Newport Beach

 Car Troubles * Angels BB Game * Beach Fun * Tie Die

Boston Fun

 Kayaking * Botanical Garden * Boston Red Socks Game

Boston and round about

Temple * minute man * concord lunch * USS constitution * Cassin young destroyer

This morning we had a temple appointment at the Boston Temple for baptisms. We were joined by the missionaries who brought their recent convert to act as witness in the baptistry. This makes our 4th temple visit this summer, and we’ll have one more in Newport Beach CA. It’s been nice to see temples all over the world.

After the temple we meet Caitlyn and Riley at the Minute Man National Park visitors center to learn more about the “shot heard round the world” that officially started the revolutionary wary. We enjoyed an informative movie about the battle of Lexington and Concord and then visited a few of the sights along the road that leads from Lexington to Concord. It’s wild to think about the residents that lived in the area as this battle took place in their yards and farms.

We enjoyed a lunch in Concord at a diner where Caitlyn, Eric, and Charlie were excited to order breakfast for lunch. After our lunch Caitlyn and Riley headed back to Worcester and we drove into Boston to see the USS Constitution and Cassin Young at the Navel Yard.  It was cool to look at all the firing power of this war ship. Guns, torpedoes, charges, etc. It would be scary to be on board a ship during war - you could be killed like everyone else, and you would drown if your ship went down. Double danger.

The USS constitution is the oldest ship still in commission. It is actually run by the US Navy (not the national park service) and still has a captain. It only goes out to sail in the harbor a couple of times a year; the rest of the time it stays in the harbor for visitors to enjoy. It’s most famous for its involvement in the war of 1812.

Again, we enjoyed some games with Stewart and Caitlyn and playing with the baby. We are all sleeping in the front room of their 2-bedroom apartment. Their couch folds out to a bed and Eric and I have the mattress on the floor. It’s tight, but it’s working and it’s fun to be with them so that we can play more games.

Newport, Rhode Island

Mansions (breakers, rose cliffs) * ocean drive * historic center * Mexican restaurant

We decided it would be worth the long drive to visit Rhode Island for a couple of reasons. One, the kids could check Rhode Island off their list of states visited, and two, we heard about the huge mansions that could be visited in Newport, Rhode Island. We were also excited to say that this summer we had visited Newport, RI and Newport, CA- on opposite sides of the country.

Our first mansion we visited was The Breakers, owned by the Vanderbilts. We had no idea that there were such huge, European-esc mansion in American. This “home” was over the top. First it sat on a piece of prime real estate that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean.  This must have been the height of society during the turn of the century.

The home had a grand hall right at the entrance with beautiful rooms on either side. All the details were from top craftsman of the era and with the finest materials from all over the world. The bedrooms upstairs were not as elaborate with the exemption of the master bedrooms. The rooms were all connected with “secret” doorways so that it was easy to get from room to room. Also, off of the master bedrooms there was a secret room where the help could come and go without being noticed.

After The Breakers we enjoyed our Monday call with Emma and walked along the coastline to another mansion -  Rose Cliffs. Although not as big as the Breakers it was still amazing. It is still used today for special events and receptions.

Before making our way to Newport Harbor we drove through this neighborhood and marveled at the size of these huge homes. Most have become too costly for their owners, or their size and opulence have gone out of fashion and their owners were frowned upon by society. At the Harbor we enjoyed a rainy walk along the boardwalk and visited a couple of shops. Charlie bought a Newport, Rhode Island sweatshirt that he thought would be cool next to his Newport Beach sweatshirts.

We enjoyed dinner at a Mexican restaurant tonight followed by some games.

Portsmouth to Boston

Portsmouth ward party * downtown * popover and Whoopi pie

At the last minute we decided to drive down to Portsmouth for church rather than a ward that was closer to Kennebunkport, and it turned out to be the right decision.

The meeting was really nice with the Stake young women’s president and two of the young women sharing their feelings on pioneers they know in their lives. The baby was cooperating, so we decided to stay of the 2nd hour which we really appreciated the great lessons. The best part of church though was the linger longer we were invited to. It was the wards 60th anniversary and a few extra people were attending church because of this celebration so people kept asking us where we use to live in the ward. It wasn’t a big ward, so every visitor was noticed. Anyway, we joined the ward’s potluck linger longer and enjoyed their salads, desserts, and sides and all the stories they shared about the members of their ward and the history of the saints in New England.

After church we enjoyed walking around historic Portsmouth and finding a baker where we could enjoy a popover and a whoopie pie. We were glad to finally land in Boston, the last city of our East Coast Road trip. We’ll be staying with Stewart and Caitlyn for the next 4 days. it’s a little squishy, and the swamp cooler might have a hard time keeping everything cool - but it will be nice to enjoy the extra time with them and Riley.

Kennebunkport and the beach

Walkers Point * porpoise pier * downtown * ice cream * beach afternoon

Stewart decided he would stay home and do some data entry for some research he’s helping with and watch the baby while Caitlyn came with us to visit some of the nearby sights on Kennebunkport. We started the morning at a roadside pullout along the coast where we could marvel at the Bush family compound on their own private peninsula. Afterwards we drove to Porpoise Pier for what we thought would be a charming little pier walk. It turned out to be a functional pier for lobster boats to off load their catch for the day. No boats were there at the moment so all we were able to enjoy was the fishy smell.

We finished off the morning tour with some window shopping in the cute shops of “downtown” Kennebunkport followed by an ice cream. The ice cream was super unique with interesting flavors like whoopie pie and strawberry lavenders and guava cookie. We all agreed that it was very yummy.

Our afternoon was spent relaxing at a nearby beach about 30 minutes south of Kennebunkport. The beach was on a sand dune and part of a state park. It's mostly accessible by a foot bridge that crossed a tidal rival. It was a great beach afternoon. Mostly great because the sand and weather was perfect. We’ve had some pretty hot humid days lately and the ocean breeze was a nice relief from the stifling humidity.

Kennebunkport

Kennebunkport, ME

Breakfast restaurant * Whale Cruise * LL Bean Flagship Store * Kennebunkport

With no quick breakfast options for this morning, we decided to go out to breakfast at a recommended nearby diner - we arrive about 10 minutes after it opened, along with most everyone else in town. The cook was an older guy that sang along to the music being played in the restaurant. We were able to sit outside on the back patio where we enjoyed our yummy blue berry pancakes. We’ve decided that the blue berries in Maine are superior to any other blueberries.

We spent the entirety of the morning on a 4-hour whale cruise in search of a needle in a haystack. The naturalist on board did a good job at keeping us engaged in our search for a whale, but we never saw one. We did see several “sun fish” basking near the surface soaking on the sun rays. We also saw a few of them fly out of the water. Additionally, we saw a couple of Tuna and another large fish. We saw several bird varieties as well. It’s too bad we didn’t see a whale though.

On our drive to Kennebunkport, we made a stop in Freeport Maine at the LL Bean flagship store. We read there are 3 million visitors to that store each year. It’s huge! In additional to the clothing store, there is a fishing and hunting store, and a home goods store. We all decided that we needed to buy something which was fun.

We arrived in Kennebunkport at nearly the same time as Stewart, Caitlyn, and Riley. We’re staying in the attic floor of a 3rd story home about 10 minutes outside of the town. It's perfect for a weekend getaway.

We were all tired from our 4-hour whale-less whale cruise, so after a run to the grocery store, we decided to play games and go to bed early.