"Un Petit Vacance" in New England

We Californians visit New England with the excitement and fervor usually reserved for old European cities. We are thrilled to see a welcome sign on a house stating its origins as 1726, or to visit an Observatory (how quaint!) built in 1805, or the town limits sign saying "Founded in 1629". And don't even get me started on those Witches Houses in Salem..:)

compass ceiling of the Portland Observatory

where my great (7th) grandfather mounted

his telescope in 1805

the Portland Observatory, built in 1805 by my ancestor,

Capt. Lemuel Moody, a sea captain who had been

captured by French pirates in the Caribbean and

imprisoned on St. Kitts!

In Portland, Maine, we were drawn to the highest point, Munjoy Hill, to climb the 65 ft. tall Portland Observatory, built by my great-to-the-7th-power grandfather, Captain Lemuel Moody, as a way to launch the communications system he devised to alert the merchants below that their sea cargo was about to arrive. After soaking up the views, we wandered the waterfront and found wonderful artful things for the home at Foundry Lane.

Where Capt. Moody sat and looked at the

sea, waiting to spot incoming oceangoing vessels

and raise the signal flags to the wharfs below

the spiraling stairway and the cubbyholes

where Capt. Moody stored the signal flags in

1805

***

We found that early June is the perfect time to visit Marblehead, Massachusetts. We stayed for a few days at the old Boston Yacht Club there, falling asleep at night to the clinking of the rigging on the 1,000 sailboats moored in the harbor below.

On Memorial Day, we were lucky enough tag along behind the fife and drum corps as they marched through the streets on their way to the sea. At the edge of the bay, lots of saluting and speeches were given, wreaths and flowers were thrown into the ocean, then the musketball rifles were hoisted to shoulders and three separate rounds shot out to sea to honor our military dead. It was quite moving, and when the local high school band struck up "The Star-Spangled Banner" it did bring tears to my eyes.

flag and bugle in the local museum in

Marblehead, Massachusetts

the venerable old Boston Yacht Club where

we stayed a few nights

the early morning view upon awakening in our room!

history in flags of the BYC, founded 1846

the way to the coffee shop for morning blueberry pancakes

we wished we had thought of one of these for getting

up and down those hills!

art deco sailing trophy cup on display at the BYC

our "spit & polish" deck for enjoying coffee in the morning

and drinks at sunset at the BYC

early metal chandelier in the museum

at Marblehead...I love it's spare and lively look!

there were a few of these "de rigeur" paintings of

schooners and vessels at the BYC

charming display of Americana at the

museum in Marblehead

um..really??

the fife and drum corps took their job very seriously;

those musketball rifles actually work!

a picnic site waiting for the weather to warm up

just a bit from the early June chill

some people cannot visit this part

of the world without devouring

one of these red guys!

***

In Salem, we visited the home of one of the judges who sentenced those unfortunate young women as witches in those dark and scary years around 1623 in this little outpost village. The house was surprisingly..modern..with its lean and spare aesthetic, worn bare wood floors, simple and elegant furnishings, four-poster bed, and high ceilings.