Massachusetts and Rhode Island

After visiting my family in New Hampshire, we moved to Hanscom AFB near Boston to visit Don’s brother Jim, his wife Michelle and his son Jackson, who live in Easton, MA.

And we can’t forget the furry members of the family. There’s Harley…

…and Fenway.

After two days, we decided to move to Canoe River Campground in Mansfield, closer to Easton so we’d have a shorter drive to the Del Rosario house.

A few days later we got together at their house again and this time Michelle’s parents Howard and Rena Baker were there.

Rena is a talented artist – she gave Michelle and Jim this beautiful watercolor she painted for them.

We all went together to a nearby harvest & craft fair. There was a lot of fresh produce as well as crafts and activities.

Don must have been telling Jim a fish story!

Jackson checked out a cool ATV…

…and chatted with some of his friends.

Back at the house, I admired the Hawaiian Islands displayed on the upper wall of the great room. (For those who don’t know, Don and his three brothers grew up in Hawaii; one brother Dave still lives there.)

Jim put together a beautiful buffet for us, including butternut squash soup, beef roast, asparagus, broccoli, potato salad (by their mother’s recipe), etc. Everything was yummy. I have yet to meet a Del Rosario who isn’t a great cook!

Rena is obviously a dog lover, and they love her back!

I admired all the buildings in the historic district of North Easton. The Oakes Ames Memorial Hall was built 1879-1881.

Ames Free Library is next door. It will be the setting for Jim’s 60 birthday party next May. We hope to make it back here for the celebration.

Meanwhile, Don and I visited Boston one day…

…had lunch at the Black Rose Pub…

…aka Roisin Dubh in Irish. The original pub is in Galway, Ireland. Check out the song on YouTube.

We decided not to take a city tour, but it looks like fun to ride a horse-drawn carriage.

We walked/drove by several well-known landmarks, including the USS Constitution, Harvard University, Soldiers Field, Faneuil Hall and Boston’s Back Bay.

On another day we went to Newport, Rhode Island. During lunch at Benjamin’s we met two couples from Canada and a younger man (and his wife) who’s attending the Navy War College in Newport. It was fun chatting with everyone.

We sat in the street-level Raw Bar where there are at least 100 bottles of Grand Marnier on shelves above and behind the bar. Each bottle bears the name of a member of the bottle club who owns it and drinks from it when visiting. Benjamin’s is the second-largest seller of Grand Marnier in the world!

Newport is the home for several fine mansions from the gilded age. We toured one, The Breakers, the summer “cottage” of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his family including his wife and 7 children.

Built in the mid-1890’s, the mansion includes 70 rooms.

No pictures were allowed inside, but you can see some of the interior by following the link above.

We’ve both enjoyed drives through the area and all the autumn colors. Pictures I’ve taken through the windshield can’t really do the colors justice, but I still try!

Next New England destination: Vermont.