Family & Beach

[fbhjr]

As this trip we set out from RI we got to my aunt’s over many more exciting bridges and tunnels than normal.



But, eventually we got to Westport.


Some parts of that town seem to have hardly changed since I spent my summers there 40+ years ago.
The house I was told was part of the underground railroad.


The bridge where my friend Peter Detillio caught my mother’s station wagon while fishing.


The vineyards that are apparently now upscale wineries.


The back roads through farms.


Dogs watching us from under cars.

(Of course that isn’t the same dog from 40+ years ago. But, you get the point.)

But, now my aunt’s cottage has been replaced by a house. And, there are million dollar houses where the cow farm next to it used to be.


It is still a very nice spot near the river.


Even if the trees are much taller than 40 years ago and now almost totally hide one of the islands in the river.


The osprey was out and looking for dinner.


It must have caught something as it soon swooped back to its nest.


We visited with my aunt and her husband for a while and then set off for the beach.


As the third seat in their car was broken, my aunt’s husband lay down in the back.

I felt bad about the guy in his mid 70’s doing that, but he insisted.

The drive down to the beach was very nice.


Back in 4th grade, I got a free dog from this farm.


Some of the farms around here still have cows and barns, but not many.


It’s only a few miles to the beach, so we got there fairly quickly.


This is the same beach we we went to last year that was so empty. Last year we could count the other people there on one hand and have left over fingers. But, we were also there at 9 in the morning as opposed to 2 in the afternoon. That probably had a lot to do with it too...

Last year when we were here, the tide was in.

This year, the tide was out.


But, there were enough people that this year they had lifeguards.


My wife and I set out for the water.

I am very glad I bought us some “aqua shoes” as it is very rocky at the start.


My aunt and her husband remained on the beach.


We waded through the shallow water for a long way, past the far sandbar, and found some water up to our waists to go swimming. We had a very nice time swimming with many small fish, lots of small jellyfish, crabs and small birds that kept diving into the water around us and coming up with fish.
But as I wanted to actually swim, I left the camera on shore for that.
It was VERY nice swimming around with my wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Then, I went back for the camera and took some pictures in the shallower water. (One of these years I am going to finally spring for that waterproof camera even if I only use it once or twice a year...)

The water was very clear and the sun was almost straight up, so it was easy to see a lot of things on the bottom.


And, there was a lot to see.


My wife liked wading around looking at things as well.


There were lots of periwinkles.


It is amazing how difficult it is to photograph small fish darting about. I think I can see them because they move. But in a still photograph they blend right in.


The tide was coming in as we waded around. So water that started at our ankles quickly reached our knees.

But, it doesn’t get more than our waist even when it is fully in, so it wasn’t too bad.

There were a fair number of little crabs around. The first one was totally sand colored and I wouldn’t have found him if he didn’t crawl onto my hand while it was on the bottom.
This one stood out a bit more on the sand.

(It did much better on the rocks.)

The birds were very interested in the shellfish as well, but not always neat about cleaning up.


My wife really liked the hermit crabs. There were a lot of them.


She was also very good about spotting bigger crabs.


Which I was willing to catch.


This one’s shell was pretty badly dented. I hope I’m not the one who trod on him.


Eventually we waded back to my aunt.


On the way back, I took the reclining seat.


It does give you an interesting perspective on the drive.


Back at my aunt’s place we changed and got ready for dinner.


We went to a small place up in the center of town.

The food was good, but the whole place is only slightly bigger than my living room. So, there was some competition for seating that really seemed to wind up my aunt’s husband.

After dinner we tried to get a picture of the “Beer Here” gnome. But, he is very hard to photograph as you would expect from a gnome.


Back at my aunt’s we went to extensive lengths to get their shy cat to come out for a photo.


And we stayed for a nice visit until the sun went down.


On our way home we took 495 and stopped at the ice cream place in Franklin my wife likes. I also like it as it has dairy free thing so I can actually have some.
They were open late, so we both got some nice desert for the rest of the drive.

It was a very nice day, visit with my aunt and trip to the beach. Swimming around with my wife was my favorite part.

Comments

[pallid-regina.livejournal.com]

Sounds pretty fantastic to me!

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

It was very nice.

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

awesome!

Oh, where is this ice cream place in Franklin?

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

It is in Franklin.

[morgan-lafaye.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a nice relaxing day.