Terra Americana

  Several years ago Kati starred in Anne of Green Gables at the Red Door Theater in Feeding Hills.  She was of course brilliant, the play was great and I fell in love with a sense of place.  Kati and I actually talked about a pilgrimage to Anne's Island but just never found the time.  Last summer Ethan went with friends to New Brunswick and his description of the trip made me long even more for the time to explore Canada's Maritimes.

This spring Ryan and Justin talked me into an IPhone.  One weekend with it hiking and I realized another road trip was long overdue.  When I paused to worry about who would run the show Aaron stepped up to the plate and said GO Already!  Ian, Kenny, Lisa are all there willing and waiting to just make things happen too.  The people who make up Terra Americana inspire me to live and learn.. They are wise beyond their years.  Ernest loves them too!

So off we went to the islands of Prince Edward, Cape Breton and Nova Scotia in Canada.  Charlie was, of course, my co pilot.  My mother opted out of another sojourn to Snoopy's Senior World Hockey Tournament with my father and she and her dog Bea hit the road with us.

Now you know our story; what was your adventure?

Some Beach Feet for anyone who posts their summer plans on our Facebook Page.

Dina and I spent a week in Iceland, waling on a glacier, visiting ultra-hot springs and geothermal power supplies, biking around the coastal peninsula, etc. Great fun, but the food is much better here.
Posted by Shel Horowitz

We started the summer by taking my 16 year old son to his summer job at the Massawepie Boy Scout Reservation in the Adirondacks where he was for 7 weeks. Then Faye and I spent 6 days camping in Lake Placid as well as having fun and doing some kayaking too. We took in the James Taylor and BSO concert over the weekend of the 4th at Tanglewood. We also spent 16 wonderful days camping on the Cape where we beached, relaxed, kayaked, hiked, biked and had a great time. All too soon I was picking up our son in the Adirondacks and bringing him home. But summer is not over and yesterday we were on the CT Shore for a wonderful beach day. We still hope to make it to the beach one more day as well as lots more kayaking before the cold weather sets in. A good summer relaxation wise!
Posted by Larry Krainson

Mark G. Auerbach • I attended a reunion of the staff of Wolf Trap, the National Park for the Performing Arts, outside DC (which was celebrating its 40th anniversary). I'd worked summers there while in college and my first FT job was as Manager of Ticket Services there. I hadn't been back since 1979. To see some of the people I'd worked with then, to see how the theatre had changed, and to see how I'd changed was a really incredible experience.

Bravo! Great way to refresh, after an adventure you can see your business from a fresh set of eyes, and have created memories in the mean time...
Posted by Linda Fawcett

Sue Spiry • We're planning a trip to England this fall, so decided to take advantage of our proximity to Boston this summer. It has so much to offer, and only a short trip up the Pike. Our adventures included seeing Blue Man Group, taking a sunset dinner cruise on the Odyssey, a Back Bay Wine Tour, and of course a Red Sox game. It's been great!

Sean Wandrei • DId the Cape a couple times. Sitting on the beach doing nothing but enjoying myself is a great past time. I'm heading to Africa to hike up Mt Kilimanjaro next month.

Edmund Bird • My family and I went to Alexandria, LA to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th Birthday. Met cousins that I never had known before, and had a great time. Stayed an extra day in New Orleans at the Hilton over the Riverwalk Mall with a view of the Mississippi and the paddle boats pulling up next to us to dock. It was much more appreciated than last years trip to Washington DC with the family where it was 110 degrees, dirty and stunk, and the highlight was stopping at Carlo's bakery in Hoboken, NJ on the return trip!

Lisa Davol • I went to Hamburg, Germany with a small group of people from Western Mass including economic development leaders, architects, landscape architects and land conservation specialist as part of the Riverscaping project of Five College Inc, funded by the European Union. The goal was to learn how the progressive, environmentally conscious and artistic community of Hamburg achieved its goals so we can then bring these experiences back home to better our own communities here in Western Mass. We are now as a group brainstorming about future collaborative programming.

Then i want to the Cape with family.

Mark Hansen • We recently got a new fifth wheel camper and took it to Acadia National Park for two weeks. For some reason, the park just keeps drawing us back! Took upwards of 400 photos and did some great hikes.

Peter DeMallie • My wife and I spent our only summer vacation (too short!) along the coast of Maine. First stop was an overnight at my cousin's place on Squirrel Island in Boothbay Harbor, which has 100 cottages, five miles of walkways, a church, a post office, a luncheon restaurant, tennis courts, two harbors, and no vehicles. Evening lobster cruise was scenic and special. Then up the coast to Camden, Northport, and Acadia National Park. The view of the ocean, harbors, islands, boats and mountains from Northport was incredible. Love those wild blueberries!

Denise Vozella • Everyone had such wonderful adventures, thanks for sharing! Our first and probably only long family road trip, since our older daughter is now 20...five of us drove to Murrells Inlet, SC for a week where we encountered a pod of frolicking dolphins on an eco friendly dolphin watch. My younger daughter and her friend also swam with stingrays at the Myrtle Beach aquarium, and we rode on the new giant Myrtle Beach skywheel on the ocean! On the way down we stopped in DC for a tour of the White House, and were invited to watch a landing of Marine One on the White House lawn...so very cool, President Obama waved to us. The kids wanted to go to Georgetown Cupcakes (home of the TV show DC cupcakes), which was fun too. Great memories.

Photo Credit:  Julie Cecchini