Can you believe it? I met up with yet another Facebook friend!
Corrine is a fellow Buffalonian and we met up via a mutual friend, Mary Ellen, who I will be visiting in a few states.
We made arrangements to meet up at a supermarket parking lot near Andover, Massachusetts. Corrine graciously offered to drive me around and show me some of the sights.
First stop was Shawsheen Luncheonette. It is a small place and really popular. We had to wait a bit, but not all that long.
I really liked the frieze of quotes and dinner ware that was part of the decor.
We studied the menu and made our selections. We chatted while we waited for our orders to be brought out.
It was worth the wait. Lunch was delicious!
We drove around and Corrine showed me various sites. Our goal was the Phillips Academy and
It was quite an impressive gallery, especially considering that it is basically part of a high school – an elite high school, to be sure, but a high school none-the-less.
We wanted to see an Ansel Adams exhibit of photos taken at Manzanar War Relocation Camp where American citizens of Japanese origin were interred during the second World War. I was particularly interested in seeing the exhibit because I visited the Manzanar National Historic Site when I was in California in 2015. It was an interesting exhibit.
They also had several other galleries. I wasn’t sure if photography was allowed, so I surreptitiously snapped this shot. Yep, it is a really nice gallery. I like how they welcome the public.
My HistoryHERE app pinged and said that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s grave was just down the street. We went to check it out.
And there is is!
This was an old cemetery. I thought these headstones made an interesting photo.
Corrine took me to see a house that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. She used to housesit there and was friends with people who used to own it. With these old houses its so interesting to see how they must have been added on to over the years.
Corrine lead me on a short walk on a public path behind the house. I saw something I’ve long wanted to see – a beaver dam!
The water level is really low due to the severe drought that they have experienced in New England this summer.
I didn’t see evidence of a beaver lodge, but I did see a branch with pronounced teeth marks.
We drove into Lowell, which had been a textile producing center from about 1820 until 1920. The clock tower let the workers know when it was time to go to work and when it was time to leave.
We stopped at an Italian bakery to pick up some treats and then stopped at McDonalds for a drink.
Then we headed back to Bart so I could return to the campground. We asked a store worker collecting shopping carts to snap this photo.
It was great to meet a friend in real life for the first time!