I have touched the Atlantic Ocean!!!

Hello Fellow Wandering Travelers!!!

I spent all day today at the tip of the peninsula that defines Cape Cod!!! It was in a town called Provincetown, Massachusetts!!I got back to my trailer at about 9:45 PM and figured that I would put out this BLOG Post and then call it a day!!! So, there will be no photos until tomorrow some time and I will go into detail on what I did today. I had fun, but it was a little crowded!!! Imagine walking into Langley on Whidbey Island --- only instead of being three blocks long and two streets across, it is three miles long and totally full of people --- so many people that they must walk in the street because the sidewalks won't hold them  --- and the cars are still using the streets!!! Anyway, I saw three really great museums and saw the waves of the Atlantic Ocean crashing to the shore!!!

I have now met two of my four goals for this trip ---

1. Drive the Oregon Trail to St. Louis. DONE!

2. See Cape Cod, MA, Provincetown, MA, and the Atlantic Ocean --- I also wanted to see a horseshoe crab, but they are scarce and I didn't get to see one!!! DONE!

3. Drive and explore Maine. (TO BE DONE)

4. Drive home on US Highway 2. (TO BE DONE)

I will leave you now and add the photos and more of the story tomorrow.

Good Night,

Jon

Hello Fellow Wayward Travelers!!!

I am back to fill in what I did as I drove to Provincetown, Massachusetts. As I was researching this part of the trip, I discovered that there was a museum on the way that has a special exhibit of concept cars, so I decided to stop there and give it a look!!! From there, I drove on to Provincetown and went through their Whydah Pirate Museum (which is the recovery of the treasure from the pirate ship, “Whydah”) and their Pilgrims Monument and Museum and then walked through the town itself.

Let’s start with the Concept Car exhibit!!! This was located in the Heritage Museums and Gardens. This is in a town called Sandwich, MA. (I don’t make these names up, but some of our forefathers seem to have a sense of humor!!) And yes, it seems like an unusual place for a car museum, but their regular exhibit is old cars!!?? Anyway this exhibit was about those car ideas that may or may not have ever been built!!! Some of these cars were only seen in papers or magazines. Here are a few of the more unusual ones ---

Original Corvette --- 

 

 

Corvette Stingray ---

 

 

Corvette Indy ---

 

 

Plymouth Explorer --- How would you like to explore in this!!!???

 

 

Hudson Italia --- leave it to Hudson Hawk to build a modern car in the 1950s!!!

 

 

Buick Wildcat II --- Wouldn't you rather drive a Buick???

 

 

Buick Centurion --- Are these the Buicks of Old Men!!!???

 

 

Firebird II --- it is supposed to have a turbine engine and the tail fin is for stability at high speeds --- this wasn't for the 55 MPH crowd!!!

 

 

Corvair Monza SS --- Hey Ralph Nadar: is this unsafe at any speed!!!???

 

 

For you Lincoln lovers, the Lincoln X100 --- need I say more!!!???

 

 

And a little Hollywood Nostalgia, Gary Cooper's car!!!

 

 

Since I was in a big “garden”, I thought I would walk around. The “garden” was huge and very nice. It also had some historical items in it. Here is an old miller’s windmill that had quite a story behind it – it was used to grind grains for the local farmers in the early 1800s and used the wind for power instead of flowing water. Here is a photo of the refurbished windmill ---

 

Then I came across some gardens. One was the Hydrangea Garden. Just a few were in bloom, but the garden was a nice design (pleasing to me). Here are a few photos ---

 

Then, I discovered a “Hidden Hollow” where you could hear the excited voices of a lot of kids!!! Here is the tree house in the hollow and the view from the tree house ---

 

 

From here I continued to drive towards Provincetown!!! But this was Sunday and the traffic was packed as you can see ---

 

Once I got there, my first stop was the Whydah Pirate Museum. The Whydah was a merchant ship (mostly slave trading) that was going back to England with a load of money and goods when the pirate, Sam Bellamy (known as Black Sam Bellamy), attacked and captured the ship. It was such a fine ship; he then made it his flag ship. As he was going home to Cape Cod, he ran into a hurricane and the ship sunk just off Cape Cod. Then, in 1984, a man named Barry Clifford ended his multiyear search for the ship by finding it about 500 to 1500 feet from shore, buried in the sand!!! This is supposed to be the only know pirate ship and “loot” to ever have been recovered. I couldn’t take any photos in the museum, but I found the story to be quite interesting!!! Here’s the outside of the museum – note all the people; it was a very, very busy day!!!

 

From there, I went to the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum. The monument is just over 253 feet tall and you can climb to the top for a good view of the town and surrounding areas. My slight fear of heights meant that I had to go up to the top!!! And I did!!! Here is the monument ---

 

 

 

Here is a view from the top ---

 

Here is the view looking down the stair well ---

 

I told you Provincetown was a busy place; here are a few photos of the streets (I understand that there were three events happening that day, but I never discovered what they were???)

 

 

 After I left town, I knew that I had to go to the true Atlantic Ocean beaches. So, here a few photos of the Atlantic Ocean. Now I can say that I drove Coast to Coast!!!! In a few weeks, I can say that I drove Coast to Coast and back --- but not yet!!!

 

But, I am sorry to say that I could not find a Horseshoe Crab and everyone I talked to said that they were somewhere else, usually where I just came from!!!??? Oh, well, maybe next time!!!

Well, I am done for that day and I need to get some rest, so, with that, I will go for now, but I will see you all again tomorrow.

Again, to quote that great comedian, Red Skelton, "Good Night and May God Bless!"

Happy Trails ---- Jon

 

I Spent the day in Boston, MA today!

Hello Fellow Wayward Travelers!!!

Well, I decided to go to Boston for the day. It was a great day and I loved it, but one day is not enough!!! My schedule doesn’t allow any more time there, so it will have to do. I want to say up front that I absorbed a lot of history, saw a lot of things, enjoyed a lot of good times, but didn’t take many photos!!! I will apologize now for the lack of photos!!

My RV Park is an hour away from Boston. As I got near the city, I ran into a traffic jam on the freeway. I thought that something big was going on, but I never figured it out. The one thing I know is that in the old part of Boston, there were more tourists than at the business centers of most cities or even at the mall on sale day!!!

A number of you E-Mailed me to be sure to get a guild and take the walking tour of Old Boston --- so I did! I started at this tourist center in The Commons (Boston’s big park in downtown!!). Here is a photo of the tourist center ---

 

And here is our tour guild, Julie Sergeant ??? (I forgot her last name, but she was a revolutionary artist in the mid 1700s). Of course she is in 1750s dress!!! And, no, she is not carrying a bottle of beer, but a bottle of water ---

 

 
Now, today started cloudy and cool, with just a hint of rain – my kind of Seattle weather, but within a half hour of the one and a half hour tour, the sun came out and it got hot!!! It went to 85 degrees in no time and, it was humid!!! I was sweating like a pig!!! Anyway, on with the tour!!!

As our group of 30 or more people walked through the Commons, Julie explained that this was where the “stocks” and hanging trees were located. She also said that those people who died from their punishments were buried in the Commons in mass graves!!! She says they know because as they were renovating part of the Commons park, they dug up about 300 sets of bones!!! Now there is a little bit of history that you won’t find in the history books!!! Believe it or not!!!

Speaking of graveyards, we went to one of the oldest graveyards in the country!!! Here we found the tombs of some of the people that we read about in our history books!!!

John Hancock ---

 

Paul Revere --- His Monument

 

His Gravestone --- 

 

Samuel Adams ---

 

And here are a couple of general photos of the graveyard ---

 

 

  

Then we continued our walk and came to the building where the meetings were held to discuss the taxes that were being imposed on the colonies. This included the tax on tea which led to the Boston Tea Party!!! Many building were used, but this is one of them. It is now also a museum which I went through and heard the same stories as out tour guide, Julie!!!

 

 

Not to keep the new Boston out of the photos, here is a photo from The Commons showing the mix of the old and the new ---

 

During my tour, I happened across an old looking Used Book Store. As most of you know, I am a sucker for used book stores and collecting First Edition books of my favorite authors --- so I went back after the tour, just to browse around!!!??? Well, I found two First Edition books by Isaac Asimov!!! One I already have in my collection, but the other is now a new addition to my collection --- yes, I did buy it!!!!

By this time, it is mid-afternoon and I was really hungry!!!! So, I found a restaurant and had Lunch/Supper!!! Keeping to the Boston theme, I had New England Pot Roast!! The serving was so big that I will have it for dinner again in a few days!!!

I had heard that the sailing ship, Old Iron Sides, was open for tours, so I went there to see it!!! After getting lost a number of times, I arrived at the ship ten minutes after the last tour!! So, I walked through the museum and took a few photos of the ship --- from afar!!!

 

 

As I was walking back to my truck, I spotted a really neat house and took a photo --- It looks like one the captain of a sailing ship would own!!!???

 

From here, I drove back to my trailer to make plans for tomorrow!!! We are off to Cape Cod!!!!

Well, I am done for the day and I need to plan for tomorrow, so, with that, I will go for now, but I will see you all again tomorrow.

Again, to quote that great comedian, Red Skelton, "Good Night and May God Bless!"

Happy Trails ---- Jon