Massachusetts 39 - Finale

Oct 27 - 28, 2012

Oct 27

When I looked out the window this morning, I thought it had snowed.  Fog blanketed the street and the effect was eerie.

Susan loves to cook and I love to eat.  We make a great team!  For breakfast she made banana walnut French toast with Micky's homemade blueberry jam as a melted sauce.  I had seconds.  OMG - that was so yummy!

Susan put a tiny witch's hat on Maggie, their 12-year-old Pomeranian.  She looked so adorable I had to take a picture.

Mel loves everything to do with flight.  He has his private pilot's license and flies remote control helicopters.  Here he is working on a mechanical problem, flashlight in mouth.

Halloween is a BIG holiday in Salem, Massachusetts, the Witch City.  There are dozens of stores and museums that cater to witches, death, zombies, etc.  During the entire month of October, hundreds of thousands of people flock to the city, many dressed in costume. 

Susan and I drove to my friend Holly's house in Salem.  Holly is the friend I made in Gulfport in September.  Holly drove the three of us to downtown Salem and parked in her friend's parking space right downtown in the middle of all the action.

We were not in costume, although Holly wore a black hat with a veil.  We walked down Essex Street, a pedestrian mall, and passed thousands of people.  I took a picture of what we thought were supposed to be three warlocks, whatever they are, and Holly snuck in the photo.  We visited briefly with my New Hampshire and Costa Rica friends, Fred and Elaine, who had their Tico Arts booth of wooden puzzle boxes made in Costa Rica.  Holly bought a wooden lobster puzzle box as a gift for her sister.

Susan and I were in sensory overload, and hungry, so we stopped at the first restaurant we came to, an Asian one.  We rested up, got fortified and hit the streets again.  We walked down to Pickering Wharf.  And then we saw the most wondrous thing:  seven rainbows in the sky.  It was incredible.  My camera couldn't capture them all.  People all around us were looking up.  We wondered if they had to do with the monster storm, nicknamed Frankenstorm, that is headed this way.

Susan always makes me what I want to eat, and this trip I told her I wanted a lot of vegetables.  When we got home, Susan made yet another delicious meal: shrimp with kale, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes over angel hair pasta.  We all got in our jammies, ate in the sun room and watched The Avengers.  It was an excellent stay-at-home night.


Oct 28

Susan made another fantastic breakfast: an egg, cheese and spinach casserole.  And Mel made a Dunkin Donuts run for us. 

Today may mark the end of my three-month trip to the United States.  I was supposed to fly back to Costa Rica on Tuesday, Oct 30, but because of the monster storm that's coming, I changed the reservation to today.  I fly from Boston to Newark at 3pm, then leave Newark at 6pm for Costa Rica.  I don't know now if that Costa Rica flight is going to take off.  I may end up spending a couple of days at the Newark airport.  I hope that is not the case, and that I arrive home safely tonight.

I have had a wonderful time, made new friends, enjoyed time with old friends, ate great food and got to know new places.  I am grateful for every kindness that has been shown to me.  This trip was the right thing for me to do.