Oct 8th, 2015
Today was quite uneventful. We drove from Middleboro, Massachusetts to Sussex, New Jersey. We stopped for gas and a red box but that’s about it. Our camp site has some animals that I took the boys to see. There are goats, sheep, ducks, and some mini ponies. The best thing that happened yesterday was that Amanda joined us! She’ll be blogging for us a few times over the next days.
-Grace
October 7, 2015
Yesterday we spent the day in Boston, Massachusetts. Our friends from home, Mary Lisa and Sarah have a cousin that lives in Massachusetts that we connected with and she so graciously took us on the “Freedom Trail” and more. We started our tour in The Common with the “Make Way for Duckling” statues. We have ordered the book now, and can’t wait to read about the reason for the Mother Duck and her Ducklings to be a fixture of the Park.
The Freedom Trail is a brick line path that leads through the city of Boston. It has historical sites all along the way which tell the story of how our Nation was started back in the American Revolution. There is something pretty honorable about being able to walk the path of the Revolutionary period in American history.
While on the trail we saw the Massachusetts State House.
And Park Street Church.
And the Granary Burying Grounds where some of Ben Franklin’s family is buried as well as others like Samuel Adams and the victims of the Boston Massacre.
We saw King’s Chapel.
We saw the Benjamin Franklin Statue and the Boston Latin School.
We did a scavenger hunt in Old South Meeting House.
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Old State House was fun to see with the Unicorn and the Lion displayed on the front of the brick building.
This is a picture of us standing the the site of the Boston Massacre.
We also saw Faneuil Hall and the house that Paul Revere lived in as well as Old North Church. It was fun to sit in a pew box in Old North Church and ponder the lanterns hanging in the bell tower… “One if by land, Two if by sea”.
In the Old North Garden we saw these dog tags on display honoring fallen soldiers from the Iraq – Afghanistan war.
Our tummy’s were never hungry. We ate a scrumptious Italian lunch and we got to experience a authentic Boston cannoli. So good!
These 6 glass towers are a Holocaust Memorial.
Our last stop on the freedom trail was the USS Constitution. It was really neat to be standing on not only one of the 6 first ships that were commissioned and that started the US Navy but the only ship of those 6 still remaining. It is also the oldest sea worthy war ship left in the world and is scheduled to sail again in 2017. We got in a piece of the “Ironside” history from an active duty US Sailor. The USS Constitution got it’s name because the sides of the ship was constructed with 7″ of white oak next to 7″ of live oak and 7″ of white oak. When the ship was in battle the cannon balls that were hitting it either stuck in the sides of the ship or bounced off. The US Sailor shared the story of making the USS Constitution and it’s first battle against the British in 1812. Ironside has a 33 – 0 record.
On the USS Constitution, the kids hoisted an American Flag up. We will proudly fly Old Glory at home and remember our day on “the Ironside”.
We the met up with Chadyn’s husband Paul and went to get dinner. It was so good and so fun! We love new experiences! We ate Shabu-Shabu in Chinatown.
So, we left Boston today with a heart full of respect for the history that was made so many years ago right there where we walked. And a thankfulness for new friends. Thank you Paul and Chadyn!
Here is a video that Grace put together of our days in Massachusetts. We really are so proud to be an American. We love this land. God Bless the USA.
We started the day in Middleboro, Massachusetts. We headed to Plymouth, Massachusetts to see the Mayflower II. We walked on the ship and started on the top. We saw one bedroom on the top floor. We then moved down to the next floor. This floor had a couple of beds. Some of the beds had rooms and some were just lying on the floor. There were a couple actors throughout the ship acting out parts and answering questions from visitors.
Here’s a picture we got with one. The people acting out the parts had really thick accents. Next we went to the next level down and we saw the cannon that they would shoot if there were pirates following them.
After we looked at the Mayflower II, we moved on to the Plimouth Plantation. Yes, that is how they spelled it. We learned that they spelled things phonetically at the time of the Pilgrims and there was not just one way to spell things. There was also a lot of actors here. In the Wampanoag tribal area we tried playing with the toys the Indians played with. We tried to play a game made out of bones, but it was really hard. We went in a long house which they living in at wintertime with extended family. I learned that it can get up to 80 degrees with their fire and how they built it! We went inside many other houses too, which were their houses for the time other than the winter and they lived in these with just their immediate family.
After learning about the tribes we moved onto the village. We saw the Fort. The Fort is where they would shoot cannons if there were intruders. They were friends with the tribes but they were still scared that they would attack them. They build a big fence around the village to keep others out. The cannons in the Fort can shoot over a mile away. The ocean is right by the village so if there were pirates they could shoot them before they got on the land. We looked in the houses and in one the boys’ even played a game called 9 man morris.
After looking at the village we went to the barn. There were a couple goats there. By the time we finished all of that we were hungry so we drove over to Cape Cod. We ate at a restaurant called ‘’Land Ho.’’ My mom had a hot dog with sauerkraut and pumpernickel bread. And, since we are in the sign business it was cool to eat in a place that displayed signs everywhere! It was very good and we would have never known about it had we not had such a nice friend, Chadyn who lives here and told us it was yummy. Thanks, Chadyn!
The last thing we did today was go see the sunset on the other side of Cape Cod. It was really pretty. When we were done looking at the sunset we drove back to the RV in Middleboro.
-Greta
Yesterday we did a lot of shopping. There where cute stores in Kennebunkport, ME and Portsmouth, NH. It was also my moms birthday so we went out to eat at Ri Ra (an Irish Pub) I made my mom a bracelet with beads and a little stone. The stone was her birth stone. I also bought her some black licorice. Over all it was a pretty fun day! Even though we seem to all be getting a cold. This video is a few clips that we have taken over the past few days.
-Grace
Oct 4, 2015
Blueberry, Strawberry and Chocolate Chip pancakes by a fire in Saco, ME is how we started our day yesterday.
Then, we went to Old Orchard Beach in Maine. It was freezing cold outside. We walked along the beach and got some shells. After that we went to Portland. When we were there we walked along some stores by the sea. Greta, Grace and I found henna paste at one of the shops.
(This is a picture of a fence along the sideway in the bay that was full of locks – kind-of neat)
After we were done shopping we went to Yarmouth. We ate at the Muddy Rudder there. My dad ordered a lobster. Lobster here is a little different than lobster back home. Here you get the whole lobster. You have to break off the tail and arms and pull the meat from that. We had to ask our waiter for some help on how to eat it. But after my dad finished his meal Grace and Greta made a science dissection out of the remains.
Then we came back to the camper. All of us kids called it a night and hung out doing our henna and watching Netflix. But my parents went back out. It was a good day in Maine.
-Hannah
(Ryan and I took in Portland in the evening after the kids were done site-seeing for the day. It was a nice date night. We ate more lobster and more clam chowder and then went to my favorite Irish Pub, Ri Ra and sat by the fireplace. It was a nice, peaceful evening.)
October3, 2015
We spent the day on the road yesterday. We have a pretty dedicated and capable “trucker in training” at the wheel! We drove from Niagara Falls, New York to Portland, Maine. We positioned ourselves in Portland, Maine and today and the next few days we are taking on the beauty of the New England states. We were stunned by the views yesterday just driving through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Quint, lovely and amazing are the words that come to mind. I know we are going to like it here! I can’t wait to read what the girls write about on this blog over the next few days.
We woke up in Youngstown, New York. and headed to Niagara Falls. We first went on a boat tour. The people gave us each a raincoat thing so we wouldn’t get drenched. When we went on the boat we went on the top to see better. The boat took us up to the horseshoe falls, and it was so cool! We got really wet but the raincoats helped a lot. It was also really cold out so the cold water on us just made us colder.
The next thing we did was go to the aquarium. We made it just in time to see the sea lion show! It was super cool to see! The sea lions were trained really well! They did flips, jumps and many more cool tricks. After the sea lion show we walked around the aquarium. We also got to see them feed the penguins!
After the aquarium we went to Cave of the Winds. Again, we were given a raincoat and this time they also gave us sandals because you get really wet! We walked all the way around on some stairs and a couple spots we could touch the waterfalls and it even splashed up on us! When we were done doing that we walked back to the car and got on dry clothes. Then we went to go eat at the Hard Rock Cafe.
When we were done at the Hard Rock Cafe we went to go see the movie about Niagara Falls. The movie told about Niagara’s past. One time there was a 7 year old boy that fell down the falls with just a lifejacket. The people on the boat ride saw him and they rescued him. His 17 year old sister was rescued 20 ft. from falling down the falls by some tourists. There was also a daredevil that walked across a tight rope 8 times above the Niagara Falls – one time he even did it with someone on his shoulders!
Before we left we went to check out the Falls one last time. They were lit up. It really is so beautiful! We bought some souvenirs and then we ended the day Youngstown, New York. My favorite part about the day was either the sea lion show or the Cave of the Winds. I had a lot of fun today even though it was really cold.
-Greta
October 1, 2015
We started our day in Sandusky, Ohio with our end plan to get to our campground in Niagara Falls, New York. We slept-in in the morning and took our time getting going. As we headed toward Cleveland we wondered what we should do. We knew that the Rock N Roll hall of fame was in Cleveland but we unsure how much we would get out of it because none of us are real music buffs. But then Rachael found the Holy Grail of wayside attractions. The Original “Christmas Store House” is located in Cleveland, Ohio. As this is one of my favorite movies, and I’ve never worn a bunny suit, this became our must-see for the day.
Hope you enjoy the pictures below.
And, we have two state signs to add to our collection.
September 30th, 2015. Today we went to the Henry Ford museum! It is the #1 iconic landmark in Michigan. We saw trains, cars, the chair Abraham Lincoln was assasinated in, rosa parks bus, and much more! The museum was very big! Here is a short clip about our day . Over all it was a very fun day. Ending with chipotle!
my favorite part was seeing how people lived before us. -mom
my favorite part was seeing the golden rod that held the speed record for 25 years. I can’t imagine driving that! . -dad
my favorite part was everything but especially the glass. -hannah
my favorite part was seeing the work horses. -me
my favorite part was watching the workers make glass. – Greta
my favorite part of the day was seeing the trains. -Buche
my favorite part was seeing the mini train track. -burka
-grace
McCleary Kids 