West Chester, Ohio

12th August 2014

We have now been in Ohio for 3 days and this is the first time I have had to update the journey so far !

I haven’t made a daily post since 8th August, so the next 3 posts including this one will be retro posts to catch up. Hope this makes sense.

We set out from Canton, MA at 05.30am on Day 10, Sunday 9th & arrived in West Chester, Ohio at 21.04. The drive, including several stops for toilet breaks and food took fourteen & a half hours. This country is enormous. We travelled through 4 States – Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and finally Ohio. For some of the journey we skirted along the southern shores of the great lakes, namely Ontario and Erie. We crossed rivers, such as the Hudson and drove through Native American reserves, such as the Seneca Nation. I saw a bald eagle, a great blue heron, many vultures and several white tailed deer – all unfortunately dead at the roadside !

‘HELL IS REAL’.

Passed King’s Island on the way.

21.04, arrive Haden Lane, West Chester, Ohio

8th August 2014 Canton, MA

To nearby Norwood for breakfast at the Town Square Diner.   I had coffee, two eggs  over-easy, home fries & a side order of corned beef hash plus toast.

A bit of a walk through town to follow. Found a carpet and furniture warehouse with amazing Kilims from New Delhi India. The owner tried so hard to sell us one. We are sorely tempted to buy one !

Norwood Theatre, Norwood. MA

A General Motors ‘Brougham’ Car in the supermarket car park, Norwood.

A bit of food shopping !

AMC Cinema, Braintree, MA to see  ‘Into the Storm”. Best recliner seats ever !

Tomorrow – 9th August 2014, we set off at 05.00am to drive the 850 miles to Cincinnati, Ohio in one day.

All the girls went off to Boston to the One Direction concert at Gillette Stadium.

7th August 2014 Canton, MA Another day, another drive – this time to Lowell, Massachusetts to take a look around the Lowell National Historic Park.  We took a boat trip on the Merrimack Canal & some lunch at a Dunkin’ Donuts. We were meant to go on to the American Textile History Museum, but were pushed for time and the weather was threatening thunder and rain. Hope we don’t regret that ! Lowell is also home to the New England Quilt Museum. Lowell was the epicentre of the Industrial Revolution in the US and modelled its mills and production upon the industrial landscape of Manchester and other key mill towns in the UK. The architecture and canals are certainly reminiscent of that, as is the post industrial decline and renaissance through heritage and arts culture.

Club Diner in the historic downtown area. This diner was opposite where we took the tour today. We really wanted to go for lunch !!! Another time !

The Museum is situated in the Kitson Building which was the former Kitson Machine Shop. 

All Irish immigrant workers lived in an area of Lowell called Paddytown.       Massive kerb and paving slabs suggest an industrial heritage. Something I would definitely aspire to try to achieve on a project somewhere.

  Father John’s Medicine  was a cough medicine formulated in a pharmacy in Lowell, MA in 1855

6th August Canton, MA Visited a large thrift store – Savers – second hand & donated clothing and household goods. Really interesting displays of  objects –

In the late morning we took off for downtown Boston and walked around the streets adjacent to Boston Common & Downtown Crossing. This liturgical suppliers caught my eye.  This store is not the famous Sheehan’s of Boston but it was pretty interesting nonetheless. Actually, I now think that this store is called the Sisters Disciples Liturgical Centre at 43 West St.

A little further down the same road was this great book store – Brattle Street Book Shop – with external shelving, open to the skies. One of America’s oldest and largest Antiquarian Bookshops established in 1825. A new build project, Millennium Tower is a 60 storey development adjacent to the former Filene’s Store, which will now become a part of the development. Scheduled to be completed in 2016.

Mike’s Pastry in the heart of the Italian district is as famous an institution you can find…as if you couldn’t tell by the street scene & the level of noise in the shop ! More embossed tin tiles on the walls and ceilings. These look fairly new & I have seen suppliers advertising – must get a catalogue or some printed material about it.

Sacred Heart Italian Church is opposite Paul Revere’s House on North Square in North End, Boston.

Park Street Church on Boston Common

Had a great paddle and cool down at The Frog Pond in the centre of Boston Common.  Then walked through the Common to the Public Gardens  which was established in 1837 and crossed the bridge by the Swan Boats… 

5th August Canton, MA.  A full day was had – drove through downtown Boston, to Cambridge, MA to visit Harvard and the Harvard Museum of Natural History & particularly the Glass Flowers collection.

Trucks on the road…Lobster Trap Co Inc.   Passing through (under) downtown…

Arriving in Cambridge, MA, we walked to Harvard Square and into Harvard Yard. From there it was a short walk to the Harvard Museum of Natural History

The Earth & Planetary Sciences exhibition displays thousands of minerals and rocks to the most amazing effect.

I don’t think that I have seen anything quite as beautiful as this for a  long time. This gallery was worth the trip in itself. The work was created by Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolf. The commission started in 1886 and continued for fifty years.

mmmm

A 42 foot long specimen of Kronosaurus in the Vertebrate Paleontology room.

  Farmers Market in the contemporary public realm of The Plaza adjacent to the Science Centre and Memorial Hall. The Plaza was completed in 2013 by Stoss. It is built atop a covered underpass.

mmm   Harvard Yard, Memorial Church.         mmmm     On the way home…

3rd August 2014 Canton, MA

Walked up to Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center, Milton, MA. Conceived and built by Abbot Lawrence Rotch in 1885. Amazing 360 degree views as far as Boston some 10 miles distant are to be had from the top of Great Blue Hill, which is the highest point in Norfolk County, MA

Saw a Common Garter Snake. 

Went for dinner to the Legal Seafood Restaurant at Legacy Place, Dedham, MA. I had New England Clam Chowder and Wood Fired Shrimp   Animals on the list today include:

Northern Cardinal

Eastern Chipmunk

Otter (Captive)

Bald Eagle (Captive)

Common Garter Snake

2nd August 2014   Gloucester, Massachusetts Went whale watching today out of Gloucester, Massachusetts with the Cape Anne Whale Watch on the Hurricane II – and despite the rain and cold (very untypical weather), saw two Humpback Whales feeding. This is the second time I have been whale watching. The first time 14 years ago on my honeymoon I saw zero whales , so this is a great success by comparison. No photos of the whales however – it was raining hard and my mobile may have ended up in the ocean – so I erred on caution and simply experienced the scene as it happened in real time & not through a lens – an experience I would recommend! It may not make for the most riveting images of the day, but I can assure you I had a great day.

Actually on the wildlife front I had a great day all round ! – my tally for today is:

Eastern Chipmunk

Ruby Throated Humming Bird

Gray Squirrel

American Robin

Blue Jay

Northern Cardinal (Redbird)

Tufted Titmice

White Tailed Deer

Humpback Whale

1st August 2014

Canton, MA Planning for the day ahead: 1. May go to downtown Boston to visit the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as it is free today. 2. I wanted to get up and walk somewhere as I could really do with some exercise – but then breakfast was too good to give up… So I will keep you posted on some images if any of this comes off… Well – we did drive into Boston – fairly heavy traffic all the way – unfortunately, queues around the block for the museum (we should have known better !)- so we just kept on driving and came back to Canton. Maybe a 2 hour round trip, but being driven around is such a treat – even that was enjoyable. Now back home & it is really humid , so I went for a long walk  in the midday sum like any likeminded Englishman ! So hot – so sweaty – so stupid. Such a headache! Domestic architecture around here is wonderfully evocative of an America seen via the TV and from my childhood…Adam’s Family, Bewitched, even Scooby Doo !

31st July 2014

90 Independence Street, Canton, Boston, MA. First full day in the US. This will be a day to rest. Sat on the deck in very warm breeze watching blue jays, red cardinals and 3 tiny humming birds , amongst other things chasing about the garden. Such a treat to do nothing but watch and listen. There is also something quintessentially American about the sound of trains as they pass through in the distance. Went on a visit to one of  Rose’s friends. They have a black painted swimming pool, which appears like indigo – inky dark. Wish we could have been swimming in it ! Then off to Old Navy to get Nell some flip flops. Something has been killing grey squirrels here too. Steve says that four of the things have been found in the garden recently. One was still there on the lawn last night when we arrived. This morning only the tail was still there. We had a great journey over this time. We travelled via Dublin, from Heathrow. The advantage was that we cleared US Customs and Immigration in Ireland, which meant that we came into Logan via domestic flights, which really sped things up and wasn’t nearly so nerve wracking as usual. Heathrow Terminal 2 was a dream. Hardly anyone around, brand new with really helpful staff. The best check-in experience ever. Richard Wilson’s new sculpture is equally impressive, Actually it is stunning and has an air, both of modernity and fluidity as well as referencing the glamour & physicality of early passenger flight.