ANNIVERSARY VACATION FAVES

 

Well, it's HOT. It's HUMID.  But I'm typing this from a beautifully air conditioned dining room at our hotel here in Plymouth, MA where the town is going all out for the Independence 250th celebration. Our hotel is right on Long Beach!

I'm looking out at the ocean, and thanking God for this beautiful week we have had. I'm so thankful for central air, an outdoor pool, the beach, an outdoor terrace that is overlooking the Atlantic/Cape Cod Bay and is actually mostly shaded all day. Our room has the ocean view so we get the morning sun. Today was our day to just do something in town and relax most of the day. I'm typing this on Thursday before we leave for another part of Plymouth (Long Pond) to swim in the lake (lakes are called ponds in Plymouth Co and on the cape according to my brother in law) and go out to dinner with my brother in law (Dave's older bro Peter) and his wife Kathy. They have a camp right on the lake.  It's about 3 pm and many people are either in the pool or in their rooms resting as it's high tide and there's no beach right now.  

I'm sharing FIVE FAVE things from my week and linking up at Susanne's site.  Join in!! Also, this won't be linked to her blog until I'm back in NYS but once I'm home (sometime Friday afternoon), I will read your own FFF's as soon as I start the laundry. 😁

FIVE FAVES

Mady, the last niece to graduate from HS
on both sides of our families! 
Her mom, Jill, is my youngest sister 
Mady is the one I take hiking once a summer

From l-r starting in back:  Joy, Hope (my  sisters)
 and Hope's husband Donny
Tyler and Courtney, Claire, me 
Dave is next to me but didn't make the pic)

• GRAD PARTY!  Our vacation officially started with heading to my niece's high school graduation party on Sunday after church.  My youngest sister Jill and her husband Mike had delicious lunch food set up along with all kinds of drinks and the big tent to sit under as it was already getting hot and humid. Both of my daughters also came. In fact, Dave and I were treated by Courtney who drove us to the party along with her bf Tyler.  After the party, we spent the late afternoon/early evening at Moreau Lake State Park to swim and relax on the beach. I'm thankful for family times and making memories. 

our hotel room was beautifully decorated
Monday 29 June

our view!!
and yes, the windows opened!!
But we only did that for 2 evenings
as we really needed AC

the private beach at low tide

outdoor dining area

the terrace overlooking the ocean 
where we spent a few evenings reading and talking

• SAFE TRAVELS: Monday morning was our travel day to Plymouth MA with a lunch stop at my mother in law's. We had picked up subs/wraps and brought them over. It was good to see her and she was happy for the company.  We arrived in Plymouth in mid-afternoon and although there was quite a bit of traffic (many tourists are in the Boston area for the World Cup, plus Independence Day) and we knew Plymouth, where it all began, would be crowded and crazy! After checking in and relaxing, we walked the beach, and then in the early evening, we headed to downtown Plymouth to eat at this amazing place! I had the half size fish and chips platter which was plenty along with a delicious mocktail. Dave had a lobster roll and onion rings with a red sangria. We walked around the waterfront and ended up spending way too much money for ice cream cones and of course had to walk past the Mayflower II and the Rock for old times sake. I'm thankful for the hotel accomodations and the safe travels.  Since we did some very historic things on this anniversary trip, I am only sharing the highlights here and will do a seperate post about the places we visited while down here. 

a delicious cranberry/orange mocktail

Dave's red sangria....
very refreshing as well!

on the beach in Plymouth!
Monday 29 June

• ANNIVERSARY!  On Tuesday the 30th, we celebrated 36 years of marriage. I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband who is also one of my very best friends and adventure loving partner. He chose Plymouth (although we vacationed here a few years ago as well and have been to all the Pilgrim things ad nauseum) because there was actually a vacancy for a room on the ocean side of the hotel. We've tried to get into this place before so we were thrilled we could get a room from Mon-Friday. On Tuesday, though, we drove an hour northeast to Fall River to Battleship Cove a national historic site. There are 5 national historic landmarks in Battleship Cove.  (Battleship Cove is a part of Fall River Heritage State Park). They are: the USS Massachusetts, the USS Joseph P. Kennady Jr, the USS Lionfish (submarine), PT Boat 617 (a torpedo boat), and the PT Boat 796.  These last 2 boats are the only restored pair of WWII torpedo boats on public display in the nation. We saw all 5!  Below are some highlights of Battleship Cove. All of the ships are self guided tours. We also went to the Maritime Museum which was just a 2 block walk along the waterfront and is a part of the Battleship Cove.  Also, we had brought nice clothes to change into and had our anniversary dinner (an early one as we wanted to get back and sit on the ocean beach) at this absolutely fantastic italian waterfront restaurant. Because the heat index was close to 98 degrees F we chose the indoor section with the AC. I'm so thankful we had a wonderful Anniversary doing something my husband loves. (more about Battleship Cove will be in a separate post). here are five of our fave photos from Tuesday: (sadly, none of the photos I took at the Maritime Museum came out!) 

Three of the national historic landmarks/monuments

In the background: USS MASS
in center: Lionfish
on left side: USS Kennedy

Dave on the lionfish submarine
he toured the bottom by himself

Dave and I on the top of the USS MASS 

Anniversary Drinks before dinner 
White Sangria for me
Red Sangria for Dave
Chicken Piccata for me; Lasagna for Dave

• CAPE COD: On Wednesday, we left for Cape Cod via the Sagamore Bridge.  Our destination was Sandwich, the oldest town on the cape.  In Sandwich, we wanted to tour the Botanical Gardens and Museums which we tried to do with our daughters back in 2004 but it rained so we ended up just at the auto museum and carousel.  Back then it was Memorial Day Weekend so hardly any flowers were bloomed anyways.  This year, it was  awesome.  It's a self guided tour and there are 100 acres to explore. We did all the trails except for the children's section.  And yes, we rode the carousel for old times' sake. We did some shopping in the village too and at the end of the day we headed back to Plymouth to eat at an Irish pub where we had the best food and the best prices!  I'm so thankful we had a great day! Here are a few pics from the day (more will be in a separate post). 

one of many fountains in the botanical gardens

Botanical Gardens has a whole section of beautiful hydrangeas

it also had a labyrinth that we walked.....
the whole thing was a half mile!

Dave enjoying the sundial 

The Windmill at botanical gardens

Riding the dragon chariot on the carousel

Trail to Shawnee Pond at Botanical Gardens

Shawnee Pond in the Botanical Gardens

After the gardens, a quick visit over to the Sandwich Canal area, and shopping, we went swimming at the hotel outdoor pool and swam and relaxed with our books. It was much needed as the air felt like 102 degrees F.  We were thanking God for the wonderful AC and pool and ocean breeze and sunscreen!

Sun and swimming

After swimming, we showered and headed out to dinner at Dillon's Local the Irish pub. 

Fish tacos and house salad

Dave had a Guiness and I chose the MaiTai
and these were so very refreshing after a long, hot day!

• LAKE TIME:  Thursday morning was spent just reading and relaxing on the hotel ocean mezzanine.  Around 11 AM we decided we would head over to the oldest museum in the nation, known as Pilgrim Hall Museum in downtown Plymouth. For some reason, this is a museum we have never visited although we have gone to all the other historic sites in Plymouth including the Mayflower II more than once, and Plymouth Rock many times. The Museum will get its own post. We also discovered some family history we did not know and that was super cool.  Come back Sunday or Monday for a glimpse of this very historic museum. After the museum, we headed to DD for ice cold refresher drinks and then back to the hotel to rest out of the sun/heat.  In the evening, we headed over to Dave's brother's camp on Long Pond.  Ponds in MA are actually lakes. We are not sure why residents of MA call them ponds. Long Pond is a beautiful lake and although there is a public beach which is quite small, most of the homes are  private camps.  Peter and Kathy made grilled food for our dinner (I had chicken kabobs) and had some yummy drinks and iced water. We hung out on their deck where if you sit on the edge, your feet are in the lake. I did a bit of swimming as did Dave and Peter. It was great and there was a nice breeze. We hung out there until 10:45 PM.  The hotel is only about 15 min away. I'm so thankful we spent time with Pete and Kathy.  It was a great way to end our last night in Plymouth. 

relaxing at the camp on Long Pond
Plymouth
the bernese is Kathy's dog Kyss.
she is a therapy dog!

Dave and Peter deal with a floating dock

A touch of patriotic decor 

delicious black cherry lemonade

Patriotic dinner decor with sparkling, flashing lights

It is now Friday.  It's about 1 pm.  We made it out of Plymouth at 7 AM and stopped for breakfast in the town where my mother in law lives. After breakfast, we arrived at her place about 9 AM to discover that she wasn't doing well. The AC unit in her family room had died and the nurse said she was near heatstroke. Dave had to go out and buy a new unit, fan, and I found a very small fan and set her up in front of it. The nurse had to leave so I stayed with her while Dave did the shopping for the items. He also bought her a bag of ice as she had no ice in the freezer. Because this is a national holiday, we wanted to be back in NY by noon. That is not happening.  Dave and his brother are currently working on getting the unit attached better to the window. So I am now finally uploading vacation pics and writing the FFF.  

We are now hoping to make it back to NY and home by 7 PM.  

I'm thankful we could be here for my mother in law and that Peter came up from camp when Dave called him to tell him what was going on. Please pray for us to get home safely! This heat wave is taking a toll on so many people. More importantly, please pray for my mother in law. She still lives alone at age 91. 

                HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!