Newburyport and off to Maine

The past five days have found us in Newburyport, MA enjoying this very interesting coastal town.


Most of this week we have spent walking around and enjoying the town. I had to go down to Cambridge for a fraternity corporation meeting which took most of the afternoon and evening..  We found the town dinghy dock right in the middle of town.  The train costs $7 or so for a hour ride down to Boston. A very good value as it sure beats driving by car, especially if you do not have one.

Speaking of cars.  Our takeover of a Toyota Rav4 lease is moving forward. We have been approved by Toyota Motor Credit and expect to get the car around Oct 10 or so.

Joy loves the window flower boxes that are all over the town.  A town employee goes around every day taking care of them. They really give the town a nice sharp image.

Did you know that Newburyport is officially recognized as the birthplace of the United States Coast Guard? Bet you did not know that.  It was here that the first ship of the first 10 ships was launched in 1780s under the Presidency of George Washington.  The new Federal Government was relying on custom taxes and the collection of these taxes.  The 10 ships were launched to monitor shipping traffic and make sure that ships entered ports to pay taxes.  Newburyport has one of the oldest custom houses still standing in the United States.  It is now a maritime museum and quite interesting to visit.  I spent the afternoon there yesterday.

Joy went to the Oldies Marketplace, the home of 6 vendors of  used items, especially furniture. It is the size of three barns end to end   Anything you would ever need to furnish a home with old items.  We may be coming back here to find stuff for the New London rental side of the house. 

Today we are off to Maine for the Joy's Simmons college friends lobster weekend up at Lisa and Steve's house.  We are leaving around noon time after we get washed up and buy some food for the weekend.

When we come back on Sunday, we have one more short trip out to the Isle of Shoals off the coast of Maine for a quick visit and then into Kittery on Wed Oct 5 to start hauling out and cleaning the boat for winter storage.

Joe