Living in New England, I’m (still) constantly amazed by how close together everything is. Drive a few hours from Boston and you could be in any one of six states. We drove to Maine for the day last month, just because we could. (I grew up in west central Texas, where we routinely drove two hours one way to play district high school football games.)
We’ve got plans to explore all the New England states, but I also love taking off for an adventure closer to home, when we didn’t plan ahead but want to discover a new place, and get back in time to make soup for dinner and watch a little Castle. So on Saturday, we hopped in the car and let Agatha, our trusty GPS, point us toward Marblehead.
I admit I had an ulterior motive: I’d heard about the Spirit of ’76 bookstore. And yes, we went, and it was lovely. But before we hit the bookstore, we found some other gems, such as these autumn leaves:
Marblehead has a charming little downtown area, lined with quaint old buildings, and we spent a couple of hours browsing the shops, picking up a few treasures. We bought a wee Christmas-tree-shaped ornament made of shells (with a tiny starfish on top), and I dragged J into Artists + Authors, where I found a lovely old edition of Eight Cousins for $10. (And so many other books I wanted to buy. But I’ll be back.)
I could have snapped dozens of photos of the signage (I love unusual signs), but this one was a favorite:
(The toy store itself was also fabulous – crammed with cool toys, puzzles and games.)
It was one of those crisp autumn afternoons, a little chilly in the shade but perfect in the sunshine, with trees gently waving their vivid leaves and the sun making us squint and smile at the same time. Especially when we found a street called Darling:
(That’s my darling. On Darling Street. All together now: Awww.)
We bought chai lattes from a little cafe and sipped them as we walked to the Spirit of ’76. J employed his usual bookstore technique, which is to pick out a book, curl up in a chair and read while I browse to my heart’s content:
I love simple adventures like this one – exploring a town, getting a feel for its streets and its vibe, and then hopping back in the car and heading home. I love weekends away and long vacations too, but it’s fun to make new discoveries by traveling literally over the next hill. (As Woody Allen famously noted, the trick with this kind of voyage is “to avoid the pitfalls, seize the opportunities, and get back home by six o’clock.”)
What little adventures have you had lately?
Peter does the same thing when we go into book stores! He’ll grab the first good looking history book he finds and hunker down while I slowly look over everything. Too funny!
I agree with your assessment regarding the proximity of things in New England as opposed to states such as Texas or California. I am New England born and raised (Boston, MA), although I’ve been to many parts of the country, including Texas and Cali. It’s funny…those places always made me appreciate my New England roots all the more.
There are many special things to be found in New England – the quaint, little hamlets and towns; the 4 seasons, culture, education, history, the ocean, etc., and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
Great post & pics…be sure to include Cape Cod and the Islands of Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket in your travel plans…you won’t be sorry!
Best,
Kevin
What a great day! And beautiful pictures. I just got back from a big adventure (2.5 weeks in England) so no little adventures recently. Your post did make me want to find someplace to day-trip near DC though! Maybe when the vacation dust settles in a couple of weeks.
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I’ve been very low on little adventures lately, except for a little shopping spree last week. Bronchitis wiped me out. I’m hoping I can get another one in before the snow hits. And Myron does the same thing in bookstores, too–he can plunk himself down and stay until they kick him out.
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