Boston

June 15, 2006






After a busy week with family, Kathy & I were back on our own yesterday and we decided to ride the train into Boston and explore the city. Boston is really quite an amazing city, you can’t swing a dead cat without bumping into some famous historical landmark. We followed the “Freedom Trail” which is a marked walking path through Boston which includes many of the most famous sites from the Revolutionary War era of American History. We began near the site of the Boston Massacre and visited along the way… The Old State House (1713), Faneuil Hall (1742), Paul Revere’s home (1680), The Old North Church (1723), The Charleston Navy Yard & the USS Constitution, The old Corner Bookstore (1718), The Old South Meeting House (1729), Granary Burying Ground, The Park Street Church (1809), and the Boston Common and Statehouse.

Paul Revere Home



These sites include some of the most historical places in American History. The Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, the Battle of Bunker Hill, the graves of Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Crispus Attucks and countless other Patriots make Boston a must see for anyone with any interest in history. It is also a vibrant and exciting place. The Boston Common is beautiful and we visited a moving and incredible Holocaust Memorial, which, while it seemed a little out of place, was worth the visit on its own. We managed to complete the entire trail in a single day. The weather was overcast and it kept threatening rain, but it never actually happened.

Today we are back on the road again, we are headed north, back to New Hampshire and then on to Maine. We will visit more friends and hope to go to Acadia National Park. Who knows when we may be on-line again. Finding internet connections has been at times difficult.

Old Statehouse

New Hampshire

June 14, 2006


Standing, Kari, Marne,Ben, James & Kathy. Front,Jeff, Sophie, Megan.

There are many great things about taking time to travel around the country and one of our favorites is the opportunity to see not only cool and interesting places, but to see them through the eyes of locals. That is why visiting our many friends who are scattered about the country. Of the few downsides to living in Key West, having friends move away for whatever reason is a fact of life in such a transient community. The cost of living, better opportunities, and a fear of hurricanes are a few of the reasons that so many of our friends have departed. The good news is that it opens up all sorts of opportunities to visit people when you are taking a cross country jaunt. A side trip to Seabrook, New Hampshire was brought on in part to see just such friends. It worked out perfectly since it coincided with Kari’s wish to see some of her former Colorado Springs friends who had recently moved to Exetor, New Hampshire. So Kari & the kids, Kathy & I all took a nice day trip to New Hampshire. We drove to Exetor to visit with Marne Dohrman & her kids Ben & Megan. Sadly her husband Ross was at work and unable to go to Memories Farm for ice cream or to come to Hampton Beach where the kids built sand castles and captured crabs. After a great afternoon at the beach we headed just down the beach to Seabrook to have dinner at the Round Rock restaurant owned by the family of my good friend and former Key West roommate, Peter O’Keefe. We had a fantastic meal and Kathy ate her first New England lobsters of the trip. We then went to Peter’s home and met his wife Lisa & son Ethan and caught up, having not seen each other for 7 years. Seabrook is important in Kilroy legacy as 30 years ago Kathy's mother Mary camped out in protest of the building of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant which sadly today looms large over the Seabrook landscape.

Lisa, Peter & Ethan O'Keefe

It was a wonderful one day getaway. Today Kari & the kids are on their way back to Colorado Springs. It has been a great visit with them. We did all sorts of fun stuff together this week, from camping out in the yard, swimming in the river, going to the beach, going out to eat in Scituate at T.K. O’Malley’s and visiting with the Nelson family, to spending time just hanging out with Grandpa watching old home movies. We will be seeing them again in Colorado in August. Now we have to figure out where to go next. There is still a lot to see around the Boston area, and using Marshfield as a base has proven to be both useful and fun. On the other hand the open road is calling.
Scott, Kathy, Kari, Cheryl, Sophie, James & Jacob.
Sophie, India & Kathy swim in the South River, Marshfield.

Plymouth Rock

June 11, 2006

Plymouth, MA







There are many places around the country where they have character actors recreating historical figures or peoples, dressing in period costumes, attempting accents and mannerisms of a given time and such, but I have never been to a place where it is well done as it is at the Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, MA. Despite continued steady rain, Kari, Kathy and I visited this wonderful facility yesterday and truly took in the experience of the pilgrims. In addition to a world-class visitor center and education facility, Plimoth Plantation has recreated a working replica of the Pilgrim village from 1627 including a remarkable collection of actors who basically live their roles as Pilgrims. They were insightful, intelligent and incredibly realistic in their portrayals, not at all the hokey type that is so common in recreations. It was a truly amazing place. Signs entering the Indian village warned visitors of the proper behavior( for example; do not raise your hand and say “How”), to exhibit when interacting with the Native People who though portraying historical figures were all themselves Indian craftsmen and women who had not only built the village, but created the authentic implements and artifacts fund there.

Our historical exploration of the Pilgrims continued as we journeyed to the Plymouth Waterfront to visit the famous “Plymouth Rock” the purported first landing site of the Pilgrims in 1620. We also toured the replica of the Mayflower which is docked at Plymouth. You really got an appreciation of the hardships that the Pilgrims experienced when you experience the small quarters found on the boat. We were also pleased to see a plaque there that recognized the “National Day of Mourning” that is held each Thanksgiving by Native Americans to honor the Indians whose way of life was destroyed by the onslaught of settlers.




Yesterday evening, we returned for the second week to the sauna at the UKTS summer camp, this time bring a much larger crowd as we were joined by Kari, Sophie, James, Julie, Bayla, Aunt Kathy & Uncle Al and their friend Ann Sweeney. The weather was still rainy and the lake was cold, but we had a great time, finishing the evening with a great dinner at the Bridgwaye Inn in Humarock.





Today the rain has finally stopped and the bright sunshine has returned. We are going to attend services at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist church in Scituate, MA.