Little Miss Sydney had other plans.
The very second I closed the bedroom door, so as not to wake Jack, I hear Miss Sydney jump down from the bed and do her morning shake. "Crap," I muttered, "there goes my quiet morning." I open the door to let her out of the bedroom; I see Tanner's head pop up from the blankets and give me a puzzling look as if to say, "Will you please shut her up? I'm trying to sleep up in here." So, Missy follows me to my chair and jumps in to my lap. She wants her morning rub and massage. With her cute little face starring up at me I guess the paper can wait. And now it's almost 9:30 p.m. and I still haven't read the paper.
Finally we are all up, showered, dressed and ready to go. However, we have to exercise the dogs before we leave them for several hours and the one very important thing we've learned about campgrounds since retiring is their advertisements sometimes stretch the truth about their amenities. For example, a campground ad may boast of a beautiful swimming pool. What they neglect to tell you is that there is no water in the pool; it is under construction (and has been for two years). Large, graveled lots may be a grassy or muddy lot with gravel just outside of the front door. We both try to research campgrounds ahead of traveling but obviously we can't always take their words as gospel. And this one, a very expensive one and am staying in for a week, bragged about a new dog park they put in this past fall. That amenity alone is what attracted me to this park. Simply put I chose this campground for their lovely, new dog park. OMG!!! This dog park is soooooo ugly, dirty and buggy that Tanner and Sydney put on the breaks the second time we tried to take them to their "lovely dog park". They both looked up at us as if to say, "What? You expect me to go potty in there? You must be crazy!" So now we load them up in the truck and take them down the road to an open field so they can run. They love it and all is good.
FINALLY, we are on are way, arriving first in Gloucester. Jack has pictures that follow. Cute little town full of so much history of this country. We parked and walked all over the town enjoying everything we could see or read about including talking with several locals. We ate lunch at a place called The Causeway (came highly recommended by the locals) and I'm here to tell you I've never, ever eaten in a place so noisy or busy in my whole life. Also, it was a BYOB (bring your own bottle) type of diner although when I ordered a beer I didn't know it. Jack ran next door (also owned by Causeway) to buy us a beer and bring it back to our table. While there I noticed people bringing in their little coolers of beer and wine. Crazy. Also, for those of you who know me know that my idea of fish is a fish sandwich at McDonald's. I'm happy to report that I've eaten several different kinds of fresh fish these past few weeks and have loved it all; except shrimp. Yuk! Jack's favorite. Just cannot figure that one out.
Our last stop was Salem. Jack captured some beautiful pictures there as well. Lot of young people and a huge market for witchery, physics, and magic. Some beautiful, really, really old homes.
Great day but I am dead tired now and turning this over to Jack.
Some might remember seeing this picture of the fisherman's memorial statue on the package of Gortons Fish product which is based here in Gloucester. |
They off loaded three large fish from this boat into the fish market while we were watching. |
The inscription says"Step into my shoes and become inspired" These bronze sandals are a few feet from the sculpture of the artist kneeling on the rock. |
This little house is out in the middle of the water. |
Now that's a rock. Gloucester used it to place a plaque commemorating the establishment of the colony. |
This is the Fisherman's family memorial. |
The pictures below were taken after lunch in the town of Salem Mass.
Elizabeth Montgomery statue from the tv show Bewitched |
There were tomb stones dating back to the 1600's in this cemetery |