Tombstone, AZ - Helldorado Days

The weather here in Green Valley has been "unusual," with a huge thunder storm and lots of rain last night and again some rain tonight. Paul's sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Charlie, were with us all week and had to leave today. We will miss having them here.

This was Helldorodo Days week-end in Tombstone and we took our neighbor, Erika, and headed out at 8:00 am for the hour and a half drive. This is a special event in Tombstone when the locals and many visitors come dressed in period clothing, complete including dresses with bustles and men with spurs, gun belts and Stetson hats, etc.

There are scheduled events in the main street that reenact events of the past and skits of gun fights. There are groups of dancers as well, but mostly the guys who love their guns. Since we have been going for a number of years now, we see many of the same people each time. The guy with Erika and me is really pretty gross, with weird eyes and other make-up, but is really very friendly.

Paul's photographic interest is taking close-up pictures of people, and for the most part they are very obliging and even like to look at their picture on the LCD screen of the camera. Between us we took many portraits and will put some on our website.


That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Back to Green Valley

This is really a post I should have done October 10.

We had no problem getting to the Boston airport in time for our 10:30 am flight. That was when things got interesting. Ours was the third flight from Boston to DFW to be delayed that morning. Ours had mechanical problems with the fuel line and we didn't actually leave until about 1:45. The good thing was that we immediately got re-booked for a later flight to Tucson, and all went smoothly from then on, finally arriving at 6:55 pm, three hours late.

Things are very nice here in Green Valley with the weather in the 80/90 range. Mary and Charlie are here and we have been back to the pool. The bad thing was thing was that the phone, internet, and not all the TV channels are working. Cox Cable Co. is due to arrive sometime this morning to see what they can do to fix the problem.

Tonight we are going to our favorite fun theater, the Gaslight Theater, in Tucson. Their melodrama shows are always so much fun with creative lyrics to familiar tunes. The audience is expected to boo the villain and cheer the hero, etc. We even eat pizza the Anthony's Diner (1950 style) before the show. We try work in as many shows as we can on each visit down here. I think we will get in two this time.

I will not be posting regularly from now on, but may have some interesting events to cover, so check in every once in a while. For instance, we plan to go the Helldorodo Days in Tombstone on Saturday. That will be worthy of a post with some pictures. The locals all dress in period costumes and there are skits such as the "Shoot Out at the OK Coral" done in the street.

There will also be visits to our favorite authentic family-run Mexican restaurant, Wisdoms, in Tubac.

I'm including links to some of the fun things we do while down here in Green Valley.

Check out our website soon, as I'll be posting the "Best of the NE" pictures. There may even be some pictures of Arizona activities.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Visit to Lexington and Concord

It was another beautiful day in Boston. This morning Ira picked up a car and we drove out to Lexington and Concord. We left about 9:30 and didn't get back to the hotel until about 3:30.

In Lexington the first stop was Lexington Green, a triangular plot of lawn where the first shot was fired and the first deaths occurred in the Revolutionary War.

The statue is of a Minute Man.

Another stop was along the trail to Concord where the National Park Service has an interpretive center. We were in time for a half-hour multi-media presentation about how the Revolutionary War started. It was very well done and clearly showed the both the British and American troop movements. It showed how Paul Revere and William Dawes rode to alert the Minute Men that the British were coming by sea.

There is a long trail along the original road from Lexington to Concord and many people were hiking along it. We stopped at another spot where a family had turned one room of their house into a bar. There happened to be a "reenactment troop" of British Red Coats camped there and demonstrating how things would have been. They are all volunteers and go to various places on week-ends from April through October. That was a fun stop.

One of our last stops was at the famous bridge in Concord where some of the Minute Men met a small group of British troops - all of this in 1775.

It was after 1:30 when we headed back toward Boston, stopping in Charleston for lunch. Back at the hotel we had to say good-bye to our good friends and great guides, Iran and Fran. They planned such a marvelous trip for us and they enjoyed the trip as well. Many of the places we went were new for them as well.

The rest of the afternoon was spent resting, packing, and getting ready to head back to Green Valley tomorrow. We went out for some dinner at the California Pizza Company, close by. They were very busy so we took a seat at the bar. As it turned out, it was a better show than the football game. The small young gal who was making the drinks was interesting to watch. She was very fast and efficient and very busy. The pizza and salad were good. It has turned very cold and windy and is expected to get into the 30s tonight.

Our flight in the morning isn't until 10:30 so we don't have to get up too early. Next post will be from Green Valley.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Harvard, MIT and views from atop the Prudential Building

Today was totally sunny and although it started out crisp, it warmed up nicely. As we left our hotel I turned around to take the picture of it (brown on the right) dwarfed by the John Hancock Tower. We headed for the transit station and took the two trains out to Harvard. The train actually surfaces and crossed the Charles River on a bridge which gives a beautiful view in both directions.

Harvard was a walk down memory lane for Ira and Fran. They lived there five years while Ira got his PhD, back when they were newly-weds. Many things looked the same and many have changed. The News Stand which sells newspapers from all over the world to students from all over the world is still there.

Ira remembered the hours spent as he looked up at the library. Fran and Paul discovered that you can't get into the library without a student ID card. Oh well. It was obvious that Harvard is a lovely campus. A stop at the Coop (campus book and everything else store) was in order. Ira had to get some Harvard shirts so he can keep up with his daughter who is attending graduate school at Yale.

The next stop was MIT which sits right on the Charles River. Its campus has a very different look and feel. We mostly walked along the river for the lovely views.

The last official stop on our schedule today was to go up to the Prudential Skywalk Observatory on the 50th floor. On the way in we spotted the Cheesecake Factory and stopped for lunch. Paul and I had never been to one and were pleasantly surprised that there were reasonable selections (calorie wise) on the extensive menu. After eating we went up into the tower and again it paid to be seniors so the Observation Skywalk was only $10 each.

This observation area is glassed in, so on two sides there was a fair glare at the windows, but the views were spectacular. I made a round with my telephoto lens and another with the wide angle. Looking down over the city you can see that all the residential areas are bownstone buildings and the streets have lots of trees.

In the distance is the Kennedy Library, the tall white building sitting on the edge of the bay. When we were there you couldn't even see the towers in downtown because it was raining so hard.

Of course, our baseball fan relatives will recognize Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. It was empty because they are not in the playoffs.

As you look east from the Prudential Tower, you see the John Hancock in the center. To the left, is the Copley Square with the Trinity Church. The long green street is Commonwealth Ave. which leads to The large green park of the Boston Commons. The Freedom Trail starts at the far end of the Commons and wanders along shown in the upper left side of the picture.

When we were done viewing the city from above, Paul decided to walk back to the Freedom Trail area and walked much of it again while I chose to put my feet up and write this blog. He did take the subway back. We are heading back down there for dinner tonight.

Tomorrow Ira is picking up a car and we will drive out to Lexington and Concord for the morning. They will then bring us back to the hotel and continue on to spend some time with friends. We will have the afternoon to check out things we may have missed, and pack for leaving Sunday morning.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Walking the Boston Freedom Trail

Again I have to say, what a difference a day makes. Although it was windy and cloudy some of the time, there was no rain and even occasional sun. It was a perfect day to walk in Boston. Since we are staying in the Back Bay area we started there heading north with a stop in the Boston Public Library, which is beautiful. We wandered up Commonwealth Avenue, which is like the Portland Park Blocks, and then took a jog over to Beacon Street to see the Original Cheers which inspired the TV series by that name.

After walking through the Boston Commons we came to the beginning of the "Boston Freedom Trail" which is a marked path that takes you past the major landmarks of the American Revolution. It starts at the Massachusetts State House where we noted the side entrance named for General Hooker. I am standing by his statue. The path is well marked with a double row of red bricks in the sidewalk and a red painted line across all intersections. You can't get lost.


Then there is the Park Street Church, and the Granary Burying Ground where Sam Adams and Paul Revere were buried along with other famous people of that time. There was the Kings Chapel, the Old South Meeting House and then the Faneuil Hall Market Place.

At the Market Place we had to stop in to see the newer Cheers Bar which is made to look like the TV set. Then we went to Dicks for lunch where it is a sport for the waiters to harass the customers with lots of fun banter. After lunch we went around the corner for the obligatory stop at the Hard Rock Cafe so Paul can add to his T-Shirt collection. I found one I liked as well.


The next stop was Paul Revere's House which we paid a fee to walk through. It certainly was small, and to think they had sixteen children. The last main stop was the Old North Church where the lanterns were hung: "one if by land, two if by sea."

From there is was a long walk across the Charleston Bridge over to Charleston where the sailing vessel the USS Constitution, or more commonly called "Old Ironsides," is birthed. We took the short tour which allowed us to walk around on the top deck. There was too long a wait to go down below deck.

The last stop on the Freedom Trail is the monument on top of Breeds Hill where the Battle for Bunker Hill was fought. By the time we got there it was about 3:30 and we were all ready to head for the closest Transit station, which wasn't that close. We called it a quits after a full day of touring.


After a couple hours rest, however, we were ready to head out for dinner. Ira had his mouth watering for a Clam Boil so we headed for the Summer Shack. We all ordered the Boil which consisted of one lobster (1 and 1/4 pound) an ear of corn, lots of clams and mussels, a sausage, potatoes, and a boiled egg. This is all eaten with your hands and a few utensils and is very messy but very good. Now that we have had lobster twice, we really feel like we have been to Boston.


Tomorrow looks like a nice sunny day and we plan to visit Harvard and maybe MIT. Also we will go to the top of the John Hancock building (the tallest in New England) which is right next door and which affords an great view of the city.


That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Boston - Blustery and Rainy

We were eventually going to get hit by rain again, and today was the day. It is downright nasty out. The nice thing is that we are two blocks from a Transit station. The Kennedy Library looked like a good option for today. When we got to the station, and were looking over the ticket options, we discovered that being 65 again has a bonus, so we signed up for the senior MTA card which drops the cost per ride from $2.00 to $.60. While we were filling out the paper work, and getting our pictures taken for the "official" pass which will be mailed to us in about three weeks, Fran and Ira were explaining to one of the transit workers WHY their tickets are called "Charlie Passes." This comes from the Kingston Trio song MTA which talks about Charlie who didn't have the final nickel so they wouldn't let him off the train. When we got back, I downloaded the song to my iPod.

It took two trains and a bus to get to the Kennedy Library. The library and all of the University of Massachusetts-Boston sit out on a peninsula sticking out into Dorchester Bay. On a good day, looking north across the bay, one should be able to see the high rise buildings of South Boston. Not Today.

Since the weather was so bad, I decided not to carry my camera gear, but just put my little point/shoot into my pocket. In many ways it felt good to not be encumbered with a back pack. We arrived at the library about 11:00. The first stop, after paying the admission fee, was to view a short movie about the early years of JFK's life. From there you exit to the lower floor that has very nice exhibits of various events and periods in JFK's presidency. There is a mock-up of the Oval Office where they have his desk and rocking chair. By the time we finished looking at all the exhibits it was after 1:00 so we had some lunch at their snack bar. It felt good to just sit and look out at the blustery weather.

Eventually, we took the bus and two trains back to our starting point. As we walked back to the hotel, I stopped to pick up a latte and then we went back to the room to just rest and kill some time until this storm passes. We are staying at the John Hancock Conference Center which is a very old hotel, but very close to the tower by the same name, Copley Place, the Westin and Marriott hotels.

The weather is due to clear and be nice for the rest of our stay here. Other than going out to dinner tonight, there is nothing else on the schedule for today. We haven't discussed the plans for tomorrow yet.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Drive Through New Hampshire

This post is actually for Oct. 5. It was too late last night for me to get it done, and there is no wifi in the room.

Wow, what a day. We started from the Nootka Lodge in Woodsville, NH and headed almost due east until we got to Lincoln, which is the starting point of the Kancamagus Highway (112). This is the southern road of a loop through the White Mountain National Forest.


We stopped at a number of view points to take pictures, but it was obvious that the heavy rains last week had done damage and the leaves were past their peak in many areas and some trees didn't even have leaves left on them. There were always patches of brilliant color, however.

The weather had been forecasted to be raining all day today, but instead it was a beautiful day with white whispy clouds that made the sky very interesting.

We also stopped at a number of water falls. Some were very close to the road and for some we had a nice hike which was a great way to stretch our legs.


When we had not made very much progress along the planned route because of all the stops, we decided to take the short-cut which eliminated about 1/4 of the drive, and head straight north to the Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods for lunch. This was a memorable place for the Warrens because they used to go there for bridge tournaments when he was in graduate school at Harvard. That was about forty years ago. It is still a grand hotel and we enjoyed crab, clam and lobster sliders for lunch.

There was one more major stop before heading directly south to Boston. That was at the Flume Gorge where there is a narrow canyon through which flows a lot of water in the form of many cascading waterfalls. They had built a wooden staircase and path along one side of the slot canyon. I stopped going up when the mist was coating my lens.

On the short bus ride to the entrance to the canyon there is a classic covered bridge painted red. The driver let us off on the way back so we could take pictures "from the spot where the pros take them."

It was getting obvious that we were not going to make the 6:00 car return time, but with a call learned we could turn it in by 10:00. This allowed us time to relax and pull off the freeway to have dinner at a little seafood restaurant. As we walked in we noticed that they had "Twin Lobsters" for $16.99. This was a deal we could not pass. We rolled up our sleeves, put on the bibs and dug in, enjoying every bite.

The drive on into Boston wasn't a fun one for Ira because it was raining and dark. Just a block from the hotel there was an extended curb which wasn't seen and the left driver side wheel hit it as we turned the corner. The tire was immediately flat. The good thing was that we were close enough to just park and take our things in. AAA came and changed the tire but not in time for the 10:00 turn in, so Ira just parked it and took it in this morning.

It is raining hard this morning, and probably will all day so we plan to do the Kennedy Library and some other inside things. The rest of the week looks clear and sunny.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Drive Across Vermont - Color and Bridges

We started the day by leaving Burlington, VT at 9:00 and headed in a meandering (but well planned) way east across Vermont. We stopped at five covered bridges along the way.

As we climbed higher in elevation in the Green Mountains, the color in the leaves became more intense. We found a few places to stop that had good views and photo opportunities, but much of the time we just enjoyed the colors from the van, except for Paul, who shot lots of pictures out the window as we drove along. We haven't looked at them yet. It was our opinion that the storm that came through took its tole on the leaves.

Later in the afternoon we stopped at one of the recommended waterfalls. It was a bit of a hike to a good view point, but well worth it.

We had lunch north of Stowe and then desert at a mandatory stop at the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. We didn't have time for the tour, but enjoyed some very tasty ice cream.

It was just a little after 6:00 when we pulled into the Nootka Lodge in Woodsville, NH, just across the border. It is a quaint log-cabin place. For dinner we walked across the road to a local restaurant that had good food, and that is where we will have breakfast in the morning.

Tomorrow we will do some more meanering through the White Mountains of New Hampshire and end the day in Boston.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Drive from NYC to Burlington, Vermont

We left the Staybridge in New York this morning about 8:45 after Ira picked up the rental van and we packed all our stuff into it. It was a long day's drive with the only real stop being at Hyde Park, New York, which was the home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was a lovely sunny day and we took the 11:30 tour of his home and some of the grounds, including the rose garden. This stop was particularly meaningful to Paul because Roosevelt was the president who had the Grand Coulee Dam built, along with others, and Paul's book is the history of that dam; Grand Coulee: Harnessing a Dream.

Paul and the Garmen made a slight navigation mistake which took us up a parallel road to the one Ira had planned to take. As a result we got to drive through Middlebury, VT. It is a very quaint college town we would not have seen otherwise.

It was after 6:00 when we pulled in to the Marriott in Burlington on the east shore of Lake Champlaine. It is a gorgeous setting and we were able to watch the sun set across the lake. It was only a two block walk up to the main pedestrian street where we had dinner and have come back to collapse early (oops, it isn't so early any more).

Tomorrow will be driving around through the mountains in the area looking for colorful leaves and covered bridges.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Greenwich Village and Tenement Museum

At last, sunshine. It was a gorgeous day with the temp just under 70. Since we didn't have to be to Greenwich Village until 11:00, I was able to do a load of wash in the complimentary laundry facilities at the hotel, ironed a few items and began to get things organized to get stuffed back into the suitcase to leave tomorrow.


Another of Fran's nephews lives with his wife and baby in West Village, next to Greenwich Village. Both he and his mother (Fran's sister) are history buffs of the area and gave us a personalized walking tour. It was very interesting to see the smaller, old buildings that were warehouses, and factories, and are now apartment houses. There is a lot of history in the area. We went by the Magnolia Bakery which is famous. We saw the house where the TV series Friends was to have taken place. It has the coffee shop on the main floor. We ended with a nice lunch and had to say good-bye. They were excellent guides and we had an enjoyable time.

After a cab ride, we arrived at the Tenement Museum for a 2:45 tour called "Piecing it Together." The museum is in one of the many building which housed multiple families, where the garment trade started. They would not let us take pictures inside but said their pictures are free on Flicker.com. I'm also including their website. http://www.tenement.org/  By the end of the tour it was time to head back to the hotel for a little rest and packing.

We went out to the Redeye Grill for a very nice dinner tonight. All of us enjoyed our dinners.

Tomorrow morning Ira picks up the van and we leave about 8:30, heading north to Burlington, VT. It should be another sunny day, but the long-range forecast looks like there will be more rain in the next few days. Oh well, we do hear the leaves have started to change color. I'll let you know about that when we get there.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul

Another rainy day in NYC

Actually, there was more rain today than yesterday. Over night a storm came through dumping 4-5+ inches in the area and we woke up to the news of places flooding and some of the subway lines closed due to high water. We are Oregonians, however, so we just carried on with most of the planned events. Since we could not get into the UN building on Wednesday, we chose to go today and not until it opened at 10:00. Therefore, we slept in a bit and delayed departure, which was a good thing because of the rain.

We took a cab to the UN and did not have to wait very long before our tour started. It was a nice guided tour and we were issued headsets so we could hear the guide without standing close. As you many have followed, the General Assembly has been in session this week but not today. We were able to see that room which was interesting. The tour took over 45 minutes. Good thing I took the pictures of the various countrys' flags on Wednesday because they were not out today.

It was getting close to noon when we finished at the UN and it was still raining. We took a cab to Columbus Circle which is at the south-west corner of Central Park, or W 59th and 8th Ave/Broadway for those of you who know NY. We are learning. At this point Fran chose to walk back to the hotel and Ira gave us a guided walk through the southern part of the park, ending at E 72nd and 5th Ave. on the east side of the park. This was on Ira's schedule of things to do, but with it still raining, it probably wasn't the best choice to stick with. However, it is a beautiful park and we did get a feel for it. Surprisingly, people were taking carriage rides but some of them, and especially the poor horses. looked drenched.

By then it was about 2:00 and a little past the best time to eat so we took a cab back to the "Hell's Kitchen" section where there are so many restaurants on 9th Ave. and had a delicious lunch at an Italian restaurant. It felt good to be seated, dry and fed. From there Paul walked to Time Square and Ira and I came back to the hotel.

We are staying at the Staybridge Suites on 40th between 8th and 9th. We look out our 15th floor windows down onto the top parking lot of the Port Authority Bus Terminal. We can also see the Hudson River. In the picture our hotel is the lightest color. There is a very small one to the right, the red hotel is the Fairmont Suites by Marriott, and the dark one on the left is the Four Point Hotel, all are very nice and recently renovated.

Tonight we walked to Rockefeller Center where we had some dinner and then Fran's nephew showed us around the NBC and MSNBC Studios where he works. He explained what he does in the production of one of the shows, which was fascinating. The then showed us around various floors where we saw the sets for some of the shows and even were in the area as Rachel Maddow was on the air live. It was after 10:00 when we got back to the Staybridge.

Another good thing was that the weather has cleared up and it was really a lovely night. Tomorrow we are going to get a personalized tour of Greenwich Village by some other relatives of Fran. Then also a tour of the Tenement Museum. I think I'll get some laundry done in the morning.

That's it for now. Grace and Paul