My Summer Vacation

I just spent 7 days on vacation in Dover, Massachusetts. My sister bought the house we grew up in, so I stay with her when I visit. It amazes me how 2 adults and 6 kids lived in the house when I was a kid. My parents did build two additions, and I guess we did not realize how small it was at the time. My sister has 3 kids. She and her husband have done a lot of renovations, including taking down part of a wall and adding a detached garage. She, however, does not have a guest bedroom, so every time I visit I have to put someone out of their room. This visit it was my nephew Gregory’s turn. Gregory didn’t care. He got to sleep in the “cave”, the basement room with the TV and all the video games.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit home. It started out rainy and cold; I had left 97 degrees in Atlanta; but it eventually stopped raining and warmed up. I was able to actually get a tan line, which I have not done in a long time, as it is not comfortable to sit out in Atlanta. We were able to spend time outdoors. I discovered this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. I got to sit outside all day and either visit with my sister or just read. I finished two books in 3 days. In Atlanta, it is much too hot to do this unless you have a pool you can jump into frequently.

Because of the rain, we spent a couple of days shopping; didn’t buy anything. Spent another rainy day visiting my mother on Cape Cod; a 2 hour ride took us over 3 hours because of the rain and flooding. The ride home was ok; dry; but it was a good thing we were heading off the Cape, as this was July 3 and the holiday traffic had already begun by 4:00 in the afternoon. There was a five mile backup getting over the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges; the bridges that go over the Cape Cod Canal. This is not unusual for weekend and/or holiday traffic. People have to plan to leave either really early or really late to get onto the Cape. And rain doesn’t help. The same is true for Sundays when people are leaving the Cape to get back to work for Monday.

Spent that night eating my favorite meal – lobster, mussels, steamers (a southerner asked me what these were, didn’t realize someone might not know; they are clams, as opposed to cherry stones which are small quahogs), boiled shrimp, and raw oysters. Pigged out! Ate every bit of everything! When I bought the lobsters, 1 ¼ pounds each, I thought there would probably be leftovers for lunch the next day. NOT! Absolutely nothing left over except for the empty shells. Then we went on to make "somemores" on the outdoor fire pit. YUM!!!

Another part I enjoyed was getting together with old friends. There are a number of us who get together whenever I get up to Dover. We all went to junior high and high school together, and some of us were in elementary school together. We meet at the Sherborn Inn and catch up on the year and gossip or reminisce about times gone by. But that’s going to be another blog.

Needless to say I had a great visit home. My last day it was raining again, so I figured that was a good sign to leave. Now I just wish they would send a little rain down here!