Ever hear of Monumental Motor Tours?
No. Tell me about it.
It was — and unfortunately it’s in the past tense — a tour-bus company based in Baltimore. And my wife and I took many a trip with them.
They were around since the 1920s, I think. But the economy caught up with them. Decreasing income. Increasing costs. Couldn’t make it anymore. But they were great while they lasted.
What kind of trips?
All kinds. Some day trips. Some maybe three days. Some a week or more. We’d pick from their catalog. One year we picked one trip each month. I have a tote bag they gave us on one trip.
You see what their motto is? Or was?
Learn to travel. Travel to learn. Catchy.
And it worked for us.
Anyway, I have photos here from a trip we took with them to Massachusetts. Cape Cod. Boston. Like that.
Let’s go.
That’s the spirit.
Where to?
A seven-day tour of parts of Massachusetts. Here’s a map of the whole state.
We’ll eventually drive inland, but for now we’re concentrating on the Cape Cod area. So I drew this map of the area.
I see an arrow pointing up. To Boston?
Right. That comes later. But we started in Hyannis, and took a ferry to Nantucket. Here’s the view looking down Main Street.
Quaint.
Yep. And here is Straight Wharf at Nantucket Harbor.
Back on the Cape, we did some touring. At the very tip, as you can see on my map, is the village of Provincetown. We had lunch on Commercial Street at The Lobster Pot.
After lunch, we toured the dunes.
You lost your head there.
Yeah. You take your chances when you hand your camera to someone else. But I kept this shot for a particular reason.
What was that?
Ever hear the Patti Page song “Old Cape Cod”?
I think so.
Well, it’s one of my favorites. And I set up this photo because of it. Have your IT person put these lines separate from our conversation. The first few lines of the song go like this:
If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air,
Quaint little villages here and there,
You’re sure to fall in love with
Old Cape Cod.
Yes. I’ve heard that.
And so this photo fits that description. We’re standing on the sand dunes. The salt water is behind us, and there was a breeze from the water. And we certainly had passed through quaint little villages. So I wanted to keep that photo.
Got it.
Anyway, the Pilgrims landed at Provincetown before they settled Plymouth. You see, the way the tip of the Cape curves around, Provincetown provided a great harbor. For boats. For fishing.
In later years, they built a monument to recognize the early settlers.
Well, another day we were off on a ferry from the town of Falmouth to the other offshore island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Probably the outstanding feature of that island’s culture is the so-called gingerbread design of many of its houses.
Colorful
I’ll say. We walked around. Gawking. Then we had lunch in Edgartown.
One scenic spot is called the Gay Head Cliffs.
That’s colorful too.
At another part of the island is the town of Menemsha, where the movie Jaws was filmed.
I remember that one.
I cracked a lobster at the restaurant, then stepped out to take the photo. I would have liked to walk down to the beach where the movie shark did his thing, but there wasn’t enough time. Didn’t want to miss the bus.
So we left Menemsha and headed for Plymouth. They have a reconstructed colonial village there called Plimouth Plantation. And that’s Plimouth spelled with an “i” not a “y.”
I’ll get it right when we transcribe..
They’ve tried to re-create the colonial atmosphere of the 1600s.
They have guides to answer modern-day questions, but there are other re-enactors who answer colonial-day questions in character.
Like in Williamsburg.
Right.
Looks interesting.
It was. After that, we headed down to the water’s edge. And you know what’s there? In Plymouth?
The rock?
That’s it. Plymouth rock. It’s not clear whether colonists actually stepped ashore on that rock, but it’s become symbolic of settling in Massachusetts. It was damaged once, and reassembled, so they keep it protected now. It’s behind a railing and in a granite portico.
But still I could take a decent picture of it.
I see the crack.
It’s kind of awesome to actually see something you’ve only read about for years.
I’ll bet.
And there’s another reconstruction nearby. A full-scale reproduction of the Mayflower, the boat that came over from England.
And they let us get aboard it.
That’s kind of eerie too.
Okay, now we’re heading for the Boston area. With a stop first in the suburb of Quincy. This is the John Adams House. He lived his whole life there, although in several houses. This was his home while he was president.
And would you believe that three later generations of the Adams family lived here too.
Historic.
And while we’re on the subject of historic houses, here is Paul Revere’s house.
They told us that it was the oldest house in Boston.
Then, in touring the city, we passed the Massachusetts State House, where Governor Michael Dukakis lived.
Dukakis? Didn’t he run for president one year?
Yep. The year before. Didn’t make it.
Who are all those people?
We just happened to ride by while that protest was going on. They were protesting cuts in the state budget, I believe.
Later we headed for the waterfront where the U.S.S. Constitution was docked.
They called it Old Ironsides during the War of 1812. Said it was built with bolts and copper sheeting supplied by Paul Revere.
Okay, now we’re coming to the end of our bus trip. And the end of this session, okay?
Okay.
On our last night we went up in this tall building to eat at a restaurant called The Top of the Hub. Hub is a nickname that Boston picked up. Something Oliver Wendell Holmes said, I think. Anyway, looking out over the landscape you can see Boston in the foreground, the Charles River beyond it, and Cambridge on the other side of the river.
A fitting end to a memorable trip.
I think so.