In Late July Mary Ann and I went for a little vacation over to the East Coast. Mary Ann's brother, Alan, lives in Boston so we landed there for a couple of days of sightseeing then we went up to Portland, Maine for a couple of days before heading into New Hampshire for some hiking.
We flew into Boston and caught a taxi to our hotel, The Revolution on Berkeley Street. After settling in we walked around to Tremont Street where there are many fine restaurants and dined at the Black Lamb.
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| The Salada Tea Doors |
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| The Armory |
Next morning we were off on our walking tour of Boston. The John Hancock Hall is just down the street with a fine painting of the Continental Congress in the entry way. Then the very ornate Salada Tea Doors that commemorate the tea industry on a building down an adjacent street. Further along there is the Armory of the First Corps of Cadets - a well fortified looking building. Next was the statue of Edgar Allan Poe who was born in Boston near Boston Common.
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| Edgar Allan Poe |
We then walked past the Central Burying Grounds on Boston Common. This is an old cemetery dating back to the 1750's and that is quite old by American standards. We wondered around looking at the old gravestones.
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| The Central Burial Grounds |
We walked on to the Brattle Book Shop. This is a well known and quite large second hand bookshop. It was certainly very large but I didn't quite need another book and the organization was a bit strange.
We then walked around Boston Common. There is a statue to some ducks from a children's book called "Make way for Ducklings". Since that wasn't a part of my childhood it didn't move me in any way.
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| The Gardner Museum Interior |
The high point of the sightseeing day was the visit to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This museum was built by Ms Gardner to house her art collection. In the late 1800's Isabella started collecting art with a Vermeer being her first major purchase. Over the years she amassed a significant collection of art from the US and from Europe not to mention enough statues and furniture to fill out her purpose built Venetian mansion museum. The museum is famous for an art robbery in 1990 where 13 pieces, including the Vermeer, were stolen. The crime was never solved and the art works never seen again. The empty frames of the stolen pieces still hang on the walls.
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| The Frame of the Stolen Vermeer |
In the evening we went over to Mary Ann's brother, Alan's place. A truly interesting character who can play piano to an exceptionally high level (he has a Steinway Grand in the condo) and who is now a court reporter of some renown and in high demand. We had appetizers and were treated to a recital of some quite wonderful music (Chopin I think) before we went out for dinner.
Next morning as I walked over for coffee at the nearby Caffe Nero (a UK Coffee chain) I noticed the Cyclorama Building. Nothing too amazing about the building which was built to house a large painting of the Battle of Gettysburg (the painting resides in Gettysburg now) except it was in this building where Mr Champion invented his spark plug.
In the morning we met Alan again and caught an Uber over to the Institute of Contemporary Art. This was a modern art gallery on the edge of Boston Harbor. I don't remember too much about the main exhibit - something from Virgil Abloh. Not really up my street. I did learn that Mr Abloh is the artistic director of Luis Vuitton - reinforcing the fact that it is not really up my street.
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| The ICA Watershed Installation |
We then took a ferry boat to the other side of the harbor where there was a second ICA exhibit space called the Watershed. Here was an installation by Firelei Baez. This was a little more interesting - something about an ancient Caribbean ruin that is submerged in the sea. Interesting to look at but I don't know if there was a hidden meaning that I missed.
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| Shepherd Fairey Mural at the Aquarium |
After returning on the ferry to the other side of the harbor again we walked around the city some more. We saw the Aquarium where Shepherd Fairey had just completed a mural. Alas it was not as impressive as the one he did for Sacramento (the Johnny Cash one).
That evening we took the subway over to nearby Cambridge where we had dinner with some friends of Alan's. They had a wonderful old house in Cambridge and we dined outside in their back yard. Our host Steve and his wife had the most amazing collection of kitchen tools (like the Inuit's Ulus) and fishing lures - entire walls were covered with them.
Next morning we checked out of the hotel early and made our way to the train station for our Amtrak train to Portland. The weather was a little grey and damp but it was a nice trip up into Maine. We arrived in Maine under grey skies just before lunchtime and we walked up the hill (who knew Portland had such hills) to our B and B, The Chadwick. It was too early to check in so we left the bags and walked into town.
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| TheCustoms House, Portland |
Portland is a relatively small town that can be walked quite easily. We headed down to the harbor searching for a lunch spot. That was easier said than done as everywhere was full of tourists like us. We did manage a seat at the bar in some bistro and I had a reminder that I don't really like lobster all that much. It's fine but it's not great but it appears to be the thing to eat here.
In the afternoon we walked back towards our B and B and visiting the Portland Museum of Art on the way. This is a great little art gallery with some interesting pieces. Just the right size too - a couple of hours takes in everything.
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| Peeks Island |
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| Peeks Island Ferry |
The next morning we had a fine breakfast despite what our grumpy fellow guest said about it. We then walked on into town to catch the ferry out to Peeks Island. Peeks Island is one of the islands off the coast of Maine, quite close to Portland. It was a little misty on the ride over but it made the coastal walk around the island all the more beautiful. The island is full of vacation homes and boat loads of tourists like us who are visiting for the day. Well worth the trip however.
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| Victoria Mansion |
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| Victoria Mansion Interior |
Back on the mainland we visited the Victoria Mansion on our way back to the B and B. This wonderful old house was built by a Ruggles Morse who made his money in hotels (New York, Boston, New Orleans). This was his summer retreat.
In the evening we dined at a restaurant called Fore Street. This was one of the best meals I have had for a long, long time - really, really good. It is good to splurge on food every now and again.
The next morning we caught an Uber over to Portland Airport where we had a car reserved. We picked up the car and drove over to New Hampshire. The drive was relatively unremarkable - nice countryside, lots of small towns but nothing particularly of note.
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| The Albany Covered Bridge |
The trail was called the Boulder Loop Trail and it was a loop trail from the river up around 1000 ft to a nice lookout area on top. The view was from an open cliff area called the Ledges that looked out over the surrounding forested landscape. Everything was so green after the so very dry Californian landscape that we are used to.
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| The Ledges on the Boulder Loop Trail |
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| Lots of Tripping Options |
Our accommodations were at the Inn at Ellis River just outside the town of Jackson. That evening we went out to dine in a restaurant just down the road from the Inn - the Red Fox Bar and Grille. There was a long wait for a table as the place was quite popular and perhaps the only decent place around. We eventually got seated and then proceeded to have the worst waiter experience of our lives. The poor girl that served us was just plain incompetent. Just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for her and for us. Slow service, incorrect orders, missing cutlery, lack of subsequent attention. Adjacent tables were also suffering the same treatment too. The manager apologized and offered a free desert but the only desert I found attractive was sold out so even that didn't work. As we left we passed the waitress rushing past us, perhaps crying, I am not sure. I think we probably got her fired that evening.
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| The Bemis Creek Trail |
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| The Arethusa Falls |
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| View from Frankenstein Cliffs |
The next day we had another hike planned. The Arethusa Trail to the Arethusa Waterfall with a return loop to the Frankenstein Cliffs. We took a sidetrack on the Bemis Brook Trail which was quite beautiful though a bit of a challenge to get out of the stream bed and back up to the main trail. The Arethusa Falls were quite spectacular and well worth the effort. The whole area is beautiful hiking - shady in the trees with occasional views over the forested hills all around us. The trail constructors here in Maine did not seem to be too fond of switchbacks favoring the more severe direct ascent straight up the hill.
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| The Bretton Woods Hotel |
After our hike we were driving around the area and what should we stumble upon but the Bretton Woods Hotel near Mt Washington. From my economic history days I knew this spectacular hotel was the location for the Bretton Woods Conference that set up the IMF following the Second World War. It is still a fine hotel and golf resort. We had to go in and have a cocktail on the veranda.
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| At the Bretton Woods Hotel |
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| The Creation of the IMF |
That evening, despite our bad experience with the Red Fox on the previous night, we returned again. It was the only place in near proximity that could reasonably seat us. We had much better service and quite reasonable food so we were happy.
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| Mt Washington Railway |
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| Mt Washington Railway |
The next morning, the last one of our trip, we had tickets to go up Mt Washington on the cog railway. The old steam engine was all fired up and ready to take us to the top when we arrived. It is around a 1 hour trip to the top, polluting all the way. We had an hour or so to wander around on the summit and then a slightly faster trip down the hill. It was certainly quite brisk on top even though it was still mid summer. Mt Washington, of course, is the location of the highest recorded wind speed in the USA (231 mph). It once held the record of the highest wind speed on the planet but that record has now been superseded by some place in Australia.
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| Mt Washington Summit |
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| MA on Mt Washington Summit |
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| Mt Washington Summit - Appalachian Trail |
We had an afternoon flight from Portland so after the train trip we drove back to Portland airport and our flight home. All in all, an excellent East Coast Adventure.
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