Fall Colors, 5^th Report

October 2^nd, Wednesday

Today we drove to the Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.  I was skeptical that it would be a worthwhile activity.  It certainly is worthwhile.  It consists of buildings collected all over the east coast and erected in a large park type area.  The area is very beautiful in itself.  The old buildings and edifices are of great quality and a pleasure to walk through and experience.  Also, most buildings are fully staffed and have very good quality furnishings, tools, devices, etc.  Also, the chickens are a fun group and flocked around us.  It is an in depth looks at rural life in the 1800s.  There are more then 50,000 period artifacts.  We spent only a few hours there and we were able to experience only a small amount of the many exhibits, items to view.  The area is extensive.  Linda and I received lectures in the wool-spinning house, the black smiths building; the lumber cutting saw mill (in actual operation with a water stream moving the very large saw blade) and a cooking area.  We were served a very nice lunch. 

We then drove to Connecticut to ride on the Essex Steam Train and take a cruise on the Connecticut River on the Becky Thatcher Riverboat.  Both rides were pleasant.  The train trip was 12 miles long.  The river cruise was and hour and a half long.  The train had many coaches all of which were also dated back to the 1800s and are operational.  Both trips are narrated.

October 3, 2019, Thursday

Today we drove to Mystic Seaport and toured the Mystic Seaport Museum area.  This area is quite extensive and included many different sailing ships; boat making buildings, navigation equipment, rope making building and a building devoted to the history of whaling.  One of my favorites was a building devoted to the figures of people that used to be mounted to the front point of a ship.  I took pictures of them.  There were people in many of the areas as subject experts and would engage in discussions with others and me as we entered their building, area.  In the past, this area was heavily involved in fishing, ship building. 

In the afternoon we drove to Cape Cod Hyannis, Massachusetts for our room for two nights.  In the evening we participated in a rail train excursion through cranberry bogs and lush marshes aboard the Cape Cod Central Railroad’s Dinner Train.   We enjoyed a meal on the train as the train crosses the famous Cape Cod Canal railroad bridge into the historic village of Buzzard’s Bay.  Unfortunately, this activity was mostly at night and we were not able to see in the dark outside the train.  We did enjoy the company of our tour director, Roy O’ Connor at our eating table for this trip.  The food was acceptable for me as a vegetarian on this part of the trip.  Roy has had vast experience as a tour guide taking groups throughout the United States and Mexico.  He has a college degree in Theatre Arts and uses it well with his comments and tour leadership.

Our last touring day took place on Friday October 4, 2019.  We took our tour bus to Martha’s Vineyard on a vehicle ferry, which crossed from the mainland of Cape Cod to the Island retreat community.  On the island, in the charming town of Edgartown and visited the colorful Victorian gingerbread cottages of Oak Bluffs.  The little houses were plentiful and very colorful.  We returned by ferry to Woods Hole, Massachusetts and on to Hyannis.  The temperature was cool and it was windy. 

Overall, I found this tour be interesting and a fine glimpse of the beauty of this time of the year in New England. 

Fall Colors 4^th Report

On Monday, our pace of activities seemed to slow down a little.  We drove to Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire and went on a 75-minute boat ride.   The ship is the M/S Mount Washington is a large ship 230 feet long with a capacity of 1100 passengers.  We experienced a deliberate ride.  The lake has 240 habitable islands and was by glaciers.  The lake is 283 miles around its perimeter and is NH largest lake.  We saw residences on the shore and it appeared to be fully housed around its entire perimeter that we could see.  We disembarked at Wolfeboro.  We then took a slow ride in the bus back to our hotel visiting a number of locations on a river to admire the terrific fall leaf.  Our hotel for two nights is the Mountain Club on Loon, Lincoln, NH.  

Our guide for the trip is Roy who at age 73 is a veteran tour guide and has a pleasant sense of humor for us older people.  Our group has representatives from many states and countries outside of the U.S.A. (England, Australia).  

Tuesday, October 1, 2019, we started our day by busing to Fadden’s Sugar House for a presentation on the processing of Maple Syrup.  It was extremely detailed and very informative.  A maple tree must be 50-60 years old before the maple sap can be harvested.  That is when there is sufficient sap available to harvest.  Our instructor is the owner of a 10,000 maple tree farm, which is on 125 acres of land. To conduct the harvest requires 5 employees, 25 miles of tubing.  The instructor used a real maple tree to demonstrate the techniques involved.  The roots for the trees are on the surface of the ground and run 5 feet past the longest branch.  To generate one gallon of maple syrup, it requires 35 gallons of sap.  We saw the processing equipment.  The whole process was fascinating and there was a store run by the family where many items related to maple syrup and general merchandise could be purchased.  Wild turkeys have started to invade the maple tree forest and they have introduced ticks in the area. These ticks affect the moose, which are known to rub up against the trees and disrupt the tubing.  Also, recently an Asian longhaired beetle has affected the safety of the trees, which were introduced by pallets of items shipped into the area.  I took many pictures of the maple syrup process area.  

We then loaded the bus and went to Concord New Hampshire to visit their state house.  I was impressed with their statue of Daniel Webster who was the U.S.A. Secretary of State for three U.S. Presidents and also was state Senator.  I have read many history books where he was an outstanding debater and ran against Lincoln for President.  Linda and I ate lunch in the State building cafeteria and wondered its hallways.  

That evening we were treated to a special dinner where were given a lecture of the family history of the family owners.  

Please go to binghamevent.blogspot.com to see the pictures.