Boston in the Fall

And now, our trip(s) into Boston... Monday morning we decided to park across the river and do a morning jog around town. We went straight to the Boston Public Garden. I have to admit, this was just about my favorite place. There were still some really pretty leaves and the landscaping was just beautiful!

Below are pictures of the garden and Beacon Hill (pretty houses)

We went to Quincy Market both days to get lots of good food. My first choice: Boston Cream Pie for breakfast! They even started putting the christmas decorations up!

On Tuesday before we left, we took a walking tour of the Freedom Trail (the first half) and finished the rest on our own. Below is the red line in the ground you follow for 2.5 miles.

Different points on the Trail (Mostly in order). From right to left: 1. State capitol 2. Crazy graveyard 3. Fanuel Hall 4. East Church (?) 5. Samuel Adams Tombstone 6. Paul Revere house 7. Little Italy 8. Tim standing next to Paul Revere 9. The old North Church 10. The bridge the Freedom Trail crosses 11. Bunker Hill Monument 12. The graveyard with Samuel Adams, Ben Franklin's Parents, and other famous people. (This one is out of order) PS Not pictured: The USS Constitution-it was being renovated and was closed :(

Me and our tour guide. She kept worrying that Tim and I were freezing and was so sweet!You can go inside the Bunker Hill monument, but it is 294 steps to the top. We made it but were both sore the next day.

...Last, a random picture of Tim. That concludes our trip up the east coast!

PS Special thanks to Doyle and Diane Williams. I really wanted a picture with them, but never got one. They were so nice to let us stay at their "Bed and Breakfast." Thank you!

Maine, Lawrence, and Salem

Our trip through Plymouth was the first stop on our trip of many trips. We got to visit Tim's old Mission stomping grounds (Manchester, NH mission), and stayed with the Williams', a couple who really helped him in Northern Massachusetts. The Saturday we were there it rained the entire day (thanks to Hurricane Ida) so we put off our Boston trip and drove up the coast to Maine where we saw this pretty lighthouse and the crashing waves. It was sooooo windy and cold!

We got Lobster Rolls at the (apparently famous) Maine Diner.

We visited the Boston Temple Sunday night. It was still very pretty!

Monday afternoon the skies cleared and we visited Salem, MA! It was a lot different than I expected (busier and more modern) but there were still a lot of old buildings. One picture below is me trying to enter "The Witch House" where the Salem witch trials were initiated.

Before the trip, Tim had done some family history and found some Ashby relatives who lived in Salem for almost two hundred years. They were first fishermen and then shoemakers. We went to the national parks visitor center for the county and watched a video about the settlers of the area and his ancestors fit right into the history! Below are some pictures of their houses today, but you'll have to ask him to explain them in more detail.

I do know that the pictures above and below are of Nathaniel Ashby's Shoe Shop. It's now a YMCA daycare, but still a cool building.
Most of Sunday was spent in Lawrence, MA with Tim driving around and showing me places (sometimes less-safe places) from his Mission.


Lawrence, MA used to be a big factory town where many imigrants could find work. Below-this is "Jackie Chan's Garden" (Tim lived in the white building owned by someone they called Jackie Chan)

The Blue House they also lived in in Lawrence. (Safer than Jackie Chan's)
And lastly, we got to visit people from the Lawrence Ward. This is Tina and Santiago's family. We visited them Sunday night and ate dinner at their Bodega (store) on Monday night. Next Stop...Boston!

Plymouth

Day one of our trip up the east coast: Plymouth. It was really not that exciting. We found out that Plymouth Rock was actually found by the son of someone on the Mayflower who pointed it out when he was in his 90's. They originally took the rock on tours and eventually broke it in half to have it in two places at once then basically glued it back together to place it in its home on the waterfront. The Mayflower was pretty though.
We also celebrated the Pilgrims and Indians and saw some (actually a lot) of old cool graveyards. More pictures of our trip coming soon...

Fall Festivities!

Happy Halloween!

My co-worker Lauren and I dressed up for Halloween. So did some of our members!On Halloween day, Tim and I went to the Diabetes walk then carved pumpkins with Lauren and Andrew. For some reason, my pictures aren't showing up on the computer (-just the collages), so I don't have any pictures yet, but to finish the evening up, Tim and I went to a carved pumpkin display. There were over 200 pumpkins that were so cool! Of all the pictures, guess which is our own...
Answer: Bottom Left. The bat carrying the jack-o-lantern.

Last week, we went to see the pretty leaves and ended up on Roosevelt Island...