made historic Mojitos for Bob and Marilyn.

The admiral back home.

Hey guys, what's up? You're a little late.

Paul Revere's house is our next walk-by.

Ah, Mike's Pastry, a historical North End bakery for canolis.

Just outside the church is the Paul Revere statue.

This is the oldest American made organ and clock. Now you know.

Time for a great Italian lunch in the North End and a visit to the Old North Church. Built in 1723, it's the oldest active church in Boston. Let's see, one if by land, 2 if ... whatever. The fact is, there was no sea, it was the Charles River. The 2 lights were flashed for 1 minute and the Brits arrested the church caretaker as he was the only one with keys. He was released due to lack of evidence.
We get back to Charlestown (location for the new movie "The Town) and to Dry Dock 1. This was opened in 1833 and is used to service the USS Constitution. The current ship is the USS Cassin Young, a WWII destroyer. "The Town" - we saw it, good movie, already walked through all the movie locations. BTW, in the opening scene, there is a panoramic shot over the Bunker Hill Monument. You can see our Marina on the left side of the scene. They come back to it a few times in the movie.

We then strolled over to Boylston Street (too much walking!) and the Trinity Church. Another great example of old architecture framed by new architecture. In this case the backdrop is the Hancock Tower. Both structures are built on pilings since the Back Bay ground is basically landfill. The church, built in 1877 is on some 4500 wooden pilings. The Hancock Tower started out as an engineering nightmare when I was a kid - good news, it's still standing.

Cheers! The full tourist gig today. This is the Bullfinch Tavern made famous by the TV show. I used to go here for a burger and beer after playing basketball before it was Cheers.

A stroll through the Boston Common and Boston Public Gardens brings us to;

For a lighter experience, we visit the Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street. Paul Revere, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, James Otis, Boston Massacre victims and other patriots are buried here. Also Mary Goose - debated and rumored to be Mother Goose, but I don't believe it.

Followed by a walk up State Street to the Old State House. This beautiful structure is about 300 years old and has undergone many renovations. This is also the site of the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the beginnings of the Revolutionary War. Once the Declaration of Independence was read from this site in 1776, the locals changed the name of the street from King Street to State Street - so there.

First stop is Fanueil Hall.

We had beautiful weather for our tour of Boston.

Bob had two tours of duty in Vietnam as a HUEY helicopter pilot and he and Marilyn are enjoying retirement from many years of government service. He's also a cuddly son of a gun.

What are you looking at ?!

We are back in Boston with our good friends and boat buddies from Annapolis, Bob and Marilyn Witcher. It occurs to me there is always time for another insightful, informative and highly educational history tour - it just ain't happening on this blog. All the photos in this update are compliments of Marilyn - nice work. We begin our tour in the old Charlestown Navy Yard with a shot of the USS Constitution from a distance. I could have taken Bob and Marilyn over for a closer look but I didn't feel like walking. Nice boat.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Sailing to P-Town

Back in Beantown with the Tobin Bridge as a backdrop.

Randy and Kathy were great company (and crew) for a fun trip.

The Provincetown Town Hall renovation is almost complete.

Jungle is moored furthest to the right in the anchorage.

I like ice cream - vanilla soft serve, thank you.

Kathy and Jenee discovered the Lobster Pot had great chocolate martinis. Fun times.

First stop is dinner at the Lobster Pot in P-Town. Great food. So good we went back for lunch the next day and were not dissapointed.

We arrived the anchorage after a 42 mile trip around sunset.

Crew member Randy watching the Boston skyline go by.

We sailed out of Boston on Tuesday, Sep. 14 - destination Provincetown, MA. P-Town is at the very tip of Cape Cod and a unique place. We sailed with our friends Randy and Kathy Pierson. Randy and Kathy are friends from California that now call Goshen, NY home.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Daytrippin' to Gloucester and Rockport, Mass

The homes and cottages on the coast of Rockport haven't changed much in centuries.

We found a place at the end of a bluff. Good food but too cool to sit outside.

Jenée is always happy on her way to lunch. She's happy most of the time but always around lunch time.
After Labor Day weekend, Jenée and I headed up to Gloucester (Glaw-ster, or as we say in Boston Glaw-stah) - the birthplace of my grandparents. This is the place made famous by the movie "The Perfect Storm". It still is a serious commercial fishing town just like it's been for centuries. We drove through Gloucester and had lunch in Rockport. The weather was perfect, sunny and 72 degrees.

Jenée's sister Sheri visited us for 6 days just before Labor Day - her first extended trip to Boston. Of course, we stopped at Regina's Pizzaria in the North End. Sheri and Jenée had a great time checking out Boston. Hurricane Earl came through this week - hah! Nothing. I had a great time with two angels instead of the usual one.