While in Concord, we stopped by the Old North Bridge, the site of the first battle of the Revolutionary War.
15 Nov
Authors Ridge
My favorite stop along our trip from Boston to Concord was the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. We spent a bit of time on Author Ridge, the final resting place of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau.
Emerson:
I desperately wanted to read this note left by Hawthorne’s grave. If it hadn’t been so intricately folded, I just might not have been able to resist myself.
The Thoreau family plot:
This was my favorite marker—I’d love to have a print of this shot hanging in my home, but I’m afraid it might feel a bit morbid. Thoughts?
More soon!
11 Nov
Boston – Castle Island
Last night, Ava, Olivia and I arrived in Boston for a long weekend with Aunt Katie. As I noted on Facebook: “After 1,200 miles, three hours, five partially-watched DVDs, four trips to the bathroom, two complete meltdowns, countless lollipops and only one glass of wine, we’ve finally landed in Boston. When exactly does the ‘vacation’ start?”
About that time, Olivia decided to entertain us with her antics, an act she kept up until 4:30 in the morning. (Seriously.) By the time I was on my second cup of coffee this morning, I was ready to leave the kids here and head south alone.
I’m glad I didn’t, though, because today turned out to be almost relaxing. Of course, thanks to Tom and Katie, we outnumbered the children three to two, which is a near perfect ratio. (Especially for a mom that just wants to pee alone every once in a while.)
We started the day at Castle Island, on the shore of the Boston Harbor in South Boston. Here are Katie and Tom at the shoreline with the girls.
We had lunch at Sullivan’s, a food stand that offered lobster rolls and fried clam bellies—along with 80 cent hotdogs.
Our picnic table overlooked the harbor—thankfully we had abundant sunshine to offset the rather chilly winds.
The girls ran off what energy they had left tumbling down the hills and chasing the gulls and geese.
After a driving tour of downtown Boston (during which the girls snoozed peacefully), we headed north to Concord. More soon!
10 Nov
Sugar and spice…
Here’s a great recipe for a very moist pumpkin spice Bundt cake, complete with buttermilk icing. As my friend Dawn would say, enjoy!
9 Nov
Halloween round-up, part two
Trick or treating downtown with Gramma and Papa, and roughly 5,000 other kids from the area.
While the trick or treating was primarily limited to downtown businesses, we did have one extra, very popular stop on Mass Street…
6 Nov
Halloween Round-up
This year, Mom and Dave spent Halloween weekend with us in Kansas, allowing Mom to see the girls in their costumes (and hear roughly 2,000 comments the cupcakes received as we made our way through downtown trick-or-treating). I’ll post downtown photos soon, but in the meantime, here’s a Gramma and Papa fix!
5 Nov
Caramel apple martini
I made a batch of caramel apple martinis for “girls’ night in” with my friends from work a few weeks ago.
I would love to find apple schnapps that isn’t completely sour, because I think that would lend itself a bit better to this drink. Nevertheless, here’s my recipe:
- 2 parts vanilla vodka
- 1 part butterscotch schnapps
- 1 part apple schnapps
Shake and pour into a caramel-coated glass.
Smith Family Weblog 