Monday, March 2, 2015

We've been Traveling--Wee Trips in the North Country

Amazon Local has been helping us get through this cold snowy winter with some great hotel rates to interesting places.  Our first trip was to Mystic, Connecticut.  It is the quintessential New England coastal town complete with appropriately steepled church.
On the right is Bartleby's Cafe with the best coffee ever served in a homey little cafe setting.  Across the street is the bookstore where I found Cherie Burns' book, The Great Hurricane:  1938.  If you want to really appreciate our modern weather forecasting and communication systems, read about a time before they existed.  Right up the street and before that perfect little church is Mystic Pizza!!! I have wanted to go there since seeing the movie by the same name.  Love the movie and figured it would be worth the trip even if the pizza wasn't that great.  The pizza turned out to be THAT great.

Now we've got quaint seaside town, great coffee shop, bookstore that you don't want to leave, great pizza, and lots of little shops,  but there is more, a whole 'nother district on the other end of town.  The local aquarium, however, was our favorite.  Look who we met there.

This is Juno, one of three beluga whales at the aquarium.  He really does seem to enjoy interacting with people.  You wave and he'll flap his flipper at you.  You nod your head and he'll nod back.  You stop paying attention to him and he will spit over the top of the tank.  We were warned about that last one and it happened! 
OMG!  Is he not adorable pressing his nose into the glass?

Okay, on to Hull, Massachusetts outside Boston.  Tide out--your typical New England beach.
When that tide comes in, it comes in!  Not much space between that concrete wall and the water.
Outside New York City, public transportation sucks in New York State.  Massachusetts, on the other hand, got it right.  We were able to easily get into Boston from Hull to visit the Fine Arts Museum.  "The T" as it is called is leaves you practically at the front door of this magnificent museum.  I wish we had scheduled an extra day to see all the good stuff. 

I know some people don't like museums, but I have to share some shots from one of the classic paintings.  On first glance, it looks a bit typical of the period and genre.  
But look at that baby's face and the hair and that hair line.  Maybe Donald Trump looked like this as a child.
And how about the little angel on the right.  Along with the adult face and hair, he's got those shifty, jealousy-filled eyes. 
I would not want to be leaving this baby alone with him.  There is probably some great symbolism going on here of which I am unaware.  It just made me laugh out loud. (Apologies to the serious art aficionados who were in attendance.) 

Home again to more snow and more below freezing weather.  Spring is just around the corner, though, and a nice cruise to some sunny islands to usher it in!  Yay!!! Can't wait for that trip.


4 comments:

  1. What a beautiful little city! And I would have wanted to take Juno home with me.

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  2. Oh how fun! Mystic is on my list! LMBO at the angel observations, and love, love, love a bookstore that I never want to leave!

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  3. LOL that picture from the art gallery is quite disturbing, but I do see the Donald Trump resemblance, LOL!! (You'd think someone with his money could afford a decent haircut!!)

    That last Hull picture looks really REALLY cold - pretty, but cold :D LOL @ Juno spitting over the tank at you - but why does he seem so familiar to me? *ponders*

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  4. Why am I immediately drawn to the picture of the beach? I'm assuming not swimming weather for you. I love visiting little coastal towns.

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