Monday, Sept 23 - Following the Freedon Trail

We started the day with a brief walk to the food court at Quincy Market.  There are 60+ vendors lining both sides of a relatively narrow building.  You start at Starbucks, walk past choices of ethnic cuisine from A to Z, and finish with an ice cream counter.

Our friends, Bruce and Sharon, from Portland, OR have joined us till Thursday.  After a quick planning session and lunch at Ned Devine's Irish Pub, we started the day's trek following the Freedom Trail.  The trail is a red line or red bricks on Boston sidewalks and streets that guide you to key revolutionary and colonial-era sites. 

 Today we visited Faneuil Hall, the Boston Massacre site, Old State House, site of the first public school in America, King's Chapel and Burying Ground, Park Street Church, Old City Hall and the statue of Benjamin Franklin, Boston Common and the Public Garden, Cheers bar, Granary Burying Ground, Holocaust Memorial, and the "new" State House.


 Dinner was at the Union Oyster House, which claims to be the oldest continually running restaurant in the country. Such fun, and great seafood!

Captions to come tomorrow. It is night night time.

The Old State House - Just a few yard to the left is were the Boston Massacre happened

Our hotel - blue lights in windows

The original GW

The girls looking for Norm

A nice story "Make Way for Ducklings" was written about an island in the Frog Pond in Boston Commons.

Massachusetts State House from Boston Commons

Add caption

Old grave yard in Boston

Holocaust Memorial -  each concentration camp is represented by a column of glass panels

Concentration Camp numbers of each victim on all of the glass panels in the above picture

Sunday, Sept. 22 Boston

Another plane trip to add a notch to the old suitcase handle.  St. Louis to Charlotte, NC and on to Boston.  Logan airport (BOS) is enormous - both in size and number of airlines.  The shuttle driver started listing airline names, and it seemed like one of those endless scrolls people use for a joke at the beginning of a speech.

It was a beautiful day, so we sailed across Boston Harbor in a water taxi.  We got the "I'm glad you weren't here yesterday!" story and we agreed.

The room at our hotel is wonderful (thanks to Mark and Jewel for the recommendation).  We are in downtown and in walking distance of many of the sights we plan to see. Harborside Inn 


 Since our stomachs said it was past lunch and our clock said early dinner, we dined a few blocks from the hotel, following the recommendation of our water taxi pilot for Durgin-Park. He knew his restaurant.

Boston Harbor in the background

A two hour walk around the harbor led us back to one of Boston's many Irish pubs.  We were looking for some Murphy's Irish Ale.  They just had Smithwick's, an admirable substitute.

 

Saturday - Sept 21 ~ Onto the St. Charles relatives

Nancy and I meandered from Hannibal toward St. Charles on old Highway 79.  The road must have followed old deer trails up and down small rolling hills as it snaked along bluffs overlooking the Mississippi.   We were surrounded by  thousands of acres of corn and soybean fields turning golden brown ready to be harvested in a couple of weeks.   Some towns along the highway were small, with populations ranging from 67 to 3000+, but mostly about 200.  Towns were marked by large grain silos, a gas station, a small store, several churches and well kept by the good folks of rural America.    Large lawns are the rule in this part of the country.  Some of the larger lawns would be the envy of many a greens keepers.  John Deer riding mowers seem to be the vehicle of choice.  A good size pond is an added bonus.

View of the Mississippi River valley  from Missouri towards Illinois

 Lane's from the St Louis area met at a restaurant in St. John's, MO.  It was the first time I had met several of them.  Wilma was able to gather another 1st cousin Shirley, plus several 2dn, 3rd and 4th cousins.  It was great to meet them all.  Thank you Wilma for all of your help gathering the clan.

A cast of cousins

Friday Sept. 20

Friday we ambled through downtown Hannibal while I furnished Nancy with memories of my childhood.  Most had a bit of truth woven through the stories dredged deep from my memories as a young boy.

Meals in Hannibal were a time for visiting and family stories.   We didn't miss a chance to sit down and break bread with the family.

Nancy and I went on a road trip to Palmyra to do some genealogy research.  Lots of looking, but no treasures.

Thanks to Claude, Mildred, Sue, Doug, Steve and Kathy for making us feel so welcome while we were in Hannibal.

At the waterfront in Hannibal ~ Riverboat dock

September 19 ~ Hannibal Day 3

The last two days have been very productive.  We have relatives buried in Holy Name Cemetery in Hannibal.  The last time we were here, I found the headstones of two relatives.  I was looking for their headstones in the right places, but alas, no stones.  One more try.  I borrowed a small metal rod and did a little probing and surprise - surprise, the two stones were about 12" under the grass.  The groundskeeper and I worked out a solution and the stones look great now.

Raised to ground level

    

Raised to ground level

Grandfather

Great Grandmother

  We joined the Hannibal cousins at their church's Wednesday night "carry-in" or potluck.  Great food and a good lesson on Acts.

Today Claude, Doug and I made a couple of stops along Mark Twain Lake.   The lake was created after I left Missouri.  The farm I lived on is now part of the lake's wildlife area.  My old home is located on a bluff.  The bottom land where we grew corn is now part of the wildlife reserve.  I spent many days wandering around the area where the river is currently flowing.  My brother Bob and I had many adventures.  I kicked dirt clods, learned to swim in the river and found arrowheads after Dad plowed the field.

Today we went to the Clarence Canon dam     This is the view from the dam.

 The boys at the Viet Nam Memorial for Northeast Missouri near the dam's interpretive center.

Doug, Claude and Bud

This was one of Claude's favorite fishing spots and a great stimulus for his fishing adventures

We finished the evening at Sue and Doug's for dinner with Claude and Mildred.

September 17 On to Hannibal, MO

We started our adventure today with a hop to Phoenix, a skip to St. Louis, and a jump to Hannibal.  It was a long day, but we were greeted warmly by our cousins and treated to a great dinner.  Off to bed now - we have a big day tomorrow.

Sue, Mildred, Claude, Doug, Nancy & Bud

Catching up

We have had a very busy time since I since last reported.

The remodel is finished and we moved from the front room back to our bedroom and no contractors arriving at 7:00 A.M. .

Nancy and I have managed to put a lot miles on our cars the last few months.  We managed several trips to Lincoln City,  cruised down to Ashland for some plays, a weekend jaunt to Long Beach, Washington, a long road trip to San Diego, a junket to Bandon for a week with Nora, several treks to Seattle to see Matt, Katie, Nora and Amelia and many other local adventures.

CV Lanes

Nora's Peacock Head Dress

Amelia's 2nd birthday

Amelia and Katie

  

Pick your own corn

Oysters and beer in Oysterville 

Nancy and I have been playing golf with our friends and are in serious pursuit of the white ball.  We have been trying to find golf balls that do not have water, tree or tall grass magnets in them, but alas - no luck.

I have been fishing. I'll let the pictures tell the story.  Chinook out of the Willamette River, walleye from the Columbia and Coho ( Silver ) salmon

  

     

   

  

We are presently getting ready for our next adventure back to Missouri, Boston and New England.  We will keep the blog updated when we start in a few days.
We even have a house sitter.

Remodeling and Fishing Report

Last week was busy.  We were in Seattle and Lincoln City while the hallway floor was being finished.  Didn't have to smell the polyurethane and got to play with Nora and Amelia.

We met Pam and Doug in LC for two days of fishing on the Nestucca River. The girls talked and shopped.   I landed  a 24" and 28" steelhead.  Doug caught two and kept the really big 35" steelhead.

for more pictures    http://millerguideservice.com

 Tile in the bathroom is done.  The granite for the vanity in the bathroom was installed on Friday.  We are doing touch ups and trying to get a handle on the dust.  Carpet to be installed on Wednesday.

Tile - Bud & Nancy

The remodeling continues.  The bathroom floor is almost finished.  Grouting will be tomorrow after Jef finishes putting the tile up in the shower.  More on that tomorrow.

 

 Bud the painter and Nancy checking out the carpet samples.