AUGUST 5

Our travels to Boston went very well, considering we could have been landing around 4am if Dan had not changed our tickets at the last minute (to route through Dallas rather than stormy Chicago). At first I thought there might be some trouble, seeing that Dan was looking sickly pale while waiting in Tucson for the first leg of the flight. I was thinking to myself “wow, he must be worse at handling this flying stuff than me.” It was hours later that he told me he had consumed nearly a ½ gallon of yogurt before leaving the house (rather than sacrificing any of it to the sink). Other than that odd choice, things went rather smoothly.
Dan’s mom picked us up at Logan airport around midnight, navigated her way through extensive Boston construction, and brought us to their home by about 1:15.

This morning I had a bit of trouble with the wake-up routine. I didn’t end up falling asleep until after 3:30am (due to it feeling more like midnight), so 10am felt a little too early. Dan thought taking a nice “good morning” photo would be a friendly thing to do.

After getting up, my first view out the bedroom window was of towering pine trees, followed by grassy marshlands, and in the background, the North river. Birds were singing, a breeze was blowing through the pine needles, and various chimes could be heard from around the neighborhood. The air coming in through the window felt cool and moist- a far cry from the oven air of Tucson.

We spent the first few hours of the day looking around Dan’s town (Norwell), along with Scituate and Cohassett. These towns are all very quintessential New England- old homes, cute shops, American flags, and friendly people. We browsed through a couple stores, then bought subs at his favorite sandwhich shop and ate them by the harbor.

Upon returning to the home, Maureen & Jim suggested we go on a boat ride down the river to a restaurant that allows you to park on their dock. We put on our tennis shoes, hats, sunglasses, and jackets, and headed down the path through the back yard to the boat yard. The North river is a tidal river, so for the portion behind the Kelliher house (and quite a distance farther north) the water remains mostly salty. Between the highest point of high tide and the lowest point of low tide, the river rises and falls about 8 feet. When we left the tide was very high.

The ride to the restaurant took about an hour. Typically the speed limit along the river is 6mph, so it was a meandering journey. At one point we exited the North river to enter the South river, and for a few minutes experienced some nice Atlantic waves. I was picturing one sloshing over the boat and knocking us out, but they didn’t get quite that crazy.

Toby the dog joined us on the boat ride. He’s a cutey with his life jacket and newly trimmed coat. He likes to join the family at any possible opportunity.

Dinner was great- fish, vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes – while watching the sun set out on the patio. The sea air smells fabulous and makes me want to eat just about anything that lives in the water. Jim is talking about getting some lobsters after the wedding event is wrapped up. Sounds great to me.

The ride back was chilly- I’m continually surprised that 70 degrees feels uncomfortable to me now. Jim pointed out houses that get damaged during violent storms, along with homes he has designed. The entire river scene is quite romantic.

Now we’re back at the home, ready to rest (under a blanket) and maybe watch a movie. As far as first days of vacations go, this one has been everything I hoped it would be.