Fatima, Portugal — 1-2 November 2011

Posted on November 3, 2011 by Ray Boas

It has been a fast three weeks since I got back from the Rideau Canal in Canada, and I was so busy in town I never really told you I was going again.  So, here I am, “live from Fatima, Portugal.”  Hopefully I can post this story later.  There is WI-FI in the public areas, secured, and I asked the desk manager for the password shortly after we arrived close to 4 PM, and she said, “I will give it to you at dinner,” which is at 7:30.  Confused, but I waited and at 7:20 I asked for it, and she again said, “at dinner.”  Then at dinner she disappeared and I could not find her.  About 8 she brought our passports back (overseas hotels usually check them when you register), and then I asked again. “Didn’t I give you your passport?”, she replied.  I finally realized she thought I said passport, and now she gave me the password.  Logged in, and it appears their modem is not working.  Well, just found a nearby hotel with access using my I Pod Touch, so will finish what I can do here, and meander out with laptop to post. 

Did not get through last night, but posting now on Thursday since the hotel got fixed and I am in touch with the world.

Monday October 31st I had no book business so I was able to start my packing check off list early and consider every item carefully. With this year’s travel experience I can now easily pack for up to 10 days in my carry-on and still have room for my laptop, but I am still carrying it separately and easily in a soft briefcase from Cathy’s LOTUS days.  On Tuesday, November 1st, I slowly double checked everything again and headed out of town at noon heading for David’s.  He lives close to Logan so my car has lived in his drive often recently when he takes me to the airport.  I arrived at 4, and to my pleasant surprise number two son, Gary, was at David’s.  Gary has a conference there later in the week, but had no power at home so headed early to David’s on Sunday.  We had a nice visit catching up on his recent doings and changes before Mari and Alex arrived and then David got home.

Awhile after dinner Gary took me to the airport.  I arrived at 9 for my 11:15 PM flight.  Once checking in I joined up with the group I am with.  I saw this pilgrimage in our church bulletin run by Corinne who has run religious pilgrimages for decades, and Cathy and I really enjoyed her bus trips to Canada (yes, we actually were surprised that we enjoyed a bus journeys).  Flight was uneventful with an hour plus stop-over in the Azores, and we arrived in Lisbon at Noon, and by 1 PM were aboard a beautiful new bus, complete with fresh rug and leather smell, for the about 1 ½ hour trip to Fatima.  I point out “beautiful new bus” for a reason.

 

Inside the Church of the Holy Miracle - Gold door at the top opens during Mass to show the host relic.

Half way we made a stop at Santarem for Mass at a 13th century church celebrating a double miracle with a relic that could be venerated.  From memory, the story goes something like this.    A woman, distraught over her unfaithful husband asked the town’s witch how to end the problem with sorcery.  The sorceress told her to bring her a consecrated host.  At Mass the woman feigned eating the host, wrapped it in cloth and headed to the sorceress.  On the way the host began to bleed profusely.  Scared she went home instead, hid it in a dresser, and later than night as the chest began to glow brightly she and her husband prayed, and their marriage saved.  The host in the cloth was then placed in the Church of St. Stephen (now the Church of the Holy Miracle).  Years later, miraculously, the bloody host became encased in a crystal and the cloth reappeared in a glass container.  Today the encased host is in a monstrance high above the altar and pilgrims can

The Blood Stained Host Relic - How can you not have Faith?

climb stairs up behind the altar into a small museum, and then up a tight narrow flight of stairs to venerate the relic, albeit through a sheet of plexiglass.  This was a very special treat and meaningful beginning.

Back on the bus to Fatima arriving a short time later into the city that has built up around the Cove da Iria.    The bus begins to pull into our hotel between ornate stone pillars, and Ray says to himself, “his angle of attack does not look good.”  But for a moment the bus was going to clear by inches, but then the slope of the drive tilted angling the top of the bus toward the pillar.  Not having even the time to yell out STOP, I threw myself across my seat towards the aisle covering my head and eyes with my hands as the pillar entered the window at my seat.  In case you are wondering, double pane glass on “beautiful new busses” does not splinter like window glass

Glass on my seat fell from my back when I got back up.

– it breaks into millions of tiny fragments that get into your shoes, sport coat, hair, brief case, etc.  But no harm done to me, but in trying to correct his error the driver wiped out another window.  I hope he still has a job, because he was concerned if I was alright.

Check in easy, rooms very nice, and I unpacked, put things away, and showered and shaved. Before dinner we took a walk a few blocks and around the corner and Corinne showed us the Basilica and other points of interest.  I expected an open field and pasture just as it was when the children tended their sheep there when Mary appeared. The surprising thing to me is that the area (of course) is all built up and no longer a pasture where Mary appeared, but the spot is marked with a stature of her, and surrounding that is an open chapel where we will have Mass in the morning.  Corinne is a wealth of knowledge about the history both past and present of Fatima (and religious sites and world religion) including 2000 when she was here with the Pope and Lucia when before a crowd of a millions her cousins were Beatified.

Well it is now Thursday evening here, and even though I have had another full and fascinating day I want to post this (hopefully when I go downstairs the WI-FI is still working) I really want to relate to you the importance of Fatima and what I am seeing, so maybe I will combine the next two days.  Thanks for reading along so far.  As always, yours, RAY

My Seat On the Left - Not a good day for the bus driver !

Posted in 2011-e - Fatima - (Nov) | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Random Thoughts and THE RED LION INN – 19 and 20 October 2011

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Ray Boas

I have missed the opportunity to write since my last shunpiking post, so I have been jotting down thoughts to share, but now I am also “on the road” and have that to share.  So this post is not only “miscellaneous musings”, but also “day (or maybe two) trips.”

Currently I am sitting in my favorite spot by the fire in the lobby of The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  This seat has been a significant part of my life for the past 15 years, a tradition first started with Cathy on Valentine’s Day in 1996.  From this seat I could hear her coming down the stairs before seeing her all “decked out” for dinner or breakfast.

From my spot – note the staircase always in my view.

I have also held down this Victorian sofa for a number of hours while she shopped, and I have read many a book here and watched people come and go in the lobby.  But before I get to this week’s sojourn let me share my disjointed rambling thoughts of the past week.

Actually business has been so far off I look forward to writing – remember “to write about something is to live it twice.”  And I have many writing projects in mind (have for years) besides my annual “keepsake booklet” that I prepare for our guests attending A CHRISTMAS CAROL.  I don’t know if you have ever seen Dove chocolates that come individually wrapped with a saying or quotation inside.  The first one I opened after losing Cathy said, “It is alright to do nothing!” – powerful.  This past week I found two more powerhouses that I want to share:  “The more you praise and celebrate life, the more there is in life to celebrate;” and, “Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

Recently I have been involved with several projects.  Something I had thought about for years the Kaspers and I talked about in the spring.  We started meeting in September to discuss the idea, and in keeping with a plaque I have had on my desk for decades, “The best way to get something done is to begin,”  the first issue of THE WALPOLE CLARION was published the beginning of this month.  For a long time there had been no single source of information of what was going on in town, no place for all organizations to tell what is coming up.  A central feature is a 6 week calendar which as a centerfold has been designed to easily be hung on your icebox.  The response has been very favorable, and my work on this worthwhile endeavor will help keep me occupied.

The response last weekend was also great for our Haunted Corn Maze, that as a member of The Walpole Players I am involved with.  In fact, I occupied all last week building a 10 foot square witch’s house, and with Bill P’s help built a great coffin – well you need one in a haunted cemetery, and one never knows what may be inside.  The corn maze is Friday and Saturday nights and Saturday and Sunday afternoons, but Friday it poured.  So, what to do said Ray, “I know it is dinner at Rowell’s Inn.”  Here is what I posted on their Facebook page.

It is now Thursday afternoon, and I am back enjoying the front porch of The Red Lion Inn, and back to writing.

A trip to the inn was “on my list” to try to squeeze into October, hopefully in Black Beauty.  Today would have been the perfect day to cruise here in her, but yesterday was beastly rain plus I needed the van to pick up 25 cartons of books from the widow of one of our favorite Connecticut customers. She had been asking me to get George’s books, and I had been dragging my feet to make the 3 hour trip, but we finally planned on yesterday and my thought was to return home spending two nights in Stockbridge.  Carol lost her husband in a similar circumstance as I lost Cathy.  Although dating in high school, they recently had reconnected and had been married only 3 ½ months.  When “googling” to reconfirm directions to her home her Facebook page popped up.  She had listed her Dad and brother’s names. WOW my Dad was good friends with her Dad, both antique car buffs, and I remember playing with her brother at car events 5 decades ago.  I emailed her what I found.  When I arrived we shared the similarities of our loses, remembered some car events and chatted away for over 3 hours.  Just one more “small world” story.  I got on the road at 3:30 with George’s books loaded up and headed back roads through New Preston past my old shop, around Lake Waramaug over to US Route 7.  I have not travelled from New Preston to Canaan, Ct. on the Massachusetts border in the nine years since we moved.  If you have not heard it before, US Route 7 is my favorite road, and the absolute best part which I have loved since I first discovered it in 1962 is the stretch from Cornwall Bridge to West Cornwall along the Housatonic River.  I hate change, and this stretch of road has not changed.  In fact, very little has changed on Route 7 from Kent, CT to Sheffield, Mass, and even from Sheffield through Great Barrington into Stockbridge I can probably point out the few salient changes of the last 4 plus decades.  Just to give you a flavor of what I mean, visit my Somethings Never Change page on my website.  Yes I need to update it and anxiously await being able to park Black Beauty in the same spot.  Guess it will now be 2012 before that happens, but it will.

I arrived at The Red Lion Inn at 5:30 Wednesday, got settled, dressed for dinner and

Don’t tell Simon he is not “in charge” of The Red Lion Inn

staked out my favorite spot in front of the fire.  A relaxing evening, nothing planned, but did decide that I would take a short drive today Thursday.  Following breakfast and spending more time in the lobby I headed out shortly before 11AM to head up NY Route 22 to US20 to visit the various Lebanon areas and down NY 66 to the Chatham towns and villages.  These are great TR3A roads with fantastic vistas, and immaculate farms, estates and rolling countryside. The main town of Chatham is a delight, and I highly recommend a sojourn through this countryside.

Dan’s Diner — Road Trip, Scott, meet you there!!!

I travelled back to NY 22 via NY 203 passing Dan’s Diner in Spencertown. If I had not still been full from last night’s dinner and breakfast this morning I would have warmed a stool – next time!

My plan today was to get to the National Shrine of the Devine Mercy for Mass at 2PM.  Usually I plan my trips to Stockbridge to attend Mass and then go down the hill to check into the Inn, but since I was still travelling yesterday I wanted to go today to continue this part of my tradition in visiting here.  Cathy and I had often visited the shrine, but never at the right time to attend Mass.

Inside the Shrine

View from my rocker on the porch. Yes, I heard two “city slickers” argue whether the pumpkin was real or not.

Shortly after 3PM I was on the porch at the Inn typing away and then reading.  When it got chilly I moved back to my spot (guess everyone knows to not sit there when I am here) to continue reading.  Soon two ladies who were at Mass came in and we had a very nice talk (they commented on what I was reading).  By 6:30 I went to my room to change for dinner at 7, and then back to my spot.  I cannot tell you the pleasure I derive from my visits here.

But what was I reading today?  Yesterday when I was visiting with Carol she told me that in George’s journey he was coming closer to God and the idea of death.  He had read Don Piper’s 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN, and in gaining comfort from it began giving it to others.  Carol gave me a copy of the shorter version ENCOURAGEMENT FROM 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN.  Once I started, I finished it before dinner.  Carol, I have marked my copy up focusing in on the powerful statements.  Piper was pronounced dead, arrived in Heaven, but returned. His feelings and observations in one statement bring “comfort to those who grieve” and that comfort comes from knowing that your loved one is happy in Heaven.  He had a hard time putting things into words, so I will not even try to paraphrase – just read the book.  ‘Till next time, as always, yours, RAY

Posted in Day (or maybe two) Trips, Miscellaneous Musings, The Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, Massachusetts | Tagged , | 3 Comments

7 and 8 October Travelling Home – Posted 12 October 2011

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Ray Boas

On Friday morning, October 7th, we had an interesting lecture by another Parks Canada representative on the archaeology of the First Nation sites in the Thousand Island National Park.  In our lifetime, and actually in about the last 30 years we have gone from using the term Indians to Native Americans and now in Canada, First Nations, although I have seen some reference on this trip to the term First Nations in the US too, I believe it was at Fort Stanwix. The lecture concluded at 11 so it did not make sense to wait for lunch at Noon, but instead get on the road and do some shunpiking.  Many people had planned on leaving without lunch, and had gotten box lunches, and very nicely the clerk at the desk offered to have one made up for me right away.  So off I headed, sadly, around 11:30.

Now I ended up back in typical “Ray mode” running hard on Friday and Saturday, but not in a rush, stopping to see and do what caught my eye. Now, get your maps out. I wanted to shunpike along the St. Lawrence River avoiding the main highway 401, and I meandered over back roads down to Ivy Lea on the 1000 Islands Parkway, Route 2.  This is the way to experience the river because it felt that I was never more than a stones’ throw away from it.  And with the US just a tad further, no wonder the Canadians were concerned about an attack by US militia.  I pulled into the little village of Ivy Lea and saw a 1000 Island River Cruise, parked and went to the ticket office.  The parking lot was just about empty including the space for tour busses.  My timing is usually good, but I had missed a boat by a half hour and the next one was in 1 ½ hours.  No problem, I will go on my next trip to the area.  So East I headed on the parkway getting a great view of the many islands which are in great predominance in this part of the river.  I next saw a sign for Rockport, so went down the little road to that port.  Beautiful Victorian houses, a dock and restaurant, a ticket booth for the Rockport Cruise Line and at least ten tour busses and half of Japan.  I inquired and the next cruise was in a half hour at 1 PM, but I was warned that the ship carrying 200 was almost full.  Thinking a moment I said to myself, “I am here, have the time, and had best experience it.”  So I got my ticket, went back to get my box lunch, and got in line eating my lunch.

It was time to board, and up the gangplank I went with 250 of my new Japanese friends with their 350 cameras all scrambling for a place on the boat for 200.  Having gotten in line early, I managed to get a seat by the window near a public address speaker before I got crunched in.  I did hear some commentary, repeated in about 5 languages, but inaudible due to the drone of chatter around me. The canned tape was timed so the commentary in

The shortest International Bridge in the World. Canada on the left, USA on the right.

the last language ended before you even approached the described site, at least I knew to some degree what I was seeing. Definitely not Road Scholar class, but I can now say I have cruised for an hour among the islands on the St. Lawrence, and have seen Boldt Castle, but this was not the way I want to enjoy things.  Next time I will look for a small boat, or maybe just go to the Boldt Castle from New York. 

Travelling up the shoreline parkway I arrived at Brockville which is a delightful town, clean, well kept and old looking and worthy of another visit.  Soon I came to Fort Wellingtonin Prescott which was built for the War of 1812, but closed for the season – well, next time on an upcoming War of 1812 holiday.  And in a short

Battle of the Windmill - 1838.

distance I arrived at a sign directing me down a dead end to the site of the Battle of the Windmill in 1838.   Here I read the plaques posted, but the windmill (converted to a lighthouse) was closed.  What I read supplemented and cemented what I had heard in the various lectures about this period of Canadian history, but I still need to learn more.

I crossed the Ogdensburg-Prescott Bridge back to New York,  and then travelled through NY flat farming land to Colton soon entering the mountains.  There was not much color to the leaves I was either late, early, or as it appears this was a bad weather year effecting the colors.  The first town I encountered, Tupper Lake, is not to “write home about.” The Town of Tupper Lake appears to be a used 1960s town.  Of interest, however, were the Tourist Cabins featuring HEAT IN ROOMS – no HBO or WI-FI yet mentioned on the sign.

Fogarty's B&B - Saranac Lake, NY

I finally arrived at Saranac Lake at 6 pm, where I had a reservation at Fogarty’s B&B, a historic cure cottage built in 1910, overlooking Lake Flower and a short walk around the tip of the lake into town, which I did.  Saranac Lake is my kind of town with basically untouched great late 19th early 20th century architecture. I had diner in town, and after I read my brochures to develop plans for Saturday quickly deciding to come home via Plattsburgh, New York.

Union Depot, Saranac Lake -- Here I go again with my window reflections, or were the tracks inside the station?

Saturday morning breakfast at the B&B was most enjoyable, and I spent two hours visiting

My view from the breakfast table at Jack and Emily Fogarty's home.

with the other 8 vacationers around the breakfast table.  Once I left the B&B, I first stopped at the Union Depot which was built in 1904, but it was closed so I headed over to The Saranac Laboratory founded by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau who came to the area in 1873 seriously ill with tuberculosis. His health improved in the area, and 7 years later he founded the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium to treat those with TB.  His lab was the first ever built in the US exclusively for the study of tuberculosis.  Again my good timing as the museum is only open by appointment.  The director, Amy Catania, who was inside interviewing an older former resident, saw me walk up to the locked door, and came to invite me in.  I enjoyed the interesting exhibits and photographs in the essentially original laboratory.  It was because of Trudeau’s work in the area that Saranac Lake became world renowned as a health cure area, and many people came to be cured, including Robert Louis Stevenson.

Next I went to the Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Cottage which contains the largest collection of RLS memorabilia and personal items.  Always in bad health, Stevenson rented part of this cottage in the winter of 1887 to 1888 to receive help from Dr. Trudeau.  It was in this cottage that the publisher S. S. McClure said he would pay for Stevenson’s longed for journey to the South Seas in exchange for articles of those adventures.

Right in this parlor, S. S. McClure offered to finance Robert Louis Stevenson's trip to the South Seas.

His last years were spent travelling there but his bad health caught up to him, and he died at the age of 44 in 1894 and is buried in Samoa.  This cottage has amazing information and artifacts on display, and most of the original furniture including the bedroom set with cigarette burns in the chest that angered the owner of the house immensely.  The many items owned by RLS are there because the people who started the Stevenson Society of America in 1915 were able to get the treasures almost first hand.  Even if you are not interested in Robert Louis Stevenson, the original cottage is worth a visit.

The most populated area of the Adirondack Park are the three adjoining towns of Tupper Lake, Saranac Lake, and then Lake Placid.  It is nicely built up from Saranac Lake to Lake Placid and there was sufficient traffic so I could take in all the downtown Lake Placid high-end shops and nice restaurants as I drove by, but I decided not to stop with the crowds to instead return at a less busy time to stroll and take it all in including the Olympics museum. 

Continuing on Route 86 East the next town is Wilmington, and a short distance up a mountain is North Pole, New York.  I only remember a handful of family vacations as a child, we did not take many, but one image in my mind is the frozen North Pole at North Pole, NY.  I pulled into the parking lot and went up to the ticket window.  To the attendant I said, “I remember a frozen pole in the parking lot 50 years ago (alright probably 55 years ago – I age well) where is it?”  She replied, “it has always been inside next to Santa’s

Yes, me with a shorter frozen North Pole !!!

house.”  “Could I run in and ask someone to take my picture next to it, please.”  “Well you would have to buy a ticket for $19.50.”  “I only want to run in for a minute.”  “Go ask at the office to see if they will let you,” and then she continued, “but, if you want to buy a ticket and go to the gift shop inside, and return within 30 minutes I can refund your admission.”  I bought a ticket, found the pole, asked a family there if they would take my picture (telling them why), and was back getting my refund in five minutes.  I must tell you, on this trip I have met nothing but wonderful, polite and helpful people.  So here is RAB at the North Pole, I don’t think a picture of me still exists when the pole was much taller than me (it must have melted some), and for good measure I have included a picture of me at the South Pole.

Yours truly at the South Pole during Operation Deepfreeze '74. I was the fuels officer responsible for all fuels for the US stations in Antarctica.

My final destination was Plattsburgh, NY, which I had never been too.  When I loaded the APP for the War of 1812 from the PBS website I discovered the Battle of Plattsburgh Association Museum there, and that was my destination hopefully before the 3PM closing.  But, remember, if something of interest is along the way I will stop, but nothing popped up and I reached the museum at 2PM.  The new director was more than gracious and she told me I could stay as long as I wanted, in fact a family came in at 3 and she welcomed them, and when I left later a man from Georgia arrived (I saw the plates on his car) and was also welcomed passed “closing time.”  This is the way I always ran my bookshops, and this young lady is to be commended.  This is a great, small museum of the Battle of Plattsburgh Association presenting a history of the War of 1812 in the North and particularly at Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814.   

The museum is on the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base which closed in 1995, but the military installation, which has housed the Army and Navy and Air Force, goes back to the War of 1812.  Still extant are many of the 1890s buildings and layout of the Army Post of that time period. Noted military personnel stationed during their careers besides President U. S.  Grant include: Theodore Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur; George Marshall; Leonard Wood; and, Mark Clark just to name a few.  The former base on the bank of Lake Champlain is beautiful and I have been immersed in a book I bought on the history and redevelopment of the base.

I toured different sections of the town, and then had a wonderful wrap for my lunch/dinner shortly before 5PM (if you postpone lunch you can cover more ground) at Livingood’s on Margaret Street recommended by the young lady at the museum (always ask a local for a recommendation – and avoid a chain!!!).  I left at 5:30 for home and was pleasantly surprised that even with the ferry crossing Lake Champlain and a gas stop I made it home in 3 hours.  Great, it will be very easy to get back to the Plattsburgh area, and I cannot wait to do so.

Well, for someone who has nothing to do, I have been so busy once getting home that I have not yet unpacked my suitcase, and I have been working on and off on this blog post for 4 nights.  So, here it is, and thanks for reading, yours, RAY

My timing crossing Lake Champlain was not quite perfect for the sunset looking West. When on the lake you get a great feeling for both the impact of the Adirondacks and the Green Mountains.

Posted in 2011-d - Rideau Canal - (Oct) | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

FINISHING UP THE RIDEAU CANAL – 5 and 6 October 2011

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Ray Boas

A even more laid back day today (the 5th) as we boarded the school bus to return to the boat at Chaffey’s Locks where we continued downstream towards Kingston, going through the lock there, then the Davis lock, and finally passing through the four locks at Jones Falls where we are staying and continuing on ending at the bucolic Upper Brewers locks.  The bus met us there and returned the group to the hotel at about 3 PM.  While onboard I simply enjoyed the scenery which in time changed from a more mountainous wooded terrain to flatlands once we left the extension of the Canadian Shield which extends even down to the Adirondacks.  I encountered the Canadian Shield  while crossing Canada on Via Rail’s The Canadian.

Locking Through the Jones Falls Lock - Hotel Kenney in background

Since that time I have been reading about what we saw and about Fort Henry that we will visit in Kingston tomorrow.  I always like to know how things are put together and why things/towns are where they are.  In a Fort Henry booklet I found at an Information Center (I stop at all information centers to collect brochures and booklets) while crossing the border, there is a statement as to why the Fort and Rideau Canal were selected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  And it is this rationale that I love learning about an area as I learn why things are what they are: Geography, Politics, and Technology.  What more needs to be said, think about it. 

So, for two hours I have enjoyed the enclosed Victorian porch, just like home, but overlooking the waterway, reading, studying, and relaxing.  This evening we have a lecture on the War of 1812, the Rebellions in Canada of the late 1830s and 1840s.  I am convinced that this trip will have me expanding my time period of research and the reach of my travels.

Writing continues on Thursday 6 October.  This Road Scholar program has not been a dizzy rush like my tour of Greece and Turkey last year, or some of the paces that I have put you through on my earlier trips this year, but instead for me it has been very educational and introduced me to another period of history that I was deficient in.  What is exceptional about the Road Scholar programs are the guides/instructors that they get.  Our leader is a retired Parks Canada historian who worked for many years on the Rideau Canal.  Our lecturer last evening, also retired from Parks Canada, was also well versed in the history and natural resources of the area, and a captivating speaker and photographer. Today at Fort Henry in Kingston (which is now closed for the season) the director give a wonderful history tour, and then we had a lecture by Brian Osborne who as a retired professor was instrumental in obtaining the UNESCO designation of World Heritage Site to the canal and the Kingston Fortifications.  Top notch individuals and all extremely professional and worthwhile.  So if you ever consider one of the Road Scholar programs, do keep this in mind.

I am so filled with facts that I have a whole new understanding of Canada and our relations with our neighbor.  Before I forget, this coming Monday the 10th there will be a show on PBS on the War of 1812.  Looking at the preview last evening I note that Ken Burns and Florentine Films were involved with its production.  Canada was concerned about the US invading up into the late 1860s.  Remember it was just in 1867 that Canada finally became a country and separate from Britain. Even at the conclusion of our Civil War, Canada was still afraid that with our trained soldiers and “manifest destiny” desires that we would march North and capture these British lands.  The Saint Lawrence River was a natural border, but hard to defend in time of war, thus the Rideau Canal (and really more appropriately termed a Waterway) was a natural solution for a military route to move men and materials to the military strongpoint of Kingston at the junction of the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, and the Cataraqui River that completes the end of the Waterway.

On the porch of the Lockmaster's House - Kingston Mills Lockstation

After Brian’s lecture we boarded the bus and went to the Kingston Mills locks with our box lunches.  It was a perfect day for a picnic and an absolutely gorgeous setting.  The last set of locks before Kingston this four lock station has a combined lift of 45 feet and also served as a military base up to World War I – its location is that important.  Just below another large man-made lake to balance out the slack water route, the canals are cut into the rock with the river off to the side, and crossing over is the main railroad line first built in 1858 if I remember correctly.  A Via Rail train passed over us, and I recalled traveling on this exact track from Montreal to Toronto in August to meet The Canadian train.

 

One of the Locks at Kingston Mills with Railroad overhead

We then went downtown Kingston and had about 45 minutes to walk around on our own.  Back to my travel fast mode in which I enjoyed the architecture and walk along the shore.  I will return to Kingston.  After dinner we finished the War of 1812 DVD, and I have been finishing up the writing of this excursion.  Once I post this I will delve into reading up on my trip to Saranac Lake tomorrow once the program concludes after lunch.  I have lots of ideas of things to do, but also do not know what I will bump into along the way.  And I have three choices picked out for routes and exploration back home from Saranac Lake, so all I can say is, “stay tuned for the returned home post.”  I have so much more I enjoyed and learned, but did not include – probably enough for a dissertation if not a book. Thanks so much for sharing my journeys again.  Yesterday I had 60 page visits, almost topping my busiest day on September 26th of 63. As always, yours, RAY

Good Night Hotel Kenney - 'till next time !!!

Posted in 2011-d - Rideau Canal - (Oct), Erie Canal | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Rideau Canal – Ontario, Canada – 3 and 4 October 2011

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Ray Boas

I do not know where to start and what to share as there is so much. But a plaque has been on my desk for decades that reads, “The Best Way to Get Something Done is to Begin.”  And, remember, “To Write About Something is to Live it Twice.”

Yesterday (October 3rd) we headed east by bus to Smith Falls (one of the major towns on the canal) to tour the canal museum there.  In an old mill building the museum was a simple introduction, but nothing new to me since I had done much preparation into the history and building of the canal. 

Looking up the abandoned combined three locks. Wisely saved when the new lock was built.

There was plenty of time there so I ran out and took a short walk to see the abandoned three combined locks (now a water garden) and the adjoining replacement single automated lock.

What is so fascinating about the Rideau Waterway/Canal is that it is essentially as it was when completed in 1832 – a 175 plus living history working museum which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.  Of the 202 kilometers it covers connecting Ottawa with Kingston on Lake Ontario only 16.2 kilometers were actually cut where necessary to connect the lakes and rivers, usually with locks to circumvent falls and rapids.  The locks go up from Ottawa to Upper Rideau Lake summit (the highest elevation of the waterway) at which point the locks step the waterway back down to Lake Ontario – fascinating.

We then bussed a short distance in town to Park Canada’s maintenance yard for the canal. Our group guide is a retired Park Canada employee who spent maybe 20 years associated with the canal, and she had arranged a visit to the Gate Shop where the gates for the locks are made – a place no one gets to see.  Up until maybe the 1960s gates were still made on site but now are made in this one facility. 

Looking in at the Gate Show showing a set just finished. Never seen sight.

Some great “fast facts” follow.  Originally the gates were made of oak found on site, but now Douglas Pine is used brought in from Oregon or Western Canada.  The gates are still made of wood instead of steel (used in the three new automated gates) to retain the historicalness of the canal. It can take from 3 to 4 months to make a set (all by hand) and they are built with a slight curve to deflect the pressure of the water to the outer edges. Gates made today last 10-12 years, but the oak lasted much longer.  In the 1980s the pine was pressure treated after cut and fitted, and some of those gates are still in service and looking good.  Environmentally pressure treated wood is now a no-no.  When the canal shuts down in the winter the locks are drained and coffer dams installed to keep water, and ice, away from the gates.  Well, I found this all interesting, including the niches cut into the stones for planking to be installed for the coffer dams.  Hard to imagine that everything was engineered so long ago and is still utilized

Pair of gates ready to be installed. Note curvature for deflection of water, and pivot pin at base of gate.

without need for improvement.  One last detail I learned later.  The wood in the gates is deteriorating faster now also because the rings in the wood are larger.  The trees are growing faster and healthier (possibly from specialized tree farming to maximize profits), and since there is less compression within the wood the interior spaces are quicker to rot.  Alright, one additional unrelated “fast fact” – how do you survey in a thick and dense and thus dark virgin forest when you cannot see 10 to 15 paces in front of you?  You survey at night sending your assistance out holding candles to shoot your survey lines to!

Following lunch back at Hotel Kenney we had a tour of the Jones Falls grounds with its four locks, original 1840s blacksmith shop, lockmaster’s blockhouse quarters, and the unique dam which could be the subject of an entire blog.  The layout is ingenious, and the main thing you have to think about in the operation of locks is basically filling and emptying a bathtub.  Our guide for the afternoon was the blacksmith.  Usually I skip blacksmith shops at restored villages, but this young man was especially knowledgeable in all areas of the site, and I was part of a captive audience.  Learned more than ever before about blacksmithing.  Do you know why

Canal Smithy at work

it is always dark in a blacksmith shop?  The smithy has to see the hot metal, and if it was light and sunny inside he could not see his “red hot” work.  Also the layout of the blacksmith shops on the canal is not what you usually see.  No large doors or wide open spaces because no work was done on horses or wagons.  Now, make sure you remember what I tell you for your next cocktail party conversation, you will thank me!  I just could go on and on, but the education I am getting will help when I tour England’s canals on my own rented narrow boat (hint Scott, Betty and Rich !!!)

Today, Tuesday I think, we bussed to Poonamalie Lock just this side of Smith Falls to tour back towards the Hotel, but stopping at Chaffey’s Locks where we will begin the second day of our trip.  We first passed through the Narrows Lock Number 35 where we got off before our boat locked through. The young lockmaster was passionate about his work and shared so much about the various operations as I will show below.  We later transited the Newboro lock before tying up for the day at Chaffeys Lock.  Such fun, and the journey continues tomorrow.

Entering the Narrows Lock. Our boat is the large one on the right. Note walkway on top of lock. Not a problem crossing them - OSHA would never allow in the states!!!

Swing Bridge for the roadway. Something else you don't see. The bridges are so well balanced that the young man gave a slight push on the lever and the bridge started moving by itself. Counter balanced perfectly except for the couple times semi-trucks (not allowed on the road) thought they could cross but caused major damage instead.

 
 
 
 
 
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1 and 2 October 2011 — Back in Canada via Rome, NY

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Ray Boas

Saturday, October 1, 2011, a rainy day all day, and chilly too.  With all the room in the van you would think I would have thrown in a winter coat too.  But it was in the 70s and 80s recently, what was I to think?  At least I knew that it was supposed to be in the 40s and 50s in Canada so I did pack a sweater and windbreaker.

Route 30 was back open across Vermont so I scooted over to Manchester, down the super slap to Bennington, and then over the new super slap (albeit smaller) that bypasses Bennington and gets you right into New York State.  Essentially a two hour drive to the Hudson River this way, deducting the time spent at an antique center.  Walked into the center, and there was a small revolving bookcase at a give-away price.  I have owned, many, many of these but always sold them in my New Jersey shop, never keeping one.  This one I will give a try on the porch back home, and if it does not work off it goes for sale at the Colony Mill at a give-away price still giving me a profit.

I made my two stops that I wanted on Saturday: the Oriskany Battlefield and Fort Stanwix in Rome once I travelled west on the New York Thruway.  I am getting more and more of an appreciation of the Mohawk Valley and river in our early history both as a main transportation route to and from the west, but also as an important pivotal point in the American Revolution and subsequent hostilities between loyalist and colonial settlers and British soldiers and Native Americans supporting both sides.  Not enough space here to get into all that history, but I

Monument on the small Oriskany Battlefield

encourage you to learn more as I will. Colonists on the way to assist colonists who were under siege at Fort Stanwix were ambushed at Oriskany by a few British and a larger number of Native Americans on the British side.  Called the bloodiest battle of the American Revolution, the battlefield is really small where the Colonists in short order caused the enemy to retreat.  In time the British also abandoned the siege on the Fort and their failure there helped lead to the defeat of General Burgoyne at Saratoga.

Now the reconstructed fort in Rome is fascinating.  It feel in disrepair in the 1780s and in time the City of Rome built up around and then over the fort.  Totally urban, in 1935 FDR declared the site a national monument but it was not until 1970 that urban renewal cleared the area, archaeological digs were begun, and the reconstructed fort was completed in 1978. The park guides were extremely informative, and I do recommend a visit if you are travelling past on I-90.  I really don’t need anything, but I always look at the gift/bookshops at museums.  They had some hand-blown glass candlesticks from the Jamestown National Park, and they caught my eye, and are wrapped up now in the van to join my other treasured candlesticks.

Now, not everyone is a B&Ber, and sadly my step-mother has only had bad B&B experiences, but if you travel with me you are in for B&B treats – and last night was absolutely tops.  I had emailed the one B&B listed in Rome, the owner was going to be gone but she told me to contact her friend Fred who was still awaiting the last stamp of approval before he could “officially open.”   I arrived at The Oak and Ivy B&B on North George Street, knocked at the front door, and was awe struck as I entered.  Fred has spent 3 years restoring this grand home with an early 19thcentury décor, and he has done it well.  It was 5 PM, he had tea ready and shared it with me in one of the sitting rooms. A fascinating man and we had lots of common interests.  He directed me to a fine restaurant on Delta Lake that I would never have found myself, and when I returned I sat in another sitting area outside my room and researched the history

Where I sat last night with my travel literature and laptop.

I had learned that day to reinforce what I saw, and prepared for my journey to Canada.  Cathy would have loved it here.  For the first time ever I took pictures at a B&B and am sharing two of them with you.  I even took pictures of my marble lined bathroom.  Breakfast was unbelievable and Fred even packed me off with some fresh scones.  The total fare for this splendor – $65 – yes, I told him to raise his prices. “But this is a depressed area,” he replied.

Best Breakfast - Best Dining Room - Oak and Ivy B&B, Rome, NY

Today, Sunday I headed off in more rain on back roads to Watertown, NY passing farm land, and small villages.  In Watertown I picked up I-81 to the border crossing on the Thousand Islands Bridge.  Never before have I been in this area, and again I was overwhelmed with the beauty and the vast number of small islands dotted with quaint homes.  Another trip is in now “on the list.”

I travelled down the back roads finally arriving at the Hotel Kenney at Jones Falls.  I entered the lobby, the fire was burning, it is spacious with many sitting areas (I am in front of the fire now, “ala Red Lion Inn) and checked in only to find that I was assigned to one of the out buildings on the water built in the 1970s.  “Isn’t there a room in the inn?” I inquired (no, not what you are thinking).  “Yes, but it is on the third floor, would you like to see it?”  And it is just what I like, old (but clean and tidy), crooked floors, and a view right overlooking the canal locks.  I later walked over to the Chalets – I made the right choice.   

Hotel Kenney from the last lock. My room is the two windows on the top floor just to the left of the chimney - WOW.

Our orientation was at 3:30, there are twenty people here for the program, all couples, and another fellow and myself.  The dining room is lovely, food was plentiful and good, and after dinner we watched part of a video on the War of 1812.  Something extra the group leader brought along, and another subject I know too little about (even though the video is from the Canadian view-point).

The week we will travel almost half of the Rideau Canal, and I am excited.  So, thanks again for bearing with me and “listening.”  Yours, RAY

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DAY OUT – Ray is one of the great “AMERICAN PICKERS”

Posted on September 29, 2011 by Ray Boas

I like to schedule one event for each day to help pass the time so to speak.  Today’s event was to get blood drawn for my annual physical in October.  I am healthy, not to worry, but just plan to stay that way.  It was not a “Black Beauty” day since it was raining and even pouring much of the day, and it would not have been ideal heading up to Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Vermont in her (as you will read, it was good I had the van).  I planned my fasting to have a good 16 plus hours before getting poked, and for my reward I planned to have an omelet for a late breakfast at the Windsor Diner (in Windsor, VT),

Windsor Diner - Windsor, VT - Worth the Trip

built in 1952 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company in Massachusetts.  I have “dined” there several times, and Scott, Betty and Rich and I enjoyed dinner there in early February after cross-country skiing at Mt. Tom in Woodstock, Vermont at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller Historic National Park. 

After enjoying the diner I headed across the Covered Bridge back to New Hampshire and headed up to Lebanon, NH to do some book scouting.  I have a stop there, found a few books priced allowing me to pay for gas plus, and then I headed to the antique center at Quechee, VT.  Usually not good pickings there, but I am good at what I do, and this time I picked up 5 books that were priced allowing me a fantastic margin.  I will buy $40 books all day long when a “dealer” has priced them at $3 and $5.  Well, those were my two planned stops, but I wanted to see what was left of the Quechee Covered Bridge and Simon Pearce after Irene, so headed up Route 4 a tad.  I planned on seeing both sides of the bridge (sorry I neglected to take a camera along), and first stopped on the far side looking over to Simon Pearce.  I then headed back down Route 4 to pick up the back road to Simon Pearce.

Well, after crossing the Gorge I saw a temporary sign routing you to Simon Peace, I was not familiar with that road.  So I did a “uie” into a parking lot to circle back.  The store there had a big sign, retiring, liquidation sale.  Cathy and I had been in the building before, but I did not recall what they had, but what the heck I have the time (starting to define myself as semi-retired) so I parked and went in.  Big space was essentially empty with some big items around the large room.  I saw some Halloween type noise makers that I knew I could make some travel money on, so set those aside – and then I saw IT. 

Now, I am busy de-accessioning my collections, and have a rule to only buy books or a “real-treasure” if it is smaller than a bread box.  You may recall my post a short time ago about my visit to the National Heritage Museum in Lexington, Massachusetts which is in conjunction with the 32 Degree Scottish Rite Freemasons in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.  One of the exhibition rooms I most enjoyed was called something like “curators favorites” in which members of the staff selected for display some of their favorite and unique items.  I had been enthralled with a rocking goat mounted on eccentric wheels that was used in Masonic initiations wheeling around a hoodwinked inductee.  In the corner of this shop (the owner was bringing in his treasures from home) was an example better than the museums’ – it was pricey!!!  I chatted with him telling him I knew what it was, and he was impressed.  He had bought it years, years ago from a woman who said she had gotten it from the Odd Fellows Home in Brownsville, VT.  He had it priced at what he paid for it even though right after he bought it he could have doubled his money.  Well, Frank and Mike on AMERICAN PICKERS would be proud of me (and I will contact them because this item needs to be seen on their show).  I got my checkbook to pay for my noise makers, and mentioned to the gentleman that I liked the item, but I am busy selling things I bought years ago, and prices are not what they were.  I am selling some things for less than I paid for them, but it is alright since they are paid for.  I said I was intrigued with his item, did not want to insult him, but would not think twice if I paid $GRR, to which he said how about $YRR – less than what he had paid.  I said, let’s split the difference, to which he said  “Yes”, and we shook on it.

My "Billy" The Rocking Goat

He helped me load into the van my circa 1905 De Moulin Bros. (yes I have started the research) Rollicking Mustang Goat.  And, my example far surpasses the quality of the museum piece in Lexington, and is early with real goat horns, real hide and fur, and stirrups that I do not recall seeing in Lexington.  Billy is big!!!  The fun will be to find the right home, and get some more “travel money” in the process.  But I enjoy the hunt, the search, ending up with something I never planned on, learning about it, and then placing it.  Oh, just too much fun, but I will have to wait “playing with Billy” because I really do need to get ready for Canada.

Tonight I talked with a fellow who is just finishing up his 22 room mansion in Rome, NY as a B&B, and I will stay there on my way to my canal program in Canada.  This morning I talked with the owner of a B&B in Saranac Lake, NY where I will stop upon my return.  Both places will be unique experiences, just what I enjoy and like to share, but I will wait until I am there so I can share pictures and details.

Today was another adventure, “Billy” the goat is stabled alongside “Black Beauty” and “Black Beauty” does not know what to think of her new “garage-mate.”

More coming soon, thanks, RAY

"Black Beauty" is overwhelmed with "Billy" the Goat

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MISCELLANEOUS RAMBLINGS – 26 September 2011

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Ray Boas

Update Tuesday 27 September — WOW power of the internet.  I had 63 visits to my posts yesterday with 22 alone (over one third) to this page.  Thank you, as always, RAY

Good afternoon.  This past week has been tough because I missed writing and sharing

RAB and BLACK BEAUTY on the Ticonderoga Ferry, Fall, 2010

here.  Also I have had very little business this past week and had a hard time starting one of my many projects, but I’ve make progress at least with the planning and thinking about those projects.

I have spent some time learning about the Rideau Canal which I will soon be visiting for an informative and educational excursion.  On the way there (staying at an 1877 Hotel in Jones Falls, Ontario, Canada) I plan to stop at Fort Stanwix and the Oriskany Battlefield in the Mohawk Valley.  I first experienced this area when I took an Erie Canal trip in the fall of 2008.  So much to learn in the area I vowed to return, and this will be my first opportunity.  Having become fascinated with the French and Indian Wars and the early part of the American Revolution that was fought in the North, I am looking forward to visiting these two sites.  You may not realize that in the summer of 1777 the British planned a three-pronged attack to cut New England off from the rest of the colonies.  Burgoyne was coming down Lake Champlain (he lost at Saratoga).  General Howe was supposed to advance to Albany to meet Burgoyne, but instead went to engage Washington in Pennsylvania.  Less known was the third part of the plan with an attack coming from Lake Ontario down the Mohawk Valley to Albany.  The Battle at Oriskany was one of the bloodiest of the American Revolution, and Fort Stanwix was the site of a 21 day siege which finally saw the retreat of the British General St. Leger.

Not being sure what route I would travel to get home, I pulled out all my maps and brochures (just ordered another bundle of storage cartons for my growing collection) and kept reviewing them, and all of a sudden the right solution came to me.  Once I leave the program I will continue East along the St. Lawrence River, cross back into the States and work my way through the Northern part of the Adirondacks to Saranac Lake and Lake Placid – two places I have not yet visited.  It should be a pretty drive, and you will get the report.

One of the things I do every day is to look at the number of visits to Shunpiking with Ray, and the referrers and search engine search terms used.  I have now (in just a few months) had over 2,300 visits, and my most visits on one day was 57 on Monday, August 27th following the conclusion of my Via Rail trip across Canada on The Canadian.  My previous highest number of visits followed my return from Italy.  Today, all of a sudden, I have had 32 visits to my pages, again looking at my train trip on The Canadian.  I certainly hope that those visitors enjoyed my pages, and have learned something to help them in their travels.  If you read this far on this page, I would love it if you would leave a comment telling me what you liked, and if my comments helped.  Thanks !!!

I mentioned my projects.  I have started working on this year’s production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL again reviewing Dickens’ original work to see if there are any small additions or changes to make.  Tara and I talked yesterday and thought of one strong vignette that we can add.  If you have not seen our production – it is truly amazing with 12 unique scene changes in 1 hour and 20 minutes – and a powerful message is delivered as Dickens intended.  Our production benefits local area food shelves.  I also plan to carefully catalogue my Dickens and Christmas history book collection, now numbering about 50 volumes, as I begin work on the 12 page booklet that I have done each year as a history keepsake for all attendees.  And, finally, worrying about my Shunpiking this winter I am working with my collection of titles on the history of roads, and roadside Americana to armchair travel, and hopefully get some articles and books underway.

Well, time I guess to “get serious and back to work.”  Catch you soon, RAY

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BOSTON AREA – 14-17 SEPTEMBER 2011 – “The Regulars are Coming”

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Ray Boas

More learning, more adventures, more tempus fugit.   I arrived at

Minute Man Statue on the Battle Green, Lexington

David’s Wednesday afternoon so I could learn Alex’s daily routine before David headed to DC to catch up with Mari at a conference.  We picked Alex up at his afterschool program “Kid’s Corner” and took him to his swimming lesson, afterwards had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that has been one of David’s favorites for over 15 years.  Returning home I jotted notes on the evening and morning routines (aren’t we all creatures of habit loving routine?) and was ready to take over.  In my note to neighbors that I was going to be gone again I mentioned that the thought came to me to spend Thursday in Lexington, Massachusetts (I experienced the American Revolution in Concord a few years ago so I was overdue for Lexington) and on the drive here I said, “hey, Ray, why not go to Lowell on Friday and explore the Lowell National Historical Park with the industrial and textile museums.  My daytime plans were set while Alex was in school.

Thursday, September 15th we walked Alex to school, David headed to the airport, and I read awhile before I skipped over to Lexington to the National Heritage Museum and its exhibit, “Sowing the Seeds of  Liberty: Lexington and the American Revolution.”  What I did not know (and is not mentioned in the advertising literature) is that the museum was founded by and is supported by the 32 Degree Scottish Rite Freemasons in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.   The facility is located on a gorgeous property, exquisite buildings, and obviously well endowed.  The more I read about the French and Indian Wars, and the beginnings of the American Revolution the more solidified the events become in my mind, and this fine permanent exhibit helped with solidifying my understanding.  I spent almost two hours enjoying the varied exhibits (many of which utilize the extensive Masonic collections the museum holds) ranging from costumes and Masonic regalia, and a “curator’s choice” featuring many varied items but well arranged presenting cultural reflections of the times.  An easy drive, less than two hours from Walpole, may I recommend that you add this museum to your list.

I then travelled less than a mile downtown to get a sandwich, and found town overrun with kids.  While in a deli ordering a wrap I asked a young patron, “why so many kids in town?”  He told me it was a half day of school.  Wrap in hand I exited to walk to the Battle Green to eat only to be met by pouring rain.  Hey, I’m easy.  I waited for a stool, ate my wrap, and scooted between rain-drops to the car to get my umbrella, and then back to explore the Historic Train Depot where I read about the history of Lexington as it developed from a farm community to a bedroom suburb with the help of the railroad whose roadbed is now the Bike Path/Rail Trail – The Minuteman Bikeway –  (again worth the trip). 

Next on my list for the day (and now on yours) was the three historic houses owned by The Lexington Historical Society:  The societies’ tour, FIRST SHOT: THE LEXINGTON REVOLUTIONARY EXPERIENCE  includes: The Buckman Tavern on the common where the militia gathered; the Hancock-Clarke House which was Paul Revere’s destination to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the impending danger; and the Munroe Tavern that the British used briefly as a field hospital on their retreat to Boston, and where Washington had dinner in 1789 (I did not sit in the chair he sat in while eating, but stood inches from it!).  The tour of the three buildings is very well done, with well trained docents providing a perfect insight to the events on that fateful day.  You must just experience it.  So many “fast facts” and by seeing where the events happened it becomes real and understandable.  And it was a full day when I finished up shortly before 5 with time to get to “Kids Corner” to pick up Alex at 5:15 (I was a few minutes early).

Munroe Tavern showing 1830 era Flower Garden - I still am struggling with the design of a Colonial Kitchen garden off my porch.

So often I learn fascinating facts such as the derivation of words, terms and customs only to lose them again, but I remembered three such items at the Buckman Tavern and quickly wrote down hints to remember to share them with you.  Prior to a formal postal service letters would be carried by most anyone from one tavern to another to be retrieved.  A letter coming or going was often attached to the corner post on a bar “cage” in the taproom – thus a “letter was posted.”   I saw some Plexiglas covering something on the old wooden boards that had been exposed during restoration, and asked what was being protected.  The docent pointed to some faint chalk marks which she explained were notes of bar tabs, and then proceeded to explain how important it was to record properly whether the customer received a pint or quart, thus the expression, “mind your p’s and q’s!”  And then she proceeded to point out the parts of a rifle on the wall indicating the lock (for the flint), stock and the barrel – the whole being “lock, stock and barrel.”  Such fun.

Well, David just called, and I reported all was well here.  He gets back late afternoon so we will pick up Alex together, and my plan is to spend the day in Lowell with the thought that I will not be able to “do it all” but never having been there this is a start.  Good night, RAY

Standing Guard outside the National Heritage Museum

SATURDAY NIGHT – 17 SEPTEMBER – Back Home

Please don’t think I am always telling you my experiences are great no matter what, fortunately they have been, but believe me, if I “bomb” on something I will tell you what I thought, and it will be just my opinion.  Having said that, Friday in Lowell, MA, and today in Newport, RI were fabulous.

Friday morning getting Alex off to school went just like clockwork and we arrived as the bell was ringing having gotten everything done to have him ready to go for the day.  David called me while I was walking back to his house – somehow I thought he would and I had my TracFone with me, and now I know how to answer it.  When I got into the house Mari called to check too, and I reaffirmed all went very well.  Shortly I hopped in my car and headed north for Lowell a tad over a half hour away, and an easy drive.  Early nineteenth-century Lowell was internationally known as a model city and initiated a successful beginning for the American Industrial Revolution.  Sited at the intersection of the Merrimack and Concord Rivers, the drop provided powerful waterpower for the expanding textile mills, and soon canals were dug to increase the flow to the water wheels and turbines to supply more and more mills.  In this early construction space was set aside for parks and walks along the natural and man-made waterways, and many exist to this day.  As you know I am not a city person, but just as I feel about Istanbul and Vancouver (and always London) I am anxious to return.  Lowell in the 21st century, I feel, is a model now for successful urban renewal.  The textile mills came on hard times in the late 1950s and 1960s, and moved or closed forever.  The city was a disaster, deserted mills and housing everywhere, but as I toured the museums and strolled around (for 5 hours) I was impressed by the neat and tidy look and the well preserved and restored 19th and early 20th century architecture.  Even the few vacant storefronts needed a double look to see that they were in fact vacant. 

Clock Tower at Boott Cotton Mills -- Life was dictated by the sound of the bells

At the National Park Visitor Center I viewed the film on the development of Lowell, and then walked over to the exhibit at the Boott Cotton Mills Museum (also part of the National Park Service).  This exhibit in the original mill showed the various operations in making textile cloth with running equipment on the first floor and museum exhibits on the second. There was an additional film there on the Industrial Revolution in the US.  Now here comes some honesty – I am not “into textile mills.”  Having specialized since 1980 in business and financial history books I cannot get enough education on the development of industries, but the technicalities of textile manufacture I can pass through quickly. 

Walking through the main city shopping area I chose to eat lunch at La Boniche  on Merrimack Street and had the Grilled Pork with Orange-Hazelnut Butter over roasted zucchini and roasted potatoes.  It was a great choice.  I then headed to the Mill Girls and Immigrants Exhibit housed in one of the remaining company owned boarding houses for the mill workers.  Originally in the 1830s and 1840s young New England farm girls were recruited to work in the mills, but starting in the 1840s with the Irish Famine immigrants began arriving followed by one nationality after another with each settling in separate areas in the city giving rise to the ethnic neighborhoods.

Architecture and Street Lights - A Window Reflection (finding my photographic calling)

Do you note how my travels this year to Ireland (visiting emigration sites there) and earlier this month to the coal regions in Pennsylvania (which I still owe you a blog on) tie together with the movement of people to find work here to survive?  Having arrived at 10 AM it was now 3 PM and I wanted to head back to meet David upon his return from DC so we could pick up Alex together.  I still have more to do in Lowell, it is easy to get to, and you should “check it out.”

This morning, the 17th, we head off to the Newport (RI) International Boat Show.  David has had his 33 foot sailboat for 10 years, and last was at this show when Alex was one, 5 years ago.  I am always up for Newport, and last enjoyed two days there in Spring of 2010.  I took Cathy there shortly after we married to get her military ID card, and I lived there

Alex with his Del's Lemonade - a Rhode Island tradition. This could have been David 35 years ago when the Del's truck would pass our house, bell clanging to summon the kids.

(actually on the other side of the bay) in the early 1970s while with Operation Deep Freeze, and I later ran the Navy Finance Office in Newport.  My Navy experience however goes all the way back to 1964 on a reserve cruise on the USS Sullivans DD-537 when I went to Provincetown, PEI, Canada to represent the US during the 100th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, and my first midshipman cruise left Newport following my Freshman year in college.  It was a three hour round trip and we spent five hours at the show and walking in Newport.  David could not believe we were gone so long, I told him that actually an eight hour day is a short travelling day for me.

Well, I made a mental note of something I wanted to say, but forgot (age? No!! just too much on the mind!).  On the drive home I decided I should count the nights I have stayed at David’s this year in my vacation count of nights away from home.  As a result, in 2011 I will be spending more than one sixth of the year away and on vacation.  Enjoyable yes, fills the time enjoyably, yes; but, somehow something I wish Cathy could be enjoying with me, but I know she is with me on these sojourns.  Still wish I could figure out if I was running from something or to something.  But once my next to Canada trip is over, and then the Portugal trip to Fatima (oh, I need a Red Lion Inn fix too) we will get started with our 4th annual production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and this contribution to the community is such a pleasure, but sadly will be over before it begins.  All for now, thanks again for putting up with my ramblings, as always, yours, RAY

PS – I love old diners, and found two in downtown Lowell, here is one.

Paradise Diner - Lowell, Mass - one of two diners I passed - "oh, nostalgia!"

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11 SEPTEMBER 2011 – A DAY OFF – TR3ing

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Ray Boas

Yesterday, Saturday, I decided to go to Mass and then close out the weeks work so I could feel liberated to take Sunday off.  As sad as is today’s anniversary, I knew I could not stay glued to the news all day.  All right, before you say anything I have been home 4 whole days since I have last been “vacationing,” so it is “about time!”  My plan was to have breakfast at one of my favorite spots, the bakery in Proctorsville, Vermont, and then head off to again enjoy Calvin Coolidges’s birthplace in Plymouth – in “Black Beauty” of course, she has been begging to get out.  To be safe I checked (on-line, of course) and found that although Plymouth was safe, the historical site was closed because you cannot get there due to storm damage.  So, what do to?  Go to sleep, and something will occur to me when I get up.  And, it did!

Last time I crossed Massachusetts Route 2 West to East in June 2010 – The Mohawk Trail – I stumbled onto a sign that is part of the genesis of the name of this site – SHUNPIKE.  It has been my intention to use an image of that sign in the masthead to this site, so what is better than to deadhead (maybe an hour plus drive, remember I have no use for a timepiece) down to Charlemont, Massachusetts and get my images.  Off I went shortly before 11 AM.  Yes, even Route 2 is closed because of Irene, but I could get to Charlemont, and took many images which I will eventually work into a new masthead (Scott told me how I can make my own).

I turned around to head to Shelburne Falls to get a bite to eat.  Now I must tell you that the Mohawk Trail (Route 2) is the first designated Scenic Road, a designation it received in 1914, and it became a very famous tourist route complete with the quintessential roadside Americana.  My original plan with

Vanishing Roadside Americana on the Mohawk Trail

my site was to focus on Shunpiking on the back roads, the “blue routes,” that still retain some of their original character, and to also provide history on many of these old enjoyable roads in New England, but that can always come as we “armchair shunpike” this winter.  I know there is at least “one book in me” documenting these routes, so “stay tuned.”

Coming in from the West on Route 2 there is a back road (on the Buckland side of the Deerfield River) to get to Shelburne Falls which I took.  Arriving in the village I found the bridge closed to vehicle traffic, and continued up the hill to turn around, and the spot I selected was the back path to the Trolley Museum.  Famous, well signed, for whatever reason (probably for our shopping and eating instead in the village) I have never gone these few extra tenths of a mile to see the museum in the old rail yards.  WOW – Worth the trip, not to mention the price.  The little museum giving the history of the Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway is free, and for $3 you can ride the original restored 1910 trolley and work the hand truck down the tracks and

Shelburne Falls & Colrain Street Railway Number 10

back.  Now, you may have seen a railroad hand truck before, but I guarantee you, I have travelled extensively in my “short” life, and I have not seen a moving hand truck, let alone one that you can propel yourself.  I had the chance, and you know me by now – here I am (volunteer saw my camera and said, “would you like me to take your picture?). 

Me and Handtruck - (guess who is which!) - What Fun!!

Trolley is half baggage, and half passengers - very unusual !!!

I really enjoyed this unplanned serendipitous stop, and will stop in again.  Upon leaving it started to rain (not in the plan), and I toured along this side of the river looking at Irene damage before circling around back to the other side of the river into the main street area.  Rain was getting heavier and I actually used my wind screen wiper blades three times (cockpit of “Black Beauty” does not get wet if you keep moving), but I soon pulled into a drive-in bank.  I do not ever need one, but it is a good spot to park in the rain, at least in non-banking hours.  Leaving “Black Beauty” under the bank canopy I walked

Rare image - "Black Beauty" under cover

around a tad, and had a tuna salad grinder, after all it was 3:30 – time does get away from you while shunpiking.  To be truthful, there were fewer people in town than I had ever seen before, and I have visited Shelburne Falls many times in the past 16 years, yes, and I even bought the contents of an out-of-print bookstore that was closing there in the late 1990s.

I headed East on Route 2 to pickup Route 63 North back towards New Hampshire.  Shunpiking, of course, too bad I-91 is free – NOT.  If there was a toll I would truly be shunpiking!  Northfield, Massachusetts is a delightful village and worth the trip, but from there I followed Route 10 to Keene since from experience I have learned that Route 63 from Hinsdale, NH to Chesterfield, NH is not TR3 friendly.  On my last trip down Route 63 the road made washboards look like pancakes – airborne is fun in a Triumph, but not when you face the next bump head on!  I stopped in Winchester to take a few images to send to an old friend in California who will be going there for some genealogy research (is he in for a surprise), and my steady strong pace brought me back home at 6PM.  A full enjoyable day, made even better by working with my images and writing about the day to “relive it!”   I have also been working on documenting my learning adventures on Labor Day and the following Tuesday this past week at Eckley Miner’s Village, Steamtown USA, and the Anthracite Heritage Museum.  So much to share, I will get it down in time.  Thanks so much for spending some time with me again, as always, yours, RAY

"Here's Looking at You!' -- Good Night !

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