Massachusetts

More Family Time in Massachusetts

After leaving Cape Cod we went to Billerica, the town I grew up in when I lived in MA. Some long-time family friends graciously invited us to park at their house where they conveniently have an RV spot. We were only parked in Billerica for 5 days, but it was a very busy 5 days of time spent with close friends and family.

Our first night we were able to have dinner with the Picariellos. My parents met them when I was just a little girl so I feel like I have known them forever.

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Dinner with the Picariellos

The next day we left the RV parked in Billerica while we went and stayed in Waltham for a couple of days at the Richard Hilton (also known as Fred & Rita’s house). 😉 We had such a wonderful time staying with them and enjoying our evening “happy hours”. Fred even played chauffeur to us for the weekend, knowing we were not comfortable driving the big truck around all these towns so close to Boston.

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Happy Hour with the Richards

Fred took us for a ride in the “stang” which was so much fun!

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Jackie and the boys met us in Boston for a day of sightseeing.

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Boston Public Garden

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Boston Public Garden

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Beacon Hill

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New England Holocaust Memorial

This is a very sobering memorial dedicated to the 6 million Jews killed during the Holocaust. Smoke continuously rises up as a reminder of the gas chambers.

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The numbers represent the numbers tattooed on concentration camp prisoners

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The next day we had a lovely brunch with Jim and Deborah at their home in Cambridge. Jim made a delicious quiche!

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My Uncle Jim with the boys

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Jackie, me and Jim

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The boys with my cousin Devin

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Chris and I with my cousin Sam

After that it was time to head back to Billerica and check on Fat Cat who was feeling pretty lonely by now. We also enjoyed a cookout with the Dunton family, our gracious hosts who allowed us to park at their house for a few days.

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The Dunton Family

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Roasting marshmallows at the Dunton’s house

On our last evening in Billerica we had a delicious Italian feast with the entire Picariello family. Our kids had so much fun with all of their kids and seriously did not want to leave!

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I think I gained 5 pounds while in Billerica, with all the socializing and delicious meals we shared with everyone. This was such a fun visit! We even drove by the old house where I used to live and the elementary and middle schools I attended. My kids thought it was pretty neat to see all of these places where I grew up.

As usual, our time with family and friends went by way too quickly, and now we are looking forward to the next time we can all get together again.

 

Categories: Massachusetts | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

I was born in Massachusetts and lived there until I was almost 14. Coming back to my birth state was really fun. Our first stop was Cape Cod where my family used to go for vacations in the summertime.

While visiting Cape Cod we got to visit with some friends and family. My aunt Jackie came to see us a few times. The first time she brought her 2 boys (who are not so little anymore!), and Jake & I joined them for a deep sea fishing trip.

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I would say I enjoyed it, and I did until the seasickness kicked in. Oh boy, I was so glad when we finally made it back to land! Anyway, it was fun for awhile and we caught lots of fish!

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Plymouth is not far from Cape Cod so we went to see the famous Plymouth Rock. I remember going there on a field trip when I was a kid and I seem to remember the rock being bigger than it is now. I also seem to remember being able to stand on it. I think that it was eroding too much so they had to enclose it so people can’t stand on it anymore, and now it looks so small!

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Plymouth Rock – you can just barely make out the year 1620 engraved on it.

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The rock is enclosed under those columns.

Jackie met us there for dinner. I had some wicked good lobstah and started working on trying to get my Boston accent back. 😉

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While at the cape we also got to visit with Robert & Trudy a couple of times. They used to come to see us in Fernandina Beach, but since we moved away we haven’t seen them in a long time. It was wonderful to catch up with them when they visited us at our campsite.

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We met up with them again another evening in the town of Dennis where Trudy lives. She and Robert treated us to a fabulous dinner where I had some more wicked good lobstah.

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And then Trudy gave us a tour of the town of Dennis which was so beautiful!

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Scargo Tower in Dennis

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View from Scargo Tower

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View from Scargo Tower

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We also had the chance to visit a childhood friend who lived across the street from us in MA. Jessica suggested we meet at Gillette Stadium to see Patriot Place. If you know Chris, you know that this would be the LAST place he would want to go. 😉 He is a die-hard NY Jets fan and according to Chris Jets fans absolutely do not like the Patriots. In fact, when we got married he made it a house rule that I cannot be a Patriots fan, lol! Anyway, he shocked us and went along with the idea to meet Jessica and her daughter Olivia at Patriot Place.

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Notice the photo bomber in the background with the thumbs-down gesture.

We stayed at Scusset Beach State Park right near the town of Sandwich. This park was lots of fun since it had the beach on one side and the canal on the other.

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I especially loved the 7 miles of paved bike trail along the canal! I rode one day down to the end and back, and another day I broke out my rollerblades that I haven’t used in quite awhile. I didn’t go quite as far with the rollerblades. There are some beautiful bridges to see along the bike trail.

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The canal was also pretty at night during a full moon and seeing the lights across the water.

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Fat Cat loved this site since she found lots of chipmunks.

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Fat Cat thinks she’s the queen of the RV!

We had a great time visiting friends and family while we were in Cape Cod. Next we moved to my childhood hometown of Billerica where we had lots more fun times with friends and family. Stay tuned for that next.

Categories: Massachusetts | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

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