June Part II: MV, Winnipesaukee, Newport, & Mt. Layfayette

 MARTHA'S VINEYARD

Camp Association, a religious community with a large outdoor meeting tent and 

"gingerbread houses" around it.

First beach stop: JAWS BRIDGE

Edgartown Beach

View of the Chappy Ferry in Edgartown

T.A.C.O.

Brunch at Morning Glory Farm

Aquinnah Cliffs Overlook

Gay Head Lighthouse

Menemsha Beach was not our favorite, but..... 

the hike there was super cool!

As was the Swordfish Harpooner Statue

We made a stop at Lucy Vincent Beach and it was by far my favorite beach that we visited.  

Beautiful stones, soft sand, amazing sunset.....but...... it was only open to residents or guests staying in Chilmark town. :(

The gatekeeper was super nice and told us that she would give us a few minutes to see it, 

so we spent 15 lovely minutes there as the beach was closing soon anyway.  

I can recommend staying in Chilmark just to get a pass here.  It was beautiful! 

Edgarton

South Beach and Katama/South Beach were HUGE favorites of the family.  We went twice to this area because it was THAT nice!   The south side of the island is definitely the best beaches.  The sand is so soft and the waves really fun.

Oliver Street

Edgarton Commons was awesome.  Kitchenette, and 1 and 2 bedroom condos.

Among the Flowers Restaurant

Waiting for our ferry time, we stopped by a sub-par beach in Oak Bluffs area.

Reminded us how lucky we were to swim at South Beach and visit Lucy Vincent.

Playing AZUL on the ferry

LAKE WINNIPESAUKEE

We made a nice day of it visiting Lake Winnipesaukee.  I've always wanted to see Wolfeboro.  It was well worth the trip!  We had lunch in this beautiful spot on the lake.

We got a great tip from the visitor center to visit

Abenaki Tower.

The views were amazing!

Great views from Castle on the Clouds as well!

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

Another bucket list item checked! 

The beautiful Newport Cliff Walk

We didn't tour Rough Point, 

but saw the outside of the home and 

learned about Doris Duke, 

the owner and "the scandal"

The International Tennis Club

The Breakers

I had been here with Tim a few years ago, and it was fun to visit again.

MT. LAFAYETTE

The adults took a day to go hiking alone! 💛

Scott had been telling me about this amazing hike he did with his co-workers for a long time.

It really was amazing!

We went up the Falling Waters trail, along the ridges to Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette, 

then down the Old Bridal Path, passing the Greenleaf Hut.

View from Little Haystack

Looking from Little Haystack up to Mt. Lincoln

Thank you to the patient husbands who have wives who always need to 

"look around the next corner" 😁

Love Note

The cutest love note ever

"Dear Cora,

I really love you. 

You are my whole heart.  

This is my best day of my life.  

I will fall in love with you."

Isn't that the sweetest thing????

June 2021

June has been an eventful month!

We got to have lots of visitors, the kids finished school, the boys completed their second COVID vaccines, and we are gearing up for our trip to Utah.  So, this will be a long post to catch up. :)

The Vocana Family made their way East to Maine, and we got to see Robby and Kyle for a nice evening in Kennebunkport.

We had pizza overlooking Kennebunkport harbor 

and Ben and Jerry's ice cream while strolling downtown.

We all agreed that Kennebunkport is most peaceful in the evening after the crowds have dispersed and the sun is going down.....also during high tide when the cute inlets are full of water instead of just mud.

We drove the pretty stretch of road up to Walker's Point and saw this stone Episcopal Church and mansions by the sea.  Very picturesque!

R & K got to enjoy a few days touring Maine and celebrating their anniversary

Happy Anniversary Robby and Kyle!  We love you!

The next day, the Morgan crew then came to town!  It was great to show them around our home and neighborhood. 

Adams birthday was the first day (Sunday) in town.  

He very generously gave us board games for his birthday!

We attended church and then celebrated Adam with games, steak dinner on the deck, 

Razzleberry pies and ice creams.

Day 2 was super HOT, so we headed for the beach.  After some driving around trying to find a beach that allowed non-residents, we reserved a spot at Crane Beach, and spent a couple hours swimming and playing in the sand there.

After Crane Beach, we headed to Gloucester's Stage Fort Park.  

It has huge historic tablet rock, a beautiful cove, playground and boardwalk by the sea.

Rockport is just around the corner, and we couldn't miss it, so we caught ice cream and sunset by the harbor there.

It was a great evening!  Just couldn't get enough of the beautiful views.

Day 3 was a million degrees too.  

We toured Windham:

Village Bean, Klemm's Bakery, Windham Junction and Rail Trail, Town Beach, Searles Castle & Castle Reach Neighborhood, including Apple Acres.

It was way too hot, so instead of swimming when the Stapleton kids got off school, everyone napped and chilled.  Little did we realize that we were sleeping away our swim time.  When we got to Clyde Pond to swim, thunder immediately sounded and we had to leave! Bummer!  

But, we at least completed our tour of Windham with a quick glimpse of Clyde Pond.  

On a nice day, it's heaven.  We'll have to try again another day soon!

Day 4&5, the Morgans had a quick trip to NYC!

Day 6 was Concord, MA day!   We started at Dave's Farm for treats and strawberries

Next stop was North Bridge where the first orders from American troops was given to shoot at the British, being a breaking moment in the Revolutionary War.  Two British solders were killed at North Bridge, their graves still remain. 

This is the Robbins home (https://robbinshouse.org/) 

It was owned by African Americans who moved to the area.  There is a great museum here dedicated to all those who fought for civil rights for all Americans and to help slaves escape on the underground railroad.  Check out the website.  It has wonderful interviews and information.

Concord Library is beautiful

The Colonial Inn

An historic building and amazing restaurant

Orchard House (home of Louisa May Alcott)

The Wayside (home of Nathanial Hawthorne and other authors)

Sleepy Hollow

I got to see Daniel Chester French's grave for the first time.  People leave pennies on his grave as a tribute to his being the sculpter of Lincoln at Lincoln Memorial. 

This sculpture, Mourning Victory, is one from Daniel Chester French in Sleepy Hollow. This was my first time to see it.  It was a memorial to three brothers who all perished in the civil war, within a year of each other, commissioned by their surviving brother.

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10912

That evening the little car wouldn't budge!  We had an emergency tow and repair Saturday morning and were SOOOO grateful that the car was able to be repaired quickly and under recall, so the cost was completely covered.  We feel very blessed that the car broke down at such a convenient time!

Happily, the repair was done so quickly that Saturday, that we were able to enjoy a beautiful evening in Maine and have confidence in driving to Martha's Vineyard the next day.  We had pizza from Anthony's in the Hartley Mason Reserve (park), hiked the York Cliff Walk and played at York Harbor Beach.

Nubble Lighthouse near Sunset