In 2006, we were fortunate to be able to spend the 4th of July holiday with two families we know who live in NH and MA. Not only did this trip enable us to see these good friends again, but, it also enabled Lena to see the New England area for the first time. After flying to Boston, we first visited George & Mei-Ling Henrichson who live in a very interesting and historic...
...home in NH. Part of their home—George's study (seen in this photo)—was first constructed in 1736. The ladder on the wall leads up to the original sleeping section that was used during the 1700's. Needless to say, George and Mei-Ling have spent countless hours over the years working to maintain and to upgrade the construction which had been completed during the 1800's.
We were totally impressed with this massive stone fireplace which dominates the living room area of their home. In keeping with the original construction, George has retained the polished wooden flooring and the wooden pine wall boards from which...
...the home had originally been constructed. The portrait on the wall is George's mother who Steve had met while George and he were fraternity brothers at Wittenberg University (in Ohio) during the mid-1960's. The steps next to George lead to a unique guest bedroom where we stayed.
Their home overlooks a beautiful and serene lake that is located miles from the nearest town.
In this photo, George is explaining to Steve how much work is required to maintain the trees and foliage that surround their home as well as to clean up the beach area and maintain the dock.
We were both very much impressed with the beauty and tranquility of the lake and enjoyed watching the people fishing, sailing, and skiing on the lake. This photo was taken just after sunset as people in their boats were returning to shore for the night.
Living 45 minutes from the nearest grocery requires George and Mei-Ling to plan their meals in advance and to shop accordingly. To introduce us to a "New England Clam Bake," Mei-Ling first took Lena to this small store about 30 minutes' driving time from their home that carries (in addition to the flowers!) fresh sea food products.
Lena was rather impressed to find this huge selection of Live Maine Lobsters available in the rear of a small convenience store located out in the wilderness of New Hamphshire!
Shopping for fresh fruits and vegetables was not as simple as going into COSTCO and loading up the cart. Instead, Lena got to visit an old fashioned 'farmers market' where Mei-Ling bought her produce directly from the grower.
Back at the house, Lena showed no real enthusiasm for playing with this live lobster (even though it's claws were banded!), so George proudly displayed part of our meal before Mei-Ling threw him into the pot for cooking.
In watching the professional manner in which Mei-Ling wielded this meat cleaver, it was readily obvious that she had prepared many a Maine lobster before this one.
This is the incredibly wonderful "feast" (New England Clam Bake) to which we were treated: Lobsters, shrimps, clams, shooters, muscles, and sausage chunks served along with fresh corn-on-the-cob and other vegetables. (Neither Steve nor Lena had previously enjoyed a seafood combination prepared in this manner and we thoroughly impressed with the end result!)
Lena, of course, wanted to go down to the lake and enjoy the water while we were there. Since this was the 4th of July weekend, there were quite a few other people who had similar plans for the day.
Fortunately, George has been into sailing and canoeing most of his life and he was more than happy to take Lena out on the lake and to teach her to paddle a canoe.
George found Lena to be a quick learner: She took to paddling like a duck takes to water and they ended up going all the way around the lake.
As the sun was heading toward the horizon, they finished their exercise and returned to shore.
Before we left NH, George took us to see Deerfield Village which features a number of historic homes that had originally been built back in the early 1700's. These homes provide an excellent insight into how our forefathers had lived when this country was first settled.
From NH, we drove a couple of hours to Littleton, MA which is the home of Jon & Susan Dunn. Steve has known both of these wonderful friends since Jon and he were stationed together aboard Steve's first ship—the USS Diachenko (LPR-123) in 1968 & 1969.
One of our first stops was to visit a local seafood wholesaler to pick up live Maine lobsters.
After that, Jon and Susan also treated us to their version of a wonderful New England Clam Bake which featured lobsters...
...clams, shooters, and muscles. Needless to say, Steve was quite impressed with the professional expertise (developed over many years of cooking countless lobsters!) displayed by Jon as he effortlessly cooked off these lovely creatures.
On the way to visit the Naval Station at Newport, RI, where Steve had gone through Officer's Candidate School in 1967, we stopped alongside the road in Fall River, RI (about 30 minutes from Newport) to photograph the historical battleship, USS MASSACHUSETTS (BB 59).
Steve had first gone aboard this ship while he was attending OCS at Newport in 1967. [See #5 and #6 thumbnails at this link to see two 1967 photos of his visit to USS MASSACHUSETTS.]
For a 'walk down memory lane,' Steve drove to the Newport, RI, Naval Station and showed Lena "King Hall" which had been his barracks during the 4 month period of indoctrination into the Navy at Officer's Candidate School in 1967.
Nimitz Hall was the other major facility used to house the Officer Candidates back in 1967. All of the other old, wooden, two-story WWII barrack-style structures which had been used for classrooms when Steve had last seen Newport in 1967 have long since been torn down and replaced with modern facilities.
It was a very overcast and hazy day when we visited Newport, but Steve wanted Lena to see these huge historic mansions which had been built during the 1800s and early 1900's for several miles along the cliffs overlooking the ocean near the city's downtown area.
We drove into Boston (about 45 minutes from Jon's home in Littleton) and left our rental car in one of the 8 underground parking areas located beneath the Prudential Tower complex.
For a period of several months before and after our visit, there was a major charity function underway throughout the city that featured many, MANY artists' renderings of large multi-colored STATUES of COWS that were being auctioned with the proceeds being donated to charity. Countless artistic replicas of these cows were positioned everywhere we traveled!
Our first adventure was to visit the 50th floor of the Prudential Tower's "Skywalk Observatory" which provides a 360 degree vantage point of Boston. It was rather unfortunate that the weather was quite overcast and somewhat hazy during the time we visited the Tower and took these images.
As part of the "Skywalk" tour (which was FREE to military personnel and their dependents), we were given a portable audio device that...
...provided a detailed explanation of what we were seeing from each section of our 360 degree panoramic tour. This 'thumbnail' (to the left) is Fenway Park (Boston's famous baseball stadium) which is visible from this particular section of the Skywalk.