Monday 4th November
Our Long Journey Home..
Via Hyannisport, Plymouth, and Boston Rush Hour.
We finished our last bit of food for breakfast.
Toast / cinnamon toast / bagels / cereals.
We managed to have just enough left for this morning.
Excellent planning!
After loading the Monster Truck,
and saying goodbye to our lovely Airbnb hosts
(Each and every one has been lovely this year - as always),
we set off for Boston Logan Airport,
but as our flight wasn’t until 21:50, and it was only 10 o’clock in the morning.....
and we were only about 1hr 45mins away....
we made plans to take a ‘scenic’ route, via Hyannis, Hyannisport
Plymouth, and finally, Boston.
Our hosts told us that Boston rush our would be a nightmare
(and we’d witnessed that when we had landed 3 week’s ago)
and advised that we added antra 2 hours to our 45 min journey from Plymouth.
No problem. As long as we left Plymouth by 5pm....
So, we set off to see if we could catch a glimpse
of The Kennedy Compound at the exclusive enclave of a Hyannisport, MA.
We’d seen the house and the beach on a million JFK documentaries,
so were looking forward to actually being there.
However, getting close is a little difficult.
After a little research a few days ago,
I found ‘a way’.
It meant parking on the beach, walking a little way along,
and jumping over a small yacht club jetty.
The whole place was beautiful,
and you could absolutely feel the Kennedys of the 50’s & 60’s
playing football, yachting, picnicking.
Very emotive.
Toast / cinnamon toast / bagels / cereals.
We managed to have just enough left for this morning.
Excellent planning!
After loading the Monster Truck,
and saying goodbye to our lovely Airbnb hosts
(Each and every one has been lovely this year - as always),
we set off for Boston Logan Airport,
but as our flight wasn’t until 21:50, and it was only 10 o’clock in the morning.....
and we were only about 1hr 45mins away....
we made plans to take a ‘scenic’ route, via Hyannis, Hyannisport
Plymouth, and finally, Boston.
Our hosts told us that Boston rush our would be a nightmare
(and we’d witnessed that when we had landed 3 week’s ago)
and advised that we added antra 2 hours to our 45 min journey from Plymouth.
No problem. As long as we left Plymouth by 5pm....
So, we set off to see if we could catch a glimpse
of The Kennedy Compound at the exclusive enclave of a Hyannisport, MA.
We’d seen the house and the beach on a million JFK documentaries,
so were looking forward to actually being there.
However, getting close is a little difficult.
After a little research a few days ago,
I found ‘a way’.
It meant parking on the beach, walking a little way along,
and jumping over a small yacht club jetty.
The whole place was beautiful,
and you could absolutely feel the Kennedys of the 50’s & 60’s
playing football, yachting, picnicking.
Very emotive.
We went about as far as we could,
(there’s still security around, as Ethel Kennedy - widow of Robert - still lives there)
and then made our way back to the car.
Mark needed to pee (!) and I needed to dump my knackered boots.
Perfect location for both.
(there’s still security around, as Ethel Kennedy - widow of Robert - still lives there)
and then made our way back to the car.
Mark needed to pee (!) and I needed to dump my knackered boots.
Perfect location for both.
We then drove into the small town of Hyannis,
and the JFK Museum.
Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside, but it was a marvellous museum,
consisting of a photographic history of John & Jackie Kennedy,
from his early political career, to his assassination.
The photographer was a French gentleman who had enormous
access to the family for several years.
His precious vault of over 40,000 negatives was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11,
and all of these amazing photographs were recreated using contact sheets stored elsewhere.
Fascinating.
We popped over the road for a toasted sandwich.
Then on to Plymouth Rock,
where the Pilgrims first stepped on US soil...
...apparently!
and the JFK Museum.
Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside, but it was a marvellous museum,
consisting of a photographic history of John & Jackie Kennedy,
from his early political career, to his assassination.
The photographer was a French gentleman who had enormous
access to the family for several years.
His precious vault of over 40,000 negatives was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of 9/11,
and all of these amazing photographs were recreated using contact sheets stored elsewhere.
Fascinating.
We popped over the road for a toasted sandwich.
Then on to Plymouth Rock,
where the Pilgrims first stepped on US soil...
...apparently!
Er......and this is it!
Plymouth Rock
To think that this is where it all started.......
.....those poor indigenous people....
They hadn’t got a clue what was coming....!
Plymouth Rock
To think that this is where it all started.......
.....those poor indigenous people....
They hadn’t got a clue what was coming....!
And then....it was all over.
We were told that the traffic would be horrendous
driving back to Boston,
but we sailed effortlessly through the rush hour
and made it to Logan Airport by 4:15.
We were so early, the Virgin Atlantic desk wasn’t even open.
We found a suitable resting spot in a little café, and had a lovely couple of hours,
drinking coffee and ‘people watching’.
It was then time to check in, get to the Virgin Lounge,
and wait for our (delayed) flight.
After a little nap in the lounge, we boarded the flight,
and discovered that the flying time was only going to be 5:15 hours!!!
Just time for dinner, a movie, and another nap,
before waking up to a lovely VA brekky.
Just as a side note.....the food was....’unusual’....?..
Goats cheese and orange salad for starters,
with a really chewy piece of beef for main.
Not wishing to complain about my diamond shoes being too tight....
....but it genuinely wasn’t usual VA Upper Class standard!
But it’s a taste that will linger for months.....!
We were told that the traffic would be horrendous
driving back to Boston,
but we sailed effortlessly through the rush hour
and made it to Logan Airport by 4:15.
We were so early, the Virgin Atlantic desk wasn’t even open.
We found a suitable resting spot in a little café, and had a lovely couple of hours,
drinking coffee and ‘people watching’.
It was then time to check in, get to the Virgin Lounge,
and wait for our (delayed) flight.
After a little nap in the lounge, we boarded the flight,
and discovered that the flying time was only going to be 5:15 hours!!!
Just time for dinner, a movie, and another nap,
before waking up to a lovely VA brekky.
Just as a side note.....the food was....’unusual’....?..
Goats cheese and orange salad for starters,
with a really chewy piece of beef for main.
Not wishing to complain about my diamond shoes being too tight....
....but it genuinely wasn’t usual VA Upper Class standard!
But it’s a taste that will linger for months.....!