Tips and stories from our travel adventures.
(New posts about once a month)
- -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- - -- -
Art--Animals--Dates--Food--Links--Lists--Map--Movies & TV--Music--Nature--Places--Performances--Souvenirs--Structures--Timeline
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Massachusetts. Show all posts
Friday 15 May 2015
MUSIC - Rock Lobster
Artist: The B-52's
Song: Rock Lobster
Released: 1979
Where to listen: East Coast, Snorkeling, Aquariums & Beach Parties
The B-52's were the first successful band to hail from Athens, Georgia. They would be the most successful if it weren't for a band called REM. While REM may have sold more records, The B-52's are much more fun. This song is great for parties and summertime travel. It would be perfect if you were at the beach with boys and bikinis and girls and surfboards. This song also works when visiting any fishing towns in the Maritime provinces of Canada or the North-Eastern USA. We visited a 55 tonne lobster in Shediac, New Brunswick that is sitting on a huge rock. Now that is a rock lobster!
This song is also great to help kids learn all the fish noises when visiting an aquarium. The ending of the song is sort of an Old MacDonald of the sea. Instead of moo, quack and oink it gets a little more complicated. Let's look at some of the lyrics.
Here comes a stingray (wok ahh whuhh) - The noises are hard enough to imitate let alone write down. Below are two southern stingrays from the Toronto Zoo.
There goes a manta ray (aya aya ayah) - Manta Rays are the largest rays and can reach widths of up to 23 feet. We have never seen one or heard what it sounds like.
In walked a jellyfish (uuhhh) - We have seen lots of jellyfish, but they always seem very quiet. The picture below is of a Japanese sea nettle from the New England Aquarium. We don't know if Japanese jellyfish sound different or not, or if this one has been in Boston long enough to pick up an accent.
There goes a dogfish (reeawr) - Dogfish are a type of small shark.
Chased by a catfish (blrroooh) - The catfish below are from Sea Life London Aquarium. You can always tell a catfish by its whiskers. Actually those whiskers are not hair but skin.
There goes a narwhal (eehh eehh) - A narwhal is a whale that lives in the Arctic and has a long tusk. We did see this one on display at the Royal Ontario Museum.
While the song Rock Lobster may not be as educational as this blog post, it is always lots of fun no matter where you are vacationing. Oh, and remember to watch out for that piranha!
Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo (Stingray Bay) , New England Aquarium , Sea Life London Aquarium
Royal Ontario Museum
Post # 51
Wednesday 10 December 2014
South Street Diner
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Address: 178 Kneeland St
Date: Sept 2010
Website: www.southstreetdiner.com
South Street Diner used to be known as The Blue Diner. It is one of those old time, 24 hour diners that looks sort of like someone deposited a railway dining car on the corner of the street. It is also the type of place that will have interesting characters both as staff and customers. We drove past the restaurant while on a Boston Upper Deck Trolley Tour.
The diner was used as a filming location for the movie Hiding Out staring Jon Cryer. Jon Cryer is best known as Alan on Two & a Half Men or Duckie from Pretty in Pink. In this movie he plays Andrew Morenski who ends up wanted by the mob and is taken into protective custody by the FBI. He manages to convince them to let him have a meal at the diner. In the movie you can see that the sign on the roof still says the Blue Diner. During the meal a mob hit man takes out the FBI agents and Andrew has to crash through the window and run for his life down the street. He eventually escapes on a train leaving Boston's South Street Station. He hides out by enrolling as a high school student under the name Maxwell Hauser, which he made up while looking at a Maxwell House coffee tin.
Map of Our World
South Street Diner
Post # 31
Wednesday 30 July 2014
Boston Olive Oil Company
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Address: 262 Newbury Street
Date: Sept 2013
Website: bostonoliveoilcompany.com
Most people are familiar with wine tastings, but the Boston Olive Oil Company offers oil and vinegar tastings. As we were walking along Newbury Street we came upon their shop and could not resist the chance to give it a try. We use oil and vinegar daily atop our salads and appreciate the noticeable differences in quality and taste.
The staff explained to us the scale of the olive oil and how it goes from 1 to10. The oil is kept in stainless steel kegs from Italy called fustis. You get a little paper cup and turn the tap on one of the kegs to release some oil from inside. You then decide if you want to dip some bread into it, or mix it with some vinegar, or just take a shot. You can really notice a difference as you go up or down the scale. The oil higher up the scale tended to have a grittier taste We preferred something around the middle range. What we were most interested in was the flavoured vinegars, and we sampled a few before deciding on a Pomegranate White Balsamic Vinegar for ourselves.
We left with our purchase and headed over to the Prudential Center for some ice cream and shopping. We were looking for some gifts for family and friends but nothing seemed quite right. Then we realized we were holding the perfect gift. It worked as a Boston souvenir since the green bottle says Boston Olive Oil Company. It was also healthy and from our earlier sampling experience, very tasty. So we headed back and picked up a couple more bottles.
We know that the next time we are in Boston we will be having another taste.
Map of Our World
Boston Olive Oil Company
Post # 17
Thursday 29 May 2014
Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory
Location: Hyannis, Massachusetts, USA
Address: 100 Breed's Hill Road
Date: Sept 2013
Website: www.capecodchips.com
If you are visiting the Cape Cod area or staying in Boston, (less than 2 hour drive) you may want to check out the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory where they make their all natural, kettle cooked chips. The tour is self guided which means you go from window to window peeking into the working factory. Information on the walls explains the process and what happens in each area. The day we arrived the factory was not operating but we could still see all the machinery involved. The best part of the whole tour is that when you are finished you end up in their store where everyone is given a free sample bag of chips.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Map of Our World
Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory
Post # 12
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)