Massachusetts

I’ve been wondering about this one for a while. I could start at the beginning – the first time I was in Boston with my dad on my way to start school in Virginia. Or talk about how my dream in high school was to go to school in Boston. Or the millions of awesome little things I experienced when I finally did go to school there. But how do you boil down to a few words a place that captured your heart and soul? I realized there is way too much to capture it all, so I’ve decided to go with my first themed adventures.

September: Apple Picking in Western Mass

My graduate school sponsored an apple-picking trip. I’d never been before and decided that this would be as good a way as any to get to know some people. It was wonderful. The weather cooperated and the ground wasn’t too soggy after relentless rain leading up to the trip. They told us we could eat as many apples as we wanted while picking and gave us a bag that we could fill. I don’t think I even knew there were so many kinds of apples before this trip.

I should also confess, before this trip I didn’t think I liked apples. Turns out I just hadn’t tried any of types I do like J Discovering I liked apples was definitely a highlight (and relief) of the trip. So was having apples to eat for what seemed like forever.

One of the other highlights of this adventure was learning the art of eating an entire apple. I had heard stories from my Grandma Miller eating an entire apple – seeds and all – because she was too embarrassed to go throw away the core in Elementary School. I’m not sure logistically how she did that, but I learned that eating straight through was the way to go. The seeds, core and the fuzzyish part at the bottom are not the best part so it’s awesome to have delicious parts to get back to…

October: Salem

If you have the chance to go to Salem around Halloween time, I highly recommend it! Interesting characters, who love all things Halloween, tend to congregate there in general, but it is more pronounced at the end of October to be sure.

It rained. A lot. I’m glad that didn’t stop my friends from following through on our plan to go. We wandered around town, through a cemetery, into some crazy shops, and ducked into a ship for a haunted ship ghost story adventure. Let me tell you, the increased rocking of the ship due to storm outside sure added to the mystery and tense feelings of that adventure. The best part = walking through the dark cemetery in the rain.

Side note: I also wanted to go to the pirate museum. It was closed while we were there, but the outside was super intriguing. Unfortunately I never made it back to Salem, but someone should go and tell me about it!

November: Plymouth Rock

I can’t lie – the rock is anticlimactic. But the plantation was a blast. (I really did enjoy both, but I’m glad the rock wasn’t the whole trip). My favorite part of the plantation was the live reenactments. The job of the people on the plantation and the ship is to be in character. We made it our job to test them. We came up with the most ridiculous questions and absolutely loved the quick, clever, in character, responses. I wish I could still remember some specific examples…

December: Santa coming in on a Lobster Boat

Picture Marblehead Massachusetts: Quaint coastal town, small population. It’s winter, the biting wind is blowing in off the ocean. Crowds of people are waiting to see Santa come in on a lobster boat. And suddenly, there he is! The crowd cheers! 

Then Santa and Mrs. Clause head up the parade that goes down main street and includes the local cheerleaders (and lasts five minutes :). It was amazing. We continued the festivities by buying some homemade apple cider from a local church and then checking out the gingerbread house contest at a historic landmark. All in all, a wonderful adventure!