Doing Bar Harbor with some old pals

We had 10 special days in Bar Harbor. The highlight was a reunion with four Nursery School pals. Yes, we went to high school together and have been pals all along. One, Dick Zuerner, has been a pal since age 2; the person who I have known longer than any other in my lifetime. Here they are.

From the left; first two spouses, Joan Zuerner and Penny and then the Nursery School alums, Rhona (Ronnie) Botnick, Judy Worrell, me and Dick Zuerner. The whole gang went whale watching and saw some humpback whales.

We also drove to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to look down upon Bar Harbor and to take in the surrounding scene.

Stonington, Maine

Stonington, Maine, considered by some the lobster capital of the world, is in our view the most scenic harbor on the east coast. We spent the better part of a day there concluding the day buying two 1 1/2 pound lobsters off a boat for $8.00; the best deal of the summer and delicious too.

 

Notice in the above picture, the offshore fog bank creeping in between the islands. Beautiful!

 

 

Camden, Maine

Camden has a great harbor and we enjoyed it to the fullest. Enjoy a few views of Camden.

We sailed Penebscot Bay on an 86 year old schooner and toured the harbor on an old lobster boat converted for tourists. Great times.

Scenic Maine

Well, we have been in Maine six days. Each of us now has had four lobster and two haddock meals. Enjoy some of the scenes of the Maine coast.

 

The top three pictures were taken in Booth Bay Harbor at a restaurant where we had lunch today. They off loaded about 3,000 lobsters from about eight boats right next to our table. Awesome time.

 

The fourth picture is Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. The fifth picture is an evening scene. The sixth was taken from Shaw's Restaurant at New Harbor (two more lobsters consumed) and the last picture is a group of new boats at the Rockland Boat Show. Love those downeast and lobster boats!

A bit of family history

The Shattuck family tree in America dates back to 1657. Prior to the 20th century most were settled in central and northeast Massachusetts. My great grandparents, Charles Wesley and Nellie Buttrick Shattuck were residents of Prescott, Mass where they were buried in 1918 and 1919. Prescott, Mass no longer exists. It and three other towns were dismantled in 1936 and 1937 to allow the construction of river dams to create the Quabbin Reservoir. The Quabbin provides water to most of Boston and Prescott now lies 90' under water. Three thousand families were relocated and 7000 coffins were reinterred and buried elsewhere. Charles and Nellie are in a cemetary in Hardwick, Mass with several cousins, aunts and uncles by marriage, none with the Shattuck name. I knew several who survived Charles and Nellie from family reunions during Memorial Day weekends when I was in my early teens.

My father was 18 when Charles died but he must have been very fond of Charles as I am named after him. However, it takes two to tango and my mother disliked the name, Charles. They finally came to a compromise. They agreed that my first name would be Charles but that I would be known as Jon, hence Charles Jonathan. Now, the U.S. government knows me as Charles and everyone else uses Jon.

The following are photos of Quabbin Reservoir. Its quite beautiful.

Tanglewood

Its a rainy day today so this will be a catch up edition. Today we are in Boothbay Harbor, Maine which will be our subject about two blogs from now.

Seventy five years ago a group of prominent citizens in the Berkshire Mountains area of Massachusetts held an outdoor concert under a huge tent that attracted 15,000 concertgoers. It was so well received that the Tappin family donated 250 acres of prime real estate to the Boston Symphony Orchestra which was the birth of Tanglewood. Tanglewood now extends to over 550 acres and the main venue is in a so-called shed. They call it the shed because the architect originally commissioned designed a cost prohibitive structure. When the Board advised the architect of their budget, his response was that they would only be able to get a shed. Two photos of the shed follow.

 

 

The topography of the land is such that literally thousands of folks can also experience the show from the lawn. Thats a big event in the Berkshires as families bring lawn furniture and full meals. Its quite a set up. The acoustics are excellent both in the shed and on the lawn. What a great place.

 

 

We went to three concerts in three days featuring Beethoven, Ravel, Strausberg and other lesser known composers. Two of the Beethoven pieces were piano concertos with world renowned pianists. Tanglewood also has 'prelude' concerts featuring up and coming musicians performed before the main event. It was all excellent.Two photos of the main stage follow.

 

 

If you ever have a chance don't miss Tanglewood, a great summer only venue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell surely was the best illustrator of Americana in the mid-twentieth century. It really was like this in the 40s and 50s. His Post magazine covers were coveted by everyone. The Norman Rockwell museum is in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His studio is also on the grounds of the museum. Viewing the originals of his best works was an amazing event. Enjoy the photos of some of his works.

 

 

 

  

 

 

Farewell to Lake Placid

I did this post once before but the wi-fi signal was so weak that when I 'hit' publish, I lost the whole thing. The signal that I now have isn't so hot so here's hoping.
We left Lake Placid August 1st and enjoyed it so much that we have made a six week reservation for 2014. So here are a few pictures.

 

There are four venues in Lake Placid for preparing young girls and boys for the Olympics. One is a school where atheletes from all over the country live and study full time while spending just about all non-school time perfecting their skill. The second is the ski jumping venue which was highlighted in an earlier post. The third venue features bob sledding and cross country skiing. The fourth is figure skating. Kids come from everywhere for summer training and every Saturday evening they put on a figure skating show. The kids range in age from 4 to 20+. Most are excellent skaters. Actual Olympians, national finalists and pros perform during intermission and also for the finale. My I-phone does not take good pictures of fast moving skaters but these two were national figure skaing dancing contenders. They were amazing. Incidently, this skating rink was the actual rink used for the 1932 Winter Olympics. The rink used for the 1980 Olympics is in an attached building. That is the rink where the Americans tokk the gold from the heavily favored Soviets; the "Do you believe in miracles" rink.

 

The world famouis Saratoga Race Track is a 1 1/2 hour drive from Lake Placid. This horse and jockey just entered the winners circle. We didn't bet on that one either.

For the past 13 years, Lake Placid has hosted an Ironman competition. The Ironman is probably the gutsiest competition in today's world. The race starts at 6:20AM with a 2.4 mile swim in Mirror Lake. As the swimmers emerge from the lake, they run to a nearby field, remove their swim gear, don biking wear, find their bikes and then bike 112 miles through Adirondack hilly roads. At the end of the bike ride another dress change prepares them for a full 26.2 mile marathon run. The winner finished just before 3:30PM. About a third of these Ironmen are women. The finish line shuts down at midnight. If you don't finish by midnight, you are not an Ironman. 2700 men and women finished!  The top finishers are eligible to race in the world competition which will take place later in the year in Kona, Hawaii. Last year, four of the top 10 world finishers came from lake Placid. The picture is taken on a part of the bike course right next to our RV site. We spent most of the day cheering the bikers on.

 

This is Mirror Lake in downtown Lake Placid. It's beautiful. When we run out of things to do, we grab a couple of seats on the shoreline, bask in the sun and play with Sadie and our I-phones. The bandstand where the Sinfonettia plays Wednesday nights is just behind this location. In fact, the backs of our seats are touching the bandstand. See ya all next year!