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| The Group! 21 years after college graduation. |
It’s now become an annual tradition to meet up with my former college friends in the summer. This year we went to NH to meet up with Matt and Kelly’s family. They all have children and so together we numbered 13. The kids look forward to this so much. It’s great that they all get along, but for those few days, they act like they knew each other daily. Now that they are older, I enjoy chatting with them also.
Our adult conversation this year was about food, frugality,
house, a little bit of politics, social media, and health. Kelly, as always, astounded us with her
simple ability to be “Mom”. She baked
two pies from scratch! Yes, she made a
homemade crust!!! I really should have
taken a picture.
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| Children learn from their parents' behaviors! LOL! |
Our first day we ventured to a farm where they had really
cute little animals. There was a calf
that kept seeking attention and head scratches like a puppy. Then there was the cat on the “mossy shingled
roof”. I learned there are chickens that
lay colored eggs. They are nicknamed Easter
Eggers. We also walked around three corn
mazes and created lightsabers/ swords out of corn stalks. And yes the kids are all budding nerds. They spent a chunk of time coming up with
fake song titles for a fake band. Amanda
brought her guitar and they created a parody of a 1Direction song that rivaled
Weird Al’s (naw, it was way better than Weird Al). Jack, Bridget and Kevin were more than happy
to share their love for Dr. Who (now I really have to watch/catch up). At the farm we had ice cream that was so good
I may never be the same. I had raspberry
with chunks of brownies in it…a perfect marriage!
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| #Hashtag |
We ate well! Matt
grilled, we had pizza, there was homemade pie.
I brought peaches from my tree and now Vinny is in love with peaches and
wants a tree for their yard. We all
garden. K & M has 6 acres. We ended up taking a two hour walk to the bog
and the creek that borders their property.
It was so beautiful and peaceful.
I’d be there every day if I lived there.
However, let’s face it, we all take the beauty of our own locations for
granted. That’s why I wrote the Loving
Albany post (w.i.p).
Finally, as if it wasn’t special enough to reconnect with
people you lived with 20 years ago (as if it’s only been like 5 years and not
more…I love picking up right where you leave off). We saw a meteor shower. I just laid in the driveway to get a better
look. The sky was so clear that you
could see the Milky Way. I saw about a
half dozen “shooting stars”. It was more
amazing than any planetarium, that’s for sure.
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| The kids said Katniss! I said, "Katniss at 43!" |
On Monday I left for Dover, NH. My great grandmother Mary Cunningham grew up
there (she was born in Pennsylvania). My
first stop was the library so I could look her up in the city directory. After searching the wrong years, I found her
in 1909. She was listed as a border at
41 Forest Ave., and a worker at the Velvet Mill. Her brother John, worked at Cocheco Falls Millworks which is used differently these days. Dover was once a textile mill city, but
unlike some mill cities that have decayed over time, Dover is an attractive
small city. I walked around there for
well over an hour. I barely remembered
to set the Map my Walk Ap on the phone so I could see where I’d gone on the map
and how far.
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| 41 Forest Ave. 2013 |
I walked to 41 Forest from
the center of the city. It wasn’t
far. I’d like to think that in some ways
I was tracing the steps my great-grandmother walked on her way to work. As I crept up on Forest Ave. I wondered if
time would have changed the street, but most of the houses in that section were
from about 1860-1890. They were older,
but well maintained. So I really wasn’t
surprised that the house was still there.
As you can see in the picture, they added a porch and other additions to
make it look bigger and it looks quite different, but it’s the same one.
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| 41 Forest Ave. @ 1909 |
After I ate my packed lunch of cold pizza (I
was traveling frugal with a cooler in the trunk) I headed over to check out a
rail trail I happened to spot on a map.
Imagine my joy when I discovered it was not only flat, but paved. I strapped on my roller blades and spent
about 30 minutes skating along what used to be the trolley line. It was gorgeous!
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| The Mill at Dover. |
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| The view down Forest Ave. |
I got to York, Maine by 2 in the afternoon. It had been nearly a decade since Maine, but
I’d been there over five times. I drove
past the ocean, just soaking it in before finding my way to Footbridge Beach. Footbridge Beach is my favorite place. There is a big parking lot and an easy walk
to a large open beach that isn’t lost at high tide. I hung out there for several hours before
checking in at my hotel. Then I headed
to York to wander around the silly shops.
I ended the day on the beach while eating my fish taco. (I have a thing
for fish tacos….it’s borderline obsessive).
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| My sunset view |
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| This is a real picture of Nubble Lighthouse. It was dusk and this photo looks like the whole thing is a miniature doll house. |
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| The rocky beach at Wells, ME. |
The next day threatened rain (the previous days were so
summer perfect you think that we custom ordered them), but it didn’t. I went to Wells Beach for old times sake, and
it didn’t disappoint. I sat in my chair
and drank a morning coffee while watching the waves. Then I eventually went rock hunting. I gathered a few good ones for the
garden. I got some at Kelly’s too. I love having a little piece of the trip to
see every day.
On the way home I stopped at Kittery Outlets, something I’d
never done before. I needed new sneakers
and found they had a Saucony outlet, so that was easily done. Then I continued down Route 1 to Portsmouth
and found Cool Jewels. I have several funky
necklace piece from there. This time, I
found earrings and a wall hanging. Then
the trip was done [cue the sad sobs] and I had to drive the tedious three hours
back across the Mass Pike to Albany.
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| I think it kinda looks like a bear. |
What did I gather from the trip? A sense of love and family among my friends,
peace from the ocean’s waves, and connection with the ancestors.
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| Atlantic Ocean @ York, ME |
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