Nazareth, PA

This was a two stop day - both with surprises. Our first stop was the C. F. Martin & Company guitar manufacturing plant in Nazareth, PA. We took the free, hour-long guided factory tour where we saw all aspects of manufacturing some of the finest guitars in the world (according to some of my musical friends). Some of the more interesting things seen was the largest guitar in the world and watching a giant robotic arm pick up and polish guitar bodies with style and grace. Then we toured the Martin Guitar Museum which contained many interesting instruments including the One Millionth Martin guitar made in 2004.

When we first arrived, Susan had asked someone in the gift shop about buying some strings for her new dulcimer (she broke a string last night). They checked but none were in stock or could be found anywhere. Our surprise came at the end of the tour when a gentleman approached the tour group and asked who the dulcimer player was. He then gave Susan a complete set of Martin dulcimer strings at no charge. That was so nice!

Then we went a few miles down the road to Easton, PA to take a tour of the Crayola Factory. Our surprise here was that the Crayola Factory wasn't a real factory but was a place where kids of all ages could play with Crayolas. Oh well, you can't win em all.

Stockbridge, MA

This morning, we drove back into Massachusetts to see the Norman Rockwell Museum. On display was the complete collection (about 45 years worth) of Saturday Evening Post covers that he had painted plus a large number of his original paintings that covered everything from his early years with the Boy Scouts through the 1960's political art. Each piece had an interesting story to tell. Before leaving, we visited his studio where much of his later work was done. Fascinating...

Then we went to Pittsfield, MA where we toured the Hancock Shaker Village. The Shakers built this village back in the 1770's and, while they no longer exist, have become well-known for their beautiful handmade furniture, chairs, baskets, wooden boxes and other craft items still made by local craftsmen. As we walked the grounds, there were people working in the various shops, fields and barns who answered questions and even encouraged visitors to use some of the tools and machines they use. Another fascinating place.

Presidents in New York

This was a historic day for us - we visited not one, but two, Presidential Historic Sites. Our first stop was in Hyde Park, NY where we visited the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. As proof, here's a picture of Susan with Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt relaxing in the fresh air. We also toured Springwood, home of FDR. The tour was most interesting and, besides the usual home stuff, we saw some of the things FDR used to hide his disability (he contracted Polio at age 29 and was paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life). His major contribution to us was Social Security - for which we'll be forever grateful since, without it, we wouldn't be here now.

Then we drove up to Kinderhook, NY to visit the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site. There we toured Lindenwald, where Van Buren lived after being our eighth President. Here is a picture of Susan with another dead President - this one was taken in downtown Kinderhook.

Plymouth, Mass.

We awoke this morning to see the sun after five rainy days. Being such a good birth of our day, we took this as an omen to go see the birth of our country in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The Mayflower II was on display at the dock but we didn't take the tour. Instead, we took a stern-wheel boat tour of Plymouth Harbor which gave us a nice overview of the area. Then we walked over to see the actual Plymouth Rock, where our ancestors first set foot on American soil.

Then we went to Plimoth Plantation (that is not a misspelling, just one of the ways the English spelled the place). This interesting walking tour took us to a recreated Wampanoag Homestead where Native American docents explained their life before and after the Pilgrims arrived. Then we walked to a 1627 English Village where costumed role players demonstrated how life for the Pilgrims was back then, from building homes to explaining daily life. All of the people in these villages welcomed questions and gave informative answers. It was fun going back in time.

Hartford, CT

Since most of the rain was east of us, we decided to head west to Hartford and visit the Mark Twain House & Museum. In the lobby was a life-sized statue of Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) made entirely out of Legos. I'm going to break tradition here, and perhaps start a new trend, with a picture of Susan with a dead Author. We took a guided tour of the house where he lived from 1874 to 1891 and wrote so many of his classic tales. Photography was not allowed inside which is a real shame since the place was very beautiful and unique compared with most of the other homes we've toured in the past. This picture of the outside should give you a good idea of the overall architecture. Oh yes, we actually saw the sun for the first time in 4 days when we exited the house. Wow!

Tiverton, R.I.

A good friend of ours recently introduced us to software designed to trace our family trees. In my research of the Fried/Cook family before this trip, I found out that a lot of my relatives (from my grandfather's side of the family) had connections to Tiverton, Rhode Island so, despite the continuing rain, we went there to see what we could find. Their local library was a great resource of information that I will use to help complete my family tree. We went to see the house that belonged to my 9th great-grandfather but it was no longer in existence. We then visited the local cemetery and saw the many grave markers of my family (one dating back to 1812) plus one for the last occupant of the now-missing house who passed away in 1998. We assume that the house was dismantled after her death (the foundation shows on Google Maps). All in all, a most informative day.

Mystic Seaport, CT

A short drive south on a rainy day and we're in Mystic, CT to see the famous Mystic Seaport. Fortunately, the rain lessened as we approached the town so it was only a little misty in Mystic. ;-) What a neat place - especially for people who love ships (like us). We spent the whole day exploring the area. We explored the restoration of an old ship, the Charles W. Morgan, originally built in 1841, walked through a shipyard (where various ship parts were being built from old logs), toured four ships from tall masted to a fishing schooner. We explored a 19th century seafaring village that had many small buildings showing all aspects of seaport life like lobster and clam shacks, a print shop, a nautical instrument shop, a cooperage, a shipsmith shop and so much more. There were also museums covering everything from figureheads to scrimshaw. Almost too much to see in one day.