Kevan & Judy’s Adventure in Nashville & the East Coast

We crossed the border from Maine into Saint Stephen New Brunswick.  So far away from home yet being back in Canada made me feel closer to home.  We headed to St John for a late brunch.  We had packed up early and headed out to our next stop in Truro Nova Scotia.  St John is a great town and we  enjoyed our short visit.  Sorry these pictures posted out of order. Saint John New Brunswick  Welcome to Nova Scotia! This was the inner harbour of Saint John by the Bay of Fundy.  Low tide when we were there. The tidal difference reaches 16 meters!

It was a bigger travel day, leaving Boston and heading to northern Maine.  We had a campsite booked just before the Canadian border at Calais Maine.  We pulled in and jumped out of the truck at our site to check how to park & it was like the neighbors were waiting for us!  Lovely couple from Houston Texas offered a happy hour beverage before we even had the jacks down 😊.  We were in a family campground on a lake.  Would be a nice spot to spend a week enjoying some down time.  But we must forge on to New Brunswick & the rest of the Maritimes!  Off to Canada we go.🇨🇦 Saw this cute crib board in the campsite office.  The center has ground lobster, crab & mussel shells.  What a great momento of our time in New England.  And...Judy is up 7 games and Kevan thought our other crib board was broken so just trying to help the poor guy out😉

Took the train into Boston again.  We seriously considered catching part of a Red Sox game at Fenway Park but we’d only be able to stay for an hour in order to catch the last train and the next day was a big driving day heading north so acted like responsible adults and missed it.  No fun!! We had a great boat ride touring the Boston harbour though!  We learned that almost half the downtown core has been “wharfed” out...developed on reclaimed land.  It’s truly incredible to see when you understand what you are looking at!  The airport is right beside the harbour.  One of the photos shows a plane coming in for a landing...probably ever minute another plane is making this flight path.  The airport was an island but now has expanded onto reclaimed land and no longer an island.  Boston is a vibrant & beautiful city with so much history combined with new developments.  We really loved this city and the New England states.  They really lov...

The weather was great so we headed off on the bike back to Newport Rhode Island to tour one more house.  The Rosecliff was the party house built in 1902.  It had the largest ballroom.  It was owned by Tessie who was considered new money.  Her husband has made his fortune in a silver mine in Nevada. The property is 21 acres and had the best yards.  After touring we headed over the bridge into Connecticut and rode along the ocean.  New London is where you catch the ferry to Long Island New York. The last picture is the fast ferry to New York. Back yard of the Rosecliff Stopped here for wings & a margarita at a pub on stilts over the water Bridge to Connecticut 

Wednesday was truck maintenance day so we just did a shorter motorcycle ride south of Plymouth heading along the shore to Cape Cod.  Was nice to have a catch your breath day, get some laundry done and keep our ride happy & safe. Enjoying some campsite happy hour Beaches south of Plymouth...around the bend from here is the beginning of Cape Cod.  There was a tornado here a few days back....thankfully not when we were visiting!  Even the locals didn’t really adhere to the warning.  It’s very rare for tornadoes in this area.  A few homes were partially demolished.  No one was hurt so that’s a good thing.

Our campground is 10 minutes from the train station so we drove over and caught the train to Downtown Boston.  It’s a one hour commute and a decent train ride.  We arrived at South Station and caught the hop on hop off bus to get the lay of the land.  Stop 7 was near the Cheers TV show bar so a lunch stop was in order.  We sat at the bar and I picked the right stool, Norms chair! We walked around, through Boston Commons park and the burial grounds of the Boston Massacre where Paul Revere is buried.  We then headed over to little Italy which is a neighbourhood itself!  Had fun there, and dined at a cafe that had window boxes looking out to the street.  Great food!  Had to stop and get a cannoli for dessert.  Glad we walked so much today to wear off alittle of the food.  Took the train back to the campsite and knew we had to come back.

After we finished with the Breakers we visited the Marble House,  another Vander Bilt mansion.  This was a brother of the Breakers house.  It was built as a gift for his wife.  She insisted that if it was a gift it had to be in her name only.  A few years later she divorced him and had a mansion in her name.  It was over the top as well, and built with a lot of marble hence the name.

We then headed to start the mansions tour.  Newport has a lot of opulent summer homes and some of these were built in the late 1800’s. The Vanderbilt family who acquired much of their wealth from the railroad and shipping industries had a few homes built here.  The Breakers is probably the most famous.  Over 125,000 square feet, ridiculously lavish, and built in 2 years for $150 million in today’s money.  It was overwhelming with how over the top the finishings were.  Platinum coated walls, an entire room & ceiling finished in 24k gold embossed on leather panels, just as a few examples.  The ocean view was incredible.  The servants quarters on the top 3 floors were out of bounds for the owners.  The kitchen had 24 feet of cooking surface that was heated with 30 tons of coal a season.  The bathtubs had 4 taps...2 for indoor plumbing & 2 for seawater.  The tubs were carved out of solid marble.  They would be filled at least 3 ...

Monday morning we took the bike to Newport,  Rhode Island, an hour south of Plymouth.  I don’t even know where to start!  This will take a few posts.  Beautiful area, gorgeous beaches and a lot of wealth in the area.  We started at the visitor centre and Josh there was a great tour guide telling us where to go.  We began the day by walking a short distance over a bridge to Goat Island for brunch.  We passed a marina and noticed Usher’s yacht was moored having the windows washed etc. Brunch view, bridge to Connecticut  Marina Usher getting ready for the next cruise

Sunday morning we flew back to Boston after 6 days home.  Mom’s service went well, and it was so great to see my kids & grandkids and spend time with family & friends.  Reconnected at Nova and confirmed my amazing staff have everything under control.  We had a good flight and found our way back to our campsite without any issues😊. The trailer, bike & truck were all as we had left them.  Boston area had an extreme heat warning while we were away but thankfully our campsite was well shaded so things weren’t melted when we got back.  We hopped on the bike and went to Plymouth for dinner.  Airline snacks are not the greatest. Plymouth is a cute town with lots of great restaurants!  We enjoyed.

Plymouth is such a cool town.  Lots of great restaurants & pubs, oceanside, tourist friendly.  I was anticipating a much larger rock, but this is it!  Jury is still out to its significance...maybe the pilgrims used it as guidance, maybe not.  But a nice memorial has been constructed to house it. Note 1620 carved on the rock Plymouth  The bridge over the Cape Cod canal in the distance, and a nice windmill! Setting sun as we headed to the campsite.  We fly home tomorrow and won’t be back here until Sunday night.

Sunday was a beautiful day.  We hopped on the motorcycle and headed to Cape Cod wanting to get to the North tip to Provincetown.  It was a great ride.  We took the secondary highway and drove through many old neighbourhoods.  Most homes had shingle cladding.  Once we got to Provincetown we parked & walked through the town & checked out the beach. Don’t see that warning at home!  I only went in to my knees.   Typical homes along the way After yesterday’s ride we’ve logged 2400km on the bike so far!  We headed back to Plymouth where are campsite is,  but stopped and visited Plymouth Rock first. Next post😉