A non-profit we have been supporting for many years is hosting a lunch in Boston, so we take that as an excuse to spend a few days in the area (we have been doing that in the early summer on-and-off for many years). We can also attend the Sunday service at the Quincy church before we return to NJ.
Car rentals were very expensive (over $1000 for a week) when I first looked. Eventually the price dropped to about $700, by that time the plane ticket prices have gone up considerably. So we decided to save money by driving; we have only done this once or twice since COVID. This price surge and volatility are probably due to the World Cup. A few matches will take place in Foxborough, everything associated with these events are expensive.
Monday 6/15/2026. As with the last time we drove to the area we broke up the drive by stopping in the Hartford area. This time we decided it would be Providence, Rhode Island.
We didn't leave until around 11 am, so by the time we got to the New Haven area we were ready to stop at Pepe's for pizza. A small (12") Calabrese Pizza costs $18.25. The ingredient list is long: tomatoes, sausage, pepperoni, chilies, and pecorino romano cheese. In reality it was like sausage pepperoni with chilies and tomatoes. Still quite good though. We took the pizza to Long Wharf Drive, by the Amistad memorial, and ate there. Meanwhile, a few ospreys were hovering over the water to try to catch dinner.
Both Sally's and Pepe's were busy at around 4:30 pm in the afternoon.
After checking into the hotel, we went to a random place along the Providence River. It was the Salter Grove Memorial Park. What was interesting was one could walk from the shore to a small island at low tide, but would have to wade (perhaps 2' deep) when the tide is high. People were doing that. We were there at around 7:45 pm, high tide for the day was around 9 pm, so still a bit to go. Indeed the path we took was beginning to flood we we started back to the car.
View from Long Wharf Park, where we ate the pizza.
Accommodation. Courtyard Providence Warwick, RI (1 night).
Tuesday 6/16/2026. Newport is about 45 minutes away. We drove there and walked around town. This is early in the summer season, but things are starting to get busy.
Smuggler's Waterfront Bar, however, was very quiet. We ordered fish & chips and fried shrimp for lunch while we debated if we wanted to get on the "hop on/off" boat. It takes longer than an hour to complete the loop, so we decided against it.
Many many years ago our nephew Larry studied at St. George's School. We attended his graduation. We drove by this time (located on Purgatory Drive). It has a huge campus.
We will be staying in Portsmouth for 2 nights. For this trip we won't be venturing beyond South Maine, so Portsmouth seems a reasonable place to stay. Also, Visa Chase Sapphire Reserve offers a rebate for 2 night stays at Holiday Inn (and other IHG properties), so I wanted to take advantage of that.
The Jamestown Verrazano Bridge crosses the Narraganset Bay.
Newport Harbor is a large harbor.
Fried shrimp and Fish & Chips at Smuggler's Waterfront Bar.
Our nephew graduated from St. George's. We attended his graduation.
Accommodations. Holiday Inn Portsmouth, NH (2 nights).
Wednesday 6/17/2026. Sunapee Lake or Sunapee Harbor gets mentioned a lot in the travel brochures given out at Welcome Centers along the highways. Our guess is it is akin to Winnipesaukee, and one would be right; other than Sunapee is much smaller than Winnipesaukee, and much quieter. As far as I know, there are no large towns that line the lake, although we saw only a small part of it from our short visit to Sunapee Harbor. (And I later found out Lake W is actually closer.)
It took about 90 minutes to drive to Sunapee, and we basically sat at the harbor enjoying then nice cool day, and admire at how people launch and retrieve their boats. There was an inspector who checked boats going in and out of the water to make sure they didn't end up harboring foreign invasive plants and animals. He also pointed out to a nearby building where the LSPA (Lake Sunapee Protective Association) offices are, and suggested that we take a lot at the displays. The building looks quite impressive, although I must say I didn't learn a lot about the science and ecology of what they are dealing with. They do have brochures talking about how to maintain septic tanks properly to protect the water supply. I thought better of asking if that is indeed a problem.
Many years/decades ago, I read quite often from financial planning magazines that Portsmouth NH was one of the best towns to live in America. That level of praise seems to have fallen off. Enquiries to AI still affirm that is the case. There is ample reason to agree with that sentiment, if our stroll this afternoon in town was any indication. Of course today was sunny and pleasant, winters here must have a fair share of brutal weather. Reasonable looking condos sell around $1.5M, per Zillow.
We visited the waterfront with a beautifully maintained garden, and walked around downtown a bit on our way to have dinner at Thai Bistro 5.
Sunapee Harbor. There were a few boats being launched and retrieved at the boat ramp (left of photo).
It was a pleasant day.
One of the boats that can take guests for a ride on the lake.
A well-maintained garden in Prescott Park along the Portsmouth waterfront.
Thursday 6/18/2026. It's a 2-hour drive from Portsmouth NH to Boothbay Harbor, and that's what we did today. Boothbay Lobster Wharf was quiet today because of rain. We ordered the 3-soft shell-lobster package (about $40). Anne wanted to go back to Bakers Way to buy some pastries - and to chat with the Vietnamese folks who work there. We then drove to Damariscotta to take in the view of the harbor. We saw an osprey and bald eagle fighting (probably over food, and interestingly a few smaller birds were in the mix).
Larry the Lobster claims to be the world's largest inflatable lobster. It's 12' high and weighs over 700 pounds.
The ones we ate were considerably smaller. At Boothbay Lobster Wharf.
On the way to and from Boothbay Harbor we passed by Red's Eats. The lines were long.
We had dinner at an Asian Restaurant in Yarmouth after we checked into the hotel.
Accommodation. Springhill Suites Freeport Brunswick. (1 night)
Friday 6/19/2026. We have visited Fort Williams Park and (the much better known) Portland Head Lighthouse on several occasions. Since Portland is on the way back to Boston, we decided to give it another go. It was a nice day, in fact the strong breeze made it a bit cool. We got there at around 12:15 pm, things were still quiet. Bite of Maine, a lobster roll truck, has been a fixture at the park since our first visit (perhaps 15 years ago?). I forget how much a lobster roll cost then, but today a 6" one set us back $41. So we balanced the purchase with a grilled cheese sandwich that was $5. Still made for a nice lunch.
We shared a 6" lobster roll and a grilled cheese sandwich at Bite into Maine.
We decided to walk around the lighthouse.
The Ram Island Ledge Light Station. I don't recall noticing it before. (In checking over the blog, there is another Ram Island Light further up the coast, just outside of Boothbay Harbor.)
These are most likely eider ducks. Quite a few ducklings around the area today.
Google Maps told me it would take a bit over 3 hours to get to Somerville. I had thought the trip should be shorter than that, but didn't think about it. Along the way Anne looked at her phone, it showed the same routing as mine, but also had an alternate route that would take an hour less. No idea why Google did that, and we couldn't get it to recommend such an asinine route again. Rather than taking I95 all the way to where it connects with I93, Google did suggest we take Route 1 instead; that was a good suggestion.
We got to Putnam at around 4:45 pm, no one was home. We did a load of laundry, and ordered some Ramen from Assembly Square for the two of us and Emmie when she returned from her soccer match. I left Putnam at around 6:45 pm to go to Ember, and Anne stayed behind to wait for Emmie (that was the plan).
We met up at the hotel at around 9:30 pm for check in. (Joe P drove Anne to the hotel.)
Accommodations: Marriott Quincy. (2 nights)
Saturday 6/20/2026. We had a bit of time before the celebratory lunch for ACCESS friends and supporters, so we drove to Granite Links to take in the view. This golf club in Quincy has a great view of the Boston skyline. It was very busy on a pleasant Saturday.
About 40 or so people were at the ACCESS lunch. Some have been faithful supporters since the early days of the organization over 30 years ago.
Dinner was at Outback.
Granite Links provides a great view of the Boston skyline (not very visible in this photo).
Lunch with ACCESS friends and supporters at Joyful Garden.
On our way to Outback at Assembly Square.
Sunday 6/21/2026. We attended the Sunday Service at Ember Community Church. As the pastor was getting ready to preach, some lady had a fainting episode. She was attended to immediately as there are a couple of nurses in the congregation. She was still (mostly) unconscious when the ambulance drove her away. She eventually made a full recovery, and was discharged the next day. I was quite impressed with how everyone remained calm, and people handled the incidence as well as could be expected. One of the nurses accompanied her to the hospital, stayed with her until the family showed up.
That meant we had a short service.
Today was Fathers' Day, and the church prepared lunch to mark the event.
We started our drive back to NJ around 4 pm. Traffic was unexpectedly light, and we got home before it got completely dark (at 9:18 pm, per Google Timeline).
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