Sunday, September 25, 2005

Martha's Vineyard - Gay Head

On the western side of Martha's Vineyard are the clay cliffs of Gay
Head. The locals prefer the name Aquinah














The cliffs were sculputured color.















We should have known that all the signs, repeatedly admonishing, "NO NUDITY" indicated that the visitors were all nude (men). In this picture the details are blessedly imperceptable, but the nude guy does give a sense of perpective.








Just one picture more.

Nantucket

Nantucket was more than shops, and shops, and shops, and shops. It was the home of "kettle ponds", lovely little lakes formed by glaciers. These were not major attractions and it took us a long day of bike riding to locate several, but they were worth it.
















On the way we wandered the beach and found a gang of Labrador retreivers bobing in the surf. On closer inspection, they were more accurately identified as seals, but why they were staring at us was unknown.









They heart of the island was found in the whaling museum and its whale skeleton, lectures, and wonderful exhibit.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Family


We traveled by water, air, and earth to Cape Cod and it was wonderful to be together again.













Talking on the phone isn't good enough.













Dinners haven't been the same.



















We miss you all.


















And can't wait to see you again, even in Michigan.













We love you.

Cape Cod at MiniMeg's

We came to Chatham for a family reunion with Vinnie's sister Meg, her husband George, and 8 of our 5 kids. It was Meg and George's challenge to fit 14 adults into a 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom home.










As Chiara said, we decended like locusts.













How did Meg and George do it?
Fortunately, there were inflatable beds and wide open spaces to sleep dormatory style for the younger members of the group.












Shopping, beaching, running around, eating, exploring, and painting. We all had a great time.
Thank you Meg and George.

Rhode Island

Off from Block Island and up Narragansett Bay to visit Peter and Ginny, friends from Vinnie's high school days at Albertus Magnus. They welcomed into their home two people with solo sailor tendency, near incessant chatter. It was great to be off the boat and visiting late into the night. They saw ALL the pictures and probably heard ALL the stories as well.







Their house is from the 1700's and in peaceful fields. The brook was quiet and we listened for the coyotes at night.

Long Island Sound and Block Island


We had a wonderful time cruising Long Island Sound and then made a dreadful discovery when we met Mike and Pat. They were happily sailing "Twice in a Blue Moon" with their two cats while we had left Ramone and Ubu behind in Grand Rapids. Kitty abandonment is a burden of guilt which will follow us throughout our travels. Sorry boys, but we are sure that Alessia is treating you very well.





The Long Island Sound provided beautiful beaches and great rocks for boat ballast.













We left the Sound for Block Island, a very crowded place in the summer. Hardly room to drop an anchor, but in the morning a man motors through the anchorage yelling "Andiamo, Andiamo" and selling coffee and baked goods.










We did get to enjoy another beautiful sunset in the land of boats before leaving the island.