D.C. - Friday, November 14, 2014 - Visit Impact Asset in Bethesda then the National Mall

We started off our Friday by taking a 25 minute metro ride from DC to Bethesda, where Beth's company (Impact Assets) has an office.  It's a small 4 person office, Beth wanted to visit them while she was in DC.

Upon returning to DC we decided to walk the other Mall Monuments prior to heading over to the Lincoln Center to see a production of Little Dancer.

We started off at the Jefferson Memorial which is quite impressive.  From here we walked over to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial.  I loved both of these.

From here we walked to the Martin Luther King Memorial.   While it was cold and windy today we enjoyed being able to walk around these memorials.

From Jefferson Memorial looking at the Washington Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

FDR

Korean War Memorial

Original colors NO photo enhancement!

MLK

Fall foliage

Lincoln Memorial

Washington, D.C. Thursday, November 13, 2014 - The sculpture garden and the Mall

After sleeping in we started our day at a local hole-in-the-wall breakfast spot called Lincoln's Waffle Shop.

From here we walked to the National Mall and Memorial Parks.   We first visited the outdoor National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden.

Are you old enough to remember typewriter erasers!

From the sculpture garden we walked up the National Mall towards the Washington Monument

We were lucky to get tickets to go UP in the Washington Monument, which we did after we visited the WWII Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial Wall

Flowers at Vietnam memorial

Could this be a distant relative of my Brother-In-Law - Ery Morry Fortney

After walking about 5 miles we relaxed in our hotel room for a short while.  Tonight we are meeting my niece Kimberly Kappler-Dunaier for dinner.  Kim lives in Arlington and works at Hilton's corporate office in McLean, VA.

We ate at PROOF restaurant, it was excellent.  They also have interesting photo's on the walls of the men's room…check em out!

Washington D.C. in the Fall - Wednesday, November 12th, 2014

Since our last trip/vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in January we have enjoyed Northern California, especially Kenwood.  We have reworked the east side of our Kenwood property and turned the former mobile home and parking locations into flat open areas. We plan to build an outdoor kitchen to add to our new fire pit, planter boxes and hot tub.  Just prior to departing for this trip we finished the planting of maybe 500 plants along with a drip system.

Thus this short vacation comes at an excellent time.  It also seems to have meant to be.  Beth had a business trip to Denver and could have come home for 3 days and then fly to DC.  Instead she went directly from Denver to DC and I met her there prior to her Impact Assets board meeting.

Today, Beth flew from Denver with a delay of 4 hours and I left SFO and my flight was delayed 3 hours, however we both made it safely!

Given our 8:30 pm arrival and the distance Dulles airport is from downtown Washington, D.C. we arrived checking into the Grand Hyatt D.C. and took a short walk to get salads to go for dinner!

Saturday and Sunday July, 26 & 27, 2014 - Gloucester and Good Harbor Beach

In addition to Beth Gilmore, Elaine Nickerson and Mindy with her son also came up to Gloucester.

We spent the day on the beach, walking the beach, playing a bit of volleyball, etc.

It was a fun and relaxing day!

Kayaking in Rockport with Beth Gilmore - Friday, July 25th

Beth came up from Cape Cod to spend the weekend with us in Gloucester.  We decided that we wanted to have a picnic in Rockport, MA. then go out for a kayak.  It was a gorgeous day!

Below are a few of my photo's of Bearskin Neck on Rockport, it is from this harbor in which we went kayaking into the ocean.

Great day on the ocean!

Boston - Newton - Concord - Lexington - Westford - Thursday, July 24, 2014

We had to go into Boston today as Beth had a business meeting.  During the time she was having her meeting I took a walk along the Boston Harborwalk.  While I was walking I saw Fleet Street and started walking up it.  I then came to Hanover Street, one of the oldest in Boston and an original Indian pathway.  This lead me to Paul Revere Mall  here are some of my photo's:

Behind this Paul Revere statue is the Old North Church

At the entrance to the Old North Church is a Memorial to all the troops of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who lost their lives in service to our country.

Of course these are all on the Freedom Trail

Below are photo's of Copp's Hill Burying Ground, in downtown Boston.

From Boston we went to Newton to visit a college friend of Beth's - Cindee LaCasse (Middlebury).  From here we drove through Lexington famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolutionary War, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, as the "Shot heard 'round the world. when news spread about the revolution.  We also went through Concord, quite historic!

On our way to visit Beth's other friend from Middlebury College, Elaine Nickerson in Westford we stopped at Kimball Farm as we had to get ice cream for Michael.  He swears this is the BEST ICE CREAM in the WORLD!  We bought, Vanilla, Chocolate and Peach!

Hanging out at 21 Brier Road, Gloucester, MA.

During this week each day we have all taken walks, mostly along Good Harbor Beach, in Gloucester, MA. which happens to be about 3 blocks from Michael's house.

The photo's below are NOT MINE, I do not know who posted them but the credit goes to those who took the images.

The sand is SO fine and it feels INCREDIBLE on your feet as we walked each day.  It's about 2.5 miles roundtrip to and from Michael's house.

Kayaking, Lane's Cove and enjoying vacation - Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Today, after Beth did some work in the morning we went over to Lane's Cove to go Kayaking. We used Discovery Kayak's.  We spent about 2 hours on the ocean 1 1/2 hours into the wind and it only took us a 1/2 hour to get back.  We went all the way to the Annisquam Lighthouse  and even kayaked past the Large Pelagics Research Center.  We had a wonderful time.  When we were finished we decided that it would be great to enjoy one of the many Quarry pools of fresh water, the one we visited is called Vernon's Quarry.  As Beth was still working she had to do a conference call at 3:00 from the quarry….cell phones are great!

During this visit Beth has been working so my days have been open to walk the beach, read, clean up photo's and other items on my computer.  I haven't taken many photographs but what has surprised me has been the wild life around Gloucester.  This link is an overview map of the wildlife area's, it's a nice overview.  I also found many different wild life images on this blog of which I have experienced the coyotes, green heads, Great Egret's, butterflies, etc.

In Michael's back yard is a nest of Hawks, in looking at this web site of New England birds it looks like  it may be an immature Bald Eagle.  Here is my photo:

Of course Gloucester is famous for it's fishing.  Here is a history of the fishing industry in Gloucester.
While I haven't gone out fishing or diving on this trip fishing is everything in Gloucester.

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Jessica Stelluto's 17th Birthday

Today we drove to Reading, MA. where Michael Stelluto's son David, Daughter-In-Law Susan and Grandchildren Jessica and Nathan live.  It is Jessica's 17th Birthday today.

We celebrated by going out to the restaurant Jessica chose, called Oyes, which was great as we had sushi, Chinese and Thai food!

Afterwards we went back to David & Susan's house to open Jessica's presents and have some Birthday cake.

It was wonderful to have been in MA to celebrate with Jessica.

Rocky Neck Art Colony

We always love to visit and check out the Art in Rocky Neck.  It happens to be one of the oldest continuously operating art colonies in the US, click on the link above for more details.

There is a nice historical walking trail and of course many lovely galleries to visit!

The photo below is from Teresa Chrzanowski Flisiuk

Rockport. MA. - Friday, July 18, 2014

Today we  decided to go over and walk around Rockport, MA. today as it tends to get quite busy with tourists on the weekends.  It's a lovely town and the town in which we got married.  A good friend of Dr. Stelluto's is Dr. Fredic Frigolleto and he and his wife allowed Beth and I to use their back year, which is right on the ocean, to hold our wedding ceremony, so Rockport always holds a special place in my heart!

Rockport is a lovely town and this photo of the harbor is not even close to capturing how beautiful the town is!

Visiting Dr. Michael Stelluto in Gloucester - Thursday, July 17, 2014

Since I am currently still unemployed and Beth is able to work remotely we decided to fly back to Gloucester, MA. take a mini vacation, visit her Dad, see some of Beth's college friends and relax.

We were scheduled to leave San Francisco on Tuesday July 15th.  However, in a first for me, the airline, Jet Blue, sent us an email on Saturday, July 12th saying there was a large storm heading to the East coast and they would allow anyone flying to Boston from Sunday 7.13.14 through Wednesday 7.16.14 to change their flights without charge.  Given that we had no urgency to be in Massachusetts we took advantage of the opportunity and changed our flight to arrive in Boston on Thursday, July 17th.

Michael picked us up at the Logan International Airport.  On the way home we stopped at The Causeway Restaurant in Gloucester to order take out.  While we were waiting we walked across the street to one of the many harbors and I took the photo below:

This is a fun TV show if you have never seen it!

In any case we ordered 1 Baked Haddock and salad and that was enough food for all there of us!