Day 70 - Vermont to Boston

A seriously great day today. I left Strafford right on time at 10 AM. First stop was a cheese store in Quechee. It was actually most of the same cheeses that I saw at the Cabot Annex Store yesterday, but I'm still super glad that I stopped. I found a treasure in the store right next to the cheese store, but I can't talk about that yet.

I then went to Derry, New Hampshire to go to Pierce Mance, the Franklin Pierce homestead. They don't seem to get a ton of visitors there, so I got a personal tour of the house. I didn't know a lot about Franklin Pierce before going (read: I knew nothing, other than he was a president), and the tour and house were very informative. Apparently, he was the only sitting president to seek the nomination for re-election and not be granted it. I also inferred that his policies, in combination with Buchanan's, who succeeded him, probably contributed to the eventuality of the Civil War. The flow of history is always interesting to think about.

I stopped in Manchester at the Red Arrow Diner for some lunch - a very classic diner. I had an omelette and homefries - twas quite good, and pretty cheap. I recommend this place if you're looking for good, low-stress food.

From Manchester, it was on to the Robert Frost Farm & Homestead. I actually don't know a lot about Robert Frost, but it turns out I recognized a couple of his poems - the "road less traveled" line and the "miles to go before I sleep" line. It being so hot out and there not being air conditioning in the house, the park manager took me through a tour of the first floor and then told me about the second floor and let me go up on my own to check it out.

I am staying with a cruise friend of mine in Medford for the next couple nights, so I got to his house right around 5:00 and then braved the traffic to go downtown to meet another cruise friend for dinner. She and I were roommates on a cruise about 2 1/2 years ago and haven't seen each other since then, so it was great to see her and catch up.

There's so much to do here in Boston and I have so many friends here that I know I'm not going to be able to see and do everything that I want to, but I have a pretty packed schedule planned to get in as much as possible.