Boston III: Martha's Vineyard

On June 17, 2022, Dave and I took the 45-minute ferry to Martha's Vineyard with Camille's family.  We docked at the town of Vineyard Gardens and ate lunch at The Black Dog.
 

“We have three people with us that we don’t usually have,” Camille said, nodding to Emilie, Dave, and me, “and it is so good to have you with us.”  Steve asked Dave and me what our very favorite cities have been, from all our travels.  I said that I love the great craft cities of the world—Jaipur, India; Khiva and Bukhara, Uzbekistan; Bangkok, Thailand; Shanghai, China.  Dave said he particularly enjoyed both Burma and Uzbekistan (ironically, both underdeveloped countries that he protested visiting).  Camille and I then talked about our amazing experiences visiting the Omo and other tribes of Ethiopia.  Mia and Ezra talked about the three months in Europe from which they just returned, and Emilie talked about her upcoming hiking trip in the Alps.  Traveling is something we all love..  

I ordered fish and chips, made from perfectly tender and flaky cod.

We laughed about this sign, on the door of The Black Dog.

We each rented a bike and began the ride to Oak Bluffs.  I was wobbly at first.  It has been many years since I have ridden a bike, and we were crossing roads, riding along the edge of roads with cars rushing past, and then riding along bike paths and avoiding pedestrians.  Just as I was getting the hang of it, Dave said that he felt dizzy and nauseated.  He didn't want to ride his bike in that condition.  Dave and I took the ferry from Oak Bluffs back to Woods Hole, and Camille's family continued their bike ride to Edgarton and back to Vineyard Gardens. 

We found our condo in South Yarmouth and were pleasantly surprised with how clean and comfortable it was.  It appeared to be a renovated motel, with sets of two motel rooms converted into a bedroom with a sitting room, microwave, and small fridge.  Camille assured us that we were lucky, indeed, to reserve any condo on Cape Cod at the height of the tourist season.

Boston II: Little Women and Turner's Seascapes

Dave and I joined Camille’s family at the Louisa May Alcott house in Concord on the afternoon of June 16, 2022.  I especially enjoyed the introductory movie, shown in the barn-like building behind the house that Louisa’s father, Bronson, had used as one of America’s first adult education facilities.  An actress portrayed Louisa, telling us about her life, her house, and the writing of “Little Women.”  

There were wonderful portraits throughout the house of Alcott's family and her father's distinguished friends, including the writers, Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne.  

We saw the desk at which Alcott wrote her books.

 

We also saw charts of the many languages into which the books were translated and the many films based upon them.

Camille usually builds an outdoor event into her trips.  We walked the mile around Walden Pond, where sunbathers lounged on the beach.  Camille recalled how, when her children were little, they jumped in and out of the pond as they walked around it.

It was then time for treats.  The Eberts know all the best places.  We stopped at Coco for smoothies.

We then ate pizza at Berlucci's.  It was a deja vu time for the Ebert children, as they remembered the many times they had eaten Berlucci pizza during the five years that they lived in Boston as children.

Camille and her family were on "vacation time" during the morning, so Dave and I visited one of my favorite places in Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts.  

The special exhibit gathered many of the works of the great English painter, Turner, who is most famous for his impressionistic paintings of the sea.

Turner began as a romantic historical painter, documenting such famous English sea battles as Trafalgar, and became more impressionistic as he grew older.

One of Turner's most famous paintings is "Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On.)"  The painting was created in the 1840s, after England had outlawed slavery, but while slavery was still allowed in the United States and while some slave ships still defied European laws..  It was a controversial painting that stoked abolitionist fires.

Boston I: The Red Sox and the Holy Temple

When I booked an RCI Cape Cod condo, two years ago, I had no idea Camille would move to Boston for a year, or that we would arrive in Boston on the same weekend, beginning June 15, 2022, that Camille's whole family congregated there.  Emilie flew to Boston from Dallas and Jono and Sarah from SLC.  

The Eberts had already traveled to Maine together, but we were able to join them for a Thursday afternoon Red Sox game at Fenway Park.  The Sox beat the Oakland Athletics by a satisfying 10 to 1.

Of course, the score wasn't really the point of hanging out at Fenway Park.  We talked a lot, ate sausage sandwiches covered with sauerkraut, and stood to sing "Sweet Caroline" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with the crowd."

 

In the morning, Dave and I attended a session at the Boston Temple in Belmont, Massachusetts, near where Steve and Camille rented an apartment.  Like many of the temples, the Boston Temple can be seen from the freeway, but is beautifully landscaped with flowers and groves of trees. 

After the Red Sox game, we ate dinner together at Steve and Camille's apartment.  Spaghetti with a rich, red sauce tasted just right after wandering around Boston's Back Bay.

Have Some Lasagna, Calder Burke!

The menu and guest list for my June 12, 2022 dinner changed three times!  It started out as a Welsh dinner with the grandparents of Meg, Grant's wife, and it ended up as the introduction of baby Calder Burke to the delights of his grandma's Sunday dinners.  If Calder were not on a strict diet of mother's milk, he would have loved the Ultimate Lasagna that I prepared.  
 

My great discovery was the Milk Street recipe for bolognese lasagna.  Instead of layers of mozzarella and ricotta cheese, it has a béchamel sauce flavored with Parmesan cheese.  The recipe was a keeper.  “You don’t need to try any other lasagna,” Heidi and Rebekah said. 

Lily was very fancy in a new, red dress.  She feels her way around the furniture and is just starting to walk.

It was good to have Michael home, after his trip to Nepal.

Rebekah is a good cook who helped me evaluate the lasagna.  Part of every Sunday dinner is deciding how to perfect the menu for each of the 30 ethnic meals I serve.

Carol is witty and wise, and is a favorite with our children.

Lily eats dinner in her diaper, so she can spill as much as she pleases!

Heidi says Audrey is like her dad and Grandma Spendlove--she is so busy with her goals that she doesn't want to go to sleep.  Every once in a while, she just crashes!