Because I don’t plan far ahead, I can be pretty flexible.
I stopped to see a Kwajalein friend in Rockport, MA and she invited me to house sit while she volunteered with Earthwalk in Kenya. She has a beautiful home on the water in Rockport which is north of Boston. What a terrific opportunity this was!
She and I had a couple of days together before she left.
Then I had a “wicked” good time in the area as a tourist, student of history, eater of seafood and taker of tub baths..
From Rockport I also made forays into Boston and Salem on the commuter train.
Public transportation makes soooo much sense, it astounds me that there are people who object to it. It helps reduce air pollution, provides transport for many people at a lower cost than; owning, insuring, maintaining and driving a car - and building and maintaining the roadways that cars use. Plus you can do something other than drive while on it (read, sleep, listen to music – actually see what is outside, etc). It is especially nice in big cities like Boston where traffic is heavy and parking is difficult and expensive.
When I went to the JFK Museum & Library, I discovered one of the negative aspects of public transportation - you can spend more time traveling to and from than at your destination. But that was because I hadn’t checked the weekend schedule before I started out. Live and learn!
“…ride forever ‘neath the streets of Boston”. It’s funny the things we remember – I first heard that song in the early 60’s. The subway ticket is called a Charlie Card. In the song, Charlie is the man stuck on the subway. Nice to see that the MTA has a sense of humor.
And I was delighted to see that the commuter train conductors wear conductor caps. (When I was a kid many occupations had uniforms with hats – bus drivers, nurses, milkmen, mailmen, etc.- I kind of miss that.)
Many visitors to Salem got into the spirit of the season.