OK.....this could be long, however, I will just try to be brief with Sunday through Wednesday of our week's journey.....do you really believe I can do that?????? HAHAHA.....I don't!
After posting, on Sunday morning, the two days of visiting NYC, Friday and Saturday.....we decided to drive northward into Massachusetts and into southern Vermont, leaving a bit later than we had hoped for this trip to view the autumn colors. Quite frankly, it doesn't take very long to get anywhere in New England....the states are small and compacted so closely. Sooo, before very long we were in Massachusets and drove until we reached Amherst. Yep....this is the town of the famous college, however....it wasn't our destination. We went to "Atkins Farms", a huge drawing card for the hundreds....thousands(?)....of fall leaf viewers. It is not so much of a large farm, but a smaller one where people come to shop for fall veggies, jams/jellies, AND...OMG, wonderful incredible freshly baked pastries!!!!!!!! Yep.....we indulged ourselves with some of these warm and oh-sooo-delicious baked goods, as well as some much needed coffee(on my part).
Leaving there with sticky fingers and corners of our mouths, we continued north and with each passing mile, the road became more hilly and the Green Mts. became more evident. And.....the colors became more vibrant with many, many more trees condensed onto the hills and in the valleys!! Arriving at Brattleboro, Vermont, not too far north of the state line, we turned westward and took some small drives off of the highway, up little county roads and into the mts. Each turn of the road presented more vistas and more color and more..."ooooohs" and "ahhhhs" when we saw these lovely scenes of such colorful trees.
It soon began to darken and before long the colors dimmed with the lack of the bright sun. Arriving at Bennington, we turned southward and about 100 miles later, arrived back in Hartford, CT...........and still we were discussing the beauty of that area in the autumn. We had heard of it for years and years......and even though we DO have some gorgeous fall leaves in Missouri, these trees were soooooo plentiful and soooo packed together that it made the colors just all that more intense......a wonderful day!!!!!
MONDAY:
We just sort of took the day off from doing much, however........the 1st Lady and I decided to walk to the city center and look around a bit more. And....we are sooo glad that we did because we did return to the cemetery and the monument where my 9th great grandfather was listed on the monument listing the Founders of Hartford....and I got a couple more pics a bit closer to his name. Later during our walk, we stopped in at the Hartford Tourism Office and as I began to ask the lady working there about the possibility of finding an early map of Hartford when it was first established, she asked who I was interested in at that time period. Soooo, telling her about my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g grandfather, Benjamin Burr, she said that her maiden name was Burr....and that her father's name was Benjamin!!!!!! Sooo, we discussed the most likely possibility of the two of being related. Later, when we got back to the apt., I did some online checking and discovered that the street we were walking on was originally, back in the 1600's was named Burr Street......for my 9th great grandfather. Now, the same name has been given to another street in Hartford......street names have a way of changing over the years.
We then walked to the Riverfront....where the city has developed this area......cry your heart out St. Louis!!!!......and it really very nice. A performing stage sets right above the CT. River...as well as the Hartford Science Museum, a new bridge from downtown to the riverwalk area, as well as a most interesting little statue of President Lincoln and Harriet Beecher Stowe together there in Hartford. Her home is there in the city and Lincoln did meet with her after her famous book was written/published.
We continued our walk around the city center, even though it was becoming very chilly and windy. We ate a light, and LATE, lunch at one of the great deli's there in the city...and then returned to the apt.
Jeremy had called Anne-marie and told her that we all had dinner reservations in New Haven at Sage's......a seafood/grill restaurant along the Long Island Sound and on the wharf there. Soooo, we cleaned up and all left for New Haven.....about a 40 minute drive from his apt. The meal was ......just "OK".....nothing special and it was not nearly as good as we had anticipated based on the people that Jeremy had talked with about the food. But....we had a great time, looking out the large windows onto the Sound....and seeing the lights of Long Island across the dark waters.
TUESDAY:
Ann-Marie decided she needed to continue with her writing.......a writer she is!!!!.....and so we took the truck and drove a few miles west of downtown and visited Mark Twain's Home there in Hartford. Well.......I had no idea that he lived the major portion of his Life there in Hartford!!! But....the most incredible thing was this absolutely amazing house he had built....which practically bankrupted him!!!!!! It is such a dark and rather Gothic design, but inside....OMG!!!!! It is just incredible......such wood work inside on the walls, the ceilings, the floors, the walls....and the marvelous staircases up to the third floor!!!! I can't begin to describe all of this.......it has 12 fireplaces inside...and all are still working. Wonderful bathrooms for having been built in the late-middle part of the 1800's, after the Civil War.........just jaw-dropping is the entire house!!!!!!!! If you are ever in the Hartford area......Mark Twain's home is a MUST SEE!!!!!!
The rest of the day was just spent at their apt.....I napped and we all just rested. It had been a very, very busy few days there......and we were anticipating the rigors of the upcoming day of travel back to Missouri.
WEDNESDAY:
We left for the airport, about 14 miles from their apt......and got checked in, the luggage paid for, and our boarding passes in our hands. Security was tight......and later after we returned last night, I discovered that the TSA had checked my large bag, as it was pretty messed up....not the way I had packed it...haha!!!
Our flts were on time.....we left Hartford at 11:10AM......and with a very smooth flight, we arrived in Minneapolis about 20 minutes early. We hopped on one of Northwest Air's double seated golf carts which run around picking up those who have a LONG walk to their next gate.....and that WAS us!!!! Arriving at the departing gate for the STL flight, we had just a few minutes before they began to board, sooooooo....we were glad that we had arrived from Hartford early....WHEW!!!!!
The flt down to STL was quick, less than an hour.....and before long were in our car and heading south. Stopping off in Festus, we grabbed a hamburger....and arrived home around 7pm, tired......actually very tired. Travel is anything BUT relaxing and full of rest!!!!!!!! And.....it is only three weeks until we fly to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for 8 days!!!!
And soooo, another successful journey is completed!!!!! It was good to visit with Jeremy and Anne-marie.....and we were both glad that with him being sooooooooooo busy with the campaign that he was able to spend as much time with us as he did!!! Next week he has Pres. Obama coming for a fund-raiser which Jeremy has scheduled......which made him even busier, never getting off of the phone day or night!!!!!
And.....as always.......
LIFE IS JUST REALLY, REALLY INCREDIBLY GREAT!!!!!......And, I hope it is for all of you, also!!!!!
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