Massachusetts and Beyond

We were up, packed and ready to leave the Publick house early. I stopped to take a picture of the scene from our balcony and discovered that the temperature was very nice. After everything was loaded in the car, we stopped for breakfast. There were sweet rolls and coffee for the guests. Breakfast was served in the tavern which was designed as if out of early America. There were many nice pottery pieces, but also, a few bottles and a few weapons hanging on the wall. It was charming. We were on the road by 9:30 and decided to take in some extra scenery.

Our first choice was to head south to Connecticut. We stopped at a little shop on our way through to Rhode Island. Neither Earla nor I had been to Rhode Island, so it seemed like a good idea. We stopped for lunch at the Tavern On Main (seems there's a pattern here, too!) in Chapachet, RI for lunch. It was a fun place, the waitress was exceptionally friendly, and the food was good --- French onion soup and Caesar salad. Earla had Guinness and I had water... only because I'm not a fan of beer.

We also stopped at an antique store on our way through Rhode Island. Amazingly, it took us many miles of road to travel through the smallest state in the Union, which is maybe 15 miles wide!! We missed some turns, took some unplanned turns, and generally explored a little more of the state than we'd planned. Keep in mind, there are no wrong roads taken.

We arrived safely at Shirley's in Millbury, MA about 2:00. Shirley is a long time friend of Betty Rose's, and someone I met via e-mail. We were shown our rooms, and settled in to get to know each other better. First, we asked if she was a wine drinker as we needed to know if we should go the the liquor store. She's a wine drinker. Does she drink coffee? --- not much, but there's a coffee pot we can use. Then we said that sometimes we'd play Scrabble to stay out of the way --- "Oh," Shirley said, "Do you play Super Scrabble?" She brought out Super Scrabble, and we knew we were in the right place! We've found another avid Scrabble player.

Before we broke out the game, though, we went to the bank and, then, to Betty R's old neighborhood. We found the house she lived in some 25 years ago. What fun for us.

When we got home, we broke out the Scrabble game -- with twice the board, twice the letters and, as you can see, twice the score! Victory!!!

We played another game before dinner. Other games were much closer in score and I didn't get quite as good letters from this game on.

We broke for tuna salad sandwiches, carrots and sweet potato chips --- what a great dinner. Then, we relaxed (those Scrabble games will wear you out), crocheted and knitted and chatted. Soon, we had one more game.

Now the evening is winding down.

I just heard Shirley ask Earla for the pattern for the hats for children in Tanzania... Isn't that wonderful, someone else may be making hats?

We are off to bed soon and will look forward to tomorrow.