Traveling with a Retired Math Teacher

 Where to go in the winter? I am not taking any vacations because I already spent a lot of money on my upcoming Disney vacation in March and then when I get there, I will be spending a lot more. So this winter I am just looking to do some local places. I plan to go to see Christmas lights at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island and I also will head to LaSallette Shrine in Attleboro to view their FREE display of Holiday lights. That is one place I go at least once every year. Once Christmas is over I may head to NH to go to the ice castles, but after that I will need to find places to go in January and February. Anyone have any ideas? I would appreciate it if you left me a message with your ideas. 

Have you priced a plane ticket lately? I have been checking prices for a round trip from the northeast to Orlando. I have also checked booking one way flights on 2 different airlines. I have checked the price to fly out of Boston, Providence, Manchester and Worcester. I am struggling to find a flight under $500 for the times I want. I want to fly out first thing in the morning so I have looking at flights at 6am or 7am. Coming home I don't want to land late at night so I am focusing on flights before 3pm. Two years ago I paid $383 for my round trip out of Boston. I doubt I will see it that low now but I would be happy at $450. In addition to that cost I then will have to pay for luggage and the bus rides to and from the airports. It is so expensive to fly!  I don't care what airline I fly to Florida but I have to fly home on Jet Blue. My reason for that is because Jet Blue leaves out of terminal C in Orlando which is so easy compared to terminals A & B. Last year when I fle...

 Every October I take a day trip to Chatham. I always go to Kate Gould Park to walk around looking at the pumpkin people. Local businesses put up a display. I was a little disappointed this year. I feel that there were displays this year and they weren't as entertaining as last year. My favorites were these three Then there were a couple more that I will give honorable mention The weather was perfect for walking around so I had lots of company in the park.  Unfortunately we had some warm days this month so there were a few pumpkins that were rotting and falling apart, but it was still worth the trip.  I recommend you take the trip. There is a nice brick path to walk along and all the displays are set up close to the path. After that I went out for lunch in Yarmouth at Oliver and Planks Tavern. I got the ribs and they were melt in your mouth delicious. With nice crispy fries. And as always when down the cape I started my meal with a cup of clam chowder. It was very tasty b...

  Last week I took a quick over night trip to Maine with my cousin. While there I visited the Boothbay Harbor area. I was not that impressed with downtown Booth Bay Harbor. Most shops closed at 5 or 6 pm. I thought that was early for a late summer night. Also, not happy with the restaurant choice we made. We dined at Mine Oyster. The view was awesome and the onion rings were quite tasty but the steak was extremely chewy and the toasted roll for the burger was burnt on one side. Our waitress Ellie was fantastic. We did visit some very picturesque spots. First was Pemaquid point lighthouse. Such a cute park with gorgeous ocean views. There is an entry fee of $4 per person. There is plenty of parking and a small house with clean restrooms. I was able to climb to the top of the lighthouse and the view from up there was spectacular. A little tricky near the top as it was very narrow and your last 5 steps were on a ladder, but so worth the climb. Then walked around the small town of ...

 Do you enjoy going out to eat? want to try a unique experience? I have the place for you. Wednesday I traveled to Mason, NH with a friend of mine for a delicious lunch at a place called "Pickety Place"  There is an adorable red cottage that has 3 seatings for lunch, 11:30, 12:45, and 2:00. We went for 11:30. The food was amazing! everyone lined up outside waiting for out time to be allowed in. The dinner bell rang at 11:30 and the door opened for all to enter. You give your name and they direct you to the room you are in and which table you have. There are only 3 small rooms so not many people can dine and you MUST have a reservation. Be aware that they are booked 3 weeks out so make sure you call early. When we got to our table there were crackers and dip waiting for us and the soup came within 2-3 minutes of us sitting down. I was a little skeptical of chilled cantaloupe soup, but it was so good. Next came the salad which on this day was potato salad on a bed of lettuce. S...

 If you would like a calm, peaceful, place to walk and some some interesting views, then I suggest you travel to Lincoln, MA. Yesterday I went to the Decordova sculpture park located at 51 sandy Pond Road in Lincoln, Ma.  This park is 30 acres with a little bit of everything. There is one parking lot centrally located. There is a gift shop, cafe, and restrooms right beside the parking lot. There are plenty of benches scattered throughout the park. There are also a couple of courtyards that have tables and chairs. One courtyard is at the top of a hill and from there you have a nice water view. there are all different types of sculptures. Each sculpture comes with a QR code that brings you to a website with more information about both the sculpture and the artist. there is a $14 fee to enter the park but definitely worth it. I saw some people brought their coolers and used the picnic table area to enjoy some lunch. Here are few more sculptures I spent two hours walking around an...