Tag Archives: New England

Thanksgiving 2015 …

There is much to be thankful for again this year.  Family. Health. Friends. And this year added to the list … ancestors.

If you follow my blog you may know that we recently learned that we are descended from  Pilgrims, John & Priscilla Alden and Miles Standish.   It had always been family legend that we came on that first voyage of the Mayflower but now we have documented proof. My daughter, Deb, our friend Dawn and I headed to Plymouth, MA to learn more about our ancestors.

pizap.com14484012441671 pizap.com14483087880621

I am so grateful to Deb for delving diligently into our ancestry… without her (and Dawn’s help also) we wouldn’t know even half of what we know now.  But how did we get into this, who was the person who prompted this adventure into our family tree, who do we have to thank for this.

It would have be my maternal grandmother Albra Mae Flewelling Littlefield Grant Baird, who is the person who also brought Martha’s Vineyard into our lives.  Thank you grandma.

IMG_1073

My grandmother, Albra Mae Flewellyn Littlefield Grant Baird, was born in Maine.  She was widowed twice, her third husband, Arthur Baird Sr was a Vineyarder who was left to raise two sons and a daughter after his first wife died.  My grandmother and my mother Maude went to live on Martha’s Vineyard in Oak Bluffs  and thus began our connection and love of the Vineyard.

I am thankful for all who visit this blog and my photo blog www.throughjerseyeyes.com

Happy Thanksgiving.

pizap.com14483985906131

 


Autumn Lighthouse …

100_7157

Edgartown Lighthouse – Martha’s Vineyard – Massachusetts

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js


Wooden Bridge …

IMG_1591

Massachusetts

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js


Pilgrim’s Laundry Day …

pizap.com14465814041361

//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js


Plymouth, MA – This and That …

Part 4 of our trip..

This is the National Monument to the Forefathers

101315__mom__0018

The monument lists the names of the Mayflower Pilgrims and also on the four buttresses are seated figures emblematical of the principles upon which the Pilgrims founded their Commonwealth; Morality, Law, Education and Liberty.

According to Wikipedia : {The National Monument to the Forefathers, formerly known as the Pilgrim Monument, commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims

 CLICK HERE

pizap.com14461349490141
And this is the Pilgrim Hall Museum ..CLICK HERE

DSC_0081

The nation’s oldest continuously operating public museum, Pilgrim Hall Museum houses an unmatched collection of Pilgrim possessions telling the story of brave and determined men and women building lives and homes for themselves and their children in a new world. See William Bradford’s Bible, Myles Standish’s sword, the only portrait of a Pilgrim (Edward Winslow) painted from life, the cradle of New England’s first–born, Peregrine White, the great chair of William Brewster, and the earliest sampler made in America, embroidered by Myles Standish’s daughter.

The only thing we were allowed to photograph were these beautiful stained glass windows

DSC_0086

pizap.com14461439196231
And that….  that’s two of the most delicious, mouth watering, , heavenly New England lobster rolls… :)

IMG_1584

IMG_1580

This concludes part 4 of our Plymouth, MA trip.. actually it may conclude this series all together, or it may not !!  Hope it’s been as enjoyable to read about as it was to have experienced it :)

(pictures are mine and Debs)


October Windows …

DSC_0206

IMG_1479

 


Weekly Challenge: Careful …

The prompt this week is to show something careful…  I’d certainly be careful about parking beyond this sign :)

IMG_1590

IMG_1590

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/careful/

 


Plymouth, MA – Standish and Alden …

Part 3 of our trip into the past to visit our ancestors .. the Myles Standish Burial Ground and the John & Priscilla Alden House.

Our first stop in the charming and historic town of Duxbury, Massachusetts was the Myles Standish Burial Ground, the oldest maintained cemetery in the United States.

DSC_0171

DSC_0193

It’s not a large cemetery, only 1.5 acres.  It is the resting place of several of the original Mayflower Pilgrims including our ancestors, Myles Standish and John & Priscilla Alden.   I felt a kind of peacefulness as I meandered around.  I felt respectful and humbled, it moved me more than I anticipated.

The Myles Standish grave site

pizap.com14454779088691The John and Priscilla Alden grave site

pizap.com14454789041171

Second stop in Duxbury… the Alden House Historic Site… CLICK HERE

pizap.com14454815816031

We arrived at the house only to find out that tours had stopped at the end of September so unfortunately we weren’t going to be able to go inside the house !

We wandered around and took some pictures  but of course it wasn’t like being inside.

pizap.com14454824657531As we were leaving we noticed two cars in front of the administration office so decided to walk over and say hello.   We were SO glad we did.  Not only were the two young women pleasant and smiley and full of information but… they said they’d give us a tour even though the house was closed.  Golly, wow.   So off we went… back into the past into the house of our ancestors John & Priscilla Alden.  I don’t know what they a actually looked like but I like this painting of them.  He was 21 and she 18 when they married.  They had 10 children.

DSC_0230
mosaicbc6771e816865f25382ff5cf681931e48e4e0c25
mosaica87ee7b48553477f85f6c668a051d66c06edb741Our tour guide (Trish) was terrific, she peppered historical facts with humorous family stories.  Why wasn’t history like this when I went to school… it was all about names and dates and not about people’s lives and adventures.

For instance the reason for wall paper and newspaper on the walls in this small closet, or as they called it, a clothes press.  The walls were covered with newspaper to protect clothing from getting snagged or caught on the rough walls.  Later on someone covered the newspaper with wall paper.  I believe our guide said the newspapers were from the time of the War of 1812.

pizap.com14455638895031

We did some quick gift shopping and Deb joined the AKA (Aldin Kindred of America) while we were there.   We hated to leave but we alas we had to come back to the 21st century.

DSC_0256

:)  :)  :)

This concludes part 3 of our trip and I thought this was going to be the last installment… but no, there’s a bit of ‘this n that’ still to come !!

(pictures are mine and Deb’s)


Tourists …

IMG_1595

 


Boats and Buoys …

IMG_1582

IMG_1582//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js