Boston!

After a quick trip to Newport we were onto the Boston portion of the trip and I use the term Boston loosely.  For me, Boston has always meant Canton.  As far back as I can remember we would head out to this "Boston" annually to visit my mother's stomping grounds, it meant that we would visit Canton, a town about 15 miles southwest of downtown Boston.

My fabulous Aunt Maggie is holding down the Cook Family fort out in Canton now and hosts a sort of unofficial family bed-and-breakfast only open to immediate family and absolutely free.  My adult experiences there are as though it is you are on a small retreat, where we sleep in late, take a break from life, drink lots of coffee, and visit Grammy only a few miles away.  I love it!

It was especially wonderful this visit because I met my sister from Philly there.  She took the guest room and I made my home in my cousin Joey's room.  It was a full house with Anne, her boys, and my cousins Joey and Anna.

The weekend went by too quickly, but it was great to see everyone, particularly to see everyone together.  Roman followed Joey (14) around wouldn't leave him.  Joey was trying to be a good, nice older cousin, but Roman just wouldn't leave his side.  Grammy met AJ.  Anne and I spent time with our now teenager cousin Anna.  We went to see her play volley ball and Greg gave her a  brief driving lesson. In retrospect he told me that he was a little nervous when Anna asked, "Which is the gas and which is the brake, again?" But, she drove wonderfully and is going to be a great driver.  Anna and I were both excited to see each other for other reasons:  Greg and I are honored that she will be able to say a reading at our wedding mass and I will be returning in May to be her confirmation sponsor.  It is wonderful how family can be so close and important, even if they are far away and you rarely see them.

And as usual, I wish I had taken more pictures.  Even though you can't see them in pictures, Grammy, my sister, and everyone else was present.

After a healthy dose of the Cook side of the family, Greg and I took a quick look at Boston on our way out.  It was extremely cold so the Harbor was empty and we did not do much outside.  In fact, Greg even begged me to stop in a small dress shop, just to get a break from walking in the cold.  We met a friend for lunch near the Public Gardens ... and then headed back home to sweet Milwaukee.

An engagement and three + holidays later......Here we are in 2013.

I skipped writing about Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and probably some other significant and noteworthy events, but I am going to pick up from my latest trip.

I went out to Boston to visit and introduce Greg to the infamous Aunt Maggie, Grammy and the rest of the gang out in Canton.  While we were out there we "multi-tripped", making a day trip down to Newport, Rhode Island to visit his Uncle and visiting a good buddy of his who lives out there.  If that wasn't enough, to top it all off, my sister came out from Philadelphia with Roman and little AJ.

An appropriate transition from my last post is to point out the fact that only a few hours into Boston, we recieved a parking ticket.  For those who might wonder, the parking fine in Boston seems to be $25 and I do not exactly plan to contest this one....

Once we touched down in Boston we soon headed down to Newport Rhode Island.  Greg's Uncle was happy to show us around and point out many of the major areas.  Newport seems to be rich in high society and a popular summer home for many famous.  Being winter, it was quiet;  However, it was our first time seeing Newport and going anywhere new can always hold excitement for a visitor.  We learned about the historic colonial homes, visited the naval complex, stopped for a nice lunch with clam chowder and took a scenic drive around the bay to see the magnificent mansions and homes of the Vanderbilts and Doris Duke.

This is the USS Saratoga.  It is a super carrier for the navy that was decommissioned in 1994.  Currently, it's docked in Newport awaiting it's final destiny.  Deep down, I really hope that it will eventually be turned into a museum, but it does not look very likely.  So there it sits.

We took a long drive around the bay and along the shore.  The East coast is beautiful.  One of the things that humored us was a house called "Cling Stone."  I wasn't able to capture a picture of it, but it sits in the middle of the bay, literally clinging to a giant boulder.  It has no yard and no connection to the land.  You must reach it by boat and we supposed electricity in the home is provided by generators. Somehow I imagine Gatsbyian parties taking place at the house until 4am during summers.  

The trip was very brief, but Uncle Charles' abridged version of 'The Best of Newport' took us to see the oldest library in the country.  It reminded me of the history and enchantment the east coast will always hold for me. 

We finished off the day trip with an order of Americanos and headed back to Boston for the next leg of our trip............

To Be Continued